God’s will for you – Romans 8

[0:00] Thank you, Dave, for the scripture reading. And thank you for the opening songs this morning. They were very fitting. We're going to have a bit of a pop quiz a little ways in, so hopefully you guys studied.

[0:22] You guys probably didn't, so we'll just wing it and see how we do. Thank you. The song, Refiner's Fire, really spoke to me this morning, because one of the verses kind of speaks right into the message this morning.

[0:42] It says, set apart for you to do your will. So one, you've been set apart to do what? To do God's will. How are we doing? It prompts us to ask the question, how are we doing in this area?

[0:57] Are we doing the Lord's will? Are we willing to do the Lord's will? Are we willing to be set apart? And are we willing to be used by God?

[1:08] And it's a question that we need to ask ourselves. So this morning we're going to be going through Romans, chapter 8 there. We're going to continue going through it, and it's a really encouraging portion of Scripture.

[1:23] I had never thought that Romans 8 was as encouraging as it is until we started to work through it. What makes it extra encouraging, if you go back to Romans 7, in the last portion of it, where he is talking about, for the good that I will to do, I do not do, but the evil that I will not to do, that I practice.

[1:47] And so he continues on for a while, and he's focusing on himself, and he's saying, you know, he fails continually. But then you get into Romans 8, and it's constant victory in Christ.

[1:59] You have victory, and the Holy Spirit is there to help us. And so it's constant victory. So it's an exciting chapter, and it's been quite fun to work through this far.

[2:14] I've named the message this morning, God's Will for You. And I want to start off by asking a question, or asking you a question, whether you ever asked yourself this question.

[2:27] Have you ever asked yourself, what is God's will for me? Have you ever asked yourself that question? I think most Christians probably have. What is the will of God for me in my life?

[2:40] And generally, the times that I've asked it, I am looking for an answer for the here and the now. And it's like as if my perspective of things are too small.

[2:53] If I were to try to draw myself on this globe, I would end up here in Canada.

[3:05] If I were to put a dot there, I would have already made myself so big that I would be as big as the county of Grand Prairie. So my perspective is way out.

[3:17] So we need to, when we ask ourselves these questions, what is God's will for me? Is our perspective God's perspective, or is it just our own? That is part of it as well.

[3:29] It is good to ask, what is God's will for me in this particular situation? But it's often we forget to actually look at the big picture. So today, when I close up, we're going to go back and re-look at that and try to look at it from the big picture, from God's point of view.

[3:47] So, as we get into this portion of Scripture, starting in verse 26 there, he starts off, and he says, likewise, the Spirit also helps us in our weakness.

[4:05] I'll do verses 26 and 27 first. It says, likewise, the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

[4:20] Now he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. So when he starts this portion off, he says, likewise, the Spirit is in our weakness.

[4:33] So why did he put the word likewise there? So the word likewise is there because it's like what he had just talked about previously. So we'll go back three verses and we'll read those starting in verse 23 in chapter 8.

[4:47] It says, not only that, but we also have the first fruits of the Spirit even when, even we ourselves grown within ourselves eagerly waiting for the adoption in the redemption, for the adoption, the redemption of the body.

[5:07] For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope, for why does one still hope for what he sees?

[5:17] But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. So in verse 23, he talks about the redemption, waiting for an adoption.

[5:28] We are waiting to be with God, to be adopted into his family, and we are waiting to be with him. And then he continues on, and he says, this hope is real.

[5:39] It is a living and real hope. And then in verse 26 there, he says, and likewise, so little as that is, he says, the Spirit also helps us in our weakness.

[5:52] And he continues on, he says, and for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought to. So that poses a question. Are we weak in our prayer? Do you guys think we are weak in our prayer?

[6:05] We just had a wonderful prayer time. Prayer time is for me always a blessing. When we go to Wednesday night Bible study, and often at the end of the study, we'll have a time of prayer.

[6:17] It's my favorite time. I absolutely love to pray, and I love to pray with people as well. And so, but are we weak in our prayer? And I believe we are.

[6:30] I think we are very much so weak in our prayer. We are weak in prayer because we pray with three things.

[6:42] We pray selfishly, we pray ignorantly, and we pray narrowly. And we'll talk about each one of those a little bit. We pray selfishly because we want not necessarily what God wants.

[6:58] And even though the prayer that we want is a good prayer, it is a good thing, but it does not necessarily line up with God and His will. We pray ignorantly because we do not understand everything.

[7:11] So we have this 10-year-old boy, last Saturday, I believe, that was killed in a car accident. And I'm sure when the accident had just happened, prayers started to go up instantly.

[7:24] And there would have been much prayer. A couple of days later, he passes away. We don't understand, but it was God's will. So we do not understand. We pray narrowly.

[7:37] So that is like when we are praying, we don't see the full picture. We can only see what God allows us to see. And from our perspective, we do not see from God's perspective.

[7:50] If you would look at it as a, if you hook up a team of horses to a buggy and you're going to go for a ride, let's say we're going back 150 years and you're going to travel with your family and you hook up two horses to a buggy and you load up your family and you're heading out, and they put blinders on those horses.

[8:14] And those blinders are there so that the horse can't see behind them. And horses have their eyes on the side of their head, so they have a very good vision. They can see much broader than we can, so they can see quite clearly, actually, what's going on on the buggy in the back.

[8:30] And generally, if you're going to hook up a team of horses to a buggy, you're also going to have a look that if the horses aren't quite doing what they're supposed to be doing, you give them a little bit of encouragement and then they start going.

[8:45] But let's say you've now hooked up a team of horses and you're cruising along and you don't have the blinders on on the horses.

[8:57] Your kids are in the back. They're arguing about a rock and they start fighting about it. And you take this whip and you start to want to execute a little bit of judgment in the back seat. What would happen to that horse when you take that whip and you do that?

[9:12] He would see what's going on and all of a sudden it would bolt. And then all of a sudden you'd have all kinds of chaos. You wouldn't just have the kids fighting in the back, but you'd have the rider trying to control the horses and everything would be chaotic.

[9:25] See, we're not meant to see everything. And it's okay. If we don't understand everything and we don't see the full picture, sometimes we don't need to see these things.

[9:36] So when we pray for situations like this young boy that was killed in the car accident, well, he wasn't killed in the car accident, but that died a couple days after as a result, we don't understand all things.

[9:49] And it's what we don't need to. We need to just have faith that God is in control and he wants what's best for us. So continuing on, he says, But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

[10:20] So the Spirit makes intercession for us. So as we're praying, the Spirit is making intercession. We don't understand all things. Just like with this young boy, we don't have a full understanding.

[10:32] We can't see it from afar off. Let's pretend this morning that we're going to fly to Israel and our flight leaves Edmonton, goes down to Florida, and then you can hit a straight line directly east and you would land in Israel.

[10:49] Pretty much dead on. You would go maybe a degree north, but you can pretty much go. So I've got a globe here and so if you would go exactly east from Florida, which is here, and I know it's hard for you guys to see, so you go straight east and you would land right in Israel.

[11:07] And in our minds, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, right? So you travel a straight line, you go straight east, that's the shortest point, the quickest way to get there.

[11:18] So why is it then if a globe like this, now all of a sudden the straight east line looks crooked and the one that you go north on Florida and you go directly over Newfoundland and then you come back down, why does that line now look straight?

[11:37] So all of a sudden, you know, you get a better picture. So then if I pull these lines off, so this is the north line, this is the straight east line, notice which one is longer.

[11:57] You go straight east, it's actually a longer trip than if you head north and back down again. You see, from our perspective, things would look straighter if you would just go straight from one point to the next.

[12:10] But if we look at it from a globe and you travel north and you actually go back down, it's actually shorter. So we don't understand all these things. And it's okay if we don't understand all these things.

[12:23] But we pray anyways. So he says here, but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings. So if we're praying and we don't understand all these things, it sometimes might prompt us to say, well, why pray at all?

[12:39] Why do we even start praying then? Well, the Spirit will not make intercession if you don't pray. So pray. The Spirit will make intercession for us. Whatever we are praying for, the Spirit will make line up.

[12:52] What does intercession mean? It means to intercede. It's either to speak on behalf of someone or to act on behalf of someone. So that is what intercession does. So the Spirit makes that intercession for us.

[13:06] And it says, with groanings which cannot be uttered. So we don't know what type of language that is. Continuing on in verse 27, he says, now he who searches the hearts knows the mind.

[13:22] Actually, let's focus a little bit on 26. There's one more point that I would like to make there a little bit. When Paul is writing this, he is very inclusive here.

[13:33] And I'm not sure if you guys noticed this or not. He says, likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weakness, for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought to, but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us.

[13:51] So it's Paul writing, and he is including himself. So it isn't just this group that is weak in prayer. It is Paul himself as well saying, we are weak in prayer.

[14:03] So that is an interesting point. Now, continuing on in verse 27, he says, now he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

[14:20] So he is making this intercession according to the will of God. The Spirit knows what the will of God is, and he is hearing us pray, so he makes that intercession. It's like as if he is filtering between us and God, and he makes it line up.

[14:34] So we continue to pray. So when we pray, just out of ourselves, it is without the Spirit making intercession, it is absolutely pointless.

[14:54] you need to have the Holy Spirit, and then you need to have the Spirit to make intercession for us. So when we pray, it is the Holy Spirit that helps us there.

[15:05] I want us to keep that in mind as we work through this, that it is, and the Holy Spirit is a part of God, and it is literally the Holy Spirit making intercession important. So as we work through this, we'll get back to that yet.

[15:17] And then starting in in verse 28 there, we'll work through verse 28 to 30. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.

[15:33] 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, he also called, whom he called, he also justified, and whom he called, he also glorified.

[15:52] So we'll work through that portion here next. He starts off here and he says, and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God.

[16:21] So, for us that love God, like this young boy dying as a result of that accident, we can get past the fact that he was taken, we feel that he was taken prematurely because we have the love of God in us.

[16:39] We understand that God is in control. For an individual that does not have that, that does not have the peace of God in him, does not understand that. He cannot get past that. He's like, why Lord? Why in the world would you do something like that?

[16:52] It does not make sense. To an individual that does not have the Lord in him, it just about seems like God is cruel in doing these things. And so, when we read verse 28, and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, the key is we need to love God.

[17:15] Otherwise, we don't understand. So then, continue on. He says, who are called according to his purpose.

[17:31] So then, who are the called ones? It poses a question. To those who are called according to his purpose. So who are the called ones? Let's turn to 2 Timothy chapter 1 verses 9 and 10.

[17:59] We'll be back and forth a little bit. 2 Timothy chapter 1 verses 9 and 10. It says, who has saved us or who has saved us and called us with a holy calling not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

[18:37] people. So, who has he called? Who are the called ones? That is all each individual that responds has been called. They have been called out.

[18:49] So each individual that responds. So, let's go back to Romans 8 and look into verse 29. For whom he foreknew these he also predestined.

[19:03] And if we go back into verse 28 they're to those who are called according to his purpose for whom he foreknew. So, God called the individuals that he foreknew.

[19:17] So, how is God able to foreknow all these things? Who knows what the word omniscience means? All knowing.

[19:28] So, what does that mean? So, when you say all knowing what does it mean? He knows absolutely everything. He, as far as things go back and the absolute present and as far as things go into the future he knows all things.

[19:45] So, he knew in his omniscience he knew everyone that would respond to the gospel. He knew each individual way before we were ever even created.

[19:57] He knew. So, he says for whom he foreknew he also predestined. So, what does it mean to be predestined? He knows all things.

[20:12] He knew exactly who was going to respond to the gospel and who wouldn't. The ones that were that he knew were going to respond he also predestined. What is it to be predestined?

[20:28] To be sons of God? Yep, that would be one answer. A predestined would also be, if you want to put it in a more layman term, would be you have a ticket.

[20:41] If you have accepted the gospel, you now have a passport. You have been predestined, you now have a ticket and a destination. And so, that being predestined, you have a destination.

[20:57] So, there is a place that you are going to end up at. Let's turn to Ephesians chapter 1 verse 11, and it talks a little bit more there about predestined, and it talks about as an inheritance.

[21:14] So, Ephesians chapter 1 verse 11, and it says, in him also we have obtained an inheritance. So, this is an inheritance being predestined to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.

[21:31] So, this predestined is an inheritance. It is something that you have not earned. It is a gift. And this predestined, if we roll back to Romans, a little bit back and forth here, the next section kind of explains what it is.

[21:49] for whom he foreknew, he also predestined, if we continue on, he says, to be conformed to the image of his son. So, you have been predestined to be conformed to the image of his son.

[22:05] What does that mean, to be conformed to the image of his son? Does that mean that we're going to look like him? Probably not. There is some teaching out there that says that with this verse, because, and I'll read it, I'll read it once a little bit more acquainted with it, for whom he foreknew, these he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the first born among many brethren.

[22:34] What they're saying is, you now have a regenerated body, you have the spirit that makes you a god. And that's what they're saying.

[22:45] So you have been predestined, and when you are like his son, you are like a god. That is not what it is saying. That is not at all what it is saying. When he says to be conformed to the image of his son, it does not mean that we're going to look like him, it does not mean that we're going to be a god, it means we are going to be morally like him, free from absolute all sin.

[23:11] That is how we're going to be like Christ. then he continues on and he says to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the first born among many brethren.

[23:29] So how is he going to be the first born among many brethren? Does that not also kind of level it out a little bit or it sounds in our ears like as if he's going to be equal because he's going to be the first born among many brethren?

[23:42] So when you talk about many brethren, it's just like as if he would be a regular brother. Look into the Old Testament and we look at what always happened to the first born. He always got a double portion of the inheritance and he always got the higher seat.

[23:57] He was always the leader. So Christ, if we read this again with that mindset, it says, to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might, that Christ might be the first born among many brethren.

[24:12] Christ might be elevated. Christ is on top among many. all right, let's look into verse 30.

[24:35] It says, moreover, whom he predestined, these he also called. So we'll look at this calling one more time. Let's turn to 1 Peter 2, verse 9.

[24:53] 1 Peter 2, verse 9. It says, but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people that you may proclaim the praise of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

[25:14] So a royal priesthood. So you have Christ on top with the whole church, millions and millions of people, a royal priesthood, and each one was called out of darkness into this glorious light.

[25:28] So you were called to be a part of that. All right, going back to verse 30 in chapter 8 in Romans there. So continuing on, he says, moreover whom he predestined, he also called, whom he called, he also justified.

[25:50] So what is it to be justified? What does that word mean? Does that mean if I go conk somebody over the head, I'm justified because of how I feel?

[26:04] Yes? just as if I had never sinned. That is one way of saying justified. Yeah, it is, you are justified.

[26:15] Justified, it means to be declared righteous. It is like as if it never, just like Providence said there, it is like as if it has never happened.

[26:28] Let's turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21. To be justified. It says, for he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

[26:48] So you are justified, you are made righteous in Christ. When you are in Christ, you are justified. So continuing on, he says, so whom he, moreover, whom he predestined, he also called, whom he called, these he also justified.

[27:10] Continuing on, and whom he justified, these he also glorified. My question then is, is have you been called?

[27:22] Have you been predestined? And have you been justified? Are you already glorified? Because that's what it sounds like, right?

[27:39] Is that not what it is saying? Moreover, whom he predestined, he also called, whom he called, he also justified, whom he justified, these he also glorified.

[27:52] We are not in our glorified state yet. but he is talking like as if it has already happened. God in his infinite knowledge, in his omniscience of knowledge, is speaking like as if this has already taken place.

[28:08] If all these things have taken place, if you have been called, and if you have been justified, you will be glorified. It is like as if the deal is already done. It is sealed, it is finished.

[28:19] And that gives me absolute great encouragement to know that my destination is there. There is one other thing that really pops out in this verse as well, just like in verse 26 where Paul is talking about he is inclusive, one thing that really comes out here is the word he.

[28:42] It says, moreover, he predestined, he also called, the ones that he called, he also justified. Jesus did all this.

[28:54] Christ did all of these things. This has nothing to do with any of us. It is totally elevating him. Christ did all these things. It is him. So then in verse 31, all of a sudden it starts to make sense when he starts to say, what then shall we say to these things?

[29:15] If God is for us, who can be against us? So if God has done all of these things for us, who can be against us? All these things he has in his infinite knowledge, he knew you were going to respond.

[29:29] So because he knew you were going to respond, he called you, he declared you righteous, and then he has an end game for you as well, to be like Christ, and then to be glorified.

[29:42] It is absolutely unboggling, and absolutely exciting how God would do all these things, and he would know all these things. If God is for us, who can be against us?

[29:53] Continuing on in verse 32, he who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

[30:07] So if we start to doubt a little bit, and if we are going through some of these trials, like this family is going through right now, and we start to find ourselves a little bit in doubting, we need to go back to this verse and it reminds us that if God is willing to send his only son to die on the cross so that you can be with him, you know, there should be absolutely no doubt.

[30:31] How shall he freely not give us all things? I think if any of us were asked to give up our child for somebody else, it would be a very hard no. We can't do that.

[30:42] It is not within ourselves. But with God, all these things are very possible. So in closing, let's go back to that question that I asked when I started.

[30:54] What is God's will for you? The ultimate big goal, what is God's will? And if we read verse 30, and he has done all these things, moreover, he has predestined us, he has called us, he has also justified us, and he has also glorified us, he wants each and every one of you to be with him.

[31:15] That is the ultimate goal. There is things that he wants us to do here on earth, but ultimately he wants each one of us to be with him. Let's close in prayer. Father, come before you this morning.

[31:28] It is such a beautiful morning, love for you to be here on the earth, and we have been so blessed this fall. I'm in awe of the beautiful weather that you've blessed us with, and I'm just so thankful for that, and thank you for this group as well that have come together this morning to worship, and my, what a God we worship.

[31:45] It is such a blessing to be able to do that, and I just want to thank you for each one that is here. May you have a special blessing for each one again, and I just want to pray again for that family that lost their son. May your love just flood them these days as well.

[32:00] I just want to commit each one to you in Jesus' precious name. Amen.