The Extent of the Believer's Security B

All that can happen to you in this life, good and bad will ultimately be used by God to bring you to eternal glory that is the monumental truth here.

Bottom line, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ because everything works together eternal that establishes that, but how can the Bible possibly claim that hard trials are actually good for you find out today on grace to you before we get to the lesson.

Though we want to let you know about a brand-new study tool that we are really excited about it. Of course Jon I say brand-new, but were really talking about something that has already had a long and fruitful history and we think bringing it back for a new generation of believers is the thing we ought to do so. Tells about well you're talking about study guides. It's been how many years maybe 20 years at least 20, maybe 25, 25 years and we haven't published the study guides every once in a while I run into somebody says I have a complete set of the study. I think the hundred 50 of them yeah and it is rare to find a complete set there. There are passages of Scripture the go verse by verse with an outline and questions that you can ask and answer their their study guide. They are so popular. I think if you find a complete set on eBay might have to sell your your house to get it, but they have been around for a long time, so will the arena revive these and basically it's going to be the series.

Every title verse by verse with John MacArthur because that's exactly what it does. There there there probably now 7580 pages. Maybe some of them go hundred, 220 different because they it depends on how many messages are in each series is yeah and they follow very closely with what your preaching would as the difference between the.

The study guides and the commentary is the commentaries are verse by verse through a book study guys are thematic there there subject related like the opening one is going to be spiritual boot camp everything you need to note as a foundation to Christian life. So each study guide takes on a different subject, but draws that subject out of a specific portion of Scripture or several portions of Scripture that I preached on back in the 1980s that we we were producing these all over the place and they were so popular and so were going to have our own resurrection of the study guides going be called verse by verse with John MacArthur and again the first volume is from a classic sermon series called spiritual boot camp.

Here's the good news. If you have never been in touch with us before we will send you a free copy of the brand-new spiritual boot camp study guide is the first one in our verse by verse with John MacArthur series and were planning to air the spiritual boot camp series on radio late next month so request your verse by verse study guide now and follow along as you listen on the radio. That's right at this study guide is a great complement to John's radio series you're going to want to copy and I'll talk more about how to get it after the lesson, but right now, stay here as John continues his study, the grip of God we continue in our study of Romans chapter 8 verse 28, 29 and 30 nothing. Just take verse 28, which is I say as part of this summary of of the security of the believer.

We could divided into four sections. Verse 28 talks about the extent of our security. It talks about the recipients of security. The source of security and the certainty of security comes in versus 29 and 30 must take that first point and let's just talk about the extent of our security.

How really secure are we well here is the extent of our security in one simple statement and we know that God causes all things to work together for good. That is the extent of our security that is a tremendously comforting and reassuring statement there could not be a more reassuring statement than that.

Now we have then in verse 28 is the fact that everything due to this plan of God. Due to the will of God, and due to the intercessory work of the Holy Spirit, particularly in verse 26 and 27 he can actually say in verse 28 that everything that happens in your life will will work out for good and the good to here let me say that you clearly the good here is eternal glory. Okay the good. Here is eternal glory not doesn't mean that the only good is going to be realized in eternity. The good here is going to sustain you into eternity. It involves your eternal glory and it involves getting you to that you say what what what you mean by all things here.

Well, there are no limits. So let's let's talk about.

Let's see how how far we can go with the same first of all, and I'll give you two points because there are only two points to make here. There are only two kinds of things that can happen to you.

What are the good things and bad things resembling it didn't take me long to figure out the outline here. The only things can happen to your good things are bad things, and in either case, they were together for what for good are good God is doing good for us constantly is an expression of the goodness of his character's nature are good. God has made to us great and precious promises God has given us his good word which ministers good to us, as we learned and apply it and obey it. God is called the good and holy angels to our aid to do good for us and God has designed that saints within the church minister mutually goodness to each other. These are the good things all that is important in all that is true, but frankly that is not really the important element of the passage go back to the passage for a minute what the passage is really trying to say to us here is that it's not just good things that work for our good, but it's bad things that work for our good and everything went exactly the way we wanted to go. We wouldn't even ask the question whether our salvation would be sustained wouldn't be asking the question, can we lose our salvation of all there was was good. But in spite of all that God does.

In spite of all that is promised and pledged to us in spite of all that's in his word, in spite of all the paths of obedience. We can walk and thereby be blessed.

In spite of the work of holy angels. In spite of the mutual stimulation and goodness of believers around us in spite of all that our lives are still filled with bad things are. Man is born of the trouble as the sparks fly upward.

Jesus said in the world going to have trouble tribulation and we have bad things in our lives and those become the real issue can bad things separate us from God can bad things bring us out of a no condemnation status into a condemnation status can bad things because Christ not to love us anymore. Can bad things because God remove our salvation.

Well let's ask the question let's answer there are three categories of bad things that I want you to see three categories of bad things category number one will will just call suffering. Suffering sufferings bad.

I mean it's reflective of the curse Adam and Eve didn't suffer in the garden before the father was in any pain wasn't any sorrow there were any tears there wasn't even any death.

The first area of bad things we have to deal with this suffering life is just full of it full of it and it starts out at the beginning and stays there and maximizes itself at the end in the horrors of death.

Just life is just full of bad things, but even suffering which is bad can work for good. First Peter 510 puts it this way after you've suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. That's why James one says count it all joy when you fall into various trials right knowing the testing of your faith produces patience and patience has a perfect work perfect work suffering produces good why what we learn how to deal with pain and therefore we learn how to help others who deal with. We learn compassion.

We learn patience. We learn gentleness we learn to trust. We experience grace from God and mercy and sustenance. The goodness of God can come out of suffering. Think of Joseph his brothers through him in a pit sold them off as a slave was thrown into prison. But in the end it all work together for good nets. Genesis 5020 minute free will. I minute for good. And then there was Job, there is a man who suffered lost everything he had actually everything, all the children died lost all of this while Paul describes all of his land. Everything all of his animals got ulcers and got boils. It was catastrophe without parallel.

Through it all, God was working good and in the end he says this I heard of the with a hearing in my ear, but now my eye sees the SC if he and I repent in dust and ashes, he learned the greatness and goodness of God, through it all was remarkable remarkable lesson. Paul burden synchrony in chapter 12 of the thorn in the flesh free three times. Lord, remove it.

The Lord said, I'm not removing it and leave it there because it humbles you because in your weakness.

You're made strong when you can't trust yourself. And when you're at the end of your own resources, then you have to turn to me and then you become strong.

Even his blindness in acts nine drove him to Christ suffering is good. God uses it to do a number of things will just recite a few of them use it to teach us to hate sin, you know what when you look at all the suffering in the world. As Christians, you don't ask the questions at the world as the world's is why wise all this happen right wise or like to say they don't understand is no recognition of the impact of sin, but when you and I look at the suffering in the world. We hate the sin, the cause of suffering. Remember, Jesus was at the tomb of Lazarus and he started to cry and you might ask the question why in the world is he crying he's about to raise him from the dead wasn't crying because Lazarus was dead.

He wanted him dead. That's why he hadn't come when Lazarus was sick.

They sent a message and said come down here he sick. Jesus didn't go. He wanted him dead because he wanted this massive miracle right on the porch as it were of the Passover season as was all part of orchestrating the cross and the resurrection so wanted to bed we came down there and he saw the family in sorrow and weeping, and the torment of having lost their beloved brother. Then he wept and he wept, not because Lazarus was dead but he wept because he can extrapolate from that experience all the suffering of all humanity through all the years.

When loved ones die. You could see the consequence of sin. So it teaches us to hate sin. We understand all the suffering in the world gives us an aversion to sin. That's good. It's a good lesson learned.

You want to make a conclusion somewhere along the line in your mind that if sin on a big scale causes so much disaster it'll cause same disaster on a smaller scale is going to do in your life. Just what it does in the world.

If you hated in the world you hated in your own life. Secondly, suffering teaches us to see the evil that is in us whenever we suffer. Reminded that we are still fallen only the corruption of our hearts just boils up in our suffering. You suffer and what happens you get impatient you become bitter. You begin to question… And you really begin to see the fallenness that still there suffering is good because it will teach you to hate sin and will teach you to see the evil that is in you suffering is good also because it will drive you to God, like Paul, when you get to the point where you have nowhere to go. You wind up going to him and that's good. I don't know about you, but the greater the suffering I experience the greater my prayer life is that not true when everything's going well.

I tend to sort of have to force myself into prayer, but when there's a disaster somewhere when there's real suffering somewhere, I am compelled to pray in prosperity, the heart is easily distracted and prosperity. The heart is easily divided suffering drives out the world and sends us singularly to God.

Further, I think suffering is good because it conforms us to Christ.

It helps us to experience the fellowship of his sufferings we begin to understand our Lord to do as Paul said to bear the marks of Christ, we suffer with him. Romans tells us that we might reign with him right here in Romans eight we we participate in flipping through the fellowship of his sufferings. It helps us to identify with him and to go to him as our great high priest suffering also drives out sin, suffering drives out sin in Job 23 verse 10 says and when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold suffering will destroy your dreams and your ambitions and your pride in many cases will burn out the dross in your life Lord user suffering is a chastening the drive Sinnott and Hebrews it says at whom the Lord loves she chastens suffering is good because it can drive out our sin.

It's good to because ultimately it brings joy. Ultimately, it brings joy. Say what you mean because Job 517's rights is happy is the man whom God corrects happy is the man whom God corrects you need to look at suffering that comes in your life and say I must be a child of God, because every son. He scourges right Hebrews 13 and if I'm going through a suffering and the pain.

The Lord is refining me the Lord discouraging me. One of the other. Maybe a little of both. And after I have been corrected while it seems grievous for the moment, in the end it will bring joy.

John 12 Jesus said to the disciples, you're going to suffer but it's gonna be like birth pains out of that suffering is going to come joy and then suffering is good because it produces greater glory. It produces greater glory in second Corinthians 417, momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. All the suffering in this life that you endure will be compensated for in the life to come in greater glory. It's a marvelous thing to think about the goodness that comes in suffering. Suffering is good. It works for good. It's not in itself. Good it doesn't feel good. It is an element of the curse in the fallenness and is related to the sinful realities in our existence, but it is good because it teaches us to hate sin. It teaches us to see the evil that is in us. It drives us to God.

It conforms us to Christ. It drives sin out. It ultimately produces joy because we been refined and corrected and it gains for us an eternal weight of glory. This is a marvelous benefit is a great blessing. Secondly, let's not talk about suffering must talk about something else that is bad in one sense, what produces good let's call it struggling struggling now we move away from suffering which has often to do with our physical being too struggling which has to do with the moral spiritual battles we fight and what I mean by struggling is battling temptation even that works together for good to say how well first of all, it sends us to our knees to pray know when the animal sees the hunter coming.

He runs to safety. And certainly when the believer sees the enemy coming. He runs into the presence of God. Psalm 42 tempted to despair. David was driven to God. That's the struggle with temptation drives us to our knees. Secondly, it devastates our spiritual pride. It shows us that were really weak.

Anybody who parades their pride. Anybody who thinks they've arrived spiritually in their more spiritual and more pious and more godly and more virtuous than somebody else really doesn't understand that we all understand that they are wicked because a person is truly godly is really humble's had their spiritual pride devastated. Struggling with temptation as a way to do that.

Just when you think you've arrived spiritually here comes that wave of temptation in that struggle and you lose the struggling. You have to go back and ask yourself whether you have really as much spiritual maturity as you think you have so even the struggle with temptation is is good for us. It causes us to lean on the strength of Christ. That's another element sets winds ingredients 12. Paul goes to the Lord in the midst of the struggle. Further, it makes us desire heaven and about you but I get weary of the struggle why Paul said rather depart and be with Christ. I'm tired of this. The die is gain. So suffering can work together for good, struggling can work together for good, even temptation.

Amazingly, can produce good you can send us to prayer break our pride teach us how really weak we are force us to lean on Christ to long for heaven. I think of Peter who lost the battle at the arrest of Jesus lost the battle. The internal battle with temptation denied Christ went out and wept bitterly, and those were tears of a man who had learned lesson he learned so much about his weakness. He learned so much about the wiles of Satan. He learned so much about the importance of praying instead of sleeping. But even temptation could be turned in the good for us if we learn those same lessons. I think that was step one on the road to Peter becoming the man he was in the book of acts, but let's get to the real issue here. Suffering is bad, that produces good struggling is bad the produces good. Thirdly, sin is bad, that works together for good. This is the most notable thing of all. Even the sins of believers work for their good everything I've set up to now is true but really isn't the point here.

This is the point here. You say how in the world could see in work together for good. How can God cause sinful things to come out for good, not by the nature of the sin, but it's by the nature of God's grace and mercy because it is God who brings light out of darkness and sweet out of bitter. This in no way lessens the file filthy nature of sin, but it shows that sin. Listen carefully, cannot ultimately triumph in the believer because God overrules it with his grace, and it turns out good. How can it be good because it gives an opportunity for God to demonstrate grace and that's good because it is covered by the righteousness of Christ and that's good.

Should we send that grace may abound. No no no no, our sin deserves eternal hell now is believers are sin still dilute deserves eternal hell as much as it did before we were saved. Doesn't change that.

Still wicked. It still sin. It's still an offense to God.

It still deserving of damnation and eternal punishment, but God in his mercy, through Christ overrules that that's the point here. It's not the point here is not just that it's suffering in life and struggling alive. God works together for good in life. The real point here is it everything that happens in life. The worst of which is sin is not at all able to overrule the saving purpose of God. That's the main that's just an that's just an incredible marvelous reality, our own sins to us can have a good result if they cause us to be humble if they cause us to be repentant if they cause us to praise God for his forgiveness. If they cause us to long for glory if they cause us to pursue holiness if they enhance our prayer lives. If they drive us to the word of God. If they drive us to spiritual accountability and drive us to faithfulness if the weariness with our sin moves us toward a greater devotion to God in Christ more worship, more prayer, more Bible study more faithfulness, more ministry then there's good out of that, but that's not the main point. The good that he's talking about here is the good of eternal glory and there is many suffering in life that can alter your eternal glory and there isn't any struggle in life that can alter your eternal glory and there isn't even any sin in life that can alter your eternal glory.

Everything works together for your good in time and your glory in eternity.

All the matters of life, whatever they are good, bad, all are being worked together by God. Good things like God's nature and God's promises in the word and prayer and angels believers are working for your good, bad things like suffering and struggling in sin work for your goodbye teaching you to hate sin teaching you to see your fallenness to be humiliated before God to desire God to conform to Christ to pray to be penitent, repentant long for God's grace be grateful for forgiveness. But beyond all of those things which are here and now things all that can happen to you in this life, good and bad will ultimately be used by God to bring you to eternal glory that is the monumental truth here. Bottom line, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ because everything works together for good, which means our eternal glory that establishes the doctrine of eternal security and is reiterated in verses 29 and 30. He foreknew he predestined he called he justified he glorified and everybody gets there. And that's why in verse 31 you have this explosion into this great concluding benediction if everything works for our ultimate glory, then nothing can alter that absolutely nothing, but that's the first point, the extent of security.

There is however a limitation here and asking to be for next time with a limitation here is given in verse 28 to those who what love God and are called according to his purpose.

There is no limit at all on the all things, but there is a limit with regard to whom the all things applies if I may be so bold to give you little bit of a preview everything in the life of the believer works for their good. Conversely, nothing in the life of an unbeliever works ultimately for their good. Nothing there.

Good or their bad is before God, wicked, and it only produces eternal judgment.

This is grace to you with John MacArthur. Thanks for being with us. John's current study is titled the grip of God. Earlier we mentioned that next month we will air John's classic series titled spiritual boot camp and as a complement to that series. We have created a study guide. It's a 100 page book that will help you really dig into this foundational teaching covering prayer and Bible study, and more. We want to send you a free copy of the spiritual boot camp study guide.

If you have never contacted us before and we want you to get it before the series airs in June, so get in touch today and request your copy, call our toll-free number 855 grace or you can order@ourwebsitejidety.org the spiritual boot camp study guide includes questions at the end of each section to help facilitate deeper study and discussion and application it makes it an ideal resource for either personal study or group study again. Will send you the spiritual boot camp study guide for free. If you've never contacted us before call 855 grace or go to TTY.org and if you're looking for a resource that will deepen your understanding of all Scripture.

Let me suggest the MacArthur study Bible. Its key feature 25,000 footnote that explain virtually every passage of God's word. The study Bible comes in the new King James new American Standard and standard versions and also in several non-English translation such as Spanish, Italian, French, Russian order, call 855 grace or go to TTY.org now for John MacArthur in the entire grace to you staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for making this broadcast part of your day and be here tomorrow when John continues looking at the grip of God with another half hour of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time on grace to you