God in Control
A Sermon on Romans 8:28-30
Originally preached Nov. 17, 1961
Scripture
28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the …
Sermon Description
Where is God when bad things happen and why do they happen? How should the Christian respond when the devil comes accusingly and harasses them? In this sermon on Roman 8:28–30, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones pastors the listener through a myriad of troubles, explaining why they occur, how God uses them in the lives of His children, and how they can know that all things truly are working together for their good. Sometimes a Christian doesn’t know what to pray for in those situations but, as Dr. Lloyd-Jones reminds, “the Christian is one who can be certain about the ultimate even when he is most uncertain about the immediate.” Listen to this sermon “God is in control”, as he declares promise after promise from God’s word and cites examples from church history which will encourage the soul to trust God in the midst of dark times. Because God is in control, the Christian can be assured that even though they may not understand, they can still walk confidently, trusting that He is working all things for their good.
Sermon Breakdown
- The statement “all things work together for good” is limited to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. It is not a general optimistic statement.
- The word “all” means everything - including trials, tribulations, illness, accidents, disappointments, and even sin and backsliding. God overrules everything for the good of His people.
- God permits things to happen, sends things upon us, withholds blessings from us, and grants us spiritual illumination to see what is happening - all for our good.
- We can be certain of the ultimate outcome even when uncertain of the immediate circumstances. We may not know what to pray for but we know all things work for good.
- The knowledge that all things work for good is an absolute certainty based on:
- The clear teaching and promises of Scripture
- The experiences of saints recorded in Scripture (e.g. Job, Jacob, David, Psalm 119)
- The experiences of saints throughout church history
- We will consider how we can know this truth personally and why it must be true.
The Book of Romans
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.