Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 1. With what ease the writers of the Bible give expression to the mightiest and most astonishing statements! Not, however, because the apparent impossibilities — which stand in the very teeth of their verification — are either ignored or overlooked. "The sufferings of this present time"; "the subjection of the creature to the bondage of corruption"; "the groaning and travailing in pain of the whole creation"; the anguish of man's inner and deeper experience; are all painfully vivid to the apostle's eye. Nevertheless, in the midst of "tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, and sword," he is bold to assert, "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God." 2. Who of us can join in this language in the face of the world's sin and woe? Some there may be who are able contentedly to meet the dark mysteries of Providence with "whatever is best" — a conviction, perhaps, that grew up out of the reverent trust and experience of their childhood. But this is seldom left undisturbed; and, once disturbed, we may regain confidence; but it will be as different from our early confidence as Joseph's, when he stood before his brethren in Egypt, was different from that he enjoyed when he wore his coat of many colours. 3. This certitude of the apostle was the rational conviction, confirmed by an ample experience, established by a faith in the Christian verities, and made immovable by the visions of a heart disciplined by trial, and purified by affliction? And this is a certitude open to us all, if we seek it. Let us contemplate the source of its light, that our reason be not confounded at the confidence of our heart. I. ALL THINGS ARE AT WORK, AND SUBJECT TO CONSTANT CHANGE. Our hedges and fields retain not their beauty, and our summer's light and heat decline. The very earth grows old, and the heavens are not what they were. And among the sons of men there is no one abiding. And what are the records of history but the chronicle of the successive ages of the world's experience. And within the little sphere of our own existence, incessant change allows no rest to either thought, affection, or will. And what an air of sadness all this gives to our life! It begets our earliest sorrows. And, as years wear on, a feeling of insecurity steals over us which denies us peace. But the heart refuses life without hope, and this ceaseless change arouses the mind to the discovery of some other ground of confidence. And our text speaks of this restless action, not only as a constant working, but as a working together. Let us see what difference this makes. II. ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER. The addition of this one word alters everything. It introduces design where all seemed aimless; order where all seemed chaos. For instance, winter is seen to have a necessary place and work in relation to summer; night to day; deserts to fruitful fields; the mountains to the valleys. In short, the earth is one, and made up of contradictory elements. The year is one, and requires all the seasons. The day is one, and composed of morning, noon, and evening. In like manner, the course of history is made up of all the forms of human life and every variety of experience, so that conflicting events, and the most incongruous elements, are made to work together in subordination to the one purpose. And so with the little circle of our personal experience. And these three — nature, history, and individual experience — are one. They are but spheres of co-operative agencies carrying out the one purpose which runs through all ages. III. TO WHAT PURPOSE, TO WHAT END DO ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER? "For good." This is a necessary deduction. If all things "work together," then good must be the result. Evil elements cannot be combined; they are antagonistic to each other. When wicked men combine, it is found necessary to set up the principles of goodness. There must be "honesty among thieves," truth among liars, or their devices have no chance. The principles recognised among them as necessary for their co-operation are antagonistic to the ends for which they combine. The light by which they go astray is light from heaven. And it is the power of this admitted but opposed light which explodes every plot and makes it simply impossible for a course of combined wickedness to perpetuate itself. But the working together of all things implies nothing less than the presence of infinite goodness, in the very elements of things as well as in their embodied purpose; wisdom, which, as the eye of goodness, sees the end from the beginning and knows how to reach it; and power, the moral energy of both goodness and wisdom, which subordinates everything to the one purpose. This preordained purpose will only be fully revealed in the end; in the way there will be much of human arbitrariness, which will tend to hide it. The way, however, of goodness carries its security, for the attainment of its end, in its own moral power. This co-operation of all things for God's purpose is a Divine chemistry. For as in a mixture of chemical elements, while the process of combination is going on, you may be utterly at a loss to know what the result will be, until, the last element being added, it is made manifest; so is it with the providence of God. Let us habituate ourselves, however, to regard providence as carried on by the personal power of God's presence, a power, therefore, of quickening as well as of combining elements; of intensifying as well as of moderating their action; a power of new beginnings as well as of terminating forces and agencies long in exercise. It is what, and more than what, the will of man is to his whole body as well as to every separate part. God is not an exhausted Deity, neither is He under bondage to the forces which He has conferred upon His creatures. With Him there ever remains an infinite reserve of ways and means by which to "do according to His will." IV. BUT, IF ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD, THEN ALSO FOR THE BEST. God's mind can only purpose the best in relation to the creature concerned. And to reach His end, He has but one way, and that is the best. That one absolutely perfect, highest, and best end is seen in His only-begotten Son, who is at once Son of man and Son of God; "of whom, through whom, and to whom, are all things," and for whose central glory man's redemption was purposed from eternity, but reserved for accomplishment till, "the fulness of time," that He might "gather up all things in One," and in that One for ever unite His glory and our salvation. V. BUT FOR WHOM WILL THIS CO-OPERATION OF ALL THINGS WORK OUT ITS HIGHEST GOOD? "For those who love God," The highest good can only be received by rightly directed affections. As it proceeds from the love of the Creator, it can only be received by the love of the creature. For, just as a piece of mechanism, cunningly devised to weave a pattern of marvellous beauty, may require a thread of a given quality and texture to receive its design, so the highest purpose of the Divine love, to be wrought out by the co-operation of all things, can only be taken up by, and embodied in, the affections of His children. For, as His purpose is spiritual, it requires spiritual embodiment; as it is holy, it requires holiness; as it is free, it requires to be chosen; as it is merciful, it requires vessels of mercy; as it is personal, it requires personality; as it is social, it requires a society of individuals; as it is not only from, but of God, it requires godliness; and, as it is an all-embracing unity — a rich, full, and lasting oneness of Being — to which God freely gives Himself, it requires in those who partake of it the exercise of the love. (W. Pulsford, D.D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. |
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