All right, we all good? Let's take our Bibles and turn in them to the book of Romans, chapter 8. We're just going to look at a few verses today, verses 26 through 28, in a message that I have entitled, A Fundamental Foundational Truth. And so let's, with that, let's take to our feet that we might get to our hearts before the Lord. Oh, there's just a lot of junk up here right now. Sorry, guys. I digress. Father, you are so good and greatly to be praised, and we thank you, Lord, for loving us, for sending Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for us so we might know you and be with you forever. And now we just pray, God, that you would take our hearts collectively captive, Father, that you would just speak to us, that we would have ears to hear you, and that we would be, Lord, as always, doers in responding appropriately to you. And so we just give you this time, and we honor you in Jesus' name, amen. Jared, this might pop just a little bit up. Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Ladies and gentlemen, that is essentially the underlying theme threaded throughout the book of Romans, chapter 8. Everything that Paul discovered that he could not do in his own strength in chapter 7, God does for us through the person of his Spirit. It's through the power of the Holy Spirit that you've been made free from the law of sin and death, given eternal life and the guarantee of resurrection. The Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit, assuring us that we're children of God. And with that, let's look at verse 26. We read, likewise, the Spirit helps in our weaknesses. 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. Now he who searches the heart knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Well, if you were with us last week, we took note of the fact that all creation groans, eagerly waiting for the revealing of the sons of God, longing for the day of deliverance, being freed from the corruption of sin that it's been subjected to through the fall of man. Not only that, Paul says in verse 23, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves grown within ourselves eagerly waiting for the adoption that is the redemption of our body, our bodies. grow old, they wear out, they break down. You know, we get sick and we have weakness and there's temptation and frailty and we long for our resurrection body. We look forward to the time when God will wipe away every tear, and no more sickness, and no more sorrow, and no more weariness, and trials, and toils, and pain. And so we discover creation groans. We groan. And here in verse 26, we learn the Spirit Himself groans in His intercession for you and for me. But before we consider that, I think it's important that we see this. The Holy Spirit is here, child of God, to help you. Did you see that? Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. In fact, it's one of His titles. When Jesus was speaking in John chapter 14, He said, If you love Me, keep My commandments, and I will pray the Father, and He will give you another notice, Helper, that He may abide with you forever. The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. And then again in verse 26, but the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Family, I have discovered over the years that there is a lot of confusion in the body of Christ as to the exact nature of the Holy Spirit and his role in our lives. People get kind of weird when it comes to the Holy Spirit. Other people are a little or in some cases a lot reluctant to lean into all that the Holy Spirit has to offer them because they've seen people do some strange things. Sometimes we might go as far as to say some absurd things in the name of the Holy Spirit. Listen, people may be weird and people may be strange. People may be absurd. The Holy Spirit is not. Nor does he add weirdness to your life. Look, I'm going to be honest with you, some of y'all have enough of that already, right? I mean, I maybe number in that category. But his primary objective in our lives is to make us like Jesus. And so it's those Christ-like qualities that he's adding, that he's developing, that he's maturing. And probably the most commonly quoted passage concerning the evidence of the Holy Spirit in a person's life is in Galatians chapter five. Man, my mic is growing in volume. Woo, maybe you need to hear this today. Galatians chapter 5, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. The idea, guys, being that the fruit of the Spirit is love. And if you want to know what love is made up of, it's joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Now, I didn't read loudness or weirdness or awkward antics or anything like that. The fruit of the Spirit, the evidence of the Spirit is love. Now, if you'd like to know a little bit more, if you'd like to have love expounded upon a little further, you can write down and read 1 Corinthians 13. But He helps us. in our weaknesses physically, emotionally, spiritually, be it in our suffering, keeping the context, verse 18, or in our groaning, verse 23, or more specifically within the confines of the context that we're in today when we're there before God in times of prayer and we don't really know what to say or how we can pray. And we're all out of words. The Spirit Himself will make intercession for us, Paul says, with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now, this word helps is in the present tense. And what that means is that the Holy Spirit continually, He keeps on helping us. It's not that the Spirit will only help us when we feel weak, though certainly He does and will do that. But the idea here is that our state is one of weakness. and the Spirit is continually helping us. Does that make sense? And the word helps has the idea of helping someone or aiding someone in carrying a heavy load or helping them bear a burden. Paul says, for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought. Guys, I want you to pay attention to what he's saying. He doesn't say, sometimes we just don't know how to pray. He says, we don't know what we should pray for. Guys, this is such a huge key. Because prayer, though it's directed to God, it really isn't meant to be directing God. But so often that's what we do. We go into this explanation mode. We try and explain the situation. We try to give God some direction as though we know. You know, someone comes to you or they come to me and they say, you know, I want you to really pray that I get this job. And it's not that I don't want you to get the job. But there may be such radical temptation lurking there somewhere in that workplace that it wrecks your walk with God, it tears your marriage apart. Is that job the best thing for you? I don't know. You see, someone gets in trouble with the law, maybe they were walking with the Lord at one time, they've backslidden, they're out there, they're stumbling around, they come to you, they say, please pray that I don't, you know, face any jail time, or that I don't go to jail, you know, because I'm... This is a potential for me. Okay, so do I pray that they receive favor with the judge, that they don't get any time away from friends or family? Or does God want to use that possibly as a means to regain the priority of their heart, to take their attention back to Him? I don't know. Someone is dying. They're a believer. Perhaps they're suffering tremendously. This happens, unfortunately, fairly regularly. And someone will come to you and they will say, just please pray that God takes them quickly. And we do, right? I mean, guys, let's not forget, the Bible says, let your requests be made known to God. There's no harm or foul in that. But perhaps, in light of verse 18, God is placing the final touches on their eternal glory. We ask God to bless our nation. What does that look like exactly? You know, we're thinking conservative leadership, economic stability, powerhouse, booming military. But what if what we really need is a total collapse economically, politically, militarily, in order to turn us around and heal us spiritually? I don't really know what to pray for as I ought. And so I come to this place where I'm at a loss. God, I really don't know how to pray for this congregation, for this community, for this nation. I don't really know what your will is with specificity or specifically, you see. So God, please, Have your way, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And somehow and in some way the Holy Spirit through groanings which cannot be uttered is able to intercede perfectly in precise harmony with the will of God. God understands the groaning of His Spirit. Isn't that incredible? That's incredible. No words are expressed, yet the Father understands. Because He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is. Don't miss it. He who searches the heart. God is always searching your heart. He knows, Psalm 44 and verse 21, the secrets of the heart. Jeremiah 17, 10, I the Lord search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. And so pray, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, even not knowing what to say, God, have your way. It's the way Jesus prayed. Father, if it be possible, let this cup, the cross, pass from me nevertheless, right? Not as I will, but Your will be done. Verse 28, and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Well, I'm sure I don't need to tell you that this is one of those verses that needs to be highlighted or underlined or circled in your Bible. It's one of those...I refer to these kinds of verses as anchor verses. You know, they're anchor verses in the life of the believer. R.A. Torrey called this verse a soft pillow for a tired heart. And you will find this verse anchoring you or comforting you in some capacity again and again throughout your Christian journey. There are some things that as believers we know, that we should know, and that we need to know. Certain, as I alluded to earlier, fundamental foundational truths that we need to have etched deep into our hearts, engraved deep into our hearts. Because guys, there are gonna be all kinds of things that come up in life that we don't know. Situations and circumstances that are incredibly adverse. trying and terrible things that we don't understand why God allowed it to happen to us or to someone we love. We can't connect the dots. It's hard for us to, as we say, make it make sense, and we can't. And because there are gonna be these things that we don't know, it's all the more critical that we have these things that we do know. And this is one of those basic foundational truths that we need to know so that when we face the things we don't know, we have something to fall back on, to stand on, to anchor to. I know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Now, there are a few things I think that we do well to bear in mind and understand as we kind of spend our time here marinating in this particular passage. First, I think it's important that we acknowledge something that God revealed of Himself back in the book of Isaiah. We discover there where God says of Himself, for My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are My ways...or your ways, pardon me, My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. Guys, we need to realize that God does not think like we think. We all generally, I would probably say categorically, we have this linear mindset as humanity, but we tend to align ourselves in such a way as to consider our lives day by day. You know, how something impacts me today, or maybe next week, or maybe in a year or five, or whatever the case may be. But as you study Scripture, you discover that God doesn't really prioritize His plans for us in such a way that prioritizes the temporary creature comforts or conveniences of this world. Now, that's not to say that God isn't concerned with our physical needs. Of course He is, you know, on the daily. Jesus encouraged us to pray, give us this day our daily bread. But having prayed about it, given it to the Lord, we have peace concerning it. Later on He said, look, don't worry about it. Don't worry about what you're going to eat. Don't worry about what you're going to wear. Don't worry, you know, about, you know, these kinds of things. He says, these are the kinds of things that unbelievers concern themselves with. Your heavenly Father knows you have need of them. You concern yourself with seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and trust God's going to tend to your needs on the daily, you understand. However, God's primary concern for you doesn't revolve around your temporal well-being, but your eternal well-being. And so as He's shaping and He's cultivating our lives, He's always working with a view toward our eternal good and His eternal glory. Now this creates a problem for me. Because as I'm considering how something affects me today, I'm often troubled or quite disturbed over the tragedies or the trials, the situations that I'm facing due to how it's affecting me right here and right now. And this is why we need these foundational truths in our lives to fall back on. God, I don't understand this. I don't understand why You've allowed this. But I know that somehow and in some way in the eternal scheme of things, You're going to take this and You're going to use this for my good and for Your glory. Now having said that, we need to see this as well. turn your attention to it again, all things work, and you might circle this word, together for good. Each thing is like a thread in the overall tapestry of eternity. Family, you know you could take any number of events and isolate them, and in and of themselves, They're not good at all. But ultimately, eternally, somehow God is able to harmonize them perfectly for our good and His glory. And I think a great Example of this is that which takes place in the life of Joseph back in the book of Genesis. He was hated. He was despised and rejected by his brothers. That's not good. You know, he was thrown in a pit and sold off into slavery. I don't think that's good. He was accused of rape and thrown in prison where he was there for years. I don't see that as good. None of those things isolated and examined are good. They're terrible. They're tragic. Yet in the end, they placed him in a position to be brought before the Pharaoh and made the second most powerful man on the face of the earth to save not only his family, which would ultimately become the nation of Israel through which Jesus Christ himself would come, but much of humanity. And when he confronted his brothers about what they had done to him years and years earlier, he said this. He confronted them later about what they had done earlier, and he said this. But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it, note it, for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day to save many people alive. Guys, he was not in any way diminishing the pain he had experienced. or the tragedies that had entered into the equation of his life, the suffering that he was subjected to. He wasn't minimizing that. He wasn't diminishing that. But he was acknowledging this principle that we have in front of us today, that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. And in the end, Joseph was able to see God's sovereignty at work through it all. Now there are times that we get to see what God is up to. In the end, we can look back and we can say, wow, look what God done. Now I see all those things that you remember Jacob, even Joseph's father, he was there and he had sent his brothers into Egypt to get grain and then they had put one of the brothers in prison and he's like, do you have another brother? They don't know who he is. And they're like, yeah, we got one other brother. You know, our father won't let him come. They go, wow, he's like, I think you're spies, and unless your father sends that other one, I'm not going to return you. This, that, and the whole thing. And Jacob went back, and he ran out of grain, and he's like, all these things, everything's against me. I've already lost Joseph, and now you want Benjamin and all these things. But in reality, what he didn't know right around the corner is that all these things were working for him to save him and his family. You see, and this is the idea, is like sometimes we see God's sovereignty, sometimes we don't get to see it. But guys, God never asked us to understand how this truth is always enforced. We don't have to understand God. Haven't we already established we can't do that? His ways are above our ways, beyond our finding out. We don't have to understand God. We have to believe God. And let me encourage you with something that Pastor Chuck Smith always used to say. He would say, never give up what you know for what you don't know. You say, well, what does that mean? Well, it's something that many people do. They come up against something they don't know. And so they give up what they do know, and they begin to make these foolish charges against God. You know, something happens. I don't understand it. It seems terrible and tragic. Perhaps it is. And so now, I don't think God loves me. Now, I don't even know if God cares about, I don't even know if God exists. We start questioning all these things, laying these charges against God because of what I don't know, rather than resting in, anchoring to what I do know. I don't know what's going on. I don't know why this is happening. What I do know is that God loves me. That He has thoughts of peace and not of evil toward me and that He's working this out ultimately, eternally for good. And I should say that the good God is working out isn't necessarily in line with what we think is best. He's conforming us into the image of Christ. Now that's going to involve a few scars along life's way. Remember verse 17? You can look back at it if you want to, but we don't know what God knows. We can't see what God sees. And this was Asaph's problem. Perhaps you remember Psalm 73. I talk about it occasionally. I want to look at it with you. Turn in your Bible to the left to the 73rd Psalm, okay? Let's just look at it together. Psalm 73. It begins with another foundational, fundamental truth that we should know, that we need to know, that will serve as an anchor during those tumultuous kind of times in our lives. To me, it seems that he's beginning the psalm with his conclusion to it all after his understanding was retooled and recalibrated in the right way. He says, and again, I'd encourage you to underline it if you're one of those note takers. He says, truly God is good. Ladies and gentlemen, never forget that. If you forget that, you will find yourself being tossed around on the troubled waters of this life like a ship without an anchor. Asaph almost gave up what he knew God is good for what he didn't know, why he was floundering and the wicked were flourishing. So we're just going to look, we're going to actually go through this whole psalm, but we're just mainly going to read it. Let's turn our attention to the verse, the very first verse. He says, truly God is good to Israel, to such as are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped, for I was envious of the boastful when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pangs in their death, but their strength is firm. They aren't in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like other men. Therefore, pride serves as their necklace. Violence covers them like a garment. Their eyes bulge with abundance. They have more than heart could wish. They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression. They speak loftily. They set their mouths against the heavens and their tongue walks through the earth. Therefore His people return here. The waters of a full cup are drained by them. They're living it up. And they say, how does God know? And is their knowledge in the Most High? Behold, these are the ungodly who are always at ease. They increase in riches. Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued and chastened every morning. And if I had said, I will speak thus, behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of your children. And when I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me." Well, you get the idea, don't you? Asaph is saying it doesn't pay to serve God. The wicked are partying. They're prospering. They're scoffing God. They're mocking God. And their lives only seem to get better and better. I mean, what's the point of me leading a godly life? My life seems to get worse and worse. I'm plagued every day. I'm punished. I'm reproved. I'm rebuked every morning. It just seems like all these things are happening to me. I don't get it. I can't wrap my head around it. And when I tried to understand it, it was just too painful. I don't get it, God, you see. Well, look at verse 17. Underline this, until I went into the sanctuary of God, and then I understood their end. And surely you set them in slippery places. You cast them down to destruction. Oh, how they are brought to desolation as in a moment. They are utterly consumed with terrors as a dream when one awakes, so Lord, When you awake, you shall despise their image. And thus my heart was grieved and I was vexed in my mind." Why? He's saying, I was so foolish and ignorant. I was like a beast before you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You hold my right hand or hold me by my right hand and you will guide me with your counsel and afterward receive me to glory. My heart and my mind, Asaph is saying, was in such a shameful, grievous place. I was so foolish and stupid, but God, you are so gracious. You are so patient. You are so compassionate. Despite my foolishness, despite my stupidity, you guide me nonetheless, and afterward, you will receive me to glory. Look at verse 25, whom have I in heaven but you? And there is none upon the earth that I desire beside you. My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For indeed, those who are far from you shall perish. You have destroyed all those who desert you for harlotry or idolatry, but it is good for me to draw near to God. I have put my trust in the Lord that I may declare all your works. Do you see what happened? When he was out there trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together, he couldn't do it. But when he went to church, you see, when he went into the sanctuary, God realigned him, retooled his mind to the eternal perspective. He realized life is like a vapor. And the day will soon be upon us when God will right every wrong, He will settle every account. And as we learned last week, the sufferings of this present time aren't worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. And so set your mind on things above, on the eternal perspective, not on things on the earth." Okay, a couple more quick things here about our Romans passage. Number one. Romans 8.28 is not a promise to the unbeliever, okay? Every now and then you'll hear this blanket encouragement thrown out. Well, hang in there, all things work together for good. That's not true. If you don't know Jesus Christ, there can be terrible, tragic things that happen and God does not give any assurance that anything good is being worked through it. This is a promise to those who love God. Which is number two, by the way. The emphasis of this verse is upon loving God. Our tendency is to place the emphasis upon all things work together for good. That's kind of how we read it. Paul didn't place the emphasis there. That's not how the Greek reads at all. The Greek reads more literally, and we know that to those who love God, all things work together for good. to those who are called according to His Word. How important is it that we place our priority, that we make our responsibility to be continually fanning the flames of that first love relationship that we have with the Lord? I'm reminded, you can just write it down and read it later, the church of Ephesus in Revelation chapter 2, you know, all the great things that they had done, all the great things that they were doing. Yet what did Jesus say? He said, nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent. It's not what we're doing, guys, it's why are we doing it. And we can get into the mechanics of ministry, or we can go through the routines of religiosity, and we lose sight of that love. And God says, you've gotta remember, you need to repent, and you need to repeat those first works. Like, when you were so excited, when it was so, you know, you were fired up because you knew the Lord, you were in love with the Lord, and you just couldn't serve the Lord enough. He says, you need to be in that place. rekindle that first love. By the way, I'm getting ready to close. But when Jesus was speaking to the lawyer in Matthew chapter 22, the lawyer asked him, you remember testing him, he said, teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law? I could probably ask each of you and I would say probably upwards of 90% of you here would know what Jesus said. He said, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest thing that you can do. This is what was incorporated. This is what was included when Jesus said, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Love God. with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind. In other words, with every fiber of your being, set your heart to loving Him. If you're married, it doesn't take long to discover that if you are not actively, intentionally investing and building into that love relationship, Things can begin to get between you. Your love will begin to diminish and a division will take place. This happens all the time. But when you are intentionally fostering the love you share, you're serving one another. You're appreciating one another. What you discover is that tough times actually draw you closer to one another. And when you're focusing on building into the love that you have for God, tough times won't drive you away from Him. They will draw you closer to Him. You have been summoned, you have been saved by Him. called by Him to walk in His plan and His purpose for your life. And so here we are. Maybe you're in a great place today, praise the Lord. Maybe you're in the grinder. Remember these foundational truths. Truly, God is good. Maintain the eternal perspective. Be assured of the fact that because you love God, in the end, whatever it is, God is working it out. He's conforming you to the image of His Son. And it'll be for your good. It'll be for His glory. So God, we just come to you and we recognize this is one of those tough yet incredibly encouraging passages to think through. God, we know that you are love. We know that you are good. And so we know that whatever it is, you're working for our good. And we want you to receive the glory. So we thank you for these precious promises in your word. We thank you, Lord, for helping us in our weakness. And so, Lord, as it pertains to, you know, be it our lives individually or this church body, we just say, have your way. And guys, while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed, if you're not in Christ, if you've not given your life to Christ, I would encourage you, don't put it off another day. God loves you. Christ died for you. Why would you live your life without hope, being without God in the world? Turn from your sin and trust in Him today. Just call upon Him. The Bible is clear that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. So I'm just going to give a quick second here while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed. If that's you, If you're not sure, you're in this place of uncertainty. Like, I don't know, man. I don't know if I know the Lord or... I don't recall ever, like, specifically surrendering my life to the Lord. I mean, I've gone to church and such, but... Well, then why not sure it up today? The Bible's clear. Make your calling and election sure, man. And so wherever you are, whatever you've done, whatever you've been, I just want you to know that God loves you. That Christ died for you. And that everlasting life is waiting on you. Just call upon his name. Can I pray for you? If that's you, I just want to ask you to raise your hand if that is you. If I see you, I'll say, God bless you, and you can put your hand back down. But I just want to give you a second to say, man, yeah, that's me right here, right now. Anyone at all? Don't miss the moment if it is. Okay, all right then, I told you just a moment, that's all you get. But here's the thing, it's not like you can only be saved when the preacher says, now's the time. Anytime's the time. If you'll hear his voice, don't harden your heart. Open your heart and believe on him. Lord, we just, We just wanna surrender ourselves fresh to you today. We don't wanna be those folks just going through the motions, having lost that first love, fire that you ignited in us when we came to know you. Lord, we pray you take those embers and you stoke them fresh once again. That we would walk in sensitivity to your spirit that you would use us for your glory. Or give us hearts of repentance, Lord, that you would, as you shine the light, for surely your word is a lamp unto our feet, a light unto our path. As you shine the light upon our lives and wanna lead us in the way that we should go, that we would be careful to obey that. Thank you for your love, in Jesus' name, amen.