Good evening, every one of you. It's my privilege this evening to bring the Word of God. I come from the heart of Italy, from a very Catholic family. I was a self-righteous Pharisee for 24 years of my life. And I hated the Protestants. And yet, God, in his mercy, looked down and gave me life in Christ, opened my eyes to see. I'm very encouraged to be here with you today. I am very encouraged of what I saw this morning with the baptism of this elderly couple, taking this step of obedience for the Lord and coming out of Catholicism and I know how it is. God has brought me through many trials and seasons of life and yet, He has been there all along, and that is where I would like to lead you tonight, as we ponder God's control over all of our life. And we wonder, we wonder in our walk, as I was wondering as a lost Catholic, how can I know the will of God for my life? And we look left and right. We look for people to tell us. And we ask for a sign. We ask for something big to deliver us. And if you're like me, it comes to the point that the only solution, the only way is through surrender. As we say, Lord, I do not know. I cannot make sense of this situation. I cannot make sense of my circumstances. But one thing I know, that all things will work together for my good, my ultimate good. Charles Spurgeon has this story of during the persecution In England, there were a group of preachers who were sent to be sentenced to death at the stake under Queen Mary, Bloody Mary. And she was persecuting, as a Catholic Queen, these preachers of the Gospel. And the line of preachers was coming to London, and among them there was this old preacher. And the guards started to spit and mock, and one guard just beat at his leg and broke his leg. And he said, all things are working together for good, aren't they? Where is your God now? As the other prisoners were proceeding to London, they were burnt at the stake. But this old man was delayed because of his leg. And it happened to take place that the next morning, a new queen was enthroned, Elizabeth, which was a Protestant queen. And she took off all the charges of heresy. And because of that old leg, that old man was delayed. And he was freed. And the moment he looked at the jailer, he said, all things are working together for good. Don't you see it? Don't you believe it now? Even in the midst of the struggle, even in the midst of your situation when you cannot make sense of it. When you realize that your greatest disappointment becomes the greatest divine appointment. As all of our plan may be thwarted before us. And we realize God's ultimate good goal. And it is written in Our text tonight from chapter 8, Romans, the letter to the Romans, Romans chapter 8 verse 28. This is a familiar passage. For we know, we know that all things are working together for the good of those who love God, of those who are being called according to his purpose. Let us pray, asking the Lord to guide us as we open his word. Oh God, you know that I am a weak servant, unable, and you promise in your word that you will not break the smoking flags, you will not crush the Bruce Reed but we pray that your spirit and your wind may blow as we contemplate this mystery. I pray not only that you will open our eyes to the unfolding of your plans, even through our circumstances, but yet that we will take these words into our lives, into our daily routines, into our daily challenges and our trials and our crosses, that we will indeed live out this reality, that you, Lord, are in control over our life, every little detail. Sovereign God, we ask you that you will speak to us tonight, that we will have hearts and ears to hear your word, Lord, and we will be comforted as Christians in the valley of this pond, that we will be challenged as still outside of Christ. And that we will see that all things are leading us to your glory and for your glory. We ask you this in the precious name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Now, you probably heard this verse quoted all over the place. We know that all things are working together for the good of those who love God, those who have been called according to His purpose. You saw it in wallpapers in your computer. You saw it in a Facebook page. You saw it even as a little post on a refrigerator. Is there something? Where do these words come from? They don't come out of nowhere. They are written in this book to the Christians who are living in Rome, where I come from. And to them, Paul is showing the beauty of this court case before the living God of sinners who cannot be reconciled, who are sinner and guilty, all men. Guilty stand before the Lord and He unfolds the dam. The only solution is the attorney. Jesus Christ steps in and brings salvation. He brings justice, satisfied at the cross through His perfect obedience and dying on that tree for us undeserving sinners. so that we are counted as righteous before the living, holy, pure, perfect God. And in verse 1 of our chapter, Paul now says that there is no condemnation. Christian, your condemnation is gone. Your guilt has been removed and replaced. There is peace with God. God doesn't condemn you and He saves you forever. And even in trials, as we started tonight with verse 18, even that all sufferings, we can frame them. How do we frame those sufferings? How do we make sense of the sufferings? We can frame them because we know the end from the beginning. Because this whole discussion of Paul is not isolated. This knowing that all things are working together for good is based on the plan of God unfolding from the decree of eternity as God predestined us to this salvation. To the eternity to come as we will face glory. And it is in light of that glory that Paul can say, all things are working for that goal. all things for the Christian. It is predestination that gives the comfort that our present sufferings are leading us to glory. God is at work in your life, Christian. He's unfolding this glorious privilege of all things working for the believer's good. And this is the ultimate goal, the good goal of God, which is, first of all, in the first part of our text, accomplished without exception. All things. It's purpose. God's ultimate good goal is that all things are working for our good. First thing that we notice is that Paul notices and says, we know, this is the certainty of this promise. It is not Paul's opinion here at stake. It is not some sort of idea and wish. No, we know for sure and as a fact, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, that all things, we can be 100% sure. Of what? Well, first of all, Our surety is concerning glory. As a believer, you can be confident of this glorious goal. You already know the glorious end that awaits you, Christian. You know that while on this earthly tent you have been destroyed, you face death, loss, mourning. God is preparing an eternal house in the heavenly places. You know for certain that you are going there. You know that glory awaits for God's redeems. This is what Paul wanted the Christians in Rome to understand. That our light momentary afflictions are achieving for us an eternal weight of glory. These afflictions are preparing for glory. 2 Corinthians 4, 17. But secondly, this surety has to do with the truth of God and the truth of His promises. witness with our spirits of this truth, that the promise of God contained in His inerrant and infallible Scripture, whether it's this verse, whether it's the rest of Scripture that is available to us, that is true. And in fact, a climax, this truth in a person. It's not just a concept. This truth is the Lord Jesus Christ, that it was sent as incarnate Word, and He walked on earth, and He was revealed and manifested to us. If we did not have this, then indeed all things will work for our evil. And as Christians, we will not be able to make sense of anything without Christ. In fact, Psalm 119 says, My comfort in my suffering. Verse 50 of Psalm 119. My comfort in my suffering is this. Your promise preserves my life. All God's promises, remember, are yes in Christ Jesus. And they preserves our life. through faith in those promises. I ask you to cling to those promises, to make them your own, to memorize these promises, to cling to Christ revealed through those promises. And lastly, we can be 100% sure with Paul of this knowledge. Someone says that knowledge is power. And in our case, it is indeed. How true for the equipped Christian who is carrying the full armor of God and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God, and he goes through the trials of this life, and he can be confident that he knows in whom he has believed. That no matter what your present circumstance, he cling to this promise. I know. I know that my Redeemer lives, said Job in the midst of all of his trials. I know. This is the knowledge that Paul wants us to see. And God can free you tonight from your present and current instability, perhaps because of the neglect of this truth, perhaps because of ignorance. You see, the contrary of knowledge is ignorance, and an ignorant Christian who goes through trials is in great danger, like a sheep without a rudder. He doesn't know what he's lending, and the next wave comes. But you have the Scripture, and you hold on to that promise. As we deny such assurance, then our daily life is completely shaken at the first trial. But instead, if we cling to this word, we can be like John Owen, who was one of the greatest Puritans. That man lost all of his kids. They were born and they died, one after the other. What should have he done? Overwhelmed. And yet, we know. We know that all things are working together for a good. He was clinging to the Lord Jesus Christ through those trials. And God, God used that man for his church. Secondly, we see the extent of this ultimate good goal in the fact that this is a This is a comprehensive extent. Paul says all things, not just some things. Not just the thing that we like. Not just the thing that we can make sense of it. No, every single detail under heaven is working together. And some translations here use the third person, which means that It is not all things working together, but it is God working all things for good. It is like an orchestra director who is using all the instruments and creating this symphony. Or like a doctor who has to mix those sometimes even poisonous elements to create a medicine that will cure us. And that is what God does. In working and orchestrating all things, His providence is behind the scene of your life. Even in evil circumstances, yes. God is helping and directing even those evil circumstances for His ultimate good goal. Into the good. This is not necessarily apparent good. A good that is good into our eyes? A good that is good in and of itself? No, it is not. God is not saying this. And yet, because of His sovereignty and because of the ultimate glorification of His saints, the Christian can look at that situation and say, yes. This good is the ultimate good. I remember a story of a Sunday school teacher who was going through the sacrifice of Isaac story. And as the story reached its climax and Abraham was binding Isaac on that altar and he took the knife and he was ready to slay his only big son. One of the students just stood up. She said, that's enough. I don't want to hear about this. This is cruel, this is terrible, this makes no sense. And yet another children on the other side of the room stood up and said, don't be silly, Mary. Don't you know that this is God's story? And that God's stories are leading to this ultimate good goal as the extent of This good is comprehensive. Comprehensive, which means your evaluation of what is ultimately good must be everything. Everything. All your painful experiences? Yes. How about my distresses? Yes. How about my sufferings? Yes. Jesus Christ looked at mourners. Jesus Christ looked at persecuted. Jesus Christ looked at hungered for righteousness, and He declares them blessed. And He says, rejoice and live for joys. This is the Savior's perspective on our affliction. As sin is destroyed in our life, pride is pruned, and your affections are reoriented toward God, and all of your earthly mindedness is gone. And God prepares the way for contentment and joy. What could be better than that? And we better recall that beyond the sufferings, also the fact that God is still the overflowing fountain of all good. His power, His wisdom, His faithfulness, His mercies. The promises He gives us in His Word, most of all, the fact that He sent His only Son, He condescended, He came to this earth, He walked in this fallen world, He lived a perfect life, He died on the cross for you and me. And not only that, but He gives us with Him to be raised. And what else? He sends His Spirit. He sends His Spirit to dwell within you. He prepares us. A home in the heavenly places. This is overwhelming. And His answer prayers. The fact that He waits until the last moment. He creates in us His character. Christ Jesus is formed in us through all His afflictions. In fact, this is the second element of application of this extent, which is beneficial. What great discomfort to know that God is at work in your situation for this ultimate benefit. You are to be anxious about nothing because nothing will work for your ultimate harm. Now it's easy to say when all is well and there's no trouble. But what about other times? If you're like me, you feel like the song is the time. I thought I was never to be shaken, says the psalmist, but when you hid your face, I was undone. I was undone. Our frailty collides with this promise. And this promise does not mean, like many people take this promise today, that everything somehow will work. perfectly in your life, and as a Christian you will have big cars, you will have a nice life. No. As a Christian, actually, you will suffer more than others. Christ will send all sort of trials and yet, yet, He can turn them for His ultimate good goal. Think of Mordecai and Esther as they They look at the same month that was supposed to cause the slaughtering of God's people because the evil, wicked man, Ammon. And God transformed that same day in a day of celebration in the Mount of Purim. Thirdly, it's also an extent that is supernatural. Even what seems apparently evil is ultimately good. And at times, this doesn't just come right away. It takes time. God is not done yet with you. Yet, like that Sunday school experience, God overrules those things and everything works together for good for His children. Everyone can witness, I bet, in this room, how many times God has been faithful in our lives, and even our trials, and even our brokenness has worked for our ultimate good, especially in salvation, but also in our daily providences, past afflictions, mistakes you have made, your regrets, and you start to define yourself with this remorse, and you're frustrated. But know that God is above those circumstances, and He's working them for your ultimate good. So that like Joseph, he looks at his brothers and he says, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. Now, the good in view is not necessarily physical good. We are not promised an easy life. But whatever earthly condition we may be, if we have Christ, we have the ultimate good. So that neither death, nor persecution, nor famine, nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. God uses everything for His purpose. And lastly, He's also a just extent. A just extent. Now, God is still displeased with evil men. He's sovereign over that. He works it for His ultimate good, but He cannot be charged with evil. And men are still responsible of their sin. But God is above it. We're not called to rejoice in our suffering for the sake of suffering on their own sake, but because of the outcome. This is what Paul says in chapter 5 of Romans, verse 3 to 4. We glory in our sufferings because we know that sufferings produces perseverance and perseverance character and character hope. Many things remain evil in themselves, but they don't have the last victory. God remained displeased over evil and he will punish evil. Yet, as we will see in this next point, when considered under the umbrella of God's sovereignty, everything indeed is for his ultimate good. So not only, as we saw, This ultimate goal is accomplished without exception. But we come to the second point of our text, second part of verse 28. It is applied with distinction. And now I address here both those who are in Christ and those who are not. The recipient of this promise is not every single human being on the face of the earth that can read a wallpaper, that can read a verse and say, you know, I find it kind of gets me going, you know? No, that's not what is in view. Those who are love, those who love God and have been called according to His purpose are the recipient of this promise. As we love God with all of our hearts, with all of our soul, with all of our mind and with all of our strength, which is the evidence that we are children of God. That we are being effectually being called. This is the spring of these privileges. Those who love God. Who are called to be in fellowship with God and therefore are called according to the purpose of God. The plan of God. Which was secret before the ages. And that in verse 29 on Paul will explain what this plan was. and the unfolding of this chain, which, again, keep in mind glory as the end. So who are these recipients? They are loved, and they love God. The very fact that you love God proves that you are among his chosen people. You are adopted. You are his elect. And we know that we pass from death into life, John says in 1 John 3.14, because we love the brothers. This involves your obedience to God, loving what He loves, hating what He hates, because God Himself is love. And yet you must realize that we do so because God is at work within us. And He's the first who loved us. Nothing in us make us worthy before Him. Secondly, He's also a sovereign recipient. What thousands of sermons miss as they look at this little verse is that, you know, they use it as a cliché Bible passage, yet they miss the central piece which is climaxing into the following verses and then The following chapters, Romans 9, is what John Murray talks the indissoluble link between this statement that all things are working together for good with predestination and glorification. We are headed toward God. Everything can be ultimately good because of His sovereign hand upon His children. But I tell you, and I ask you now to hear me clearly. This promise, as I said, is not for all people on this earth. If you're still outside of Christ, not only things are not working together for your good, my friend, but you're still not part of His flock. You are in love and infatuation with this world. And you hate God, actually, because you do not obey His commandments. You do not love Him. You do not know that if you stay in sin, you are still dead. outside of Christ. All things are not working for your ultimate good, but for your ultimate destruction in hell. This is serious. What miserable condition is for the one who turned to evil, even with all the good things and all the good providence that God has given him, Allow him, first of all, to hear the Word of God, and sit under the preaching of this Word, and yet he stays in his sin, he stays far away from God. Even in the midst of all this blessing, they still are the most unhappy people. I was reading a psalm this morning, and the psalmist is frustrated, because unbelievers seem to do good until they enter into the house of the Lord, and he sees their end, their misery, You may wonder, am I one of the called? Am I one of the elect? Well, just know that He's calling you today to turn to Him and to realize that He had a plan behind all the misfortune, of the greatest misfortune you could say. As Christ our Lord, the Lord of glory, was crucified, nailed on a tree, Pilate, an evil, wicked man, handed Him over. Is this good? It is for the salvation of sinners who turn to Him, who realize their sin, that the God of the universe has come and even this great evil, greatest evil, is turning for the greatest good of all and the salvation of sinners like you and me. nailed to the cross, and we were betraying Him, who left, who were led astray like sheep. In His hour of need, He died for us. This is the greatest good. Now, does that mean that we will always understand this greater good? No. Job did not understand it. In fact, at the end of his great trial, and he's claiming, Lord, Lord, show and reveal yourself, and God shows himself, what does Job do? I spoke of things that I didn't know. God is incomprehensible. That's a term that is often used in theology. It's like, we can know God, but we cannot put our arms around his purpose. We cannot. So instead of trying to make sense, instead of murmuring like Israel in the desert, if God sees fit to send us tests, blessed be His name. He has taken away His sovereign over my life. And in fact, He's purifying me. And I come to the last application point of this, which is the Christ-likeness. It's all gold, my friend. Your ultimate goal is not happiness or a good life. Your ultimate goal is Christ. It's not even get to heaven. It's Christ. And so if this is your goal, how does Christ live? You were just saying, what did he went through? And so if our goal is not ourself, our goal is not to be some sort of person that we have in our mind or great idol that we make of ourselves. Our goal is Christ formed in us. And that's what creation is groaning and Paul is groaning over believers who are still struggling to see Christ form in us. and we eagerly await the fullness of our redeemed state in glory when we will indeed be like He is. When Christ our life appears, we shall be as He is. All this present suffering will have its purpose. I remember this week, a few days ago, I was with a friend in his house and he was telling me of a trial that he went through Ten years ago, as he had a surgery on his eye, and this was a serious surgery that caused him pain and pain and pain for six months. He could not, anywhere he went, he had to wear those black glasses, even watching TV or any light. He had to go around with these glasses. Can you imagine? for six months like this and pain and pain and pain. And you know, he's a believer, but he entered in a state of strong depression. Depression, serious depression. Why God is doing this to me? Why me now? And God doesn't remove that trial. You prayed. Other people around you don't understand what you're going through. You feel like God has abandoned you. Have you been there? for months, for years sometimes. And you know what happened? After he got healed, thank God, he went back to work. And in his business, he told me that something weird started to happen. Some of his workers were going through a lot of suffering and he could spot depression when he sees it. And they started to come to his office. And they started to ask for counsel. And God has used them incredibly. And I talked to him the other day. He told me, I wouldn't trade this trial for anything else in the world. I'm the happiest man! Think of me! If God did not send me that trial, I would be so selfish, so focused on this life and having a car and being just the regular guy who's got big trucks and enjoy life. No! And yet, when I was going through it, it was hard to see. So don't lose heart, believer. Realize that God is in control. Nothing can defeat God's plan over your life. You are indeed more than conqueror in Christ Jesus. Whether it's tribulation, persecution, whether it's death, whether it's whatever, we will never overcome what lies within us. God has started something in the believer. The joyous condition of being a child of God, saved by grace, So, therefore, meditate upon this sovereignty. Meditate upon the fact that God has come to chase the knot for its own sake, but to reform you, to bring beautiful things out of ashes. He knows what is best for you and me and wants your ultimate good more than you and me want it. With our short-sighted view, He wants the likeness of His Son to be formed in you. And therefore, our limited, biased, self-focused perspective must be dropped and surrendered so that Christ may be forming you. Oh, I remember one of the most dangerous prayers that you can pray is, Lord, I want to know you more. Lord, I want Christ to be forming me. I had one of my mentors in the year past come to me. He's like, are you sure you want to pray that prayer? And yet, it becomes a privilege as we realize that God makes no mistakes. Our cherished plans may go astray, our hopes may fade away, but still we trust our Lord to lead through all the way through dark, Though it may seem dark to our eyes, we realize that He makes no mistakes, that this is God's ultimate good goal. But if this does not apply to you, I invite you again to turn to Him in faith and realize the danger. Because you can have all the blessings of this life on this side, but if you do not have Christ, Temporary good may abound, but ultimate good is out of the picture. Turn to him. Let's pray. Oh God, I thank you for, we thank you for your word, for the majesty and the beauty of this plan from eternity past to eternity future, that you have called us You came right in the midst of all of our rebellion and sin and rejection, and You brought us into the fold of Your people. And yes, we went through the fire, tested, passed through that fire, coming out of gold like our faith, oh God, which You keep testing, testing and refining. Oh, I pray that my brothers and sisters here today will see your control over their lives, their circumstances, their providences, whether they're good or bad, Lord. You are in control over them and you will drive them, whether in this life or the next. For the ultimate glory that awaits us and the weight of that glory balanced out with all the trials, every single one of them. And I pray, Lord Jesus, that you will bring in more folds into this sheepfold. The more people will see, Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, His sacrifice, His paying for our sins and His redemption, O God. Show them Christ tonight. And I pray that you will be with them for the weeks ahead in this pilgrimage until we reach that glory that awaits God's redeems. In Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen. Our last hymn is His Forever. The last part of the third stanza. where he is not life nor death nor anything can ever separate me. A love that will not let me go. Yes, I am his forever. Let's stand and sing. To me with his cords of love, tightly bound me to him. Around my heart still closely twined, the ties that none can sever. I am his and he is mine, ever and forever. ♪ Dearest friend of sinners ♪ ♪ A crown of thorns you wore for me ♪ ♪ Bruised from my transgression ♪ ♪ Pierced from my iniquity ♪ ♪ The wrath of God that I deserved ♪ ♪ Was poured out on the innocent ♪ Look, I placed my soul to save. Now I'm His forever. Jesus, friend of sinners, I love to tell this story. Redeeming love has been my theme. will be wed in glory. Not death nor life nor anything can ever separate me. Love that will not let me go. Yes, I'm his forever. Not death, nor life, nor anything can ever separate me. Oh, love that will not let me go. Yes, I'm his forever.