Well, we're continuing our study in the book of Romans tonight, and I invite you to turn to Romans chapter 8, just three verses tonight in this great chapter Romans chapter 8, 28 through 30. I'll back up and read at verse 26 through 30 for some context, but let's give our attention tonight. This is on page 1123, Romans 8, beginning at verse 26 tonight.
"Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
"Now our text: And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified."
There will end tonight the reading of God's Word.
Well, what a section tonight as we come to Romans chapter 8 again after a few weeks and continue this great study. I thought to myself, maybe as we've been looking at in this particular passage, the Apostle Paul has really moved us in looking at the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian and what the Spirit's work is that he has really sort of climaxed here and taken us to really a theology of suffering. Because obviously, that's a very difficult subject for Christians to understand and to comprehend: Why, and I'm sure you've asked, does it seem that God allows and permits his people to suffer so greatly with little answer as to why?
You might have said that this morning in studying the death of John the Baptist, which we kind of hinted at. Why? Why that kind of death? Why would he have to go through that kind of death? These are confusing things for us. These are difficult things to answer. And what tends to make matters worse is when you're going through some form of suffering and he uses suffering generally here, which includes all kinds of sufferings in the Christian life, you need answers the most right then and there. That's what we were really searching for at that time, because we don't understand why this thing has happened. We don't understand why this thing happened in the way that it did and the harsh reality in which it came and the difficult realities.
We've had difficult realities like that in this congregation. And we stand back and we want to comfort and help those who face these things. But some of the situations are very difficult for us to comprehend and to understand. This is why in the heart of the Psalter, the prayers of God's people throughout history, you have cries that come up: "Why, O Lord? How long, O Lord? confusion and difficulty as to why the thing happened the way that it did. And in his providence, we aren't always given the whys, are we? We are not always given the whys.
Further, there have been too many Christians at moments like this throughout history who have tried to make sense of this, especially because at moments like this, it seems that God is more absent than ever. That's the experience of Christians at times like this, and it's greatly confusing. It's greatly difficult to understand, and all of us will arrive at some point in our lives to something like this. something like this.
I would love for you tonight to remember this passage, if you can, at a time like this. Remember: a lot of times what we hear at one point is training us for what is to come in the future, and that's what a passage like this does. It's the balm you need ahead of time. It's the help you need ahead of time to be able to remember, because the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses through the Word that He has taught us and brings to mind those things that He has taught us. And this is one of those special passages that does that for us tonight.
These Roman Christians really struggled with this difficulty in the various forms in which it came, This difficulty of trying to correlate suffering with faith in Christ of a victor, of the King who's seated in a Roman Empire that was greatly oppressive to them.
Well, as we've looked at, what Paul has been doing in Romans chapter 8 is presenting a thorough theology of the Holy Spirit. This is the chapter of the Holy Spirit. This is the great teaching in the epistles on the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. And it's not in the fine, dazzling things that we think, or as we've seen in Christianity, that people look for something ecstatic or something great to prove the power of the Holy Spirit. It's in the things that Paul describes here that you know and you can see his work.
You remember he said: after the struggle against sin in chapter 7 and the battle that is going on against sin, he describes that God's children have received a very peculiar, special blessing. This is why Jesus went away. It's why it's good he went away, because he would send us the Spirit. The Spirit leads us, he said. He leads us in righteousness. He guides our lives. The wicked don't care; the wicked are led and cannot please God, he said, and they live by the impulses of their flesh.
The Spirit is working to conform us as we'll look at tonight, but notice here that he said that one of the great works of the Spirit is to put to death sin in our lives. Now, sometimes that feels slow, but that's his work. His work: "If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you'll live." Nobody puts to death sin in their life apart from the work of the Spirit. You you could see that when John was preaching this morning as we looked at to herod it was like preaching to a dead stone, a dead gray in a graveside. Well, the Spirit takes that word and begins to do something, and he helps us in that regard.
And then he said he's the Spirit of adoption. He's not a spirit who is ministering to us to keep us in fear, holding us in slavish fear. Slavish fear I think i said "slavish," and somebody said, "That's a new word," and it is! I made it up. It's slavish. Okay, it's slavish. That happens when you speak fast and you have a lot of words in a sermon. You you don't know how many words are in a sermon, anyways. It was my wife who pointed that out. So, um, he reassures our hearts that we are children of God. You ever think about that great work of the Spirit? He reassures your hearts that you are children of God. That's his great work. He wants you to live knowing that you're his child, you're adopted by grace, you're brought into the family of God.
And last time, we got to a kind of surprise, and guess what? The Spirit also does: he helps us in our sufferings. That's where we are in this section tonight as we continue he helps us in our hardships and in our afflictions, even praying for us when we don't even know how to pray. That is a remarkable verse. We kind of went through that quickly last time, but I want to begin there tonight as we wait for even creation groans to have its renewal and, and and to be, you know, renewed in the glory and the liberty of the sons of God is that great day is coming as we looked at in the resurrection. But this issue of suffering paul really wants to address right now. He knows it's hard for the Christian, and he sort of sees this as a crescendo here of the Spirit's work to help us to understand purpose and meaning of the Christian life in the difficult valleys, in the sufferings of this present age.
It's one thing to think of suffering and hardship, that it means nothing or there are no answers. It's another to reconcile, to recognize that God has actually assigned purpose to something, god has assigned a purpose to something meaningful purpose to it, even if I don't grasp it. even if i don't understand it It's at this point Paul's pushing us to live by faith in the Spirit's power, recognizing what he does for us. And that's where we are tonight.
If you look again at verse 26, he says, "We don't even know. Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses, for we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." That is a wonderful comment and verse there to think upon, connecting it with verse 18, where he said, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us." Again, what we looked at in the Heidelberg.
If you thought about that: you don't even know what to pray for as you ought. And you say, "Well, the Lord gave us the Lord's Prayer. I know the basic petitions of the Lord's Prayer," and that's true. But you don't know what to pray for in the sufferings, do you? You don't know what to pray.
You know this: we are constantly calling to the Lord to change things or to fix things or to take away things. Is that right? And that's why I raised Paul's thorn in the flesh. "A thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me. Concerning this thing, I prayed to the Lord three times that it might depart from me. I begged him to take it away." I don't know what it was, but it was a very big affliction and suffering in the Apostle Paul's life.
And remember what Paul said: he didn't know. He said, "Lest I should be exalted, I pleaded with the Lord to take it away." That's all he knew: "Lord, take it away." But was that the will of God for Paul? You see, was that the will? He didn't know. It doesn't mean you can't pray that. But this is where the Spirit intercedes for us. The Spirit intercedes when we don't know what is the answer on something.
And his prayer was something like this: "Lord, you are sovereign. You are in control." Paul said, "Take it away." The Spirit dwelling in Paul and dwelling in you offered a prayer. Paul didn't hear it. The prayer was a groaning. He intercedes with groanings which cannot be uttered. "No, may the thorn in the flesh be left for him." Paul didn't hear that. "May it be left. It's sent for him for good." Remember, Paul would realize that it was sent for dependence. Because without the sufferings, as we looked at last time, we don't groan for glory.
And so we see that as the answer came back, as Paul realized there was an answer given remember what the answer was? It's not the most satisfying answer to us. The answer was: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Now, that is an answer. "I have sent this thorn. The Spirit prayed that to not take it away, but I promise you this: grace is sufficient. Grace is with you. I am with you." And then Paul has this great mindset change through the whole thing.
Well, then, if that's the case, "I'm going to boast in my afflictions and difficulties and persecutions and sufferings for the name of Christ, for when I'm weak, then I'm strong." Goal accomplished. That's important for us tonight.
For who knows the mind of God? Who knows the mind of God? But here's what we do know. That's what Paul says. "Here's what we do know."
Verse 28: It becomes a kind of summary on the teaching on suffering here. He says, "And we know this. We know this in verse 28. We know. That's important. We know this. We have understanding of this. We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose."
What a glorious statement! What a beautiful statement the Apostle gives there! Everything that happens in life now this is why we have statements that help us understand this: "Think of the Lord's Day on Providence." What is providence? What is the providence of God?
"It is the almighty and ever-present power of God by which whatever happens in this life doesn't happen by chance. So we say: whether it happens whether it's rain or drought whether it's fruitful or barren years food or drink health or sickness riches or poverty yes all things come to us not by chance, but from his fatherly hand."
Now, it's nice to think about when it's the good things lots of wealth and lots of health and lots of riches it's a far different thing and a more difficult thing to understand: drought, sickness, poverty, death. All of it comes not by chance, but from his fatherly hand. It's just what Paul's saying tonight.
Now, I should say this: this doesn't mean that the things that we face in this life that are bad are good. My sin is not good. And I could do a lot of stupid things in my life because of sin to wreck a lot of good gifts of the Lord, couldn't I? Suffering is a result of the fall. Death is called an enemy. Persecution is not good. Nobody runs around praying for persecution. It's not a good thing, is it? It's not good.
But this is important of what the Apostle is saying to us here: God is so sovereign, and God is so in control, and so orders all things according to His providence, as Lord's Day 10 says, that He is designing, He is determining, He is orchestrating all the circumstances of our lives, whatever it is. Even when it seems to be the most difficult of situations that would seem to bring no glory to Him. here's his promise. This is a promise tonight, I think you need to remember. That this is a promise tonight to embrace. He loves his children so much. You are his adopted children of grace, given the Holy Spirit. He promises you something here. What does he promise? He promises, in verse 28, that God works together for good all things. That is a promise. That is an important promise, a beautiful promise for us.
And there's hard things that happen. I mean, I remember growing up, being deeply affected by a family in our church as a child. And they were on vacation and this is in a wonderful family in my home church growing up in Hamford. And they were in a car accident back east, and the car caught on fire, and somebody pulled out only the father, and all of them died. It was devastating. It would not have been helpful right at that moment to come up and say, "Hey, brother, all things will work for good." You understand that? You hear it now, don't you? Years of rehab for him the accident wasn't a good thing. It was not a good thing. It was devastating. And the grace that that man received in life you know, I think of my own father. You know, who, to watch him suffer and die the way that he died i've told you, it's one of the worst deaths I've seen. From 100 uh 200 pounds to 90 Nobody gets through that on their own. He was given so much grace. I saw strength rest upon him.
What God promises to the believer is that he will take what is awful the tragedy and even though we don't understand it in the moment, one day we will see. He has promised here, which we trust in, that it indeed will work out in his plan for your good. I don't think that's an easy thing to always believe, but it is a promise. Just like with Joseph: when Joseph was thrown in the pit, how could he have ever seen that this would work out for good? And yet it was the greatest blessing to his brothers in the end. God promises that to us tonight.
And I think you see this in the very death of Christ. The very death of christ who was delivered over by false witnesses and the hatred of the world and the beatings and the the blows and the crucifixion the horrendous sin that was given to him. None of that was good. They crucified the Lord of glory with evil intent. And what is the message of Scripture? He was delivered over by what? The determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, for who? For you. Who saw that in the moment? That's how much he's in control and working things. Your whole salvation comes through this story. A terrible event of the cross turned to be the means by which you were saved, and he saves all manner of people in the world.
So you may not know how to pray in the hard circumstances, but this is what we do know: God has a will, this is what he's saying here, and a purpose, and promises this to those who love him, to those who are the called according to his purpose. And in this context, it's suffering that speaking this. So suffering, then, is is God's way of fulfilling purpose. It makes us grown for glory, he said. But let's press that a little bit further. What is the specific purpose? If you ask, "Is there an answer in Scripture of what is the specific purpose in which God does this?" You have it here. Here it is. What does it say?
From the beginning, he chose a path for you. He's predestined the path for his people. When I say "in the beginning," what I mean is: notice here, God in his wisdom decided to carve out a path for you from beginning to end. Did you? This is the whole purpose of him entering in the doctrine of predestination and the election. God had already determined to carve out a path for your life. That's what he's saying here. It's already carved out. It's already purposed. The trajectory is already set. He has already determined what you will do, what you will be, and where it's going to go, and what will happen.
And that is why it's really sad when predestination and election are spoken of in such a derogatory way and hated by so many. Every time the scriptures present it for God's people, it's meant to be the greatest comfort. And this is one of those cases in which it proves that this doctrine is meant to deeply comfort you. It's a help to the children of God. It sounds like this: "Dear children, it's all in my hand. Your whole life." If you know your sin and you know what you're capable of, you're kind of leaping for joy! It's a really marvelous truth that's being said here.
Think about what he says next. Look at verse 29: "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." Now, this is an important passage. a very important passage
Some have taken to mean that God simply foreknows who will choose him and foresees faith. That is so far from the Apostle's mind here! That is just a wreck of the text. Anyone who would do that it's the opposite thing he's saying. This has nothing to do with a foreseeing response. What it does say is this: "Whom he foreknew the word means "whom he chose beforehand." It gives a sense that you are the objects of God's love and God's delight, and in his own good pleasure, he decided beforehand to love you and choose you before you were even born. It's a special word of intimacy and knowledge.
It's like what the Lord said to Jeremiah: "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. See, I knew you." He knew you before you were born. "I set you apart." Remember what Paul said? Paul was, you know, a persecutor. It's all persecuting Christians. And when he understood the big picture and he understood the big plan of God, he said, "According to his own purpose and grace listen to this which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began."
Well, at some point God regenerated him, and he saw that that had already been decided before you were even born. Listen to this: "I sovereignly foreknew you, and out of the good pleasure of my will, I loved you." That's what he's saying. And it wasn't just that I knew you. I notice what he says: "For whom he foreknew, he predestined takes it further. Not only did I know you intimately in love, but I predestined. And here there's a context to predestination. It means "to destine the direction of one's destiny. I i destined your course beforehand." See? You see how important that is for suffering? "I predestined your course beforehand. What is that course?"
Well, notice he connects everything here. God's grand purpose for our lives is stated right here: "I predestined you to be conformed to the image of my Son." What did his Son go through? It wasn't all rainbows and butterflies, was it? God loved his beloved Son so much. He never stopped loving him on the cross. And what we call god forsakenness oh the Father loved his Son! He covenanted with him to be the propitiation. God loved him so much, he rewarded him. He rewarded him by foreknowing and predestinating a whole multitude of people, no man can number, who would be predestined to be conformed to his image.
You understand that? He foreknew and predestined a whole multitude of people to be conformed to the image of his Son. It's as if paul saying that life is a blessed life. There's joy in the knowledge, isn't there, of being justified by faith? Of course there is. You understand something about it all. His design and purpose is now being fulfilled in your sufferings. Not as atonement, you understand, but as conformity. As you are often facing very hard things in life, he didn't leave it up to you. He didn't leave it up to you to map out your life. Aren't you glad? Do you think any of you would be here right now? He never abandoned you through it.
Meaning here: you don't have to worry that whatever it is means that he doesn't love you. You see the pastoral implication here, the pastoral care in their sufferings, that maybe you're not a Christian because this thing has happened to you, or maybe he's abandoned you through it all? No, no, no, no, no, no, no! This was your path before time began, chosen for you. The whole design of salvation, the good providences and the hard ones. It's not something based upon our choice for him. Even your love for him didn't determine it. 1 John says, "We were first loved by him." Before we ever loved him.
But you are called according. Now here's the rub: "You are called according to my purpose." You see? Not yours. And that's why the Heidelberg in Lord's Day 1 is so comforting: "That I am not my own. But what has happened to me? I've been bought. I've been purchased by the precious blood of Christ. I'm no longer my own. I bought body and soul, in life and in death, to who? A faithful Savior who has delivered me from all my sins."
I am the one applying my call to you. That's what he's saying. You're not hanging on to me. I'm the one fulfilling my design for you. It's not your design for me, which is often what we try to do. It's not in your hands. Your life is not in your hands.
You think hardship and suffering, then, is meaningless? Us? I don't think it's easy. And maybe you can't know the reasons why in this particular thing this thing has happened. But here's what you are given: you are, dear child, predestined to be conformed to the image of your Savior. What a privilege! What a privilege!
For whom he foreknew and this is where I said this morning we're talking about the ordo salutis, the order of salvation. That's what we kind of have here, what's known as the mini ordo. How the Lord saves us. And what he does here is kind of outlined in a mini form for us in which theologians have built a whole order of salvation. You have predestination, you have calling, right? You have an internal calling, you have regeneration, you have just, you have conversion, repentance in faith, you have justification by faith, you have sanctification, you have glorification.
So notice what's being said here: we begin to see why the sufferings of this present time matter because we are becoming like Jesus. That's his purpose for us. We're becoming little images of Christ. Our lives are hidden in him. As the world looks upon us as little image bearers of him that's what a Christian means. It means a Christ follower. We become like him. And so that's why he says that we might become the firstborn among many brethren. He might become the firstborn among many brethren. This is what his purpose is for us as we image him and as we are set apart to this. It shows that he is in our lives, the one having preeminence.
You see? Now, what does Paul say in verse 30? Making sure we understand This this: is really good news this is really good news he says this i'm completing this work from beginning to end. Every step of the way, I've taken the initiative to preserve you, and that ensures that my purpose for you is fully fulfilled, for my glory."
Verse 30: "Moreover, whom he predestined, these he also called. That's calling in time where he called you out of darkness, and you heard that call: repent and believe. He called. Then he noticed he jumps to justification: whom he called, he justified. And whom he justified, these he glorified. Boom, boom, boom! I'm carrying you every step of the way."
What's amazing about this is: called, justified, glorified they're all aorist tenses so they're completed actions of the past. That's how he's speaking to us. It's as good as done. I have sovereignly decreed that this will happen. That I have called you, I have justified you, and I will glorify you.
And what's interesting here is that Paul focuses on acts that are completely outside of us. You didn't call yourself. You didn't justify yourself. And you can't glorify yourself, for sure, right? You want to try to glorify themselves? You want to try to justify themselves and try to call themselves? It's just impossible. It's impossible. So he jumps here it's beautiful.
"I predestined you. I called you. I justified you. I glorified you. Done."
I like to notice what he left out. He left out sanctification. "Oh, sanctification not important?" Oh, it's very important! James Boyce made a big point of this. Sanctification is that process, right? He does speak of being conformed to the image of his Son. But in the mini ordo here, he doesn't want us to think that sanctification or our works in that determine any of this. It's sovereign grace.
I have this great uh I told you John Rainbow was, um, a kind of mentor to me when I was a teacher at Central Valley Christian. And, uh, he wrote this book, "The Will of God and the Cross," and I pulled it out the other day. And I noticed the inscription he wrote to me in it. And he said, "Chris, may you always preach the sovereign grace of God and never forget it." And that has been inspiring to me. It's just what he's doing here. Jesus is clearly teaching throughout the scriptures that it's his sovereign work to deliver us. And that's true from beginning to end. That's what he's saying to us. Our salvation is in his hands.
Now, doesn't that give us meaningful purpose in life, then? That's what I think Paul's saying to them. We trust him as the Psalm says: "The Lord is merciful and gracious, abounding in loving kindness. The Lord completes the work he starts from beginning to end. The Lord has bought us in body and soul, life and in death, to be his own. And Christ's life is intended to be shown in me. Whatever is marked out for me, freed from serving myself and free from serving as a slave to sin, but now as a slave to righteousness as he said in Romans 6 to become like Christ."
That kind of understanding, beloved, makes you realize just how magnificent the grace of God is in our lives. I think that's the great intention here.
What if I had nothing to say on this point tonight? What kind of theology of suffering could I give you? What could I give you? I could give you the kind of ideas that have come out: that God doesn't really know the future, open theism, that God is just kind of figuring this out as he goes and he'll suffer along with you. Is that helpful? Is that a God?
This gives you a whole perspective about life! What a purpose! He wants to make you like his Son. What that means is: whatever we face, we can be sure, as a believer in Christ, God does all things.
Now, hear me well. When James Boyce was, um, was dying of pancreatic cancer sort of a famous statement he made. Somebody asked him whether he was distressed, and he made this great statement: "God does all things well." And that's rooted right here. He is working for the good to those of he had whom he has called to be conformed to the image of his Son. And that sort of perspective will enable you to rejoice, as the scriptures call you to, and trials and in sufferings. I know that's not easy, but that's the Spirit's work. That's how he helps us. That his purposes are indeed to bless us, and he will fulfill that for us.
For, it's as Jonah said, "Salvation from beginning to end belongs to the Lord."
Let's pray.
Gracious Lord, thank you for encouraging us tonight. Thank you for comforting us with these truths. May we have strong confidence in your ways and in your works, to know that you will indeed prove, at the right time just as joseph saw and just as we saw at the cross and the resurrection the triumph of God over all sin, evil, and death. And that your great purposes are being worked out. Thank you, oh Lord, for caring to conform us to the image of your Son, for loving your Son so much that you would give to him these people. Give us, oh Lord, cheerful hearts and, whatever it is, as difficult as it may be, that we might trust you and believe your promise that is here stated.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.