A Message by Pastor Greg
Moser
Given to
April 26, 2009
RECOGNIZING POWER
& PURPOSE
Romans 8:26-30
INTRO: Every season, sports teams evaluate their teams and
determine what their strengths are and build around those strengths. Then they can set out to accomplish their
purpose—win a championship!
·
Christians are
to do the same thing. We are to
recognize our strengths in Christ and then set out to fulfill our purpose.
I.
THE SECRET POWER OF WEAKNESS
(vv.26-27)
·
ILLUS: The secret power for Popeye was a can of
spinach. If you’re Superman, the secret of power is kryptonite. If you’re a
Christian, the secret of your power is weakness.
·
When we
understand how much we need Him, then that’s how much we have Him.
·
God likes to
hit big licks with little sticks.
God likes to his straight licks with crooked sticks.
·
“Jesus said, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for
power is perfected in weakness.’ Most
gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power
of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I
am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with
persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I
am strong.” 2 Cor.
12:9-10
·
“Without Me, you can do nothing.” John 15:5
·
Prayer is
admitting we’re weak.
·
The Holy
Spirit prays “with groanings
too deep for words”: With Intensity
·
ILLUS: Groans after exercising or when sick
·
Verse 27: He knows what our hearts are saying and He
knows what God’s will is and He brings them together in unison.
·
ILLUS: Augustine (early church father)—his early
years were lived in rebellion—Godly mother prayed for his salvation—He decided
to move to Rome—His mother prayed for God to prevent that from happening—It was
in Rome that Augustine heard the gospel and was saved
·
God can’t
answer prayers that aren’t uttered.
·
These verses
should give us great confidence in our prayers and a greater passion to pray.
·
We don’t have
to beat ourselves up if I don’t know the right words to say when praying.
II.
THE SECURE PURPOSE FOR THE WEAK
(vv.28-30)
·
The security
of our purpose is rooted in the person of God—“God causes…”
·
God is the
initiator and implementer of His purpose for us.
A.
THE PROCESS OF HIS PURPOSE
·
The process is
His “working all things together for our good.”
Everything in life!
·
But, only for “the called”—there can be no good for those
who are destined for hell through inward rejection of Christ.
·
If God will
allow His own Son to die on a cross for His purpose, will He not allow pain and
suffering in the life of the believer to bring about His purposes as well?
·
"He who
did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not
with Him also freely give us all things?"
Romans 8:32
·
Nothing can
ultimately work against us!
·
“to work together” (sunergeo): we get “synergy”; the working
together of various elements to produce an effect greater than, and often
completely different from, the sum of each element acting separately.
·
ILLUS: Salt is composed of two poisons (sodium and
chlorine)
·
No matter how
tragic or difficult a situation or circumstance, we can have total confidence
that God is orchestrating everything to bring about good for us and others
around us.
·
I.E. Parents divorcing; Job loss; Death of loved
one; Difficult work environment; Marital difficulty; Child rearing; Health
issues; Financial difficulties; Car problems; Traffic jams; Aging parents; Peer
pressure; Temptations; Sin
·
GOD is at
work!!! GREAT HOPE!
·
He is a good
God by nature. He can’t do anything
bad. He works through the bad situations
and circumstances of a sin-cursed world!
·
“We walk by faith and not by sight.” 2 Cor. 5:7
·
“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our
outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing
for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.” 2 Cor. 4:16-17
·
“The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Through all this Job did not sin nor did he
blame God.” Job 1:21-22
·
The bottom
line issue is not do I understand how all of this works, but do I trust God?
·
I trust Him
more as I get to know Him more.
·
Trust brings
about REDUCED STRESS!!
B.
THE PROGRESS OF HIS PURPOSE
·
God’s desired
progression for every believer is that we would “become conformed to the image of His Son.” Do you desire that?
·
“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the
upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 3:14
·
To “foreknow” doesn't just mean to know
beforehand. It means that, but it means a lot more than that; because as this
word is used throughout the Bible, for God to know you means that He looks on
you with favor.
·
God said to
·
Does that mean
God doesn't know the Amalekites, and the Moabites,
and the Hittites, and the Jebusites? No! It
means when He says, "I have known
·
“Foreknowledge” is a lot more than just "to be aware
of." He is aware of us with His
gentle and His everlasting love.
·
“Predestined” means God cements/predetermined His will in eternity past so Satan
cannot thwart his will in the present.
PTL!
·
Woodrow Kroll:
“If God had not predestined
what would happen, Satan would be out here just causing havoc of the plan of
God, and you and I would never know if all things worked together for good.”
·
He predestined us to be “conformed to the image of His Son.”
·
What does that
mean? Matthew Henry said it this way: “ to walk and live
as Christ did, to bear our sufferings patiently as Christ did.”
·
“called”: He calls you presently to follow Him.
·
“justified”: a
believer’s being made right with God (Just if I’d never sinned); to declare
righteous—This is POSITIONAL justification; We’re obviously not perfect in our
PERFORMANCE, but we are perfect in our POSITION before God.
·
“glorified”: notice that
this is in the past tense. In God’s
eyes/mind, it’s as if it has already happened!
·
Being “glorified” in Paul's mind is not only
the final transformation at the end of the age at the resurrection when we get
out new bodies; it is also the process of moving morally and spiritually toward
that goal.
CONCLUSION:
·
God’s goal for
our lives is that we would first of all recognize the power that is at our
disposal through the person of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us.
·
Then, He wants
us to recognize our ultimate purpose as believers is to become like Jesus and
to pursue that with every fiber of our being so that HE may be glorified.
·
What are you
doing to pursue your purpose of becoming like Christ and to make much of Him?
·
John Piper: Do I want to be strong like
Christ, so I will be admired as strong, or so that I can defeat every adversary
that would entice me to settle for any pleasure less than admiring the
strongest person in the universe, Christ?
·
Do I want to
be wise
like Christ, so I will be admired as wise and intelligent, or so that I can
discern and admire the One who is most truly and all-satisfyingly wise?
·
Do I want to
be holy
like Christ, so that I can be admired as holy, or so that I can be free from
all unholy inhibitions that keep me from seeing and savoring the holiness of
Christ?
·
Do I want to be loving like Christ, so I
will be admired as a loving person, or so that I will enjoy extending to
others, even in sufferings, the all-satisfying love of Christ?
·
To live a
victorious life, there must be trust in a sovereign God and a daily yielding to
His Spirit’s empowering through your life.