The Intercession of the Spirit

Transcript

GR 1442
09/19/10
The Intercession of the Spirit
Romans 8:26-27
Gil Rugh

We're going to return to our study of the book of Romans today, Romans 8 in your Bibles. We broke off well into this chapter and so we are in the middle really of the flow of thought, but I think you'll pick it up again rather quickly. Romans 8 began with a terrific statement, verse 1, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Remarkable. Paul can say there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, especially when you remember how this letter began, where the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all the unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, revealing the awful reality of our sinful condition. In his opening chapter of Romans Paul demonstrated that each and everyone of us, Jews and Gentiles alike, are all sinners and under the condemnation of a holy God for our sin, and destined for eternal judgment. Now he can say there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. He moved from that unfolding of our sinful condition to talk about the marvelous grace of God in providing His Son to be the Savior, so that we might have the righteousness of God credited to us through faith in Christ.

He's moved on to talk about our new life in Christ, those set free from sin and its slavery and bondage to now serve the living God, as he unfolded in chapter 6. We've entered into a new relationship free from all obligations and responsibilities that the Jews found under the old law, the Mosaic Law, now to serve in the new life we have in Christ. And that's what he's unfolding in Romans 8—how we now live as those who have been freed from condemnation, guilt. We have become children of the living God. What Romans 8 does is unfold the work of the Holy Spirit of God in the life of the child of God. It shows God's great provision for us, that the Holy Spirit of God who is Himself God, now dwells in each and every believer. That ministry is ongoing day by day so that we might ultimately arrive at the goal that God has prepared for us, that is glory in His presence. We are sons of God, we are heirs of God in Christ Jesus. Verse 14 talked about we are sons of God; verse 17, as the children of God we are “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.”

And then he moved in to talk about suffering, if we suffer with Him so that we may be glorified with Him. Verses 18-25 talked about the sufferings of this present time, the “now” time as he put it. So it keeps things in perspective. We have been set free from all guilt, all condemnation. There is no condemnation for us who are in Christ Jesus. We are destined for eternal glory in the presence of God. But you understand the plan of God includes suffering for the children of God during this present time. That is not something we like to hear. That's why preachers we call “the health and wealth preachers” have such popularity. People want to be told everything is going to be good. They like to be told that God wants you to be prosperous and healthy and good things are ahead of you; not in the hope you have in Christ in eternity, but tomorrow, and if not tomorrow the next day; be sure God has good things in store for you. And people just want to hear that and applaud, and tell me more.

But then we come at the end of Romans 8:17 and it says, “If indeed we suffer with Him so that we may be glorified with Him.” This present time, this earthly life is a time of suffering, trial and difficulty. Paul put it in perspective in verse 18 when he said, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” So we have to keep our perspective. We have become the children of God through faith in Christ, we have a glorious inheritance to be entered into some day in His very presence in heaven. But right now it can be a very difficult time. There are sufferings of all kinds that can come upon us, difficulties and trials. We don't escape them because we're the children of God. We talked about that in verses 18-25, for we are a people eagerly anticipating the hope that God has set before us.

Understanding that suffering and difficulty are part of God's plan for us enables us to handle it with a different mindset. Just as Christ suffered so we suffer, and just as He entered into glory so we will enter into glory. Turn over to Hebrews 5 before we move on from this subject. We're talking about Jesus Christ as a high priest acting on our behalf, making a sacrifice for sin, the sacrifice being Himself. He serves now as our high priest. And we're told concerning Him, verse 8: “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.” As He took upon Himself humanity He learned and grew as a man through the things which he suffered. Now we see God's intention for His children is the same in that we experience suffering and trials as God molds and shapes us and prepares us for glory.

Come back to Romans 5. We see a connection that will lead us into our next section that Paul used in Romans 5 as well. Romans 5 began: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” and through Christ “we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exalt in hope of the glory of God.” (v. 2). That's what he is talking about in Romans 8:18-25, the hope we have that puts the sufferings of the “now” time in proper context. “We exalt in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exalt in our tribulations.” So we rejoice and have an excitement about the coming glory. But we can also rejoice in our trials, in our sufferings, “knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance and perseverance, proven character and proven character, hope.” He has brought us around. He started with “hope” at the end of verse 2: “We exalt in hope of the glory of God.” Our sufferings and trials are part of God's purpose and plan in developing us and sharpening our hope and preparing us for the realization of that hope. “And hope does not disappoint.” (v. 5) Why? “Because the love of God [the love which God has for us] has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” And he goes on to talk about that love of God and understanding the provision of Christ for us. But it's the Holy Spirit who brought the understanding of that love of God for us.

And when you come back to Romans 8:25, Paul talked about, “If we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” We are persevering through the sufferings, through the trials because our attention is fixed on the hope. And then you come to verse 26, “In the same way the Spirit also.” That's exactly what he did in Romans 5 when he talked about our hope and our trials and the connection of sufferings and hope. Then you bring in that it's the work of the Holy Spirit that puts this all together and enables us to understand it and live in light of it.

Romans 8 is about the Holy Spirit. We're going to talk more about some of the things He has done for us a little bit later. But this is the chapter that refers to the Holy Spirit more than any other chapter in the Bible, if you remember. It is talking about God's provision of His Spirit to bring to completion His work in our lives and ensure that we will some day enter into the glory of His presence.

So he says in verse 26: “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness.” We have the hope of coming glory, we have that work of the Spirit that he has already talked about. And in the realm of our weakness the Holy Spirit is at work. So we are told, “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness.” The Spirit is at work on our behalf, helping us in our times of weakness. Weakness here is not talking about sin, it is talking about life. Verse 18 talked about the sufferings of this present time. It is a time of difficulty, it is a time of trial. Jesus told His disciples before He was crucified, “In the world you have tribulations, be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) When He called people to follow Him He said, “Take up your cross and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23). It's a life of suffering and difficulty. And with that we have just the general difficulties of life. We live in a fallen world, we live in unredeemed bodies. And as we've talked about, believers get diseases, believers have difficulty and trouble. We undergo circumstances and situations we don't understand. We often find ourselves say, “Why, God? I don't understand, I don't see a purpose.” There is no limitation on the weakness here when he says, “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness,” whatever that might be. Just the frailty of human life and what comes into our lives. The immediate context has been suffering and times of pressure and difficulty that bring added challenges for us, even as God's people. How often I talk to people going through trials, “I don't know why God brought this into my life, why God allowed this to happen. I don't see any purpose in this.” And quite frankly I have to say sometimes, “I don't see any purpose in it, either. I don't understand it.” There are situations in my own life, “Why, Lord, this? This doesn't seem to be the best thing to be done.” But we have the Holy Spirit who helps us in our weaknesses.

Now you'll note here, He does not take away our weaknesses. People like to be told God is going to remove that weakness, that infirmity, that problem, whatever that weakness is. That's the appeal of what we call “health and wealth preachers.” God doesn't want you to be sick, He doesn't want you to be poor, He doesn't want you to have trouble. Tomorrow will be better. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. There is no promise in the word of God that tomorrow will be better. It may be worse.

Turn over to Hebrews 11, we'll be in the opening verses of chapter 12, but in the context of chapter 11 you have the unfolding of the lives of those Old Testament saints. And what characterized them was difficulty, trial and suffering. And in it all they didn't receive what was promised, they died. And yet we come to Hebrews 12:1, the last statement is: “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame,” and then He sat down at the right hand of God. You see there is glory for us, there is an end, but it may not be in this physical life. The end for Christ was death on the cross as far as physical life was concerned; the end for those saints of the Old Testament in chapter 11 was death without receiving what was promised. So we want to be careful in our mindset that we don't allow the world to influence, so we think that God is going to take away my weakness, this is temporary, my trial is temporary. It may be, it may not be, I don't know. Sometimes we want to help someone else, encourage them, and so we say, “I know God is going to . . .” I don't know God is going to . . . I know He is going to bring you into glory if you are His child. I don't know if He is going to heal you tomorrow. I don't know if He is going to spare your life. I don't know if your children are going to do better. I don't know if you're going to (fill in the blank). I don't know, you don't know. I don't know for myself, I don't know for you. That's one of our weaknesses, these times. I don't know what the will of God is in every situation. I know it's not God's will that I sin, but certain things I don't know.

We're told in Romans 8:26, “The Spirit also helps our weakness.” He doesn't remove it, He helps us in our weakness. “For we do not know how to pray as we should.” That word translated “how” literally means “what.” So he's not talking about a manner of praying, don't know how to carry out prayer, the theology of prayer, but that we don't know what to pray for, how to pray in the sense of “what” in situations. I don't know sometimes. Ever been in the kind of trial and difficulty, I don't even know what to pray for here? I've come to the end of myself in that sense. It's almost like despair. But you understand encouragement here is, heaven hasn't come to a halt waiting for me to tell them what ought to be done. The angels of heaven aren't _______, God does not have everything on hold because I don't know what to do.

So, “the Spirit helps our weakness; for we don't know what to pray as we should.” Literally, the “what” we are to pray for, we do not know. That's how weak I am. I don't even know what to pray here, what to pray for. What should I ask God to do? We do not know what to pray for as we should. I don't always know the will of God, you don't know the will of God, Paul didn't know the will of God.

Turn over to 2 Corinthians 12. The Apostle Paul, we would all admit was a man of great prayer life, had a great prayer life. Books have been written on the prayer life of Paul and examining the prayers of Paul, but you know he's a man who prayed contrary to the will of God. Look at 2 Corinthians 12:7: “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me.” We're not told what it was, some kind of physical affliction. We don't know. But it tormented him, it beat on him. “Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.” And I take it when the Apostle Paul says he implored the Lord three times, he would be on his knees in intense prayer, seeking the Lord to give him deliverance. And that seems to be a reasonable thing. If there is anyone I would be giving good health and freedom to it would be the Apostle Paul. Here is a man who used his life for the service of the Lord. If he has some kind of affliction, just think of what he could do without it. And that's what Paul prayed, that the Lord would deliver me. “And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.'” “Do you know what the Lord said to me? Your weakness is for My purpose. No.” “I intend for you to be tormented, beaten on by this adversary from the devil. And it accomplishes My work.” How would I, if I were going to pray for Paul, and he came bringing the gospel to my city, and I was saved, I would have thought, “I'm going to pray that the Lord is going to give Paul freedom from this affliction he is enduring.” But it wasn't the will of God. We have unfolded here that God made clear to Paul why, and I think He made clear to Paul why for our benefit, so it could be recorded in scripture here. God doesn't speak to us all in the way that He did to Paul on this occasion, but what He said here is applicable to us all. “My grace is sufficient for you.”

I mean, if one of my children, now one of my grandchildren gets ill or something, my first thought is “Lord, make them well. Make them well quickly; Lord, deliver them.” But that may not be the Lord's will. I believe the Lord can. I'm going to express the desire of my heart, but I have to understand that my will is submissive to His will. That's why we must always pray according to the will of God, not necessarily that we every time audibly say it or voice it, but my mindset is always that I'm coming with the desire of my heart, expressing it to the Lord, submissive to His will for me. I mean, obviously if I am ill or something I would love for the Lord to make me well. If I am in financial distress I would desire that the Lord would relieve that, and on it goes. But I can't say for sure what His will is in that. For Paul it was to continue suffering and not have relief and trust the grace of God to use him.

So come back to Romans 8. We have to be careful. Sometimes we hear Christians say, “I know God is going to do this for you.” I don't know what God is going to do for you, I don't always know. So we read in verse 26, “In the same way the Spirit helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, [or what to pray for as we should], but the Spirit Himself [and there is a stress here, the Spirit Himself, the Holy Spirit of God] intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words [unspeakable]. The Holy Spirit of God who is Himself God. One God eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. No, I don't understand it, but that's what the Bible presents. One God eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit who dwells in us. I don't know what to pray for because of my weakness, the trial, the situation I am in. The Holy Spirit is interceding for me with groanings too deep for words.

You know how the triune God works is a mystery to me. I know what the scripture says about different functions, but I know it just because He said it. Here I am told that the Holy Spirit of God intercedes, comes on my behalf, to God the Father. I don't know what to pray for ,but the Spirit of God knows, so He comes before God the Father on my behalf. He intercedes for me. Now I find I have God the Father, He's my Father, I call Him, “Abba, Father.” The Holy Spirit of God is interceding before Him. But you know what? Come down to Romans 8:33, “Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the One who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” Now I have the Holy Spirit of God interceding for me from within, the Holy Spirit dwells within me. Earlier in Romans 8, we were told that He dwells in every believer, and when I don't know what to pray for, the Spirit of God is going before the throne of God the Father on my behalf. Jesus Christ, the Son of God who is also God, is at the right hand of God and He intercedes on my behalf. The Son of God is there representing me, no one could bring a condemnation. The devil can bring accusations, but there is no condemnation that comes to me because Jesus Christ is there interceding on my behalf. He is the One who died for me, the penalty for that sin has been paid. I will not be condemned and brought into judgment for it.

Come over to Hebrews 7. We're talking again about Jesus Christ in His high priestly ministry, which is the overall emphasis of the book of Hebrews. And Jesus Christ is a priest forever, He “holds His priesthood permanently,” verse 24, in contrast to the Old Testament priests, the Levitical priesthood. Those priests died, they ended their priesthood. They died and another succeeded them and so on. Verse 24: “But, Jesus on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds his priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” I am saved for eternity because I have a high priest who represents me permanently in the presence of God at His right hand.

Turn over to I John 2:1: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins [anyone of God's children], we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins.” He is the One who represents me in the presence of God. I stumble, I fail. James says we all stumble in many ways, the tongue being the worst. But you know what? I don't lose my salvation, I don't come under eternal condemnation when I sin as His child, because Jesus Christ is my Savior, He is my high priest. He says, “I died for that sin, its penalty has been paid.” So Jesus Christ is interceding and representing me in the presence of God.

Now, come back to Romans 8. I am told the Holy Spirit of God dwells in me here in this physical body on this earth and He is interceding for me. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, all three persons of the triune God, operating on my behalf for my benefit and my good in the plan of God for my salvation, for your salvation.

So we're told, “we don't know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” “Too deep for words” is literally “unspeakable.” It's the word for speaking made negative, not speakable. So he's not saying here . . . Some have taken this that it means speaking in tongues. But the point is not that it can't be uttered in your language, it has to be another language. That's not the point, this is unspeakable in any language, outside the realm of speech. It doesn't say if you can speak in a heavenly language. It's unspeakable. There is a communication going on here between God the Holy Spirit and God the Father that is from the mind of the Spirit to the mind of the Father, and it is unspeakable, it can't be conveyed through us. I don't know what to pray for in this situation. The Spirit intercedes, the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings unspeakable. And we'll see when we get to verse 27 in a moment, it goes from the mind of the Spirit to the mind of God, communication between the members of the godhead. Remarkable, awesome!

Groanings, this is the third time in this chapter here we have seen this. In verse 22 he used the same word. Verse 22 said “we know the whole creation groans.” That's our word. “Suffers the pains of childbirth to now.” Then verse 23, even we ourselves groan within ourselves awaiting our adoption. And now we see the Holy Spirit intercede with groaning. That word is used obviously as a figure of speech, something that is not expressed audibly in all of this. And yet it is a real communication, if you will, this figure of speech. The Spirit is interceding for us with groans unspeakable.

What's the impact of this? Verse 27: “He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is.” “He who searches the hearts,” he's talking about God the Father. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things. Who can know it?” Verse 10 says, “I, the Lord, search the heart.” He tests the thoughts of our minds, He is the One who examines the heart. So he's talking about God the Father.

Turn over to I Corinthians 4:5. Paul here says he doesn't know of anything against himself, verse 4, “yet by this I am not acquitted.” The One who examines me is the Lord. “Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time but wait until the Lord comes who will bring both to light the hidden things in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts.” You see God has the ability to examine the heart.

And here you have God the Father, back in Romans 8:27, “He who searches the heart knows what the mind of the Spirit is.” So you see they were not expressed in words, they did not come through me, my mind, my lips because I didn't know what to pray for, I didn't have the ability to express it. But the Spirit of God intercedes for me, from His mind to the mind of the Father. “He who searches the heart knows what the mind of the Spirit is.” He searches me, so it becomes personal. Looking into my heart and there is the Spirit interceding for me, and the Spirit's desire for me is the same as God's desire for me. The Spirit's will for me is the same as the Father's will for me. So “He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” God the Spirit is always in perfect harmony with God the Father as well as God the Son. Just like Jesus said, “I always do the will of My Father.” He is always in perfect agreement, perfect harmony with His Father. So the Spirit of God is also.

So you see the Spirit is always interceding on my behalf, even those times of weakness when I don't know what to pray for, He perfectly knows the will of the Father for me. As the Father searches my heart He doesn't find my intercession on my behalf, He finds the Spirit's intercession on my behalf. And it's always perfect. So the will of God to be accomplished in my life is through the work of the Spirit of God in and through me. Remarkable provision God has made for me. This is why in verse 28, “God causes all things to work together for good for His children.” We have the Spirit of God working in the heart of the believer, and when the believer doesn't know what to pray for, the Spirit of God is bringing us before God the Father with perfect agreement with the will of the Father for us, so that “God causes all things to work together for good,” assuring we are going to arrive at the hope promised to us.

You know we sometimes despair particularly during times of intense trials, the sufferings that Paul just talked about. Not to make light of them, they are not easy. They would not be sufferings, we wouldn't need endurance if they didn't seem like we are on the verge of being crushed. We sometimes think, if I only knew what to tell God. Or we sometimes think if we tell Him and He doesn't do what we told Him, something is wrong. So I want my will to be submissive to the will of God. Like Paul I may be praying. If I go to the doctor and he gives me a diagnosis of a terminal disease, I believe, knowing my humanity, I will be at home on my knees asking God to intervene and deliver me from this affliction. But you know, I always want to have in my heart and mind, “Lord, Your will is perfect.” I don't know what to pray for. I mean, if through my suffering and death my grandchildren will all be saved, would I think that is a good thing? Then I may put it in a different perspective. I don't know what the perfect will of God is in my situations of life. I do know He is my heavenly Father, I do know His Spirit dwells in me, I know His Son is my Savior and represents me in the presence of of God. And everything is okay, even though it doesn't seem to be. My prayer life is a shambles because I don't know what to pray for. How can I have a good prayer life when I don't even know what to pray for in this situation? But that's all right, the Spirit of God is not stymied, He knows perfectly the mind of the Father. His intercession on my behalf is perfect. Everything is okay. Lord, I don't know, but it's in Your hands; I don't know but the Spirit knows. He is interceding for me and is leading in my life.

Let me take you back and quickly walk you through some of the things the Spirit of God has done for us in chapter 8 up to this point. I noted nine things, you could list them differently. 1: He has given us life and peace. He has given us life, true life and peace. Verse 2: “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” He is the life-giving Spirit. Verse 6: “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.” He is the Spirit of life, He has given me life and peace. Note: He has given me peace, not necessarily a peaceful life. But He has given me peace, peace with God and the peace of God, even when life is not peaceful. Secondly: He has set us free from sin and death. This is what the Spirit of God has done. He set us free from sin and death, that's in verse 2. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. This is the other side. He's given us life and peace; He has set us free from sin and death. Thirdly: He directs our lives. This is one of the great blessings. Look at verse 4. He talks about believers as those who walk according to the Spirit, “Walk according to the Spirit.” Come down to verse 14, “All who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” Everyone who is a son of God is being led by the Spirit of God. What a privilege. Who is in control of your life? Who directs me? He directs my life every step of the way. Well, how did I get into this mess? Sometimes I realize rebellion, we are not to grieve the Spirit with rebellion, but He's leading. I trust Him. My life is not my own and it's not under my control. He leads us, He directs our lives. He dwells in us, is the fourth thing I've noted. Verse 9: “You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ he does not belong to Him.” Every single believer has the Spirit of Christ dwelling in him. There is a power and an enablement and a sufficiency. I'm never alone. Family may abandon me, friends may fail me. He dwells in me. That makes all the difference. He does for me and to me and in me what no one else can do. He dwells in me, He lives in me. A fifth thing: He guarantees our resurrection. Verse 11: “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Reminding us He lives in us. That means He is a guarantee of our coming resurrection. So the outcome is guaranteed for me. Not in doubt. My body will be resurrected, I will some day have this body glorified and stand in the presence of the God of glory. It is sure. The Holy Spirit guarantees it. He dwells in me, He guarantees our resurrection. Sixth: He has placed us into God's family. Verse 15: “You have not received the spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The work of the Spirit to apply the work of Christ to our life, so it's through the work of the Spirit that we are enabled now to cry out, “Abba! Father!” He has placed us into God's family through the work of the baptism of the Spirit, as we saw in chapter 6. God is my Father. 7: He gives us assurance. Verse 16: “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.” There is an inner settledness, I am a child of the living God. The Spirit gives us assurance, I'm not in doubt. Whatever comes doesn't change the reality that I belong to God. The Spirit of God brings a confirmation to my heart and mind, a settledness. 8: He gives us hope, that's verses 23-25. Not only this but we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit. We are anticipating the outcome, the hope which is the redemption of our body, verses 23-25. He gives us hope. And 9, what we just looked at, He intercedes for us.

This is just a taste of what the Holy Spirit does for us. God's provision for us. He gave us His Son to be our Savior. He has given us His Spirit to do all these things—to give us life and peace, set us free from sin and death, to lead and guide and direct our lives, to live in us, to guarantee our resurrection, to make us part of God's family, to give us assurance, give us hope, to intercede for us. You understand what God has done for us, what we have. This may be a time of weakness, it is. I haven't received my glorified body yet, the sufferings of this “now” time come, and they can be crushing, they can be overwhelming. They cannot frustrate God's plan for me. It may be at times unsettled and confused, I don't even know what to pray for. It's taken care of, the Spirit of God intercedes on our behalf. His intercession is always perfect, in perfect agreement with the mind of the Father for me. And that's why when I come to verse 28, I understand that “God causes all things to work together for good” for His children. I don't understand it, I don't know how this is going to work out. I don't see any good in it. It seems to me it would be so much better if God did this. He always does what is right, He is never wrong and He'll never fail me. You may fail me, I may fail you. The Spirit never fails. God never fails. So we can have a confident peace in every situation, every circumstance. We belong to the God who has all things under control and the Spirit of God dwells in every believer.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for Your great grace. Thank You for the awesome salvation that we have in Jesus Christ. Lord, often we fail in our weakness to appreciate the fullness of the provision You have made for us. How many times in our despair, in our weakness we don't know what to pray for. We don't even know what to say before Your throne, but your Spirit does, and You know the mind of the Spirit and the Spirit knows perfectly Your mind. And He intercedes on our behalf. And Your work is being done. And even in our darkest time Your work is being done, in our most joyous time Your work is being done. How privileged we are to have such security, such assurance and such confidence. May the reality of Your salvation grip our hearts and minds in every circumstance and situation of life. Father, for any who are here who don't know the wonder of belonging to You, the living God, don't know the life and peace that is the possession of every child of God, Lord we would ask that Your Spirit might open blinded eyes to see and believe the truth of the gospel. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.