Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
Because God’s plan is bigger than everything, there is nothing that can stop God’s plan for you.
One of the most familiar verses in the spells out God’s plan for all of God’s children:
In verse 29 we see that the ultimate plan for anyone who has put their faith in Jesus Christ is to be conformed to the image of Christ.
The quest for finding purpose in your life is to understand God’s plan for your life.
You must align your purpose with God’s plan, less your purpose will remain undiscovered and your plans will be unsuccessful.
Clearly, the wise Solomon knew something about finding purpose.
He knew that it was the Lord who held the plans and the purpose for our lives.
Paul gives us the eventual plan of God, and that is for all of us to be conformed to the image of his son Jesus Christ.
Understanding God’s plan prevents us from wasting the most productive years of our lives by asking a few simple questions.
Will my plans bring me closer towards God’s plan for my life?
Would God be glorified in the plans I have for my life?
Understand that God’s plan for your life is the best plan for your life.
God’s plan is the best plan because by seeking his plan you will have his support.
Jesus taught his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount that if they made seeking him their priority he would be their provider.
He doesn’t just provide, but he will protect.
Verse 28 of explains that God will take every situation in our lives and use it to accomplish his plan for our lives.
Notice he says that “all things” work together for “good”.
When he says “all things” he means exactly that, even the bad things that happen are working together for the good.
But what is good?
Good according to whose standards?
Well because God is in control and God is the one who holds the plans, then we know that good is defined according to his standards.
Things that may not seem good for our perspective are good for us according to God’s plan.
Good is anything that will cause us to grow in faith and become more like Christ.
When we didn’t get something we had been praying for it didn’t feel good to us, but it was good for us.
When we lost something we had been desperately trying to hold on to, it didn’t feel good to us, but it was good for us.
When we tried and tried to do things our way and the harder we tried it seems the harder we failed, it didn’t feel good, but it was good for us.
Paul says that God can use pain to help accomplish his plan.
Not only can he use our pain to help accomplish his plan.
God is so powerful that he can use our enemies to accomplish his plan.
God will use the very people who are trying to bring us down to lift us up higher.
God can cause all things to work together for good.
After Paul says these things and explains the process God uses to work these things he asks a rhetorical question.
What then?
Shall we say to these things?
A rhetorical question is used to persuade, influence, or build confidence in the audience that what you are saying is true.
Paul says:
Then follows it up by asking the question: “What then, shall we say to these things?”
He wasn’t really looking for an answer because he gives us the answer, “If God is for us, who is against us?” Paul didn’t even have to say that much all he really had to say was, God’s Got a Plan.
I want you to take that with you through the valley’s and over the hurdles of life.
Whatever situation you find yourself in just remember, God’s Got a Plan.
When people trying to tell you what you can’t do, remember God’s got a plan.
When the devil is trying to convince that life isn’t worth living, remember God’s got a plan.
When people don’t appreciate how much you do for them, remember God’s got a plan.
When you can’t see how you’re going to make it over the hump, remember God’s got a plan.
I want to break down the plan for you in easy three parts.
Understand the condition, the consequence, and the confidence in the plan.
I. Condition
The plan of God is _______ but the plan isn’t for everybody.
Paul answers his rhetorical question with a conditional statement.
“If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Emphasis on the word if.
Some commentators argue that the word if actually means since and it’s not really conditional but it’s saying since God is for us, then no one can be against us.
We know that if God is on our side then it doesn’t matter who isn’t on our side.
But Paul makes it clear in verse 28 that it doesn’t necessarily mean that just because you have breath in your body, you have the Lord on your side.
In verse 28 he gives two very clear qualifications or indications that you’re on the Lord’s side and he’s on your side.
Two teams play a game and at the end of the game only one team wins.
To be considered a winner it all depends on whose team you are on.
The Lord has a plan for everybody that is on the Lord’s side.
In verse 28 Paul spells it out for us there are two qualifications.
Number one, you have to be called by God.
Two, you have to love God.
That’s it those are the only two qualifications that you need.
How Can I Be Called By God?
Paul gives, two qualifications, one of which we have no control over.
Notice the last clause in verse 28:
“for those who are called according to his purpose”
Who God calls is completely up to God.
The good news is God doesn’t choose people the way we choose people.
He doesn’t look for people who “deserved” to be called.
He calls people not by their credentials, he calls them according to his Grace.
God’s calling is not limited to a certain group of people who have lived up to a certain standard of living.
God calls the least expected and the least respected to carry out his plan.
He called a drunk to build an ark.
He called a murderer to lead his people out of Egypt.
He called fishermen to become fishers of men.
He called a Christian killer to become an evangelist.
He called a sinner like me to preach his Gospel.
There are no qualifications for being called by God.
He can call anybody no matter where they are or what they’ve done.
How do I know I’ve been called?
He calls us to something but he also calls us something in order to show us that we’ve been called.
God calls us sons.
That’s who Paul is referring to when he speaks of those who have been called according to his purpose.
He is talking about those who have been adopted by God as sons, through faith in Jesus Christ.
How do I know then, that I have been called by God and adopted by God as a son?
Romans 8:16
The Spirit that lives in us is our proof that we have been called by God and that we are a part of God’s plan.
We know that we have been called by God into his plan and into his purpose because our desires have changed.
We no longer seek to do the things of the flesh but we set our minds to live according to spirit.
We no longer live in fear because we have been given the spirit of power, and love, and of a sound mind.
It’s a wonderful thing to be called by God, because once you have been called by God you receive the Spirit of God.
The Spirit in you bears witness with God’s Spirit that you are a son of God and you’re indeed a part of God’s plan.
I thank God that I don’t have to be qualified to be called.
Love God
However, there are two conditions that must be met before we can consider ourselves a part of God’s plan.
God through his unconditional love and unmerited favor calls us, but we must love God.
Our love for God is our proof that we’ve been called by God.
We love God in response to his Grace.
We love God because of his mercy.
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