Expound: Romans 8:28-9:6 - Part A

When you look within it gets worse because you see all of the corruption around you and if you're honest you realize I have the same capacities to do any of those things that I am distressed about that I hear about in the news. But when I look to Jesus then and only then am I at rest. When we look at all the turmoil and unrest going on in the world it's easy to become hopeless and distressed. But today on Connect with Skip Heitzig, Skip shares why your weary and anxious heart can rest on the promise of Romans 8 28. Now we want to tell you about a resource that helps you dive even deeper into God's truths. Joy in the midst of hardship is a hallmark of the Christian life but is it really possible?

Here's Lenya Heitzig. Sometimes what starts out as a happy trail turns into a really daunting road and we have to figure out how to navigate. A lot of times God's purpose in allowing trials is to give us opportunities to grow to the point where we genuinely experience joy in the midst of trials. Learn how to face trials with courage wisdom and yes joy with Lenya's booklet Happy Trials and when you give twenty dollars or more today to help keep this Bible teaching ministry on the air we'll send you a special bundle of three booklets by Lenya. Happy trials don't tempt me and speak no evil.

Get your bundle of three booklets for a gift of twenty dollars or more by calling 800-922-1888 or give online securely at connectwithskip.com slash offer that's connectwithskip.com slash offer. Okay we're in Romans chapter 8 as we join Skip Hyten for today's study. During World War II the Ten Boom family was arrested for hiding Jews in their home. Cori and her sister were sent to a concentration camp as older girls. They survived.

Cori Ten Boom went on to speak. She lived in southern California in Orange, California. She lived right around the block from where I used to work before she went to heaven.

But she had such an interesting perspective on life and a joy in the Lord after suffering such horrors in the concentration camps after surviving them and one of the great things that she said I'll never forget is this. Look around and be distressed. Look within and be depressed. Look to Jesus.

Be at rest. If you look around at our world today and that's all you look at you will be distressed. There's enough distressing news on a single news cycle to just cause you to throw your arms up and say what's the point?

No good news there. You're distressed. Then when you look within it gets worse because you see all of the corruption around you and if you're honest you realize I have the same capacities to do any of those things that I am distressed about that I hear about in the news. But when I look to Jesus then and only then am I at rest. And really that has been the story of Romans up to this point. Paul looked around at the Gentile world in the first few chapters. All have sinned.

All have fallen short of the glory of God. In chapter 7 Paul looks within himself and he's depressed. It's a depressing chapter. Chapter 7. Paul talks about himself a lot in that chapter. 47 personal pronouns.

I, me, mine. So he has looked around. He is distressed. He has looked within.

He is aptly depressed. He even brings it to a conclusion by saying oh wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me from the body of this death? But then he looks to Jesus in chapter 8.

Chapter 8 is such an important chapter to us because you can sense the rest that overcomes Paul the Apostle. He looks to Jesus. In fact when he says oh wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me from the body of this death?

He answers this question immediately by saying I thank God through Jesus Christ. It was Robert Murray McShane who said for every one look that we take at ourselves we should look at Jesus 10 times. Good advice. You do enough self-analysis and self-evaluation and you should. But you get to a point if you stop there you will truly be a depressed individual.

And perhaps the reason you are leaning toward depression so much is you think so much about yourself and how far you have fallen short and how you don't really meet the criteria the standard that you think you should live at. And so look to Jesus and be at rest. So beginning in chapter 8 Paul begins by just saying look there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. And he unfolds the work of the Spirit that we're adopted into the family of God that even though we suffer we are promised glory. And now we come to a verse of Scripture that is well it's if I were to ask take a little poll of how many of you have this as your favorite verse I'm sure a lot of you see hands are already going out.

God bless you I see that hand. It is in fact I was looking through lists of favorite Bible verses and one of the lists and this is pretty consistent in those who take these polls of the top 10 favorite verses in this one list of all times. Romans chapter 8 verse 28 ranks about number four as far as famous or most important verses. I mean you've got Psalm 23 the Lord is my shepherd there's a lot of contenders but this is usually right around number four. You can look at it this way if all of the Scripture were a meal a feast for your soul Romans chapter 8 is the main course. Verse 28 is the entree. It really gets down to it it starts getting it's it's been good but it gets really great with this incredible verse that is before us. One person called Romans 8 28 a soft pillow for a tired heart and I love that description so much I stole it and I called one of my sermons a soft pillow for a tired heart based on Romans 8 28. I have laid my head on this pillow many times and and the reason it's so great is because well I again I've spent a whole hour just on this verse but Paul begins with a very strong affirmation. He says in verse 28 and we know you see there's so much in life that when I look at it it just seems haphazard it seems weird it seems wrong it makes me say I don't know and there's a lot of things I don't know about life there's a lot of things God allows on I don't know why and I get people say why would God allow don't ask me I'm not God I don't know I'm in it with you there's just a lot of things I don't know but life is not haphazard as a child of God and whenever there are things you don't know gravitate and hold on to those things you do know and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God to those who are the called according to his purpose now notice the phrase all things work together the words work together it's one word in the original language sun ergao and soon ergao literally is translated together worked or together energized and we get the term synergy our English term synergy from the word sun ergao God in his power and in his providence causes the things in life even those things that seem haphazard to be synergized that is you have you have synergy is where you have two or more things that have a relationship with each other and interaction with each other and they produce a result greater than the sum of those things that's the idea of synergy God causes all things that happen to you in life to work together for good to those that love God so God is working together all the elements all the things you know about don't know about understand can't figure out but he has a result now you can't see the results and you wish God would tell you what he's up to and and so that's where faith comes in you trust God based upon the character of God I know the thoughts that I think toward you says the Lord thoughts of peace to give you a future and hope God said that to a group of people wondering how could this possibly be good we're in Babylon man we've been taken away from our homes in Jerusalem the city has been destroyed burned with fire we are out of the country the nation of our covenant God in in foreign powers how could this be good God causes all things to work together for good it might not feel good it might not be good that very element might not be good but just wait to see what God can synergize so here's a little example some time ago one of you awesome folks gave me a bag of tomatoes not that you would purchase that you had grown so they were home grown garden fresh tomatoes or tomato you say tomato I say tomatoes but I took them home they were awesome now I'm not saying that so that you'll if you all grow tomatoes I don't want a bushel of them but these were outstanding so I took them home and I poisoned them and I ate them now I heard a go up because you go what do you mean you poison well I put something on them that in their in its pure form would be poison I put a mixture of sodium and chlorine on those tomatoes now sodium in its pure form will kill you it's a poison chlorine in its pure form will kill you it's a poison but if you mix those two elements together at just the right measurement you get sodium chloride in other words table salt well now it's not poisonous any longer why it's the combination now there are things in life that happen to you and I and and and we say that's bad yep there are certain things that are bad that happen bad things happen and yet God in his divine chemistry lab can mix those elements together and and and wants to say to you just wait for the outcome you don't see it now but wait for the taste it's coming wait for it all things aren't you glad it doesn't say most things because there's plenty of things that we would put in the other category not this thing maybe those other things but not this he doesn't say most things he doesn't say some things he says all things and it's something he says we know I hope you know that there are certain truths you need to know to get through life like I said because there's going to be plenty of times that you'll look in the future and what's happening you go I don't know I don't get it I don't understand it's dark so that's where you rest on what you know and we know all things work together for good to those who love God to those who are the called according to his purpose okay let's just explore it a little bit I know I'm only on one verse still this is this is always my problem um this is this is always my problem um he does not say and we know that all things work together for comfort because if if you think that's what for good means you're going to be disillusioned and disappointed you're going to go through something to go wait a minute isn't the promise all things work together for good this isn't good doesn't say comfortable or for your comfort or for your ease it's for your good as God defines good well I just got to tell you there's a lot of latitude in that I'll give you an extreme example Johnny Erickson taught a over five decades ago became a quadriplegic she's in a wheelchair she has lived her life in a wheelchair a wheelchair one question that people ask her more than any other question you could figure out what that's going to be how could God allow that to happen to you how could a God of love allow that how can you follow a God and trust a God like that and yet Johnny will tell you that she believes that she is in that wheelchair permanently until she goes to heaven by the will of God and that it was probably the greatest thing next to salvation that happened to her you should read her books they will encourage you and what she says is that God sometimes will allow what he hates in order to accomplish what he loves that's a that's an incredible description of this verse God will sometimes allow what he hates in order that he might accomplish what he loves and and those who have trusted God the God of this verse the God of this promise know the depth of that meaning so we know that all things work together for good to those who love God to those who are the called according to his purpose for whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren moreover whom he predestined these he also called whom he called these he also justified whom he justified these he also glorified now I have gone into depth on these verses so if I do that with every verse like I did verse 28 we'll never make it through this chapter let alone on into chapter 9 but let me just say that that God has a goal for you to conform you so that you resemble his son and you're some of you inside are shaking your head going man I got a long way to go so do I so do I but I can say and I'm sure you can say you're on the road to that you're nowhere near that but you're you're not what you used to be either so he wants to conform you he said into the image of his son moreover whom he predestined he chose you in advance he picked you in advance he elected you in advance these he also called that's when you receive Christ now God chose you in advance but there came a a day a time in time and space I know the date when I gave my life to the Lord around about I didn't really write it down but I roughly remember the time the afternoon when I was called when I said yes to him and I cooperated with his choice made in eternity past so he predestined me he called me that's the day of your salvation whom he called he also justified when you said yes to Jesus God said yes to you he he declared you righteous justified you and whom he justified these he also glorified now wait a minute last time I checked uh Skip Heitzig is not glorified I look in the mirror every day it's not looking better uh if I'm waiting for glorification in this body I'm highly disappointed with the results yet though I realize glorification is a an event that will happen in the future when I'm in glory itself face to face with God my body will be glorified I'll have a resurrected body one day yet notice that that when the Holy Spirit through Paul the apostle writes about it he writes about it as though it's past tense now if you know anything about scripture you know that God's good at this that God will often speak about future events but he'll write about them with a past tense verbiage why would he do that because it's not about the church why would he do that because he's God and if God no see here's the thing and here's the problem we have God has an attribute you and I don't have it's omniscience he knows everything so you can sit I don't know if you ever do this try to figure out what would it be like to know everything well if you know everything then you can't learn anything so God never learns he's not in the process of learning like a finite theism teaches that God is any process of learning the human race as as history goes on no God knows everything so he can't learn anything so if you know everything do you even need to think I won't get deeper than that I'll stop right there but because God knows everything he knows that one day you're going to have a glorified body and to God it's as good as done so he can write about it in past tense even though it is future to you and to God it's as good as done that's why he can do prophecy so well he speaks about future events as though they've already happened if you read Isaiah chapter 53 what Jesus hadn't even been born yet and that the prophecy is about what Jesus would do but it's written in the past tense that's how sure God the Father is about the work that his son would do now he writes about you being glorified you go I don't feel it man don't worry you don't need to feel it you just need to believe it if he called you and he did he'll glorify you he will so what we have here is a panorama of God's work from eternity past to eternity future these are five links in the golden chain of God's sovereign care for us from predestination election to calling to justification all the way to glorification in verse 31 now Paul says what shall we say to these things well first of all what things is he referring to well I'll let me answer it three ways number one he's speaking about the entire book of Romans all that he has set up to this point he has described the gospel but then he went right into the wrath of God for chapter after chapter after the wrath of God the wrath of God is eclipsed by the grace of God so maybe he is just sort of following Romans and he stops midpoint here and he says what shall we say to what I've written so far in the book of Romans maybe that's what he means by these things or perhaps he's just speaking about the truths that we find in the eighth chapter there's no condemnation in Christ we're placed as adult children into his family adopted we cry Abba father there's the work of the spirit in our lives that guarantees that even though we suffer we're going to be in heaven with him and enjoy his glory maybe he means those things or maybe he's just referring to what he just wrote about imminently just in the paragraph all things work together he's predestined us etc etc so it means one of those three things take your pick but answer the question what shall we say to these things huh here here's something I can say hallelujah that's what I say awesome that's what I say awesome that's great what shall we say to these things this is what Paul says but he answers it with a question if God is for us who can be against us that's Skip Heitziging with a message from the series expound Romans now we want to tell you about an opportunity you have to take your knowledge of God's word to a deeper level if you're ready to study God's word beyond going to church and personal bible study you're ready for Calvary college take your learning and your life's purpose to the next level with an education in biblical studies registration for the 2022 fall term is open right now classes happen on site at Calvary church Albuquerque and online classes like old 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still be confident and hopeful despite opposition you might be facing connection make a connection at the foot of the crossing cast all burdens on his word connect with Skip heitzig is a presentation of connection communications connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever-changing times