August 24, 2025 • 40 mins
God's purpose for your life is not a possibility but a certainty – He will fulfill His good purpose for you regardless of circumstances, trials, or even your own failures.
• All things work together for good – both positive experiences and painful trials
• God's definition of "good" is conforming us to Christ's image, not necessarily immediate resolution
• Even the deepest suffering is not wasted but used to shape us spiritually
• We don't maintain salvation by holding tightly to Christ – He holds us securely
• The "golden chain" of Romans 8:30 guarantees our complete salvation from start to finish
• Nothing in all creation can separate believers from God's love
• Assurance of salvation is based on God's character and promises, not our performance
• Like Paul's journey to Rome, our path may include trials, but the destination is guaranteed
Have you experienced the peace that comes from trusting God's purpose even when circumstances seem to contradict it? Share your story or questions with us as we continue to explore the treasures of Romans 8 together. Come join us next Sunday as we continue exploring Romans 8 and discover more about how "if God is for us, who can be against us?"
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
1st Baptist, baptist El Dorado, will you join me now
in listening to our sermon fromthis week?
Open up with me again to Romans, chapter 8.
Romans, chapter 8.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
And again today we'll be in 28 through 30, just three
verses this morning.
I'm going to read them again forus now.
And we know that for those wholove God, all things work
together for good, for those whoare called according to his
purpose, for those whom heforeknew he also predestined to
(01:11):
be conformed to the image of ason in order that he might be
the firstborn among manybrothers and those whom he
predestined he also called.
Those whom he called he alsojustified, and those whom he
justified he also glorified.
Pray with me now, and thosewhom he justified he also
glorified.
Pray with me now.
Lord Jesus, would you speak tous by your spirit, through your
word this morning, and transformus.
(01:31):
I need you, we need you, and sogive us your word.
We ask in Christ's name, amen.
You've heard me talk a fewtimes about Martin Lloyd-Jones.
The great pastor and preacherfrom the mid-20th century in
London at Westminster Chapel Wasthere for many years, began in
(01:54):
London, there at Westminster,early on in World War II as
quite literally, mid-service,mid-sermon even Air raids were
flying overhead and walked theircongregation through that and
then another 30, 35 years hespent there at Westminster
Chapel Later on in his timethere.
(02:15):
I've told you he spent about 15years walking through the Book
of Romans in his Friday nightsermon series of Romans in his
Friday night sermon series.
15 years, on Friday night,people would come into the
church, would fill upWestminster Chapel, which is not
a small room, and would comehear sermons on Romans.
In fact, on the verses we'regoing to look at this morning
(02:37):
verse 28 through 33 verses hespent 17 weeks 17 weeks on those
three verses.
Now there's two ways I can lookat this.
Number one is this what it tookMartin Lloyd-Jones 17 weeks to
do, I'll be able to do in 25minutes.
(02:59):
Or, more accurately, the otherway I could look I am so
woefully inadequate for thistask that they will cut me off
after 25 minutes of preachingthis passage.
I think that's more accurate,because how can we sum up and
really gain all the wisdom thatexists in these three verses?
Three verses relatively small,yet hold so many truths about
(03:26):
what the Lord is up to in themidst of trial, in our suffering
, but also carry so much truthabout the assurance of salvation
, the assurance of oursanctification, the assurance of
our glorification.
Isn't that what we all reallywant to know at the end of the
day?
We want to know that.
(03:52):
We know that we are not only inChrist, but we will remain in
Christ, not just now, but foreternity.
We want that assurance and Ijust want to give us one point
this morning, and I'll give itto you from the start God will
fulfill his good purpose foryour life.
God will fulfill his goodpurpose for your life.
Now, if any part of you heard mesay anything other than that,
(04:16):
maybe something like this Godmight fulfill his good purpose
for your life.
God could possibly fulfill hisgood purpose for your life.
God could possibly fulfill hisgood purpose for your life.
I hope you will erase thatthought from your mind and look
again at our point this morning.
God will fulfill his goodpurpose for your life.
(04:38):
Paul wants to prove that thismorning, verse 28,.
And we know that for those wholove God, all things work
together for good for those whoare called according to his
purpose.
Really, there's three parts tothis verse.
Part one and part three arereally talking about the same
people, that for those who loveGod, they're in part one and
(05:02):
then part three for those whoare called according to his
purpose.
And so again, that's the samegroup of people, the same
individuals.
The one who loves God.
He's called according to hispurpose.
And what does Paul in thismoment say is true of that
individual who loves God and iscalled by God according to the
(05:23):
good purposes of God.
What Paul says is true of thatperson in part two of this verse
is this that all things worktogether for good.
And so, first, what does Paulmean by all things?
Simply put, he means all things, he means everything, he means
(05:44):
every single possible thing.
And so, number one, that meansall good things, all good
moments in life, every goodbreakthrough, powerful moment.
You were hoping this thingwould happen and here it comes,
it came through for you.
Every good thing, every laugh,every smile, every joy of life,
(06:08):
all these good things.
God can do great work, even inthose moments of great joy of
life, to conform us more andmore into the image of his son.
But we also have to see thisthat if he's saying all things,
then not only the good but alsothe bad, trials, tribulation and
suffering.
(06:29):
So the other side of theequation, because we're picking
up now off of verses 18 through27, where we saw last week that
the sufferings of this presentPaul says aren't worth comparing
to the weight of glory thatwill be revealed.
He talks about the groaning ofcreation.
We saw the groaning of you andI as we await the return of our
(06:53):
Savior we talked about.
We live in the in-betweennessof life and so in this time we
live in a broken world, and inthis broken world there is sin,
much of that sin you and I knowof our own making, and there's
just sin out in the world.
And in this broken world thereis sin, much of that sin you and
I know of our own making, andthere's just sin out in the
world.
We live as imperfect peopleamongst imperfect people.
(07:14):
We see the sufferings of life,where maybe you've even suffered
for your faith in Christ.
We've seen the suffering thatjust takes place as living in a
fallen world, and sometimes verydifficult things come upon us
and very difficult things happen, and so even not just the good,
but even the sufferings of life.
(07:36):
And what are these all things,or what is Paul doing with all
things?
God is working them togetherfor what?
For good, the good and the bad,the joy and the suffering.
God is working all thingstogether for good.
Now we have to ask thisquestion how in the world is
(07:57):
that happening?
How in the world is thatpossible?
Because what we have here istwo opposing ideas.
I would think You've got goodand you've got bad.
Those are two opposing sides,seemingly to me going in two
different directions.
If you and I both leave thisafternoon to go to Little Rock
(08:19):
and you head north and I headsouth, we will not both arrive
in Little Rock.
We're going two different ways.
And yet there's a way in whichGod, with good and with bad,
somehow can turn us, or turn thesituation into good and by that
(08:40):
meaning conforming us into theimage of his Son.
How is this possible?
Well, in one of his 17 sermons,lloyd-jones gives one
illustration about a watch.
I'll add this part thatLloyd-Jones couldn't have
imagined this.
But there was a day when awatch did not have a screen on
(09:02):
it, that my watch couldn't be myGPS or make a phone call, or
you know, tell me a story.
There was a day that didn'thappen.
There was a day a watchmaker,way back when, would even wind
up your watch and then it wouldjust tick into eternity, it
seems, and you would have thesewatches that were wound up and
(09:25):
would keep perfect time.
And Lloyd-Jones says if youcould just for a moment look at
the inside of that watch and themechanism that exists inside.
What you would see is somethinginteresting.
You would see one cog spinningclockwise and in that very same
watch you'd see another cogspinning the exact opposite
(09:46):
direction.
And you've got these two cogsthat are existing inside this
watch, that are wound up andthey are spinning the exact
opposite way and yet somehow,when that watch is all the
pieces come together, it tellsone perfect time.
How in the world is thatpossible?
We don't look at the watchmakerand say do you really know what
(10:10):
you're up to?
Do you really know what's bestabout this watch?
We look at the watchmaker andsay, hey, I don't know how you
do this, this is above my paygrade, but you do it well.
And I think about the Christianlife.
You and I walk through good andwe walk through bad, we walk
(10:33):
through suffering and yet,somehow, some way, there is a
sovereign God above it all who,even in the midst of the hardest
of the hard or the best of thebest, can use these moments and
turn these moments for our goodagain, conforming us into the
(10:57):
image of Christ.
Now here's something importantas we continue in this verse how
do we define good?
The better question is do weget to define good.
Is this good according to myterms?
Because here's how I would lovefor this verse to read that God
will turn all things togetherfor our good.
(11:18):
And then Paul continues and bygood I mean exactly what Taylor
Guerin asks for right when heasks for it.
That's what I wish he wouldhave said that God can turn
things for our good.
I wanted to read this that evenin hard circumstances, god will
make it all okay in a very shortamount of time and in a way
(11:39):
where I actually come out aheadin all this.
And I want to be clear aboutsomething there will be times
praise God, there will be timesin your life that bad things
might happen, difficult momentsmight happen and God may turn a
situation around in a hurry.
I'm not saying that doesn'thappen.
You can probably recall momentswhen you were in despair, and
(12:01):
yet not an hour a day.
A week later, god showed youI'm up to something bigger.
You were trying to get thepromotion.
You did not get the promotion.
A week later, anotheropportunity came.
That was the perfectopportunity for you, and you
know for a fact, if you hadgotten the promotion, you
wouldn't have been in a place toexplore this opportunity.
(12:22):
That's just an example, butlittle things that God can do.
From time to time that youthink things are going south and
in the very short term God doessomething.
But we also know this.
There are some events in ourlives, some moments of suffering
, some moments of despair thatthis side of eternity will never
(12:49):
get past.
We in our world use the termclosure.
There's been seasons ofsuffering.
For you, that closure is not aword that's coming into the
vocabulary.
This side of eternity, there'snot a way to fully say, quote
(13:09):
unquote I'm on the other side ofthat.
That doesn't mean God isn'tfaithful and doing great work
and that doesn't mean you justlive every moment in this
devastating feel of life.
But there are just some thingsthat are deep and heavy and it's
not the kind of thing we justtalked about, where it feels
like in the short term.
And it's not the kind of thingwe just talked about where it
feels like in the short term theLord ties every loose end, puts
(13:32):
a bow on it and hands it overand we say thank you and all is
well.
There are things that happen inlife that we would even look up
and say God, how in the worldcould you bring any sort of good
out of this?
And yet, in God's sovereignty,I hope you've seen it that even
(13:52):
in the midst of our suffering,that God can do something within
us to conform us, throughsuffering, more and more into
the image of Christ.
That as you walk throughsuffering, you would say this
and you would say this it wassimply because I was at rock
(14:12):
bottom.
I had to, but I got to knowJesus better because I walked
through this.
I never want to walk through itagain.
I'm never going to ask for itback, wouldn't wish it on my
worst enemy, but I've seen theLord.
I quote it more than I should,but Job 42, verse 5.
That when Job's on the otherside of suffering, the end of
(14:38):
that suffering.
Not on the other side of it,and he'd probably never get on
the other side of it, but youknow what I mean.
At the end of the book of Jobhe says this Lord, I had heard
of you through the hearing ofthe ear, but now my eye sees you
that before I walked throughthis, I had heard of you by the
(14:59):
hearing of the ear.
Basically, this Lord, I knewabout you, but something
happened in the midst ofsuffering.
Something happened in the midstof all of these trials that on
the other side of it I now seeyou for myself.
I went from knowing about youto knowing you, and some of you
have walked through trials thatyou can look back at that moment
(15:21):
and again with me you would sayI hope I never walked through
that again.
But I can say this I know mySavior better for having walked
through it.
You can say it.
This is Joseph's story.
We talked a few weeks ago inthe second half of Genesis.
Brothers sell him into slavery.
Potiphar's wife accuses himwith lies and he's thrown into
(15:45):
prison, stays there much longerthan he had expected In fact.
He finally sees maybe his wayout, and two more years he goes
on in prison, finally gets out,raised to second in command.
There's a famine in the land.
The brothers have to come backto him, the very brothers that
sold him into slavery.
And at the very moment, if Iwere Joseph, I would give these
(16:08):
brothers a very large piece ofmy mind.
What does Joseph say?
That what man meant for evil,god meant for good.
That, though I've walkedthrough this great suffering,
god was working in the midst ofit.
This is the story of Paul inPhilippians, chapter one, verse
(16:29):
15.
Paul has been thrown in prison,as he often is, for preaching
the gospel.
And he actually says a strangeterm.
He says it's actually served toour advantage that I'm here,
that it actually served to thekingdom advantage that I am here
in prison.
Why does he say it?
Because now the whole imperialguard has heard about Christ,
(16:52):
don't you know?
These guys hated when Paulshowed up.
They hated going to work andthey said Paul, he's just, he's
telling that same story againabout Jesus.
He's told me 48 times and nowthey're singing hymns again, he
and Silas, all these guys.
But Paul says this I was thrownin prison and you might think
that's the end of the ministry.
But guess what?
(17:12):
That's the beginning of aministry I could never have had
if I were not right here rightnow, with these guards in these
places.
God knew what he was up to, that, even through suffering, god is
doing what only he can do andGod is conforming you and I into
the image of Christ, and God isdoing a mighty work.
(17:34):
I love what John Piper says andI love this quote by John Piper
that God might be up to 10million things and you might
know about three of them.
That God may be doing 10million things in your life
right now and you might knowthree of them.
That God may be doing 10million things in your life
right now and you might knowthree of them that are going on,
but in God's sovereignty, he isconforming you into the image
(17:58):
of Christ in the good momentsand even in moments of suffering
and pain.
And here's what I love aboutthe gospel, the story of Christ.
What I love about the Christianworldview in general is simply
this that in Christ I love itour suffering is not wasted.
There's a lot of worldviews,there's a lot of ways of
(18:22):
thinking about suffering, andyet in Christianity I find the
one worldview that says thisthat suffering's going to happen
.
We live in this fallen world,but your suffering will not be
wasted.
That God is working in themidst of it.
(18:43):
That even Job in Job, chapter19,.
When he's at the lowest of thelows, when it doesn't get any
lower, what does he do?
What does he say?
He says this he's at his rockbottom, for I know that my
Redeemer lives and at the lasthe will stand upon the earth
after the skin has been thusdestroyed.
(19:03):
Yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself.
My eyes shall behold and notanother.
My heart faints within me.
He knew this, that even in mysuffering, I am growing more and
more into who the Lord desiresme to be.
(19:27):
And if, in this life, mysuffering is never even taken
away Job says this I know thatmy Redeemer lives and at the
last day I will see him.
We return to Romans 8, 28.
As Paul says, we know that forthose who love God, all things
(19:48):
work together for good for thosewho are called according to his
purpose.
And before we move on from thisverse, I just want us to see
that word.
And we know, we know it.
Notice, paul doesn't say this.
And we feel, we feel that forthose who love God, everything
(20:08):
works together for our good.
Why do I make that point?
It's because of this there willbe days you do not feel it,
there will be moments ofsuffering in your life and you
just say this it doesn't reallyfeel right now like God's
turning this together for good.
I don't know what it's supposedto feel like but, pastor, it
(20:29):
doesn't feel like this.
I don't feel.
But there are moments in theChristian life In fact there's a
lot of them when we have to putfact over feeling.
That even when I don't feel it,I know, because God has told me
in his word that here is thegood God has for me, that even
through this whether good, bad,ugly period of life, that God is
(20:52):
conforming me more and moreinto the image of Christ, and
God can use this for mysanctification and for his glory
.
That's Romans 8, 28.
Now I want to read 29 through 30.
As we continue to make onesingular point God will fulfill
his good promise for your life,for those whom he foreknew.
(21:15):
He also predestined to beconformed to the image of his
son in order that he might bethe firstborn among many
brothers and those whom hepredestined.
He also called those whom hecalled.
He also justified those whom hejustified.
He also justified those whom hejustified he also glorified.
If you want two verses thatwill make our point today, look
(21:37):
no further than 29 and 30.
That again, it's not that hemight do it, it's not that he
could do it, it's not that ifyou know we better check these
boxes and do this, that and theother, and then he'll do no, god
will fulfill his good purpose.
How do I know this?
Because right here, in 29through 30, again, for those he
(21:58):
foreknew, he predestined.
And now you may hear those wordsand you get a little nervous.
What in the world do you mean?
Whom he foreknew, whom hepredestined to be conformed into
the image of Christ?
What do we do with these heavyphrases, of which there's many
(22:22):
ideas of, maybe, what this meant?
These may be terms that makeyou slightly nervous.
I would tell you this that whenyou see these terms foreknew,
predestined your response don'tlet it be nervous or curious
about what the pastor is goingto say about it.
(22:43):
Let your response simply bethis to give unending praise to
the God who saved you and, inhis infinite wisdom, has done
all that it takes for you toreceive salvation.
(23:05):
Though you and I are greatlyunworthy, christ has done so.
What is our response when wesee these big terms?
It's to worship the Lord.
It's to be filled with nothingbut great joy and great worship
and adoration of the only Godwho's saved.
When you see whom God foreknewand predestined to be conformed
to the image of his son, whatyou do in that moment is you
(23:29):
just praise God that he savedyou.
Now you ask this question,pastor, now, do you really
believe that before thefoundation of the world, that
God foreknew and predestinedsome for salvation, and not just
for salvation but forsanctification and for
glorification?
(23:49):
Do you really believe that?
Of course I do Not, becauseit's a good idea or something I
made up.
It's just simply what the Biblesays over and over and over and
for which the Bible has givenus no alternative.
It's what Jesus talks about.
It's what Genesis to Jesustalks about.
It's what the well Genesis toRevelation talks about that in
(24:10):
God's sovereignty he saved thosefor salvation and all who would
come to know him, whose heartsare opened by his spirit, will
come to life in him.
I believe two things to be true.
Number one that before thefoundation of the world, god
knew those who would be saved.
That's number one thing Ibelieve to be true.
The number two thing I believeto be true Number one, that
before the foundation of theworld, god knew those who would
be saved.
That's number one thing Ibelieve to be true.
(24:32):
The number two thing I believeto be true is this that I said
at six years old in a Sundayschool class and as the teacher
taught the lesson.
Something happened in my heartto which I knew I needed a
savior, and so I asked Jesus tobe the Lord of my life.
(24:54):
You say wait, taylor, you justsaid two different things.
I'd say I haven't.
But if you want to researchthat deeper, I'm not the guy.
Go to him.
He knows how God's sovereigntyand human responsibility work
together.
He knows how all of this worksout, that all who come to him
(25:19):
are saved.
And yet, before the foundationof the world as well, he knew
those who would come to know him.
This is the sovereignty of God,that his spirit awakens hearts
to this.
And let me tell you, this leadsus to nothing but heartfelt
worship.
And you say this, taylor, thisis the age old question If God
(25:42):
knew those who were going to besaved, why do we even sit here?
Why do we go on mission trips?
Why do we evangelize?
Why do we do all these things?
Well, we do all these things.
One, because we're commanded todo all these things.
But here's what JI Packer says,and I love it.
He says this that when he'sevangelizing, when he's
preaching, he says this that,number one, the elect will be
(26:05):
saved.
And number two, come now and beamong the elect.
Come follow Jesus, comeexperience the justification of
Jesus Christ.
Choose now to come follow Jesus.
(26:26):
And that's the beauty of Christ, that not only he has called us
.
Look at this foreknew.
He predestined to do what, toconform us into the image of his
son.
So not only has he called us,he has justified us.
And here's the promise he issanctifying us more into the
image of Christ.
(26:46):
Verse 30, those whom hepredestined, he called, those
who called, he justified, thosewho justified.
And look at this all the waythrough the end, he glorified.
And so this is the beautiful,sovereign promise of God that he
who began a good work in youwill carry it through to
completion.
(27:06):
Will God fulfill his goodpurpose for your life,
absolutely?
If you want an example of this,you can just look at scripture
as a good illustration.
I think of Acts 23, when Paul isin just a mess of a situation,
as he often is, getting thrownaround, thrown in this prison
and that prison, this trial,that trial.
(27:28):
God comes to him one eveningand says as you have preached
the gospel in Jerusalem, youwill preach the gospel in Rome.
He's sitting in Jerusalem inthis moment.
As you preach the gospel inJerusalem, you will preach the
gospel in Rome.
My translation is this Godsimply says this no matter what,
(27:48):
I'm getting you to Rome.
It doesn't feel like you'regoing to get there.
In fact, everything around youprobably communicates.
You're probably not going toget much further than this, but
I'm getting you to Rome.
And what does God do?
He gets them there.
What happens on the way?
More trials, more authoritiesquestioning him.
(28:09):
He gets on a boat heading toRome, a massive storm, then
there's the shipwreck.
Then he's deserted on thisisland, and this is really there
.
He's picking up firewood and asnake bites him.
The locals are watching thishappen, and you can read this
the locals are watching ithappen.
They're sitting back waitingfor him to die from this snake
(28:31):
bite.
He does not die from this snakebite.
A ship comes to pick them allup.
And where does the ship takehim?
To Rome.
How'd he get there?
Because God told him he'd getthere, and if God says it, it's
a done deal.
Now, does that mean any of thiswas easy or enjoyable?
Did he enjoy the storm and theshipwreck and the snake bite?
(28:54):
Of course he didn't.
He wouldn't wish it back if hecould.
And yet, in the midst of all ofthis, even the suffering, god
was up to something.
And he says this that I madeyou a promise and so I'm going
to hold it.
I'm gonna keep it untilcompletion.
And he got Paul to Rome.
The same is true of our lives,that if God has saved us and
(29:19):
called us and has promised us,even in this moment and
throughout scripture, that hewill sanctify us and glorify us,
you can set your watch to it,you can mark it on your calendar
, you can do it.
It is happening, write it instone.
It is going to happen, nomatter what comes in between, no
matter the good, the bad, thesuffering that you face.
(29:40):
If God told you that you're hisand you are his in Christ, and
if you love Christ and you knowhe's savior, then here's the
good news he's told you you arehis in Christ.
And if you love Christ and youknow he's savior, then here's
the good news he's told you youare his.
He will carry you to completion.
And I don't know what willhappen in your life in between.
I don't know how good it'll go,I don't know how difficult it
will be, but I do know this thatat the end of all things on the
(30:03):
other side, you will standbefore Christ Jesus fully
sanctified, more than that,fully glorified, because what
God began in you, the Christianlife, is held up by the
sovereignty of God, up by thesovereignty of God, and the
(30:37):
sovereignty of God to hold on toyou.
If you asked me this morning,taylor, how in the world do you
stay on the ground, like, quiteliterally, like, how do you keep
two feet on the ground?
And what in the world do you doto keep from floating up and
flying up into the atmosphereand much more just flying into
(30:58):
outer space and being gone fromhere, taylor, how in the world
do you keep your feet on theground?
And I said that's an excellentquestion.
I'll tell you my secret on theground.
And I said that's an excellentquestion.
I'll tell you my secret thatevery morning I walk into this
room and this pulpit is perfectfor it.
I grab this pulpit like thisand I hold on as tight as I can.
(31:18):
And as long as I can hold thispulpit as tight as I can, I'm
not going to float up, I'm notgoing to go.
You don't have to worry aboutme floating away, because I'm
holding on as tight as I can.
But you know that's not theanswer.
How do I stay on the ground?
Because something outside of meholds me, because there's this
(31:43):
thing called gravity.
I don't understand it.
Because there's this thingcalled gravity, I don't
understand it and I'm kept onthe ground and I don't have to.
It's not that I'm doinganything special or anything,
I'm just held.
You might be tempted to say thatthe Christian life and my
(32:04):
assurance, my justification,sanctification and future
glorification, it's kind of heldin place by how tightly I hold
on to Christ.
And if I can just hold on toChrist tight enough, and if I
can just stay where I'm supposedto stay, and if I can check the
boxes and do what I need to do,then he will carry me to
(32:26):
completion and carry me to glory.
The Christian life is not abouthow tightly you hold on to
Christ.
It's about the simple fact thatChrist is holding on to you.
And let me preface that withthis idea.
I'm not saying here that ourspiritual life is all.
We just sit on the spirituallazy boy of our lives and do
(32:47):
nothing and say God's gonna getme there.
And we just sit on thespiritual lazy boy of our lives
and do nothing and say God'sgoing to get me there and we
just sit back.
No, we participate.
We, as Paul says, work out oursalvation with fear and
trembling, for it's God whoworks in us.
We are an active participant,and yet, even in the midst of us
actively participating, we arenot the ones that are holding us
(33:11):
in Christ.
Christ is holding us in hishands at all times, and so you
want some assurance.
You ask the question could Ilose my salvation?
Could it be that I can't keepmy justification, that there's a
world where he doesn't see me,through to sanctification and
(33:33):
all the way to glorification?
Could it be that I could losemy salvation?
Well, I would just say this tosay that you could lose your
salvation is not simply to sayyou could lose your salvation,
but it's more than that is notsimply to say you could lose
your salvation, but it's morethan that To say.
If you want to make the claimthat you could lose your
salvation, you also have to makethis claim that God is not who
(33:56):
God says God is.
And if you'd like to make theclaim that you can lose your
salvation, then you also you arelocked into this claim as well
that the word of God is not theultimate authority, that there
are areas in this word where theLord Jesus is not entirely
(34:18):
accurate.
And if you'd like to make theclaim that you can lose your
salvation, you also have to makethe claim that it is possible
that God could fail, that Godcould fail me, that God could
fail us, that God could fail tosee me through to completion.
I'll just tell you this If youtold me this morning, in the
(34:41):
truest sense, that you were inChrist and you subsequently lost
your salvation, you were inChrist and you subsequently lost
your salvation.
You were in Christ and now youare on the outside looking in
because you've lost what youonce had.
I'll tell you my exact response.
I'd tell you this I'd walk upto this pulpit, I'd close my
(35:03):
Bible and I'd never open itagain.
I'd walk up to my office, Ishut it down, pack up the books
In fact, you can have them.
I'd still hang out with you alland live in town, but I
wouldn't be the pastor hereanymore.
I'd be looking for work.
You could help me find some.
(35:26):
If I found out you lost yoursalvation.
I'd just have to be done,because that would mean God's
not who God says God is.
That would mean God is not theultimate authority, and yet
there is one that can pluck youand I from the hand of God, and
that means that when God tellsme in his word that nothing can
(35:47):
separate us, that that is notentirely true.
I just want to tell you thismorning, not on the authority of
me I've got none but on theauthority of God's word what you
have in Christ you cannot lose.
It's not a possibility.
Will God fulfill his purposefor you?
Of course he will.
There's no other way around it.
(36:08):
Try your best to thwart hisplan for your life and trust me,
you and I have both tried ourbest.
We've let our sin get in theway.
We've let our stubbornness andpride get in God's way, and time
and time again, what have youseen?
He has walked with me patientlyand got me to where I needed to
(36:28):
be.
You cannot lose your salvationbecause I'm just going to spoil
next week a little bit.
Verse 31,.
What, then, shall we say tothese things?
If God's for us, who can beagainst us?
He who did not spare his ownson but gave him up for us?
How will he not graciously giveus all things?
Who shall bring us any chargeagainst God's elect.
It's God who justifies.
(36:50):
Who is it to condemn?
Christ Jesus is the one whodied More than that, was raised
at the right hand of God, who isindeed interceding for us.
I'm gonna keep going.
Who shall separate us from thelove of Christ?
Shall tribulation or distress,persecution, famine, nakedness,
danger, sword as it's writtenfor your sake.
We're being killed all day long.
We sword as it's written foryour sake.
We're being killed all day long.
(37:11):
We're regarded as sheep to beslaughtered.
No, and all these things weremore than conquerors.
Through him who loved us.
For I'm sure that neither deathnor life, nor angels, nor rulers
, nor things present, nor thingsto come, nor powers, nor height
, nor depth, nor anything elsein all creation will be able to
separate us from the love of Godin Christ Jesus, our Lord.
(37:33):
It is an impossibility thatwhat Christ has done in your
life to raise you to life, tosave you, to sanctify you, to
one day glorify you, could belost.
It is an impossibility thatChrist could say no more to you,
that Christ could say no moreto you, but instead you are held
(37:53):
in the hand of Christ so firmlythat no power of hell, no
scheme of man, nothing can pluckyou from the hand of your
Father.
You are held both now and foreternity, and these are my words
that nothing can separate youfrom the love of God in Christ
Jesus, our Lord.
So what is our response to this?
What do we do in light of this?
(38:14):
Well, in just a moment, weworship.
And then, when we're doneworshiping, you stand up and you
don't walk out of here.
You almost float out of here inyour excitement and your
realization, or at least areminder, that there is nothing
that can separate you from thelove of God.
And even when the evil onecomes to you and says there is
(38:36):
something, or even when the evilone comes to you and says, can
God really do this, that or theother, you tell him hey, I just
got to go to his word.
And he tells me this that notdeath or life or anything else
in all creation can separate mefrom the love of God in Christ
Jesus, our Lord.
So I just end with this that 10billion years from now, if you
(39:01):
are in Christ I mean this youwill be alive and well.
Lord Jesus, thank you for yourword, thank you for the gospel
that nothing can separate usfrom the love of God.
In Christ Jesus, our Lord, thathe who called us, has justified
(39:25):
us, is sanctifying us, willglorify us.
And, lord, what a gift it is toknow you, to be known by you.
What a gift it is to be a childof God, not by any worth of our
(39:46):
own, but through the work ofChrist on the cross, in the
resurrection raised to gloriouslife.
And in your resurrection, Lord,you have raised all who know
you.
And so, lord, if there's onetoday that needs to come to know
you for the first time, let itbe.
If they need to come talk to meabout joining our church, about
(40:08):
a prayer need, about any way Ican help, let them come.
Lord, if there's any decisionsthat need to be made, let them
be made now.
But, lord, the truth is we allhave a response to make and for
many of us, that response rightnow is simple worship,
worshiping the God who has savedus, called us, saved us,
(40:30):
justified us, sanctified us,will glorify us.
So let us worship you now, lord, in Christ's name, amen.
Would you stand and I'll bedown front.
1st Baptist, baptist El Dorado, will you join me now
in listening to our sermon fromthis week?
Open up with me again to Romans, chapter 8.
Romans, chapter 8.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
And again today we'll be in 28 through 30, just three
verses this morning.
I'm going to read them again forus now.
And we know that for those wholove God, all things work
together for good, for those whoare called according to his
purpose, for those whom heforeknew he also predestined to
(01:11):
be conformed to the image of ason in order that he might be
the firstborn among manybrothers and those whom he
predestined he also called.
Those whom he called he alsojustified, and those whom he
justified he also glorified.
Pray with me now, and thosewhom he justified he also
glorified.
Pray with me now.
Lord Jesus, would you speak tous by your spirit, through your
word this morning, and transformus.
(01:31):
I need you, we need you, and sogive us your word.
We ask in Christ's name, amen.
You've heard me talk a fewtimes about Martin Lloyd-Jones.
The great pastor and preacherfrom the mid-20th century in
London at Westminster Chapel Wasthere for many years, began in
(01:54):
London, there at Westminster,early on in World War II as
quite literally, mid-service,mid-sermon even Air raids were
flying overhead and walked theircongregation through that and
then another 30, 35 years hespent there at Westminster
Chapel Later on in his timethere.
(02:15):
I've told you he spent about 15years walking through the Book
of Romans in his Friday nightsermon series of Romans in his
Friday night sermon series.
15 years, on Friday night,people would come into the
church, would fill upWestminster Chapel, which is not
a small room, and would comehear sermons on Romans.
In fact, on the verses we'regoing to look at this morning
(02:37):
verse 28 through 33 verses hespent 17 weeks 17 weeks on those
three verses.
Now there's two ways I can lookat this.
Number one is this what it tookMartin Lloyd-Jones 17 weeks to
do, I'll be able to do in 25minutes.
(02:59):
Or, more accurately, the otherway I could look I am so
woefully inadequate for thistask that they will cut me off
after 25 minutes of preachingthis passage.
I think that's more accurate,because how can we sum up and
really gain all the wisdom thatexists in these three verses?
Three verses relatively small,yet hold so many truths about
(03:26):
what the Lord is up to in themidst of trial, in our suffering
, but also carry so much truthabout the assurance of salvation
, the assurance of oursanctification, the assurance of
our glorification.
Isn't that what we all reallywant to know at the end of the
day?
We want to know that.
(03:52):
We know that we are not only inChrist, but we will remain in
Christ, not just now, but foreternity.
We want that assurance and Ijust want to give us one point
this morning, and I'll give itto you from the start God will
fulfill his good purpose foryour life.
God will fulfill his goodpurpose for your life.
Now, if any part of you heard mesay anything other than that,
(04:16):
maybe something like this Godmight fulfill his good purpose
for your life.
God could possibly fulfill hisgood purpose for your life.
God could possibly fulfill hisgood purpose for your life.
I hope you will erase thatthought from your mind and look
again at our point this morning.
God will fulfill his goodpurpose for your life.
(04:38):
Paul wants to prove that thismorning, verse 28,.
And we know that for those wholove God, all things work
together for good for those whoare called according to his
purpose.
Really, there's three parts tothis verse.
Part one and part three arereally talking about the same
people, that for those who loveGod, they're in part one and
(05:02):
then part three for those whoare called according to his
purpose.
And so again, that's the samegroup of people, the same
individuals.
The one who loves God.
He's called according to hispurpose.
And what does Paul in thismoment say is true of that
individual who loves God and iscalled by God according to the
(05:23):
good purposes of God.
What Paul says is true of thatperson in part two of this verse
is this that all things worktogether for good.
And so, first, what does Paulmean by all things?
Simply put, he means all things, he means everything, he means
(05:44):
every single possible thing.
And so, number one, that meansall good things, all good
moments in life, every goodbreakthrough, powerful moment.
You were hoping this thingwould happen and here it comes,
it came through for you.
Every good thing, every laugh,every smile, every joy of life,
(06:08):
all these good things.
God can do great work, even inthose moments of great joy of
life, to conform us more andmore into the image of his son.
But we also have to see thisthat if he's saying all things,
then not only the good but alsothe bad, trials, tribulation and
suffering.
(06:29):
So the other side of theequation, because we're picking
up now off of verses 18 through27, where we saw last week that
the sufferings of this presentPaul says aren't worth comparing
to the weight of glory thatwill be revealed.
He talks about the groaning ofcreation.
We saw the groaning of you andI as we await the return of our
(06:53):
Savior we talked about.
We live in the in-betweennessof life and so in this time we
live in a broken world, and inthis broken world there is sin,
much of that sin you and I knowof our own making, and there's
just sin out in the world.
And in this broken world thereis sin, much of that sin you and
I know of our own making, andthere's just sin out in the
world.
We live as imperfect peopleamongst imperfect people.
(07:14):
We see the sufferings of life,where maybe you've even suffered
for your faith in Christ.
We've seen the suffering thatjust takes place as living in a
fallen world, and sometimes verydifficult things come upon us
and very difficult things happen, and so even not just the good,
but even the sufferings of life.
(07:36):
And what are these all things,or what is Paul doing with all
things?
God is working them togetherfor what?
For good, the good and the bad,the joy and the suffering.
God is working all thingstogether for good.
Now we have to ask thisquestion how in the world is
(07:57):
that happening?
How in the world is thatpossible?
Because what we have here istwo opposing ideas.
I would think You've got goodand you've got bad.
Those are two opposing sides,seemingly to me going in two
different directions.
If you and I both leave thisafternoon to go to Little Rock
(08:19):
and you head north and I headsouth, we will not both arrive
in Little Rock.
We're going two different ways.
And yet there's a way in whichGod, with good and with bad,
somehow can turn us, or turn thesituation into good and by that
(08:40):
meaning conforming us into theimage of his Son.
How is this possible?
Well, in one of his 17 sermons,lloyd-jones gives one
illustration about a watch.
I'll add this part thatLloyd-Jones couldn't have
imagined this.
But there was a day when awatch did not have a screen on
(09:02):
it, that my watch couldn't be myGPS or make a phone call, or
you know, tell me a story.
There was a day that didn'thappen.
There was a day a watchmaker,way back when, would even wind
up your watch and then it wouldjust tick into eternity, it
seems, and you would have thesewatches that were wound up and
(09:25):
would keep perfect time.
And Lloyd-Jones says if youcould just for a moment look at
the inside of that watch and themechanism that exists inside.
What you would see is somethinginteresting.
You would see one cog spinningclockwise and in that very same
watch you'd see another cogspinning the exact opposite
(09:46):
direction.
And you've got these two cogsthat are existing inside this
watch, that are wound up andthey are spinning the exact
opposite way and yet somehow,when that watch is all the
pieces come together, it tellsone perfect time.
How in the world is thatpossible?
We don't look at the watchmakerand say do you really know what
(10:10):
you're up to?
Do you really know what's bestabout this watch?
We look at the watchmaker andsay, hey, I don't know how you
do this, this is above my paygrade, but you do it well.
And I think about the Christianlife.
You and I walk through good andwe walk through bad, we walk
(10:33):
through suffering and yet,somehow, some way, there is a
sovereign God above it all who,even in the midst of the hardest
of the hard or the best of thebest, can use these moments and
turn these moments for our goodagain, conforming us into the
(10:57):
image of Christ.
Now here's something importantas we continue in this verse how
do we define good?
The better question is do weget to define good.
Is this good according to myterms?
Because here's how I would lovefor this verse to read that God
will turn all things togetherfor our good.
(11:18):
And then Paul continues and bygood I mean exactly what Taylor
Guerin asks for right when heasks for it.
That's what I wish he wouldhave said that God can turn
things for our good.
I wanted to read this that evenin hard circumstances, god will
make it all okay in a very shortamount of time and in a way
(11:39):
where I actually come out aheadin all this.
And I want to be clear aboutsomething there will be times
praise God, there will be timesin your life that bad things
might happen, difficult momentsmight happen and God may turn a
situation around in a hurry.
I'm not saying that doesn'thappen.
You can probably recall momentswhen you were in despair, and
(12:01):
yet not an hour a day.
A week later, god showed youI'm up to something bigger.
You were trying to get thepromotion.
You did not get the promotion.
A week later, anotheropportunity came.
That was the perfectopportunity for you, and you
know for a fact, if you hadgotten the promotion, you
wouldn't have been in a place toexplore this opportunity.
(12:22):
That's just an example, butlittle things that God can do.
From time to time that youthink things are going south and
in the very short term God doessomething.
But we also know this.
There are some events in ourlives, some moments of suffering
, some moments of despair thatthis side of eternity will never
(12:49):
get past.
We in our world use the termclosure.
There's been seasons ofsuffering.
For you, that closure is not aword that's coming into the
vocabulary.
This side of eternity, there'snot a way to fully say, quote
(13:09):
unquote I'm on the other side ofthat.
That doesn't mean God isn'tfaithful and doing great work
and that doesn't mean you justlive every moment in this
devastating feel of life.
But there are just some thingsthat are deep and heavy and it's
not the kind of thing we justtalked about, where it feels
like in the short term.
And it's not the kind of thingwe just talked about where it
feels like in the short term theLord ties every loose end, puts
(13:32):
a bow on it and hands it overand we say thank you and all is
well.
There are things that happen inlife that we would even look up
and say God, how in the worldcould you bring any sort of good
out of this?
And yet, in God's sovereignty,I hope you've seen it that even
(13:52):
in the midst of our suffering,that God can do something within
us to conform us, throughsuffering, more and more into
the image of Christ.
That as you walk throughsuffering, you would say this
and you would say this it wassimply because I was at rock
(14:12):
bottom.
I had to, but I got to knowJesus better because I walked
through this.
I never want to walk through itagain.
I'm never going to ask for itback, wouldn't wish it on my
worst enemy, but I've seen theLord.
I quote it more than I should,but Job 42, verse 5.
That when Job's on the otherside of suffering, the end of
(14:38):
that suffering.
Not on the other side of it,and he'd probably never get on
the other side of it, but youknow what I mean.
At the end of the book of Jobhe says this Lord, I had heard
of you through the hearing ofthe ear, but now my eye sees you
that before I walked throughthis, I had heard of you by the
(14:59):
hearing of the ear.
Basically, this Lord, I knewabout you, but something
happened in the midst ofsuffering.
Something happened in the midstof all of these trials that on
the other side of it I now seeyou for myself.
I went from knowing about youto knowing you, and some of you
have walked through trials thatyou can look back at that moment
(15:21):
and again with me you would sayI hope I never walked through
that again.
But I can say this I know mySavior better for having walked
through it.
You can say it.
This is Joseph's story.
We talked a few weeks ago inthe second half of Genesis.
Brothers sell him into slavery.
Potiphar's wife accuses himwith lies and he's thrown into
(15:45):
prison, stays there much longerthan he had expected In fact.
He finally sees maybe his wayout, and two more years he goes
on in prison, finally gets out,raised to second in command.
There's a famine in the land.
The brothers have to come backto him, the very brothers that
sold him into slavery.
And at the very moment, if Iwere Joseph, I would give these
(16:08):
brothers a very large piece ofmy mind.
What does Joseph say?
That what man meant for evil,god meant for good.
That, though I've walkedthrough this great suffering,
god was working in the midst ofit.
This is the story of Paul inPhilippians, chapter one, verse
(16:29):
15.
Paul has been thrown in prison,as he often is, for preaching
the gospel.
And he actually says a strangeterm.
He says it's actually served toour advantage that I'm here,
that it actually served to thekingdom advantage that I am here
in prison.
Why does he say it?
Because now the whole imperialguard has heard about Christ,
(16:52):
don't you know?
These guys hated when Paulshowed up.
They hated going to work andthey said Paul, he's just, he's
telling that same story againabout Jesus.
He's told me 48 times and nowthey're singing hymns again, he
and Silas, all these guys.
But Paul says this I was thrownin prison and you might think
that's the end of the ministry.
But guess what?
(17:12):
That's the beginning of aministry I could never have had
if I were not right here rightnow, with these guards in these
places.
God knew what he was up to, that, even through suffering, god is
doing what only he can do andGod is conforming you and I into
the image of Christ, and God isdoing a mighty work.
(17:34):
I love what John Piper says andI love this quote by John Piper
that God might be up to 10million things and you might
know about three of them.
That God may be doing 10million things in your life
right now and you might knowthree of them.
That God may be doing 10million things in your life
right now and you might knowthree of them that are going on,
but in God's sovereignty, he isconforming you into the image
(17:58):
of Christ in the good momentsand even in moments of suffering
and pain.
And here's what I love aboutthe gospel, the story of Christ.
What I love about the Christianworldview in general is simply
this that in Christ I love itour suffering is not wasted.
There's a lot of worldviews,there's a lot of ways of
(18:22):
thinking about suffering, andyet in Christianity I find the
one worldview that says thisthat suffering's going to happen
.
We live in this fallen world,but your suffering will not be
wasted.
That God is working in themidst of it.
(18:43):
That even Job in Job, chapter19,.
When he's at the lowest of thelows, when it doesn't get any
lower, what does he do?
What does he say?
He says this he's at his rockbottom, for I know that my
Redeemer lives and at the lasthe will stand upon the earth
after the skin has been thusdestroyed.
(19:03):
Yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself.
My eyes shall behold and notanother.
My heart faints within me.
He knew this, that even in mysuffering, I am growing more and
more into who the Lord desiresme to be.
(19:27):
And if, in this life, mysuffering is never even taken
away Job says this I know thatmy Redeemer lives and at the
last day I will see him.
We return to Romans 8, 28.
As Paul says, we know that forthose who love God, all things
(19:48):
work together for good for thosewho are called according to his
purpose.
And before we move on from thisverse, I just want us to see
that word.
And we know, we know it.
Notice, paul doesn't say this.
And we feel, we feel that forthose who love God, everything
(20:08):
works together for our good.
Why do I make that point?
It's because of this there willbe days you do not feel it,
there will be moments ofsuffering in your life and you
just say this it doesn't reallyfeel right now like God's
turning this together for good.
I don't know what it's supposedto feel like but, pastor, it
(20:29):
doesn't feel like this.
I don't feel.
But there are moments in theChristian life In fact there's a
lot of them when we have to putfact over feeling.
That even when I don't feel it,I know, because God has told me
in his word that here is thegood God has for me, that even
through this whether good, bad,ugly period of life, that God is
(20:52):
conforming me more and moreinto the image of Christ, and
God can use this for mysanctification and for his glory
.
That's Romans 8, 28.
Now I want to read 29 through 30.
As we continue to make onesingular point God will fulfill
his good promise for your life,for those whom he foreknew.
(21:15):
He also predestined to beconformed to the image of his
son in order that he might bethe firstborn among many
brothers and those whom hepredestined.
He also called those whom hecalled.
He also justified those whom hejustified.
He also justified those whom hejustified he also glorified.
If you want two verses thatwill make our point today, look
(21:37):
no further than 29 and 30.
That again, it's not that hemight do it, it's not that he
could do it, it's not that ifyou know we better check these
boxes and do this, that and theother, and then he'll do no, god
will fulfill his good purpose.
How do I know this?
Because right here, in 29through 30, again, for those he
(21:58):
foreknew, he predestined.
And now you may hear those wordsand you get a little nervous.
What in the world do you mean?
Whom he foreknew, whom hepredestined to be conformed into
the image of Christ?
What do we do with these heavyphrases, of which there's many
(22:22):
ideas of, maybe, what this meant?
These may be terms that makeyou slightly nervous.
I would tell you this that whenyou see these terms foreknew,
predestined your response don'tlet it be nervous or curious
about what the pastor is goingto say about it.
(22:43):
Let your response simply bethis to give unending praise to
the God who saved you and, inhis infinite wisdom, has done
all that it takes for you toreceive salvation.
(23:05):
Though you and I are greatlyunworthy, christ has done so.
What is our response when wesee these big terms?
It's to worship the Lord.
It's to be filled with nothingbut great joy and great worship
and adoration of the only Godwho's saved.
When you see whom God foreknewand predestined to be conformed
to the image of his son, whatyou do in that moment is you
(23:29):
just praise God that he savedyou.
Now you ask this question,pastor, now, do you really
believe that before thefoundation of the world, that
God foreknew and predestinedsome for salvation, and not just
for salvation but forsanctification and for
glorification?
(23:49):
Do you really believe that?
Of course I do Not, becauseit's a good idea or something I
made up.
It's just simply what the Biblesays over and over and over and
for which the Bible has givenus no alternative.
It's what Jesus talks about.
It's what Genesis to Jesustalks about.
It's what the well Genesis toRevelation talks about that in
(24:10):
God's sovereignty he saved thosefor salvation and all who would
come to know him, whose heartsare opened by his spirit, will
come to life in him.
I believe two things to be true.
Number one that before thefoundation of the world, god
knew those who would be saved.
That's number one thing Ibelieve to be true.
The number two thing I believeto be true Number one, that
before the foundation of theworld, god knew those who would
be saved.
That's number one thing Ibelieve to be true.
(24:32):
The number two thing I believeto be true is this that I said
at six years old in a Sundayschool class and as the teacher
taught the lesson.
Something happened in my heartto which I knew I needed a
savior, and so I asked Jesus tobe the Lord of my life.
(24:54):
You say wait, taylor, you justsaid two different things.
I'd say I haven't.
But if you want to researchthat deeper, I'm not the guy.
Go to him.
He knows how God's sovereigntyand human responsibility work
together.
He knows how all of this worksout, that all who come to him
(25:19):
are saved.
And yet, before the foundationof the world as well, he knew
those who would come to know him.
This is the sovereignty of God,that his spirit awakens hearts
to this.
And let me tell you, this leadsus to nothing but heartfelt
worship.
And you say this, taylor, thisis the age old question If God
(25:42):
knew those who were going to besaved, why do we even sit here?
Why do we go on mission trips?
Why do we evangelize?
Why do we do all these things?
Well, we do all these things.
One, because we're commanded todo all these things.
But here's what JI Packer says,and I love it.
He says this that when he'sevangelizing, when he's
preaching, he says this that,number one, the elect will be
(26:05):
saved.
And number two, come now and beamong the elect.
Come follow Jesus, comeexperience the justification of
Jesus Christ.
Choose now to come follow Jesus.
(26:26):
And that's the beauty of Christ, that not only he has called us
.
Look at this foreknew.
He predestined to do what, toconform us into the image of his
son.
So not only has he called us,he has justified us.
And here's the promise he issanctifying us more into the
image of Christ.
(26:46):
Verse 30, those whom hepredestined, he called, those
who called, he justified, thosewho justified.
And look at this all the waythrough the end, he glorified.
And so this is the beautiful,sovereign promise of God that he
who began a good work in youwill carry it through to
completion.
(27:06):
Will God fulfill his goodpurpose for your life,
absolutely?
If you want an example of this,you can just look at scripture
as a good illustration.
I think of Acts 23, when Paul isin just a mess of a situation,
as he often is, getting thrownaround, thrown in this prison
and that prison, this trial,that trial.
(27:28):
God comes to him one eveningand says as you have preached
the gospel in Jerusalem, youwill preach the gospel in Rome.
He's sitting in Jerusalem inthis moment.
As you preach the gospel inJerusalem, you will preach the
gospel in Rome.
My translation is this Godsimply says this no matter what,
(27:48):
I'm getting you to Rome.
It doesn't feel like you'regoing to get there.
In fact, everything around youprobably communicates.
You're probably not going toget much further than this, but
I'm getting you to Rome.
And what does God do?
He gets them there.
What happens on the way?
More trials, more authoritiesquestioning him.
(28:09):
He gets on a boat heading toRome, a massive storm, then
there's the shipwreck.
Then he's deserted on thisisland, and this is really there
.
He's picking up firewood and asnake bites him.
The locals are watching thishappen, and you can read this
the locals are watching ithappen.
They're sitting back waitingfor him to die from this snake
(28:31):
bite.
He does not die from this snakebite.
A ship comes to pick them allup.
And where does the ship takehim?
To Rome.
How'd he get there?
Because God told him he'd getthere, and if God says it, it's
a done deal.
Now, does that mean any of thiswas easy or enjoyable?
Did he enjoy the storm and theshipwreck and the snake bite?
(28:54):
Of course he didn't.
He wouldn't wish it back if hecould.
And yet, in the midst of all ofthis, even the suffering, god
was up to something.
And he says this that I madeyou a promise and so I'm going
to hold it.
I'm gonna keep it untilcompletion.
And he got Paul to Rome.
The same is true of our lives,that if God has saved us and
(29:19):
called us and has promised us,even in this moment and
throughout scripture, that hewill sanctify us and glorify us,
you can set your watch to it,you can mark it on your calendar
, you can do it.
It is happening, write it instone.
It is going to happen, nomatter what comes in between, no
matter the good, the bad, thesuffering that you face.
(29:40):
If God told you that you're hisand you are his in Christ, and
if you love Christ and you knowhe's savior, then here's the
good news he's told you you arehis in Christ.
And if you love Christ and youknow he's savior, then here's
the good news he's told you youare his.
He will carry you to completion.
And I don't know what willhappen in your life in between.
I don't know how good it'll go,I don't know how difficult it
will be, but I do know this thatat the end of all things on the
(30:03):
other side, you will standbefore Christ Jesus fully
sanctified, more than that,fully glorified, because what
God began in you, the Christianlife, is held up by the
sovereignty of God, up by thesovereignty of God, and the
(30:37):
sovereignty of God to hold on toyou.
If you asked me this morning,taylor, how in the world do you
stay on the ground, like, quiteliterally, like, how do you keep
two feet on the ground?
And what in the world do you doto keep from floating up and
flying up into the atmosphereand much more just flying into
(30:58):
outer space and being gone fromhere, taylor, how in the world
do you keep your feet on theground?
And I said that's an excellentquestion.
I'll tell you my secret on theground.
And I said that's an excellentquestion.
I'll tell you my secret thatevery morning I walk into this
room and this pulpit is perfectfor it.
I grab this pulpit like thisand I hold on as tight as I can.
(31:18):
And as long as I can hold thispulpit as tight as I can, I'm
not going to float up, I'm notgoing to go.
You don't have to worry aboutme floating away, because I'm
holding on as tight as I can.
But you know that's not theanswer.
How do I stay on the ground?
Because something outside of meholds me, because there's this
(31:43):
thing called gravity.
I don't understand it.
Because there's this thingcalled gravity, I don't
understand it and I'm kept onthe ground and I don't have to.
It's not that I'm doinganything special or anything,
I'm just held.
You might be tempted to say thatthe Christian life and my
(32:04):
assurance, my justification,sanctification and future
glorification, it's kind of heldin place by how tightly I hold
on to Christ.
And if I can just hold on toChrist tight enough, and if I
can just stay where I'm supposedto stay, and if I can check the
boxes and do what I need to do,then he will carry me to
(32:26):
completion and carry me to glory.
The Christian life is not abouthow tightly you hold on to
Christ.
It's about the simple fact thatChrist is holding on to you.
And let me preface that withthis idea.
I'm not saying here that ourspiritual life is all.
We just sit on the spirituallazy boy of our lives and do
(32:47):
nothing and say God's gonna getme there.
And we just sit on thespiritual lazy boy of our lives
and do nothing and say God'sgoing to get me there and we
just sit back.
No, we participate.
We, as Paul says, work out oursalvation with fear and
trembling, for it's God whoworks in us.
We are an active participant,and yet, even in the midst of us
actively participating, we arenot the ones that are holding us
(33:11):
in Christ.
Christ is holding us in hishands at all times, and so you
want some assurance.
You ask the question could Ilose my salvation?
Could it be that I can't keepmy justification, that there's a
world where he doesn't see me,through to sanctification and
(33:33):
all the way to glorification?
Could it be that I could losemy salvation?
Well, I would just say this tosay that you could lose your
salvation is not simply to sayyou could lose your salvation,
but it's more than that is notsimply to say you could lose
your salvation, but it's morethan that To say.
If you want to make the claimthat you could lose your
salvation, you also have to makethis claim that God is not who
(33:56):
God says God is.
And if you'd like to make theclaim that you can lose your
salvation, then you also you arelocked into this claim as well
that the word of God is not theultimate authority, that there
are areas in this word where theLord Jesus is not entirely
(34:18):
accurate.
And if you'd like to make theclaim that you can lose your
salvation, you also have to makethe claim that it is possible
that God could fail, that Godcould fail me, that God could
fail us, that God could fail tosee me through to completion.
I'll just tell you this If youtold me this morning, in the
(34:41):
truest sense, that you were inChrist and you subsequently lost
your salvation, you were inChrist and you subsequently lost
your salvation.
You were in Christ and now youare on the outside looking in
because you've lost what youonce had.
I'll tell you my exact response.
I'd tell you this I'd walk upto this pulpit, I'd close my
(35:03):
Bible and I'd never open itagain.
I'd walk up to my office, Ishut it down, pack up the books
In fact, you can have them.
I'd still hang out with you alland live in town, but I
wouldn't be the pastor hereanymore.
I'd be looking for work.
You could help me find some.
(35:26):
If I found out you lost yoursalvation.
I'd just have to be done,because that would mean God's
not who God says God is.
That would mean God is not theultimate authority, and yet
there is one that can pluck youand I from the hand of God, and
that means that when God tellsme in his word that nothing can
(35:47):
separate us, that that is notentirely true.
I just want to tell you thismorning, not on the authority of
me I've got none but on theauthority of God's word what you
have in Christ you cannot lose.
It's not a possibility.
Will God fulfill his purposefor you?
Of course he will.
There's no other way around it.
(36:08):
Try your best to thwart hisplan for your life and trust me,
you and I have both tried ourbest.
We've let our sin get in theway.
We've let our stubbornness andpride get in God's way, and time
and time again, what have youseen?
He has walked with me patientlyand got me to where I needed to
(36:28):
be.
You cannot lose your salvationbecause I'm just going to spoil
next week a little bit.
Verse 31,.
What, then, shall we say tothese things?
If God's for us, who can beagainst us?
He who did not spare his ownson but gave him up for us?
How will he not graciously giveus all things?
Who shall bring us any chargeagainst God's elect.
It's God who justifies.
(36:50):
Who is it to condemn?
Christ Jesus is the one whodied More than that, was raised
at the right hand of God, who isindeed interceding for us.
I'm gonna keep going.
Who shall separate us from thelove of Christ?
Shall tribulation or distress,persecution, famine, nakedness,
danger, sword as it's writtenfor your sake.
We're being killed all day long.
We sword as it's written foryour sake.
We're being killed all day long.
(37:11):
We're regarded as sheep to beslaughtered.
No, and all these things weremore than conquerors.
Through him who loved us.
For I'm sure that neither deathnor life, nor angels, nor rulers
, nor things present, nor thingsto come, nor powers, nor height
, nor depth, nor anything elsein all creation will be able to
separate us from the love of Godin Christ Jesus, our Lord.
(37:33):
It is an impossibility thatwhat Christ has done in your
life to raise you to life, tosave you, to sanctify you, to
one day glorify you, could belost.
It is an impossibility thatChrist could say no more to you,
that Christ could say no moreto you, but instead you are held
(37:53):
in the hand of Christ so firmlythat no power of hell, no
scheme of man, nothing can pluckyou from the hand of your
Father.
You are held both now and foreternity, and these are my words
that nothing can separate youfrom the love of God in Christ
Jesus, our Lord.
So what is our response to this?
What do we do in light of this?
(38:14):
Well, in just a moment, weworship.
And then, when we're doneworshiping, you stand up and you
don't walk out of here.
You almost float out of here inyour excitement and your
realization, or at least areminder, that there is nothing
that can separate you from thelove of God.
And even when the evil onecomes to you and says there is
(38:36):
something, or even when the evilone comes to you and says, can
God really do this, that or theother, you tell him hey, I just
got to go to his word.
And he tells me this that notdeath or life or anything else
in all creation can separate mefrom the love of God in Christ
Jesus, our Lord.
So I just end with this that 10billion years from now, if you
(39:01):
are in Christ I mean this youwill be alive and well.
Lord Jesus, thank you for yourword, thank you for the gospel
that nothing can separate usfrom the love of God.
In Christ Jesus, our Lord, thathe who called us, has justified
(39:25):
us, is sanctifying us, willglorify us.
And, lord, what a gift it is toknow you, to be known by you.
What a gift it is to be a childof God, not by any worth of our
(39:46):
own, but through the work ofChrist on the cross, in the
resurrection raised to gloriouslife.
And in your resurrection, Lord,you have raised all who know
you.
And so, lord, if there's onetoday that needs to come to know
you for the first time, let itbe.
If they need to come talk to meabout joining our church, about
(40:08):
a prayer need, about any way Ican help, let them come.
Lord, if there's any decisionsthat need to be made, let them
be made now.
But, lord, the truth is we allhave a response to make and for
many of us, that response rightnow is simple worship,
worshiping the God who has savedus, called us, saved us,
(40:30):
justified us, sanctified us,will glorify us.
So let us worship you now, lord, in Christ's name, amen.
Would you stand and I'll bedown front.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.