The Healing Word

Pastor Jack Morris: Everything's going to work out all right if you know God and if you love God. If you're not obeying God, you can forget it. You're going to carry your burdens alone. You're going to continually be frustrated. The pain's going to be there, but the pain will never go away. One pain will lead to another pain, one dark experience to another dark experience. But if you love God, you've given your heart to God, you're walking according to the word of God, everything's going to work out all right.

Narrator: Thank you for joining us for The Healing Word. It's easy to trust God when everything is going well. Faith is tested when circumstances tell us just the opposite, when the future is uncertain and we cannot see how things could possibly work out. Today, Pastor Jack Morris takes us to one of scripture's great promises. Romans chapter 8 verse 28 and reminds us that God is still at work even when we cannot see what He's doing. Be encouraged by today's message. Everything is going to be all right.

Pastor Jack Morris: You have a sermon outline in your bulletin and I would like you to turn in your Bibles also to Romans 8. And we're going to focus our attention today on Romans 8:28. This past week, I called and talked to Dwayne Hopper and Dolores Page. Dolores and Dwayne oversee the youth program here at the church. Just a few years ago, we didn't have a youth program, not a great program. We had a Sunday school program and we did some things with the youth and had some youth activities. But since these two people have been involved, this youth program has really begun to grow, grow spiritually, grow numerically, grow in ministry and in activities. And then the church decided that God was calling us to do a great thing, even a greater thing. And the acreage came available next door.

Who would have thought that this little church so many years ago, or just a few years ago, could have done what we have done? And I boast today, but in the Lord only, and in the faithfulness of God's people. And we were able to purchase those acres. And then you know the problem we had with the communities. But thank God over a long period of time and prayer and faith, we were able to get that resolved and we're in the process now of moving forward to put the parking lot in and then to build that youth building.

Now, that has been the focus of the Largo Community Church from the very beginning. There have been a lot of good things that have come along. But sometimes one good thing has a way of spoiling another good thing. Now, the good thing that we must focus on and keep focused on is our original commitment and vision that we had from the very beginning. And we don't want anything to move in that might in any way delay, inhibit, set back, slow up.

I mean, sometimes things happen and we get all excited and we say, "Oh, let's do it," and we find ourselves jumping off and expending resources that have been earmarked, dedicated, committed. We need to pray and say, "God, we are Your servants. You speak to my mind. I don't want to think with the thoughts of my own mind because I will think thoughts that will go astray." And so lead us astray. So we need to keep our focus, our purpose in being. And that is to get that building up, to continue to bless these young people, to see this that God has started, go forward. Put our wills, our thoughts aside and say, "Lord, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done." God has a plan and God has a purpose.

And so I called these two youth leaders and I told them that I am still committed. There's a lot of calls and a lot of wishes and a lot of desires, but I'm still committed. I'm with you and we're going all the way for Jesus and for these lambs. Jesus wants us to take care of his lambs. And that's where my focus is and has been. While I was talking to Dolores, Dolores has a computer in her office and every approximately every 10 minutes a new scripture comes on that computer. She has it programmed in such a way. And she said, "Pastor," she said, "while you're talking," she said, "right now, here comes a scripture up." And guess what that scripture was.

Would you like to read it with me this morning in unison, Romans 8:28? Would you like to read it? Would you like to read it? Together in unison, let's read the scripture. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

Friend, that scripture spoke to me and I've given that scripture many times to many people. Listen to me. The kids are coming up, but listen to me for just a minute. God has given me that scripture to give to so many people, but God gave it to me this week, telling me that everything's going to be all right. Can you say that? Everything's going to be all right. Everything's going to be all right in this church. Everything's going to be all right in your life. Everything's going to be all right in your home. Everything's going to be all right in your body. Some of you, I know, you're suffering physically. But God is telling us today everything is going to be all right. And I want you to hear the message today that God is bringing to you to help you, to help the church, to help your family, to help our youth. God is still God. He's still in control. And I'm going by the help of God to be His sheep of His pasture and follow Him. And I know if I do that. I know if you do that, all those who love Him, everything's going to be all right.

So in your sermon outline, the very first thing under point A, write down the word everything. Everything is going to be all right. Now, look at Romans 8:28. This is what Paul said and this is a magnificent statement that he made. It's it's a statement magnificent for anyone to make. Notice how he begins. And we know. Hey, now that's confidence, isn't it? We know. We don't hope so. We don't think so. There's no guessing in this. He says, we know. There is a heartfelt solid rock conviction that God is in our lives. God is in our homes. God is in everything that we do if it's right and in obedience to His word. And we know that everything's going to be all right, work out all right, turn out all right, works for the good if we love Him and know that we are called by Him.

You see, God has called us to do His will. We don't decide that we're going to do something good and ask Him to get involved and help us. He tells us. We don't tell Him. And He has a mission and a focus and if we follow that mission and focus and keep focused on that mission, everything's going to turn out all right and we know that to be so. We know that to be a fact.

Now, the word know comes from the Greek word Ginosko, which has to do with a progressive taking in of knowledge. It's something more than than getting excited and just saying everything's going to work out all right. And making that rather surface and just coming off the top of our head and like wishful thinking, everything's going to work out all right. But Paul had this conviction in his heart during a very difficult time in his life and in the life of the church. And he said, "We know." Now, how did he know? How could he be so sure, so confident that everything was going to work out all right? Because some of you this morning aren't all that confident that things that are going on in your life are going to work out all right. But I want you to listen and hear the word of God today because God wants you to know in your heart, in that dark, sad time of your life when things aren't going good and when things are going bad, He wants you to know then. Right then, that everything's going to work out all right. Paul knew when things were terrible in the church, the persecution from the outside world and in his own life. He knew.

And it was a progressive, a Ginosko, a progressive learning, a progressive knowledge. That's why I want you to come to church every Sunday. That's why I want you to read your Bibles every day. That's why I want you to go to the Sunday school class and the parish groups. I want you to grow in the knowledge of the Lord. Grow and keep growing until you know. See, knowing just isn't telling you one Sunday morning, but it's a it's a growing, a progressive experience. Paul knew through experience and he knew through what the word taught him. Those two things caused him to be sure and confident in his own soul that everything was going to work out all right.

The word and experience. My heart aches today for some of God's people. They're going through some of the most difficult places, but they do not know the word. And they're haphazard in their fellowship with God's people. They're not committed to the word, they're not committed to the church. They don't know who they are. They don't know where they belong. They don't know they belong in this church or some other church, who their people are, who their spiritual family is. Hey, you know who your natural family is, don't you? You know who your brothers and sisters are. You know who your parents are. You know which family you belong in. But God's people need to come to that place of sure, foundation confidence that they know in whom they have believed. They know who saved them. They know that they are part of the family of God, the pasture of God's people, the sheep of His pasture. That they know through the word and through experience. Say that with me. Through the word and through experience. Now, it takes some time, but some of you are getting to the place, some of us are getting to the place where we know that all things are going to work out all right. We know that. I mean, we can say that, we can read that. But I mean, down deep in your heart, you know it. You just know it. You just know it.

When the doctor says, "Hey, you've got cancer." You know everything's going to work out all right. When you get that slip and they say, "Hey, you've been laid off, you've been riffed," and your head drops and you think, "Oh, how am I going to pay the bills?" But at that moment, you know everything's going to work out all right. You just know it. When the family's breaking up and one of the mates, one of the spouses won't cooperate and it looks like divorce is inevitable. But at that moment, because of Him, because of the experience you have in Him, because of your knowledge of the work, you know everything's going to work out all right. Anybody can say everything's going to be all right when everything is all right. But I mean saying it when everything is not all right, then saying, "Everything's going to be all right." Are you still with me? Okay. We know.

Now, this is what Paul said, and I'm going to turn over to Philippians chapter 4 verse 12. This knowledge, this is how it comes. He said, Paul said, "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret." Now he didn't learn it in five minutes and he didn't learn it in one Sunday morning service. This is a secret that he progressively learned. It was built and it was built and it was built and it was built. He said, "Listen to it. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." I have learned. Now, that's what I want to do. I want to learn. I want you to learn. God wants us to learn that everything is going to be all right. That we know that everything is going to be all right. Now notice what it says in Romans 8:28. We know that come on, read the next one with me. That in all things God works for the good. Okay, stop right there. That in all things. Not some things. What does it say? How many things? All things. Not just the good things, but in all things.

Now, this was the scripture verse that blessed me and brought a great peace to my mind this past week. Pressures from the outside, good things and pressures that that was coming that that were coming from the inside of me that that I I was building up myself. You know, you can put yourself under a lot of stress and a lot of pressure. We're only human and we're all still in the flesh. But that verse of scripture touched my heart, brought peace to my mind. R.A. Torrey. Remember hearing that name R.A. Torrey? A number of years ago, I preached a series of sermons on the power of prayer and we used R.A. Torrey's textbook. Well, that was the man that referred to this scripture and said, "Romans 8:28 is a soft pillow for a weary head." Now, if you're weary today and you have a weary head, I want you to think of Romans 8:28. We know that in all things. Not some things, but in all things, you can just relax and rest in that and say, "God, I'm I'm Yours and You're taking care of it all, everything, not just some of the things and not only when good things come into my life. I have so many people will call and say, "Oh, Pastor, I got a promotion. God bless me." I have never had anybody call and say, "Pastor, I just got riffed. God bless me."

Now, the Bible says in all things, right? Say all things. All things. God is at work doing something beautiful. He works for the good. Now not listen to me. Not everything that comes into our life is good. There are bad things, evil things, sicknesses, diseases, illnesses, disappointments, setbacks, losses, hurts, pains. There's a lot of bad things that come into our life that hurts us deeply and causes us a lot of emotional pain. But God is telling us that He's going to somehow, I don't know how, friends, if I knew how, I would tell you. But I only know what He says, and I want to know what He says, and you need to know what He says. He says that in His way, somehow mysteriously, in divine providence, He's going to work out that will turn out to your good. I don't know how He'll do that, but that's how He always works and He works for the good.

Now, we want to often when I hear this scripture quoted, we think we will say it this way, and this is how it is in the King James. "All things work together for good." We want to get over to the good, and we forget the working together. Now, things are working together to bring about the good. It it's going to be a little while, maybe before the good gets here. The good might not get here this afternoon or tomorrow, but things are working over here. I remember when I was just learning the computer, my little eight-year-old grandson comes in the room with me, and he looks at my computer, and there's up in the right-hand corner, there's a little globe of the world and it keeps turning very slowly when I've when I've clicked into something. And he and I always thought, "Well, you know, what's going on here? Nothing's happening." And he said, "Pop-pop," he said, "that globe turning there, that means it's working." That means it's working. What is he about a third grader? I thanked him for the knowledge, you know. Pop-pop just needed to be a little patient. It's coming. It's coming. But right now, it's working. And the Lord tells us that all things are working together for the good. It's going to come up. I'm going to get I'm going to get it. The good is coming, but I'm going to have to wait just a little while before it comes.

In the Old Testament, in Genesis chapter 50, Joseph was dying. Now, Joseph was the one who had the coat of many colors. His brothers became jealous of his father's love for him. And they threw him in a pit, and they sold him into Egyptian slavery. And for many years, he was abused, lied upon. He he was a terrible, terrible life that he lived. But after a long time, the passing of years, God elevated him to the highest position of Egypt, second only to that of the Pharaoh himself. His father came to him down into Egypt, his brothers came down into Egypt. His father died. The brothers were afraid that maybe Joseph now would turn on them because of the terrible deed they'd had done to him years ago. Now, listen, friends, Genesis chapter 50. Joseph says to his brothers, "You intended it for evil, but God intended it for good."

You know, God has different intentions sometimes than we do, doesn't He? He even has a different program all together. But in the meantime, everything is working, and it's going to be okay. It's going to turn out in the end. Joseph said it was for the saving of your lives and the lives of many. God not only had you in mind, you know, we see one thing. Just one thing, we have tunnel vision often, and we see one thing, and we move toward that one thing, and we forget the big picture. But God sees your life in the big picture and He's working it all together for good.

Now, I know some of you ladies here this morning have baked cakes before. I think. They're easier to get somewhere else now, aren't they? When we had this this meal over here for the chambers just a few weeks ago to say goodbye to them as they left us to go to Jamaica as missionaries, and the food was delicious. The only thing better than the food was the fellowship. And the desserts that was the best part of it all. I had about three pieces of cake. I'm sorry if some of you didn't get yours. It's my fault. My fault. I had about three pieces of cake. But Mary Tinche came by and she said, "Pastor, I want you to have a piece of mine." That would be cake number four. Mary, are you here? You should be here. Oh, there you are. It would be cake number four. And she said, "I made it from scratch." You know what it is to make a cake from scratch? Well, I think I know what it means, Mary. I think it means flour and um baking soda and what else? Butter and salt and milk. No salt? Okay, no salt. Eggs. I mean, it took a whole lot of things to put together and then work it together to make one cake. Beautiful, delicious, good. Everything turned out all right, didn't it?

Now, what would it have been if Mary had brought in all of these little saucers and said, "Pastor, I didn't have time to make the cake. But here's some milk and here's some flour and here's some soda, I guess or here's some salt." And she lined it all up and she said, "Now, you drink this," and I drink. And then I got to the end, she says, "Now you have a cake in you." I'd say, "Mary, that didn't taste like cake." You see, the problem was if I would have taken each experience one at a time and tasted it one at a time, I would have spit out the salt. I couldn't have taken it. The bacon soda or whatever it was. What is it? Baking powder, I mean. Yeah, I need baking soda. I sure wouldn't have needed that. So what I'm saying, friends, if you take each experience and try to taste that and assimilate that, it it some of your experiences are going to be very bitter. But if you take each thing that's happening to you and present it to God in prayer and give it to the Lord, let it keep happening. God's going to keep working it together. Somehow it's all going to turn out okay. Everything's going to turn out okay because way back here in the beginning, God has a plan way over here at the ending, and He knows what He's doing. Can you say amen?

Now, He's doing it. Look at verse 28, according to His purpose. What He's trying to say, "I have a purpose in this. I have a purpose in your life. Even that bad, bitter, sad experience that's causing you so much pain and so much hurt. It it's all coming. There's a purpose in it. There's a purpose. God doesn't do anything haphazard, and we need to be careful that we don't get off of God's purpose and get on our purpose. Even though what we are about to get onto might be a good thing, and a good purpose. But it's not God's purpose. God has something good in the end for those of us who are going to follow Him. Now, look at look at point B. Everything is going to be all right." You have two lines there? Write down the words two words. For whom? W-H-O-M.

Now, everything's not going to be all right for everybody. There are certain people, a select group, a designated people that God's going to work out everything all right. So, let's see who it is. Number one, for those who know God. Write down the word know, K-N-O-W. Now look at verse 28. It says, "Works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose." Now, I have written down three things. Uh, three people. Those who know Him. The word the reason I'm writing down number one, number know because I believe number know is implied. It it says here love and are called. But listen, you can't love somebody that you don't know, can you? So you have to know God, and to know Him is to love Him. Say that, "To know Him is to love Him." How do you know God? Well, there's there's several ways to know God, and none are without no one is without excuse. We know God in many ways. Number one, we can know God through nature. We know there's there's a God. There's a Creator. The Apostle Paul in Romans says that that that nature itself is a continuous ongoing argument for a Creator. A very logical argument for a Creator. The psalmist says the sun, the moon, the stars, the heavenly bodies, so precise, so organized that we even set our clocks by the heavenly bodies. God is not the author of confusion. He's the God of perfection. And we can look at the heavenly bodies and see that which is perfect happening. So, all about us, with or without Bible, believer or unbeliever, there is the argument of God from morning till night. You have a convincing argument that God is there. The second way we know God is through His word.

Number two, those I'm not to number two yet. I'm hurrying along too fast. But through His word, His word tells us that He is. All the judges, the writers, the seers, the prophets, the apostles, they all convincingly wrote of God, told us how to get to God, pointed a clear path to God, and said that He is, and that anybody, whosoever will, can come and to know Him. So, the writers clearly tell us how we can know God. And then Jesus comes, and He reveals God. He is Emmanuel, God with us, and to know Jesus is to know God. But now, look at number two. So, number one, everything's going to work out all right for those who know God. Number two, everything's going to work out all right for those who what do you think it might mean? Love God. Love God. Now, not everybody really loves God. But those of us who truly know Him and truly love Him, everything is going to work out all right.

How do you know whether you're not whether or not you love God? You say, "Well, I love Him." Yeah, I heard what you said. He heard what you said. You heard what you said. God is saying, "Show me." I I want to show you. God says, "I want to show you how much I love you." What did He do to show us? He gave us His dearly beloved. When He gave us Jesus, He gave us His heart. So, God is saying, "If you truly love me like I love you, I showed you by giving you my heart. Now, you give me your heart." That means follow me obediently according to my word. Now, friend, I want to tell you something. Everything is not going to work out all right simply because you are in church this morning and you sang some hymns. No. I don't want you to be fooled. Neither does the Apostle Paul. Neither does the Holy Spirit that inspired the Apostle Paul. Everything's going to work out all right if you know God and if you love God. If you're not obeying God, you can forget it. You're going to carry your burdens alone. You're going to continually be frustrated. The pain's going to be there, but the pain will never go away. One pain will lead to another pain, one dark experience to another dark experience. But if you love God, you've given your heart to God, you're walking according to the word of God, everything's going to work out all right. That's what the Bible says. It truly says that.

And then number three, everything's going to work out all right for those who are called by. You have two lines there. Called by God. Now, God's called you to love Him, to serve Him, to obey Him. And He knows exactly. Are you listening? He knows exactly who is loving Him, serving Him, and obeying Him. He really does. And if you love God with all your heart, and you walk in His ways, you're growing in His experience, you are accumulating a progressive knowledge. It will lead you to that place where you can affirm, "I know everything's going to work out all right. I know that because I know Him. Because I love Him, and because He has a purpose, and I know that purpose, and I know what it is in my life. Are you are you called? Have you heard God calling you to obey Him? Now, if you're not obeying God, and there's a conviction or a guilty feeling and you think, "Oh, I'm not doing this that I should be doing," or, "I should stop doing this." You you know where your life is in God. And if that conviction comes, or those guilty feelings come, that's God calling you to stop that, put it away, or start this and take it up. God is calling you to know Him, to love Him, and to adhere to His purposes. Now, if you're doing that, you can clap your hands and sing everything is going to work out all right. Everything's going to be all right. You can really do that.

But you need to look at your own heart, dear friend. You need to examine your heart today. You need to be open and honest with yourself today. Because God already knows our hearts, and there is nothing that is hidden. Everything is open and clear before Him. Now, some of you have been obeying God. You know God. You've obeyed God. You know God has a purpose in your life. You're following the Lord. Yet you're in a very deep, difficult situation this morning. To you, to you, the Lord is saying, "All things God is working together for good." I want to say today as His ministering servant in a prophetic way, according to His holy word, for you who love Him, who are obeying Him, who are following Him, I say by His authority, God is working out everything, and everything is going to work out all right for you.

Narrator: Not everything that happens to us is good, but God is able to work through all things for His purposes. Our circumstances may still be unfolding, but we can rest in the assurance that God sees the complete picture and remains at work. Visit TheHealingWord.com for more messages from Pastor Morris and to share your prayer needs with us. And thank you to everyone whose prayers and generous support make this ministry possible. Next time, Pastor Morris reminds us that storms are part of life, but they don't have to be the final word. Join us for Emerging from the Storm.