In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes that God is the orchestrator of all things and brings them together for a definite purpose. The sermon references a story from Mark chapter 10 where a young man asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus corrects the man, stating that only God is good. The sermon explains that justification is just the beginning of a new life in Christ, and God works to transform believers into the image of Jesus. The preacher also discusses the concept of all things working together for good, emphasizing that everything in life, whether animate or inanimate, has a purpose and will coordinate for good under God's control.

Romans chapter 8 verses 28 29 and 30 Romans chapter 8 verses 28 but we do know that all things work together for good to those who love God to those who are called according to purpose because whom he has foreknown he has also predestinated to be conformed to the image of his son so that he should be the firstborn among many brethren but whom he has predestinated these also he has called and whom he has called these also he has justified but whom he has justified these also he has glorified we do know that all things work together for good I think probably we are all very familiar with this statement whenever we visit anyone in the hospital we'll use this verse it's a ready-made verse and whenever any brother or sister has any problem whether they are sick or whether something happened we have a ready verse for them all things work together for good now we use that verse so often sometimes I wonder whether we really understand what we are quoting now when you read Romans chapter 8 in verse 26 it says we do not know we do not know what to pray for that is fitting you know brothers and sisters in our daily life we encountered many things different environments and oftentimes we do not know what's happening and we do not know what to pray and how to pray that will be fitting now because we do not know so we say we do know that all things work together for good you know we do not know why certain brothers and sisters got sick we do not know why something happened to them and we do not know what to say so we use this ready verse all things work together for good but do we really know all things work together for good now all things means everything everything that happens in your life whether it comes from people or whether they are just things or whether there are certain events circumstances that come your way all things everything and the Bible said all things work together now we know that all things include things that are inanimate that is not living now how can all things work together everything has a meaning and everything will coordinate together work together for good now how can this happen there must be someone behind all things there must be someone who all things someone who orchestrates put together all these things with a very positive definite purpose and we know this is God all things behind all things there is God and God is the one who brings all things together and he makes all things work together work together for good now brothers and sisters what is good you remember one day in mark chapter 10 a young man he was a ruler and he ran to our Lord Jesus he knelt before him before the crowd because he was earnest and he asked a question good teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life now that is a very important question what shall I do to inherit eternal life and he addressed this question to our Lord Jesus he said good teacher and you know what I Lord answered him the Lord said why do you call me good there is no one good but God in other words our Lord corrects him God is good aside from God there is nothing good no one good and you also remember in Romans chapter 12 it said brethren I beseech you by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable to God which is your reasonable service do not be conformed to this world but be transformed then you may be able to prove what is the good and perfect will of God so in other words what is good you know we have our own definition of good suppose you are in good health you say that's good suppose you can inherit a large amount of money you say that is good and if you are in ill health that is no good if you are in poverty that is no good if you have a good job that is good but if you lose your job that is bad now that's our definition of good or bad but you know our definition is really not correct what is good God is good and his will his purpose is good so the Bible says all things work together for good what does it mean it means that whatever happened to you in your life whether it is prosperity or whether it is poverty whether it is good health or whether it is sickness whether it is smooth sailing or whether it is hard going whatever happened in your life all things you know many things happen in our life but all things that come in our way God is behind them he is making all things work together for good he is making all things work together that his will may be done in your life now that is good and you know brothers and sisters we have the habit of quoting half a verse or even one third of a verse we do not quote the whole verse we say all things work together for good period but that is not what you'll find in the Bible the Bible said all things work together for good yes to whom to those who love the Lord you know if you do not love the Lord if you do not love God does all things work together for good to you if you do not love God probably you will feel that all things work together against you not only prosperity disaster work together against you even prosperity even success work together against you to those who do not love God not because God does not want all things work together for your good for your eternal good there is no problem with God you know our God is good and he is at the back of everything and he is trying to make all things work together for your eternal good there is no doubt about that but whether they work together for good to you you have a responsibility if you do not love God you do not understand you are not able to really enter into God's mind and God's heart and because of that when you look at all things you'll find everything everyone is against you it does not bring you to eternal good but how can you love God in all things now if you have a very smooth rosy life it may be easy for you to love God suppose you live a very hard life are you able to love God what is the secret of loving God now quote the full verse and you'll find it all things work together for good to whom to those who love God but how can you love God in any circumstance whatever happens you love God how can you do that to those who are called according to purpose in other words you are called according to purpose thank God all who believe in the Lord Jesus are being called and we are called according to purpose that is to God's purpose you know even before God created the heavens and the earth the Bible tells us even before the foundation of the world God has purpose of purpose in his son Jesus Christ for you now think of that even before you are born even before you are being formed in your mother's womb even before the world was created in time past eternity before time began in eternity God is eternal self existing and there he purpose of purpose in himself what is that purpose he purpose of purpose in his beloved son concerning you and concerning me and that the Bible called it the eternal purpose of God so dear brothers and sisters it is extremely important for us to know what is God's eternal purpose concerning us now if you know what God's eternal purpose is concerning you then your eyes will be open you will be able to see truly God is at the back managing all things in your life let all things work together for your eternal good and that is to fulfill his eternal purpose in your life now if you see that then whether blessing or woe come in your way they will not affect you adversely you are able to see behind everything God is working out his purpose in your life and you will praise him you will thank him and you will worship him and you will love him that's the secret you know to many believers when they are blessed they love the Lord when they are met with adversity their love for God began to cool down why because they are influenced by what they can see they are influenced by their environments they do not see God in all things now if we can see God and his goodwill in all things then brothers and sisters whatever happen if the south wind blow or the north wind blow they will all work together for good to those who love God as I was meditating on this it brought into my mind the Apostle Paul you know Paul in Philippians chapter 4 he says something you know this Apostle Paul he suffered a great deal for the gospel's sake and when he wrote this letter to the Philippines he was in prison in Rome he was there a prisoner not because of what wrong he had done but because of the gospel of Jesus Christ when you look at his circumstances you will think that he will be very down hearted probably he will murmur and even rebel against God God I love you I worked so hard for you and why is it that you allow all these things to happen to me but no even when he was in prison he was full of joy and when he wrote this letter to the church in Philippi instead of waiting to be comforted by the Philippine believers instead you find he was comforting the Philippine believers he said rejoice always in the Lord and I say again rejoice now towards the end of the Philippines letter in chapter 4 that's what he said he said in verse 11 not that I speak as regards probation for as to me I have learned in those circumstances in which I am to be satisfied in myself I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound in everything and in all things I'm initiated both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer probation I have strength for all things in him that gives me power you find in whatever circumstance the apostle Paul was in whether he was praised by people or whether he was persecuted by people whether he was full or whether he was hungry he said I am initiated I have learned I am able to face all circumstances why? because he knew the purpose of God he knew that God means well that God is using all things to bring him into the full purpose of God now are we like that? all things work together for good to those who love God who are called according to purpose now what is that purpose? in the following verse we are told verse 29 because whom he has foreknown he has also predestinated to be conformed to the image of his son so that he should be the firstborn among many brethren now our God is omniscient that is to say our God knows everything all the time with God his knowledge is infinite his knowledge is not limited by time he knows the end from the beginning the knowledge of our God is infinite he knows everything at all time nothing is hidden from him all things are naked before him God has foreknowledge now we are very limited in our knowledge if you are very clever if you are very observant maybe you are able to predict something that may happen now suppose you see a person walking back and forth before your house and peeping in very suspicious now if you are very observant probably you begin to wonder whether that is a thief so you begin to watch and sure enough in the night he came it is as if you foreknow that person now does it because of that you make him a thief you are responsible in making him a thief because you have such foreknowledge not at all he make himself a thief but you are so observant now our God his foreknowledge is unlimited before you are born before your shape in your mother's womb or long before of course even before the foundation of the world there is nothing of you yet but God has already seen you he has the foreknowledge he knows you dear friends you may not know God but God knows you by your name you remember that happened when Paul was Saul he changed his name afterwards you know now Saul means look for someone that you look for big shot the first king in the Jewish nation was named Saul so this man was named after the great king Saul but after he believed in the Lord Jesus he used the name Paul which means little you know isn't that true before we know the Lord Jesus we feel ourselves great big important but when you know the Lord Jesus it makes you little you feel you are just little nothing thank God for that you know this man Saul he persecuted Christians fearful fearfully fearfully not only in Jerusalem the capital city he went into homes sees men and women who believe in Lord Jesus and sentenced them and he will go to the synagogues and force these people to blaspheme and when Stephen was stoned to death he was there watching the clothes of those who stoned Stephen when anyone is sentenced he gives his vote and he persecuted Christians even to Gentile cities that was Saul but on the way to Damascus the Lord the risen Lord met him and you know what the Lord said Saul Saul why do you persecute me it is hard for you to kick against goats Saul said who are you Lord you know we do not know God but God knows us all the time he knows your very name and thank God one day he called you God knows every one of us all the time whom he has foreknown you are foreknown by him you do not know him but he knows you well he knows you better than you know yourself and how true that is whom he has foreknown how does he use his foreknowledge he said whom he has foreknown he has predestinated ah predestination he has predestinated that you be conformed to the image of his son that his son may be the first born among many brethren wonderful you know people do not understand predestination people even rebel against predestination have you heard people say if God has predestined me to go to hell then there is nothing I can do so God has to bear the responsibility how he can judge me because he has predestinated it is not my fault it is his fault ah you misunderstand completely that is not predestination God never predestined anything arbitrarily if you have a mind a rational mind how much more rational must be the mind of God true God foreknown and he predestined his predestination is according to foreknowledge he does not predestine arbitrarily say so and so you go to hell so and so you go to heaven no he never does that because it is God's will that all may be saved and come to the knowledge of God that is God's heart but he knows beforehand when the gospel is presented to you how will you react whether you will humble yourself and confess your sins and allow the Lord Jesus to cleanse you with his precious blood he died for you on the cross whether you are willing to accept his offer or you will harden your heart you reject his offer of love and you yourself predestined for hell so in other words God knows how you will react God will use every means to persuade you but he cannot force you why because he is the one who creates you and he creates you with a will God is the supreme will of the universe and he creates you with a will and because he gives you a will he respects your will he will not force you to do anything he can persuade you he can warn you but he cannot he will not not cannot he will not force your will if you do not want to accept his love nothing he can do that's what you decide to do and God predestined according to what you decide just like the illustration I used you do not make that person a thief because you foreknows he has to be responsible for himself thank God whom he has foreknown he knows that when the gospel of Jesus Christ is presented to you you will humble yourself confess your sins and allow the Lord Jesus to redeem you to cleanse you and to fill you with his life so he predestinated you now he predestinated you to what you know predestination is not to predestine to death or life eternal death or eternal life no to us this is everything oh if only I can go to heaven that's everything to me if only I can accept hell that's everything to me it's so good thank God for that but remember he is God you are satisfied but he is not satisfied he has to so work in your life until he is satisfied he loves you so much he wants to do so much for you not just save you out of hell into heaven no that's not predestination predestination is he has predestinated you to be conformed to the image of his son Jesus Christ now think of that God has an only begotten son he has that son even before the foundation of the world his only begotten son this is the very heart of God all his love is poured upon that son he made his beloved son the heir of all things as a matter of fact he created all things for his son and he especially created man for his son because he said it is not good for his son to be alone God will make him a helpmate his like to share his life to share his glory that is God's purpose concerning you and me it is because of his son not because of you not because of me we are not that important it is because of God's son you know God loves his beloved son he gives everything to his son and his son is so obedient to him pleases him all the time everything that is our Lord Jesus so his son is the model and God wants to transform you and conform you to the image of his son to be like him his son is all glorious so holy so pure so meek so humble so great so powerful so glorious and God said I want to work until you are like my son so you can be his like and eventually be his helpmate eternally united with the son in glory now that is God's purpose for you isn't that wonderful you know I thank God for predestination because once God purposed that for your life he will see to it that it is done if you cooperate he will be faster if you don't cooperate he will take longer time but it shall be done wonderful and how is he going to do that read the following verse but whom he has predestinated these also he has called now God by his full knowledge he has predestinated you for a glorious future to be like his son that you may be united with his son and whom he has predestinated he has called are you called everyone is called but not everyone respond in the same way you remember what the Bible said whosoever wills whosoever wills come and drink of the water of life D.L. Moody that great evangelist use an illustration which is very clear he said when you come to the door of the salvation of the Lord what do you see written on the door whosoever will whosoever will can enter now if he said if on the door it said D.L. Moody wills you can enter in then he wonders whether there are another D.L. Moody than himself you cannot be too sure people may have the same name it means other people not you but he said whosoever will that is no doubt including me right so he said I will so he entered in and after he entered into the door he looked back and he saw written at the back of the door you who are called and predestinated so how can you know you are called enter in if you have entered into the door of salvation if you have believed in the Lord Jesus as your personal savior if you believe that he is the son of God he is raised from the dead that you may be justified if you believe with your heart and confess him with your mouth then you look back and you are told you are called predestinated to be conformed to the image of God's beloved son so you know it whom he has predestinated he has called and whom he has called he has justified what is justified how can a sinner be justified be just before God before the just God our God is just he knows everything now how can I be justified before him I have committed many things against God against myself against people God knows how can I be justified just as if I have never sinned who is able to cleanse me from all my sins whom he has called he has justified in other words you cannot justify yourself but he can justify you why because he has sent his beloved son into the world to die in your stead his son bore in his body all your sins and he was crucified on the cross for you and now justification is offered to you if you believe we are justified not by our works but by faith by believing in God's gift believing in Jesus Christ as our Lord other than that he said whom he has justified he has glorified you know justified is just the beginning your sins are forgiven you receive a new life but that is just the beginning and now God is working to make that life grow that you begin to take up a new character the character of Jesus Christ to shed the old habit the old character of yours and begin to build up that new character of Jesus Christ in your life so that you can be conformed to his image now that is what God is doing to you today now how is it to be done how can the justified be glorified all things work together for good to those who love the Lord who are called according to purpose now brothers and sisters I hope you understand why is it that certain things happen in your life why is it certain people come into your life why is it nothing happened to you I chance the Bible said even your hair has been numbered you know how many hair you have nobody knows but he knows and he number every one of them in the morning when you comb your hair God said well number a thousand and five fall down that is the love of God therefore brothers and sisters you who are called you who are justified he is working in your life every day every moment God is moving all things to work together for good by all these things those that are not pleasing to God those who are natural carnal freshly wordly against God God use all things to bring these things to death and at the same time he is using all things to build up the Christ character in your life you know only Christ is glorious his life is glory so whenever the character of Christ is built in you then you see glory and God's beloved son only because of the son will be the firstborn among many brethren what does it mean it means that many brethren will take up upon themselves the character the image of the firstborn so he will be the firstborn among many brethren he will be the model the example you know in the Bible firstborn has two meanings one is the common meaning first in time suppose in your family you have five children and the firstborn he is born first in time he may not be first in character but certainly he is first in time that's one way another way you find a Bible firstborn is according to quality not according to time but according to quality just like you remember Jacob make Joseph the firstborn you know the character so we will take our character from Christ he is the firstborn he has the priority he has the sovereignty and we begin to take character from him so he becomes the firstborn among many brethren brothers and sisters you know I feel really excited wonderful you know you do not know what God is doing with you if you know what God is doing with you what can you do but worship God is good so may the Lord help us shall we pray dear heavenly father our hearts are warmed we thank you for loving us so much your thoughts concerning us are noble and many we do thank thee that thou art not satisfied just to justify us thou art to glorify us O that we may take up the character of thy beloved son our Lord Jesus Christ he alone is worthy dear Lord we do pray that by thy word thou will open our understanding that we may not murmur but we may praise thee that we may not rebel against thee but we may submit ourselves to thee knowing that thou does all things well O work out your full salvation in each of our lives that you may be glorified we ask in the name of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ amen