Sermon 24

The Providence Of God

Romans 8:28

Many of you will recognize the name Warren Wiersbe. He is a well-known Bible teacher who for several years served as the General Director for Back To The Bible Radio Ministry. In the 60's he served as the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Covington, KY. He is one of my favorite authors, have written over 115 different books. I have a number of his books in my library. In the spring of 1988, Warren Wierbe visited Cedarville College to preach to the student body. LeAnn was attending Cedarville at that time. Carla and I had made plans to visit the college for a day, so we could spend some time with LeAnn and also so we could hear in person Warren Wiersbe, one of my favorite authors. However, we were involved in a very serious car wreck in which Sarah was severely and nearly fatally injured. Needless to say, I did not go to Cedarville. LeAnn spoke with Mr. Wiersbe, told him our circumstances, told him that I read all of his books, and asked him to pray for Sarah. He sent me a note which said, "Sorry to hear about your accident, my brother. I am praying for your daughter. Romans 8:28." While we waited in the hospital night and day, many Christian friends who came to visit reminded us of this verse. I knew the verse by heart and could quote it, but I found myself several times opening the Bible and reading the words as a source of strength and comfort.

We have come to one of the most well-known, best-loved verses in all the Bible. This verse contains a wonderful promise that has given hope to many of God's people in times of trouble and tragedy. Let's turn in our Bibles and read again Romans 8:28 - "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

What a rich and powerful verse this is! It tells us that there is no such thing as an accident, as far as God is concerned. When we had out accident, Don Hunt said to me, "You may have had a wreck, but you didn't have an accident. With God there are no accidents." He was right. In every circumstance of life, God is at work. There is a divine purpose in everything that happens. This verse speaks of what theologians call providence. What is providence? The capital of Rhode Island? A hit TV series? That term may be unfamiliar to you. The word providence means literally to "see beforehand." It teaches that God sees the end or the purpose for what happens in life. He sees the final goal. . . . so God is actively involved moving creation toward that goal. I would define "providence" as the invisible hand of God that is at work when we cannot see it nor understand it.

There are times when life feels like it is out of control. A shooting is reported on the news. One more person has cancer. Someone we love is diagnosed with a debilitating disease. A long-term relationship crumbles. Someone we love dies suddenly. We lose a job. We face financial reversals. We are falsely accused. Or we have one of those periods where nothing seems to go as planned. At these times life seems unpredictable and arbitrary.

It is at those spots in life where we need Romans 8:28. The promise given to us in this verse of God's providence is something worthy of our careful consideration today. Let's consider this promise.

The doctrine of providence is not very popular today. When difficult circumstances come our way many are quick to jump "to God’s defense." They proclaim, "God had nothing to do with it!" or worse, they will say, "God couldn’t do anything about it." But there are two problems with these statements. First, there is no comfort in them at all. What is comforting about believing that God is powerless to control the things that happen in your life? And second, in this attempt to safeguard God’s reputation . . . they make God less than God. If He is God . . . .OF COURSE He could have done something about it! God is never powerless! So the question becomes: what is God doing in bringing about or in "not stopping" certain events.

This verse begins with the little conjunction "and". It connects what is about to be said with what has already been said. The verses prior to this verse speak of suffering. All creation is groaning for glory. Sin has brought suffering into the world. Now all the created world longs for the end of sin. The general subject is suffering. This verse reminds us that God is at work, fulfilling his purpose even through suffering.

The verse also says that "we know." The "we" of course refers to Christians. There are some things of which Christians are sure. We know. I John 5:13 says that we know that we have eternal life. And, according to this verse, we also know that God is in control, that He is providentially working all of life's circumstances to fulfill His ultimate plan. There are some things that we don't know. Verse 26 says that we don't always know how to pray. But we do know that God is in control.

Not everyone knows, has assurance and confidence, but we, the people of God know. We know this by faith. Paul says we KNOW that God is working all things for good. But how do we know that? We know it because this is God’s promise.

The Extent Of This Promise

"All things work together for good..." Notice, the Bible doesn't say that some things work together for good or even that most things work together for good. The Bible says all things. What does all mean? All means all and that's all that all means! There is no limit to what works out for our good.

This verse does not say that everything that happens is good. There are some things that happen that are not good. Some things that happen are bad, evil and painful. But the verse says that even when bad, evil, painful things happen, they work out for our good. God can take evil and make good out of it.

In everything that happens God ultimately has the good of his people in mind, see Deuteronomy 8:15-16.

Good things happen for our good. Bad things also happen for our good. God is working ALL things for Good in the life of the believer. EVERYTHING is filtered through the hands of our loving Father . . . everything!

The Wedgwood Baptist Church suffered the horror of a gunman by the name of Larry Ashbrook coming into their church on a Wednesday night in September of 1999 while a "See You at the Pole" rally was taking place. He began shooting . . . killing seven young people. It was a horrible situation. Months afterward the church looks back and sees a number of ways God has used this painful time.

All the victims were believers. The memorial service at the football stadium of Texas Christian University was attended by 15,000 people and was broadcast on CNN and because Kim Jones' parents live and work in Saudi Arabia, that country, which is closed to the gospel, allowed portions of the service to be broadcast there. In response to a question by Al Gore, Pastor Meredith was able to present the gospel clearly on "Larry King Live" and was in the days following able to pray with President Clinton and Texas Governor George W. Bush. A DJ at a local Christian radio station was able to lead a caller to Christ. He said he wanted what the church members had. These are just a few of the evidences of God’s providence in this circumstance. There are certainly other things we will not learn about until we are in Heaven. God was at work even in the horror and madness of this situation.

Suffering works together for our good. Suffering is a means of divine chastisement (Hebrews 12:5-11) and refinement (I Peter 1:7), see all James 1:2-3 and I Peter 5:10. Joseph suffered. But God worked Joseph's suffering for good (Genesis 50:20). Job suffered. But God worked Job's suffering for good (Job 42:5-6;10). Paul suffered. God worked Paul's suffering into good (II Cor. 12:7ff). There are many benefits to suffering. Suffering teaches us to hate sin; it helps us to see our own evil; it drives us to God; it conforms us to Christ; it humbles us; it gives us more compassion and mercy; it proves that we are the children of God; it prevents us from sin (Psalm 119:67:71;75).

Temptation works together for our good. Jesus was tempted to sin. But his temptation worked together for our good. He taught us how to handle temptation. Temptation makes us prayerful; it enables us to help others; it makes us depend on Christ; it makes us desire heaven.

Things that are bad are overruled by God for our good in the ultimate purpose of the Lord. Nothing can overrule God's plan! Verse 28 stresses that not only are all things for God’s glory, but also for the good of the Christian. Then, also, it is God who is active in all the affairs of our lives, for "It is God who causes all things to work together." The events of our lives are no accidents; they are the handiwork of the sovereign God.

We should see that all things work together. We cannot look at things in isolation, yet we are incapable of seeing from the beginning to the end, so we must trust in God to accomplish His good and perfect and acceptable will in His own way in our lives.

God is working providentially but that doesn’t mean we understand. Why? Why did my spouse die? Why do I have cancer? Why did I have to bury my child? Why is my relationship such a mess? Why does everyone else seem to prosper while I struggle? Believing in God’s providence doesn’t mean that you will understand what God is doing . . . it only means you will trust that God is doing something.

The Recipients Of This Promise

All things work to together for good but not for everyone. Two phrases in this verse identify the recipients of this promise. These two phrases give us two perspectives on our salvation. From one perspective we see that we love God. From another perspective we see that He called us.

Those who love God. There are many titles in the Bible for Christians - children of God, believers, saints. Here they are identified as "them who love God". Nothing is more indicative of our character as Christians than our love for God, see Exodus 20:5-6; I Corinthians 2:9; James 1:12). The point is that true Christians love God.

Those who are called. Why do we love God? I John 4:19 says that we love him because he first loved us. His great love for us caused God to take the initiative of salvation. God calls us to salvation. He calls us by means of the gospel. He also calls us by means of the Spirit who convicts us of sin and draws us to salvation. When we answer God's call we become the called (I Corinthians 1:2; II Timothy 1:9).

The Certainty Of This Promise

This verse says that we know that all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For Christians, this is a certainty. The Bible gives to us an absolute promise. We rest upon that promise. God is at work in everything that happens to me, to accomplish his divine purpose for his glory and the good of all God's people.

The supreme illustration of this is the death of Christ. The worst thing that ever happened in human history , turned out to be the best thing that could ever have happened to us. Man's most wicked deed, murdering the innocent Son of God, became God's sacrifice which provided our salvation.

God is not indifferent to you. He cares about you and He is at work in your life even when His hand seems invisible. He is involved in the big things and the little things of your life. Stay open. Keep listening. Learn the lessons He is trying to teach you - even though you don’t understand, even though you find the process painful, even though it is not the course you desire, even though we can’t imagine what good could possibly come from these things. Hang on tight to the Lord no matter what the circumstances. We must judge the circumstances by the Word and not the Word by our circumstances. There are many things that happen that will never make sense in this life. This is because some things are too complex to understand and some things will only make sense in light of Heaven. Always look beyond the pain and seek to be faithful in the painful times. Stand on the truth that God is doing something we do not yet understand. Look at every circumstance as an opportunity for growth.

I once read about a pastor who carried in his Bible a handmade bookmark made of silk threads woven into a motto. The back of the bookmark was a tangled web of crossed threads that seemed to be without reason or purpose. When he visited a home where there was great trouble, sorrow or death, the pastor would frequently show this bookmark, always presenting first the backside with all its unintelligible tangle. When the bereaved one had acknowledged that the bookmark make any sense, the pastor would turn the marker over. Immediately, against the white silk background there was the phrase in colored threads, God is love. That's the way life is. We often see it from the bottom. It is tangled and seemingly without reason or purpose. But someday we will see life from God's perspective and we will understand that there was a reason and a purpose in everything that happened to us. Through it all God was at work. God was making everything bad work together for the good of all his people.