Romans chapter 8. Very familiar passage of Scripture. Many of you might even be able to just quote it verbatim. Romans 8, 28. It says this, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. I don't need to tell you that this was written to the church in Rome. You know that because this is in the book of Romans. You think for a moment with me, what was it like to be a Christian during the time that this letter was sent out. Well, let me help you with some historical context. In A.D., that is the year of our Lord, 64, Rome was set on fire. Now Rome had had fires before. Fires are a common thing throughout the course of history. Every place that has fire, sometimes things catch on fire. But this was different. Now Rome has had 14 districts to the city. And 10 of them were lost to the fire. This fire burned for nine days. Two thirds of the city of Rome was in ruins. Imagine, here's the city of Austin. Imagine if more than half of the city of Austin burned. Think of the lives that were lost. Think of the property that was ruined. All the wealth. Wealthy people who had huge homes Now they have nothing. They lost slaves. They lost livestock. They lost it all, many of them. Imagine if all fingers pointed at this church for the reason. Austin is furious. They want to know who is to blame for this. And all fingers come square to us. The reality is, history records, that many people suspected that it was Nero who was the emperor at the time. He wanted to build what was called Neropolis. He basically wanted to redo the city in his honor, but he didn't get permission. So many people suspect he just burned it to the ground so that he could rebuild. And that's exactly what he did after the fire, he rebuilt. The historian Tacitus says this, to get rid of the report, that is the report that it was his fault, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted, the guilt of what? The fire, and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations called Christians. You got to think about this for a moment. If the Romans call the torture exquisite, we're talking about something extremely depraved. Romans are the ones who had the gladiatorial games where they would watch people kill one another for sport. They're the ones who would bring in wild animals and they would go on hunts in Africa and different parts of Asia to find the most ferocious and the most destructive creatures that they could find. They would tie people to elephant tusks so that they would slam them up against the walls of the Colosseum. This is what they did for fun. And this is a Roman historian saying they came up with exquisite ways to torture the Christians. It is written in their very deaths, they were made the subjects of sport, but they were covered with the hides of wild beasts and torn apart to death by dogs or nailed to crosses or set fire to. This was called the tunica molesta, which basically was resin or tar, which was covered on their body. And they would be strung up by their wrists during the heat of the day. And then at night, as it says here, and when the day waned, burned to serve for the evening lights. You drive down the street at night, you have street lights, they had burning Christians, slowly burning because they have the tar on them. These Christians were hunted, hated, and tortured. Their meetings, illegal. This door would be kicked in and you would be dragged off to the most ferocious and gruesome death imaginable. And it doesn't matter if you are 4 or 40. It doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman. It doesn't matter what status you held in Roman life. If you were in this meeting, you would be killed. Think of baptism. That's a public thing. Certain death. They're publicly blamed for the greatest tragedy that Rome had ever known. Imagine what life was like. Men, imagine you going to work, working your job, and they're looking at you. They know where your family lives. Children, there you are playing with your friends, and you stop to pray over your food, and the scowls. the anger, the looks. Sisters, there you are at the market, doing what you normally do, and then it comes, the whispers, the stares, the fingers pointing. She's one of them. What would you do? You know, after you see a child eaten by a hungry lion in front of you, does something to you. When you're walking down the street and you see a woman burning, and her tongue has been cut out because she won't stop singing hymns, and you walk past that, it does something. You see a man on a cross and he's been there for six days and they don't feed him, or maybe they do feed him just to keep him alive and his body begins to rot, but he's not dead. And you begin to smell that and to see that. You think there might be any temptation to say, I don't know if I want to do this anymore. I don't know if I really want to follow Christ that bad. Do you think any doubts might arise in any of our minds if we saw this day in and day out? You need to understand that Christianity was illegal in Rome until 312 A.D., when they wrote the Edict of Milan. And even after that, it was still, torture and all that stuff came. It was just against the law now. Now it's legal for you to be a Christian. We have over 300 years of this kind of treatment. You can imagine that questions would begin to arise in the minds of some people. Maybe they would arise in your own mind. And I could just hear this one question, why? That's a realistic question that people might be asking, right? Why? Lord, why are you letting this happen? Or if you go to the sovereignty of God, why are you doing this? Why did you allow this? Why did you permit this? Why did you ordain this? Why is this happening? So we have a church. These are real people. They have real pain, they have real families, they have real disappointment, they have real struggles. These are not super people. These are human beings who have been saved by the grace of God, and they feel just like you feel, and they fear just like you fear, and they have concerns, and they have troubles. Sometimes they have doubts. So to this hurting church, to this suffering church, to this persecuted church, Paul is led by the Spirit of God to write a letter. The topic of this letter? The gospel. The Christian faith summarized in 16 chapters. And right in the middle, Half of 16 is eight. We get this glorious chapter. John Piper says this is the most glorious chapter in the whole Bible. Some people agree, some disagree, but what you can't say is this is not a glorious chapter. And we get verse 28. In the middle of the middle. We get these powerful and helpful words to a people who are enduring some of the greatest trials human beings have ever encountered on the face of the earth. And here's what I know about you. I know that you are suffering somehow. Either you are right in the middle of suffering, either you are walking into suffering, or you're on your way out. But suffering is a reality in this world. Jesus said, In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world, but we don't need to remove the fact. You're gonna have tribulation in this world. And following Christ raises it up a level because everyone who desires to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Life is going to be hard. This is the narrow road and it's hard. This is a life that is filled with fiery trials that we're not supposed to be surprised at. This is a life that is going to be filled with through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom. The reality is, if you're a Christian, life is hard. And it gets harder. And you may be saying, like they might have been saying, why? Why are these things happening to me? Why is my life like this? What is this difficulty? Why? So I wanna encourage you. I wanna give you some eternal help in the midst of your suffering, in the midst of your life. I wanna give you some motivation so that you can face anything and everything. and have unmoving joy and unspeakable, unshakable assurance. And it's found right in this verse. So let's read it again. Let's dive in. Romans 8, 28. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. It starts with, and we know. And the encouraging thing about those three words, and we know, is just previously we were told what we don't know and what we don't see. Look at verse 25. But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Talking about hope. For who hopes for what he sees? Right? Hope is something you don't see. You're hoping. You're looking, but you can't see it. But there is a hope within you. You're trusting in God's promises, but there's a lot that you don't see. And so you're hoping. then verse 26. Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what to pray for as we are, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. He tells us what we don't see. He tells us what we don't know. This is the reality. There is a groaning that he was talking about. This earth is groaning with childbirth pains, and we ourselves, inwardly, we're groaning, we're longing, we're seeing the suffering, we're seeing the tribulation, we're having these issues, and there's a lot about it that we don't know. We don't know what to pray for. Lord, I'm hurting. I'm suffering. I'm seeing this going on. My wife was taken away, and she was burned. My child was cast to the lions. Only I have escaped, and I'm here, and I don't know. I don't know what to pray for in this situation. You ever walked into a room that's so filled with sorrow, and they say, well, you're the Christian. Say something. You walk into that room, you have no idea what to say. No idea. You don't know what to say. And then, even in your own life, There's suffering in your family, there's trials in your family, and they're looking to you. Pray. And your heart is so heavy, and your eyes are so filled with tears. I don't know what to pray. We understand that, that there are things that happen to us. We don't know what to pray for as we ought to. There are things that we're hoping for, and we're just hoping. And we're like, okay, Lord, we know that your word says this, but I don't see. I don't see. I don't see how this all works together. I don't see how this all works out. I don't know what you're doing here. I don't know why you're doing that. There's a lot that we don't know. There's a lot that we don't see. But what does he do? He gives us some good news. He tells us, yeah, there's stuff you don't see, and there's stuff you don't know, but here's something that we do know. What do we know? And we know. We don't know the future. We don't know when our suffering will end. Do you know when your trial is going to end? You don't. Do you know if you will ever walk out of this season of suffering? You don't. Do you know if it's going to intensify or get lower? You don't. But we do know something. We're not completely clueless and ignorant and blind. There is something we do know. We know that these things, all these things, regardless of what those things might be, we know that they're not meaningless. Because our God is sovereign, he has shown us this pattern in the scriptures. I mean, think with me. Adam's sin was not meaningless. You can look at this, the curse of the entire world! But we know in Ephesians 1, we're told, before the foundation of the world, Adam's sin was building the stage for the glorification of Christ. Not meaningless. Noah's Ark. Think of all the years it took him to complete that. And all the people who said, you're wasting your time. You're wasting your time. What is this? And you think, oh yeah, we can just read. Oh, it just took him this amount of time. No big deal. But think of day in and day out. He's working at this thing. He's working at this thing. And people are laughing at him. They're mocking him. They're calling him crazy. Oh, it all seems pointless until the flood came. Israel chose a king. Sinful. And yet we know that that was not meaningless. It was intentionally the plan of God to set up David to be a type of Christ. Joseph being sold into slavery had a grand design that goes all the way to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And on and on the examples go. These things are telling us and we know There is not meaninglessness, and suffering, and trial, and difficulty. These things are working together for a good, a greater purpose, and a grand design is behind it all. We know this even from the testimony of others. Have you ever asked one another, can I hear your testimony? You listen to that story. You listen to the story of people's testimonies and you begin to hear all of these events coming together in such a way, in a perfect way, unintentionally, unseen, but you stand back and you look and you say, wow, look at how God has brought all this together. I hope you read biographies of missionaries. and Christians who have gone before you and you see the same thing. You see these great tragedies in their life. You see these great destruction, these disappointments that look so hopeless, that look so sad. And then you read a couple chapters more and you say, oh, that's what he was doing. It all comes together there. I was thinking about Adonai Judson and how he had worked and labored on this New Testament. And then he was thrown into prison, and he had gotten this manuscript that he had worked on so, he labored so hard, and it was brought into this little nasty, little hard pillow, and he was using it, and he was keeping it safe with him. And then he was snatched out of that prison, and the pillow was left behind. And that whole prison was destroyed. evacuated, left, and it looked hopeless. And then you realize that the first convert came across and found this hard, lumpy, nasty pillow that nobody wanted. The Lord had preserved it. For what purpose? Many purposes, but one of them so that we could read that and say, look at God. This is not meaningless. There's design behind it. It's as though we step back and we look at God at the sewing machine. And he's taking these seemingly unrelated, uncommon, unlikely people, events, and circumstances, and he's bringing them together, and he's creating this beautiful tapestry of his wisdom. And you know this by your own life. There's a saying, hindsight is 20-20. What does that mean? Well, when we're going through it, we can't see clearly. But when you look back, you say, perfect vision. I can see. Now I know. Now I see. Now I understand. But when we're going through it, we know. But what do we know? We know for those who love God, this is the key to all of this. And often when I've heard people quote this verse, This is just often just kind of sped over. For those who love God, all things work together. Whoa, whoa, wait, wait, slow down. That's important. For those who love God, this is the whole foundation of this. Why? Because if this is not true, then none of the rest of this works in your life. What do I mean? Here's the question. Is God your treasure? Now, I know, Sunday school answer, that's what we're supposed to say. Yes, yes, of course He is. But really ask yourself, is God really your treasure? Is He really your all? Is He everything to you? Yes, I know, I know it's a struggle against sin, it's a struggle against this world, it's a struggle against the evil one, but you have a desire in your heart that He is all, that He is your love, that He is your treasure, and your constant prayer is, I want more of you, Lord, I want more of you, I wanna know you more, I wanna love you more, I wanna treasure you more, more love to thee. See, but if you don't love Him, If He is not your all, if He is not a treasure, the treasure, the supreme treasure in your heart, mind, soul, something else is. That means that you love yourself and your lust, your sin, or your health, or your family, or your life. If that is your treasure more than Him, then you won't care about His glory, and you won't care about His image, and you won't care about His worship. If He comes second to the pleasures of this world, to the lust of this world, to the pride in this life, If that's the reality in your heart, then you don't truly love Him. Because if He don't care, if He's not your all, then you're not seeking His kingdom, you're seeking yours. Your comfort. Your will. You gotta test yourself. Because it doesn't matter if I can convince you or you can convince me, the reality is the reality. Is He really your treasure? Is He everything to you? Test yourself. If your goal in life is taken away, what happens in your heart? comfort, your friends, your family, your dreams, whatever is taken away, whatever is messed up, what happens inside of you? What rises up inside of you? That's a good test of who or what you love most. 1 Corinthians 8, 3 says, but if anyone loves God, he is known by God. This love of God is not like a special category of Christians. Like there's a Christian who loves God, and there's a Christian who doesn't. How do we know this? In the very verse, we're told, for those who love God, and then for those who are called according to his purpose. It's the same group. It's the same person. It's the same people who are predestined, the same people who are called, justified, glorified. This is evidence of a Christian, that you love him, that he is everything to you, that he is your treasure. And 1 Corinthians 16.22 says, if anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. O Lord, come. The evidence of salvation is your love for God. And we know, for those who love God, those who have been called out of darkness. You remember when you were in the darkness and He called you out? He showed you His glory. You saw His face. You beheld Him as altogether lovely. You beheld Him as the most beautiful. You looked at this world. You looked at Him. You looked at all that this world could offer. You looked at the cross. You looked at all that this world would call treasure and praise and worth it. And you looked at Him and you said, no comparison. I want Him. I want Him. I want Him more than everything else. And though I may fall a hundred times, I'm getting back up because I want Him. My heart, He has gained it. He has it. I am totally and completely committed to Him. I'm focused on Him. I will walk with Him. I will obey Him. I will trust Him. I will give Him everything. Why? Because He's loved me and He died for me. And because of that, His glory matters to you. His worship, not just of you, but His worship worldwide is a concern for you. You want His honor spread more than you want your own comfort. You want His name to be made holy more than you want any dream or any goal. In fact, in fact, that is your goal. That is your dream, that is your delight, that His name and His glory and His honor would be spread abroad and that every knee would bow and every tongue confess. And you're not satisfied to look at this world with Muslims and Mormons and atheists and Catholics. You're not content to drive by and see this club there and this place here. You want those places shut down because those places is evidence and fruit of a people who don't worship the God who made them and that bothers you, that keeps you up at night, that causes you to weep, that causes you to be righteously angered. You are frustrated with this because He is everything to you and He deserves it. He's worthy of it. Do you love Him? Does He have this place in your heart? He is the greatest desire. And that causes you to say, no matter what happens in my day, if God has made much of, this is my ultimate goal anyway. Regardless of what pain it brings me, regardless of what disappointment I may face, as long as he is made much of, I am delighted. That is the only way. The only way that this is good news, if you love God to this degree, do you love God like this? Do you really love Him? You say, how do you know? Well, Jesus said, if you love Me, you will obey Me. Obeying Him is more than just following commands. The Pharisees were very good at following commands. Paul, when he was a Pharisee, he said regarding the law, blameless. There are people who can keep outward obedience. People who can be very, very meticulous to tithe, mint, dill, and cumin. People who can fast long days. People who would pray long prayers. People who would make sure that all these outside of the cup is clean. But where is the inside? Where is the heart? This is about do you trust Him? Do you desire Him? Do you adore Him? Does He fill your delight? Or is it this world? Do you see why this is the critical linchpin of the whole thing? Because this is only for those who love God. This promise, this good news is only for those who love God. Well, let's keep going because believers, we do love God, right? We say, oh, my love for him is pitiful. I want more of it. But there is no one. No one. who can persuade you to walk away from him. There is no event in this life that could ever cause you to say, I don't want him anymore. There is nothing, no disappointment, no pain, no trial that will ever make you look at the world and say, it was better back then. You're convinced. So let's go forward. And for those, and we know, for those who love God, all things. Now we start looking at all things. If you'll permit me to really simplify this and put all things into two categories, pleasurable things and painful things. Everything's going to fit into one of those two categories. Either these are things that bring sorrow or things that bring joy, either things that are pleasant or things that are painful. Everything fits into one of these two boxes. You see that? That's what this world offers us. You may say, well, there are like gray things that don't really mean something to me. Well, for the sake of this study, two things. But if you want a third category, you can have that too. All things. Painful, pleasurable, indifferent. All things. And everything fits into the box of Romans 11, 36. And this is what it says, for from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen. That means the painful events in your life, the pleasurable events in your life, and the indifferent, if you have those. They are from Him, through Him, and to Him. Ephesians 1.11 says this, And Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things. according to the counsel of His will. Same language here. All things. What is this saying? Nothing is left out. Nothing is excluded. There are no exceptions. All things. We see all things there in Romans twice. We see all things in Ephesians. And all things is a very repetitive phrase in the writings of Paul. All things. This means everything. From the biggest tragedies in your life to the smallest smirks on your face. All things. These things are all collectively according to the purpose of His will. And then, right here in chapter eight, look at verse 32. He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us what? All things graciously give us from Him, through Him, to Him, all things. And we know, for those who love God, all things. What shall we say to these things? To what things? To the things that I've been telling you about. He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? You get the idea? This is a picture of your Father giving you gifts. He's giving gifts to His children. And for the one who is called according to His purpose, for the one who has been justified, who is going to be glorified, for the one who loves God, who is satisfied with Christ, in Christ, for Christ, those who have counted all things at loss and compared to knowing Him and loving Him, for those people, father has gifts. Every day he has sent you many gifts. And you know what? Some of those gifts cause you to smile and laugh with belly aching laughter. Some of those gifts are comfortable and warm and cozy and soft. Some of those gifts taste sweet. And many, many others are tear producing, heart wrenching, body crumbling, suffering. And you know what we're told here? That God graciously gives it to you. This is for you. He takes suffering and says, you love me, right? You love me, right? You love me more than comfort? You love me more than health? You love me more than an easy day? Here, here's a gift for you. What was your last week like? Let's take Sunday to now. Was it painful? Was it full of misery? Sadness? Did you cry this week? That's because God has sent you those gifts. Because you love them. Was your week full of laughter, enjoyment, and ease? those were gifts from the Father to you. See the thoughts on the minds of those who suffer would be something like this, well clearly the good things, that's Him being for me, that's Him loving me, that's Him giving gifts to me. But suffering, death, destruction, turmoil, tribulation, persecution, they're slaughtering. Our church has been disbanded. They came in. I'm looking at my family in the Colosseum. I'm looking at my wife hanging there with her tongue ripped out and her body's on fire. I'm looking at my children in the Colosseum about to be eaten by lions. Certainly, this is not a gift from God. Certainly, this is evidence that He is against me. These things are against me. But look at what Paul, look at what Paul says. The thought might be, these things are not helping me, these things are hindering me from what I need. But verse 31, what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? If God is for us, even in sending trial, sword, plague, tribulation, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, even death. If God is for us by giving us these gifts, and this is evidence of God being for us, even in the most horrific and painful suffering, this is proof, this is love, this is the gift from my Father. And if that's evidence, if that's proof, if that's a display of God being for us, who can be against us? What can possibly be against us if He has graciously given us all things, including the most painful day you have ever experienced in your life? Do you see it? These things are not against you. These things are not hindering you. These things are not stopping you. These are gifts from your Father. even those that hurt you. And He's giving them to you graciously. And we know for those who love God, all things, all things good, indifferent, painful, all of them together, He is giving them. Work together. That's important. This massive gift labeled all things is given to us in such a way that they work together to produce good, which we're gonna look at in just a moment. The word here is where we get the word synergy, right? To cooperate. It's literally working together. It's helping one another. And we've been looking at Houses lately, so I have house Illustrations on my mind if you bear with me, but you think about a house Think of what goes into building a house One person has to come in scout the land make sure you can build on it, right? It's not like on a grade site or an oil field or something like that. Make sure we can build on this Another designs the house blueprint Another one comes in and digs for the foundation. Another one's going to come in and lay the foundation. Another is going to prepare the material. Someone has to cut down the tree and prepare the wood. Another is going to put up the frame. Another's going to insulate and put in sheetrock. Someone's going to put on the roof. Someone's going to lay the finishing touches. There are different roles, different jobs. And if one person was to say, my job is all that's necessary in order for this house to be built, it would be unlivable. If all you had was a foundation, you couldn't live. If all you had was a framer, you couldn't live in there. If all you had was someone who did sheetrock, it wouldn't last. You need all of these people working together to produce something beautiful. Likewise, alone, the moment of suffering doesn't work. The weekend getaway alone doesn't work. But together, Together, all of these things are actually working toward glorious goals. In fact, this word for works together is the same words that are used in James 2 when it talks about faith and works working together, because to have faith without works is dead, right? If you have faith that never causes you to walk in obedience or holiness or purity, then you don't have a real faith. And if you have works without faith, you have no salvation. They're working together. Pain alone does not conform us to the image, nor does pleasure by itself. We need the suffering and the sweetness. He is sending us all things to work together for our infinite good. And when the miscarriage is coupled with the anniversary, and the church plant is connected to having to put a beloved family member out of the church for church discipline, when the child understands the instruction and obeys, and when the child rebels and lies and needs to be disciplined, all of those things working together in amazing ways. When the joy and the pain, when the suffering and the pleasure join together, amazing things happen in the life of a believer. Namely, that you are being conformed to the image of Christ. So we know these things. We have assurance. We know who this is for. Those who love God, only them. There's the same people who are called. We know that we're talking about all things, not just the good times, not just when things go well for you, but when things go horribly wrong for you, these are God's gifts to you. And the good and the bad and the indifferent and everything else you want to categorize, they're actually working together for something. God always does things for a reason. And here's what we're told. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. Now, this is something where it has been so often misunderstood, this idea of good. This is not just any good we want to plug in here. There are actually three goods that are within this verse in 29. We're told what the good is. So let's look at it. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. Comma, for those who are called according to his purpose. So in case you didn't know who those who love God are, those are the same people who are called according to his purpose. For, so we're gonna be told what this good is. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. That's one good. in order that he might be, that is Christ, the firstborn among many brothers, that's the second good, And then verse 30, and those whom he predestined, he also called and those whom he called, he also justified, and those whom he justified, finishing touches, final result, he also glorified. What are the three goods? We're conformed to the image of Christ, that Christ will be the firstborn among many brothers, and that at the end, we will be glorified with him. These are the three goods that all things in your life are working together to produce. Conformity to the image of His Son, to be conformed to the image of Christ. What is that? To be made more and more like Him. Sometimes I hear, and maybe you've been told this, that the way that this works good in your life that all these things are just going to work out and it's eventually going to go easy for you. All things work together for good. See, it's hard right now, but at the end, it's all gonna work together and it's gonna go smooth. This is going to result in ease and a smooth life and no difficulties. And if that is your greatest hope, if that is why you're enduring everything you're enduring and the hope that your life on this earth is gonna go smooth and that things are gonna go easy for you and that there's not gonna be difficulty, then that's idolatry. Because what that says is at the end of all things, at the end of it, your greatest goal is your own comfort. Yourself is actually at the end of all things. But for those who love God, you see why that's essential. For those who love God, our greatest delight and our greatest goal is not our own comfort. It's not our own ease. It's not a... pain-free existence. It's not that all things go smoothly for us. Our greatest desire, because we love God, because we're new creations, because we have new eyes, because we have new hopes, because we have new affections, we have new desires, our delight is Him. Being made like Him is the good. That is your most common prayer, isn't it? That you will be made more like Him, that you will love Him more, that you will see Him more, that you will delight in Him more. Well, guess what? God is delighted to give you the desire of your heart. Not comfort, not riches, not the praise of men or land or marriage or children or smooth lives. No, that's not the good that's promised here. The good that's promised here is that you will be conformed to the image of his son. And if you love him, then there is no higher desire for you because you love him. And so your greatest good is more God. That's what you want more than anything else, right? God is our good, God is our hope, God is our treasure, and no matter what things he sends us, all things, we don't lose heart, we don't faint, we don't grumble, because whether it's pleasure causing us to rejoice or it's pain causing us to weep, we take it and say, thank you, father, because this is producing in me my greatest desire, which is to be conformed into the image of your son. And this is going to make me like him. It hurts. Oh, it hurts. And I weep, and I put on sackcloth and ashes. And through this pain, I realize this is not home. Through this pain, I realize I have stuff in me that needs to be rooted out. Through this pain, I realize that you're the only one who will satisfy me and that I find my contentment in you. Through this pain, I realize that I have not been trusting you enough, that I have not been loving you enough, I have not been seeking you enough. Thank you for working in me. Through this suffering, through this pain, through this trial, it is giving to me what I've always wanted, and that is to look more like Christ. Thank you. That's why Paul can say things like, I rejoice in my sufferings. That's why he can say things like, this suffering is only momentary, but it's not to be compared with the glory that lies ahead of us. When you look side by side and you say, this pain, it's working for me. I actually call this sermon, The Christian's Employees. Your suffering is your employee and it's working for you. It's working for you to make you more like Christ. Have you ever gone through suffering and you've realized, I have pride. I have lust. I have anger. I have wickedness inside of me that I didn't know was there. I have issues with self-control. Have you seen yourself in the midst of suffering? You know what that is? That is a gift. Because there are many people who walk through this world who never see it. And they're blind. They never see their need for a Savior. They never see their need for Christ. They never see their need to repent. And they walk through this world blind. And you know what He does for you? He shows you. Look. Look what's still there. You don't want that, do you? No, Father, I don't want that. I want you. If you want to look like my son, you've got to get rid of that. Bring that to me. I'll help you. But you never would see it if all he gave you was easy days, and obedient children, and submissive wives, and loving husbands, and work that would go easy, and all the dreams, and all the things you want. And if all you had was heaven on earth, when would you ever see the issues within your own heart? We wouldn't. So his kindness to us is to say, let me interrupt you. Let me bring disruption to your plans. Let me show you what happens when you're disappointed. Let me show you what happens when the kids are not doing what they're supposed to. Let me show you what happens when all your friends are getting married and you're not. Let me show you what happens when the sickness won't go away. Let me show you what happens. Let me show you. When you get that report, Let me show you what happens when your house is on the market longer than you expected. Let me show you what's inside of you when you're in traffic. Let me show you, and you see it, and you say, thank you, Father. Or do we grumble and say, what are you doing to me? Why have you done this to me? And even there, he's showing us, look, you said you loved me. You said you wanted me more than anything else. But not just that. There's also the second good. That as you are being made more into His image, and I'm being made more into His image, and she is, and he is, and they are, and over there, and back then, and the whole community of Christians, the whole church universal are being made more and more into the image of Christ. We look like Christ. We act like Christ. We think like Christ. We suffer like Christ. We love like Christ. We serve like Christ. We resist temptation like Christ. We trust the Father like Jesus did. We have contentment and peace and joy and patience and self-control and gentleness like Jesus has. The more he is worshipped and praised, which is the second good, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. What is that? The firstborn. is the position of honor among others. The firstborn is the one who receives. He is preeminent. And Christ, all of us being little images, right? We're imitations of Him. All of us surrounding Him, being like Him, thinking like Him. And there He is, exalted above all of us. What is that going to produce? But worship of Him. and adoration of Him and love for Him. As we say, this was what we were all striving for. This is why we suffered, that you might be supreme above us all. And we look around, we see Christ. I look at you, you see Christ. You look at me, you see Christ. And we're like, oh, look at, this is wonderful. The more like Christ you are, the better your life goes, right? The more like Christ you are, you're able to endure all. And this is beautiful, and this is joyous, magnificent. We're like, oh, this is just wonderful. And these are just imitations. And then we get to be with Him, the Supreme and True One. What does that produce? The worship and the praise. Is that worth suffering for? And finally, as we see there in 30, And those whom He predestined, He also called. And those whom He called, He also justified. And those whom He justified, He also glorified. Do you realize that the angels are watching? The fallen angels, the exalted angels, a mighty cloud of witnesses. All of this, all of this is a stage displaying the worth of God Almighty, His divine wisdom, His wrath, His justice, His mercy, His grace, His patience, His love, all the panoramic perfections of all His attributes on full display for all of creation to see. And we get to inherit this beautiful promise to be glorified with Him. This is what is being done. And for those, and we know for those who love God, all things work together for good, not just any old good to make you more like Him. And as a body of believers, we're all being made like Him. And as we're all being made like Him, He's bringing us to the end where we will be glorified with Him, that all of creation for all of eternity will behold the beauty of the Trinity and the glory of Christ. And this will be the praise and the song of the ages. and you get to participate in it. And that is what He is doing by sending you the good gifts of hard days, and pain, and tears, and struggles, and suffering, and difficulties. That is what He is working in you. Amazing. That's a gift from the Father to His children. Let's pray. Father, thank you that you would love us so much, that you would open our eyes to behold the glory and the wisdom and the beauty of all that you are, and that you would actually take us away from the image of our stain and our sin, When we thought we were free and we thought we were ourselves, you will take us away from that false image and make us more into the image of the very one who made us. And we get to share in this beautiful, eternal, glorious purpose of your glory on display and the worship of all creation to you when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Christ is Lord of all. Thank You that You would love us so much and think so kindly of us to give us pain, that it would work in us these eternal purposes. Thank You Lord, in Jesus' name, Amen.