God’s Response to When You’re Really Feeling Down
Romans 8:28
Intro:
1. We all go through spiritual ups & downs. ILL: “Morgan’s Crisis”.
2. Your faith has to be based on more than just the way you feel at any given moment.
3. Understand that your spiritual downs strengthen your faith so that your next spiritual high is higher.
4. All things do work together for your benefit!
5. What does the Bible mean by this? The answer to these 3 questions helps us understand.
I. What is It That Works Out for Good?
A. All Things.
1. LIV = “All that happens to you”. Even the adverse things.
2. v35 - Examples of some of the “all things”.
a. Trouble (θλiψις) = (KJV) “tribulation”, means to suffer affliction from other people or circumstances beyond your control.
b. Hardship (στενοχωρία) = (KJV) “distress”, lit. “being in a narrow place”; so being crowded or pressured by others.
c. Persecution (διωγμός) = an affliction that continues to irritate.
d. Famine (λιμός) = an individual’s prolonged hunger.
e. Nakedness (γυμνότης) = exposure from being under clothed, the need to cover private parts of the body.
f. Danger (κίνδυνος) = (KJV) “peril”, implies the danger of losing your life.
g. Sword (μάχαιρα) = the Roman soldier’s short sword, similar to a Bowie knife - being murdered or killed.
3. None of “these things” are able to separate you from the Lord’s love!
B. Because this is true - what do you become when you are “in Christ”?
1. v37 - “We are more than conquerors!” - (LIV) “Overwhelming victory is ours!”
2. Why can you still have victory in spite of your trials?
a. Because - God is still in control! Maybe you focus so much on the problem that you tend to forget that.
b. Because - The Lord has promised upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it (Matt 16:18). As a member of the Lord’s church you are a recipient of that promise!
II. How Do They Work Out for Good?
A. They work together.
1. It’s like instruments in an orchestra working together at a concert.
2. Work (συνεργει) = work together.
2. ILL: Stones & bumps used to climb a hill.
B. They work continually.
1. Present tense - they are continually working things out for your benefit.
2. This means that God is continually making you.
a. ILL: “PBPGINFY” - Please be patient; God is not finished yet!
b. Your life now is going through God’s process of making you the way He wants you to be in your future life.
III. Who Do They Work Out For?
A. Those who are loving God.
1. Love (aγαπάω) is also in the present tense. So loving God is a way of life - a continual thing.
2. People who love you want to be with you & visit with you. Talk to God often - He loves it!
3. People who love you want to please you. Study God’s word so you will know how to please & obey Him.
B. Those who are called according to His purpose.
1. Christians are people who have submitted themselves to God.
a. Have you accepted Lord Jesus as Savior?
b. Are you acknowledging Him as Lord of your life?
c. Have you repented of your sins - made up your mind to orient your life towards God’s way instead of the world’s?
d. Have you confessed your loyalty to the Lord & began witnessing for Him?
e. Have you identified with the Lord in Christian baptism?
2. Christians are people who are fulfilling God’s purposes for their lives.
a. (LIV) = “those who are fitting into His plans”.
b. You were called to enjoy salvation & to fellowship with one another.
c. You were called into Christian service according to the gifts His Holy Spirit gave you. Develop & use them.
ILL: “The Taste Berry”. If you love God & seek to live within the center of His will, you can give thanks in every circumstance knowing God is shaping the events of your life to bring them to a glorious conclusion!
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