Untitled Sermon (27)

I am enjoying hearing these stories of Jack. I did not have the opportunity to know him. What I am gathering from your stories is that he was an interesting man, who loved hard work, loved community, and wanted to make the world a better place. One of the good guys in our community which the number of people at his visitation testifies to this.

But our hope this afternoon is not in Jack’s goodness. If all Jack has is his goodness—no matter how good that is--it will fall short of the glory of God. What we are witnessing here this afternoon is the gravity of sin. Sin carries with it the sentence of death. Jack it seems was a great guy but, as has been said before, even the best men are men at best. So, today Jack’s hope is the same hope that you and I have; the hope of life found in Jesus Christ.

We know that all those that trust in Jesus Christ have a hope in eternity. And it is the gospel which brings us peace and hope in Christ. And it is this same gospel that I hope to proclaim to you this afternoon. We will spend our time looking at two things from Romans 8. I will read the text, verses 28-37 of Romans 8, first and then I will explain the two truths for us to consider today.

Romans 8:28–37 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

The first thing we will see from this text is that

1. Death is horrible but Christ has conquered it

Last Monday was a shock to everyone. Nobody woke up on that morning thinking this would be the day for Jack to pass away. And when that news came it was a blow…a shock…it was painful.

The tears on that day testify that death is not a good thing. Death is the enemy. It is because of death and the consequence of sin that we are here this afternoon. Death does not give us cause to rejoice. Death gives us cause to mourn.

And that is okay. It is not unholy or not trusting God to mourn the loss of a loved one. This is certainly a time to mourn. But as we mourn let us also mourn in hope. Yes, we can have hope even on this day.

In verse 28 of Romans 8 Paul says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Perhaps, you have heard that verse before—it is a pretty popular one. But how does such a verse apply on such a sad day as this? How can we say that the death of Jack Hubbard can “work together for good”?

One thing is that we need a new definition of the word good. What God is saying to us in this text is not “if something bad happens don’t worry I’m going to bless you with something even better to take its place”. As if we can so easily replace a husband, a father, a grandfather, a friend.

No when Paul says “all things work together for good” what he means is that all things—even the death of a loved one—works together to bring us into conformity with Jesus Christ which is our greatest good. In other words God has a way of taking really bad things—like death—and redeeming them and conquering them and making us more like Jesus because of them. Somehow suffering actually expands our capacity for joy in God—which is our greatest good.

So, Jack’s death can “work together for good” because in the midst of suffering, pain, and mourning we become more like Christ—which is our greatest good. But there is one other thing that I want us to see from verses 35-37.

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

In verse 35 Paul lists a ton of things that cause us suffering and pain. You will notice that death is in that list. Verse 36 is a quotation from the OT which basically lets us know that this side of eternity there will be pain and suffering and death. But notice verse 37. “No, in all these things we are MORE THAN CONQUERORS through him who loved us.

To conquer pain, suffering, and death would be to get through it. For it to no longer be a bad deal. To conquer suffering would mean that suffering no longer exists. To conquer pain would mean that pain is no longer a reality. To conquer death would mean that people no longer die. That would be wonderful. But this text doesn’t say we are “conquerors” of these things through Jesus Christ. It says that we are MORE than conquerors through Jesus Christ.

What does that mean? It means that where there once was suffering, pain, and death Christ replaces it with joy, peace, glory, and life. Christ through his death on the Cross and resurrection has conquered death. He has put death in its grave. This is why Scripture says a few verses prior to ours in Romans 8:11,

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

So, yes death is horrible. But Christ has conquered it. No, Christ has more than conquered it. And so we know then that for all those that are in Christ Jesus that it is not death to die.

Death can not separate us from the love of God. And we know that just as Christ Jesus was raised from the dead so also at some point God will also give life to our mortal bodies. In this we can hope. This is why our hope is firmly fixed in what Christ has done for us.

But we aren’t there yet, are we? We still have death, we still have pain, we still have suffering so in the mean time it is also important to know that we can trust a good God with our suffering. Which is the second thing for us to see.

2. We can trust a good God with our suffering

Verses 31-34 of Romans 8 help us see this precious truth.

It might seem odd to ask this…but what is the most difficult thing for God to do? In one sense…nothing is really difficult…but if we were to speak this way…as this text invites us to…we’d say that the most difficult thing would have been sending His beloved Son Jesus to earth—not only to live as a man, to give up the glories of heaven, but to be beaten, hung on a cruel cross as a criminal, and ultimately to endure the payment for our sin.

As Scripture elsewhere declares He made Him who knew no sin (that’s Jesus) to become sin—so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. This means that God treated Jesus as we (sinners) deserve. Pouring His wrath upon His Son Jesus was probably the most DIFFICULT—again if we can speak that way—thing that God has ever done.

Now consider verse 32. “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Did you catch that? It’s an argument from greater to lesser. If God didn’t spare Jesus so that people could have eternal life, then what makes us think He won’t give us all things necessary?

Yes, God will do all things for our good. Remember “good” is being brought into conformity with Christ. Good is to be changed in such a way that our experience and joy in Christ Jesus expands. God is absolutely committed to bringing His children into our greatest joy.

And knowing this is why Paul says in verse 18: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” The glory of God is so wonderful and grand that our suffering will in comparison seem as nothing.

That is not to minimize the suffering and pain that we feel today. In fact this entire passage in Romans 8 is given to us to know that we can trust a good God with our suffering. God has taken care of our greatest problem—sin, and our broken relationship with Him—so we know that we can trust Him with our present suffering. God is absolutely dedicated to seeing us through. A big point of this passage is to encourage believers that no matter what pain you experience God will get you through. Trust Him with your suffering.

God is here with you in the midst of your pain and mourning. You can trust God with your suffering.

And there is no doubt that you would have loved more time with Jack. There is no doubt that we would not be grieving this afternoon if he were here. But if he could come back for one brief moment, I believe I know what he would tell us. Having seen what he has seen and experienced what he is experiencing, he would tell us: Be certain that you know Jesus. Put your faith and trust in Jesus and him alone, he is the only one that can pardon you and the only one that we can hope in. Do not leave this life without knowing the One who is Life Himself.

I believe that he would very passionately let us know that Romans 8 is true. Having now seen what he has seen and heard the things that he has heard—he would certainly tell us that what really matters is Jesus. He would let us know that our present suffering does pale in comparison to the glory that awaits us.

Jack would say to those of us that are believers—it’s worth it. Keep pressing on, keep trusting Jesus, every ounce of pain and suffering is worth it. It only makes Christ all the more sweeter. And to those here that may not be trusting in Christ—I am confident that Jack would encourage you to trust in Jesus alone. He is what ultimately matters.

It is only through Christ that we more than conquer death. Yes death is horrible but Christ has conquered it. And yes we still suffer this side of eternity—but we can, through Jesus Christ that intercedes for us—we can trust God with our suffering. Trust Him this afternoon.

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