1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:17,820 Born the youngest of four daughters in 1949, 2 00:00:17,820 --> 00:00:21,280 Johnny Erickson Tadda, I used to call her name Johnny, 3 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:23,960 but her name is pronounced Johnny after her father. 4 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:35,960 Johnny Erickson Tadda lived a very active life in Baltimore, Maryland. 5 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:44,520 On July 30, 1967, at the age of 17, 6 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:55,840 she dove into the Chesapeake Bay after misjudging the shallowness of the water. 7 00:00:55,840 --> 00:01:05,600 She suffered a fracture between the fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae 8 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:15,400 and became a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the shoulders down. 9 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:20,440 During her two years of rehabilitation, 10 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:34,560 she experienced anger, deep depression, suicidal thoughts, and religious doubts. 11 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:42,960 In occupational therapy, she learned to paint with a brush between her teeth, 12 00:01:42,960 --> 00:01:54,280 which is also how she writes when she does not rely on voice recognition software. 13 00:01:54,280 --> 00:02:04,600 In 2010, she underwent a mastectomy and chemotherapy after being diagnosed 14 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:10,160 with stage-free breast cancer. 15 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:22,800 In 2018, she was diagnosed with a malignant nodule near the site of her original cancer. 16 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:32,920 Radiation treatments were successful, and as of July 2019, she has been cancer-free. 17 00:02:32,920 --> 00:02:42,920 What you may ask, does any of that have to do with Romans 8, 28? 18 00:02:42,920 --> 00:02:56,680 Permit me to answer by saying that what we look at proximately, God sees ultimately. 19 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:02,880 She founded an organization called Johnny and Friends 20 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:09,320 to accelerate Christian ministry in the disability community. 21 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:14,960 She has the longest running program in Christian broadcasting, 22 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:20,680 heard daily on 1,000 radio outlets. 23 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:28,960 In partnership with an organization called Wounded Warriors and Wheels for the World, 24 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:35,720 they refurbish mobility devices by volunteers in prison, 25 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:41,480 and they ship them overseas to developing nations. 26 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:50,480 She served on the National Council on Disability under Presidents Reagan and George H. W. Bush, 27 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:57,280 and was a co-sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 28 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:06,560 an accomplished author, prolific speaker, and international advisor. 29 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:14,960 She is often asked, after being confined to a wheelchair for almost 60 years, 30 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:22,320 she is often asked, why does God allow suffering? 31 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:33,760 Her answer is, God allows what He hates to accomplish what He loves. 32 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:43,360 All things work together for good to them that love God, 33 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:49,960 and to those who are the called according to His purpose. 34 00:04:49,960 --> 00:05:02,600 Romans chapter 8 and verse number 28 is one of the most memorized and quoted scriptures in the New Testament. 35 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:13,880 This scripture brings comfort, it brings direction, and hope to many Christians every day. 36 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:26,480 Sadly, however, it is also one of the most misquoted and misunderstood verses in scripture as well. 37 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:34,200 In the Syrian Orthodox Church, there is a negative reasoning called via negativa, 38 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:38,000 which is a negative way of reasoning about the truth, 39 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:45,840 going at it by talking about what it is not in order to get at what it really is. 40 00:05:45,840 --> 00:05:52,120 People often quote the part of the verse that they like, 41 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:57,480 and leave out the real sense of the text. 42 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:02,560 But brothers and sisters, when you leave out the sense of the text, 43 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:07,200 you do hermeneutical malpractice. 44 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:21,280 Romans 828 does not mean that we can live any way we choose, and God will clean up our mess. 45 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:29,720 All things work together for good, but you got to read on. 46 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:43,320 To them who love God, who obey God, who trust God, who follow God, who are committed to God, 47 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:50,600 things will not work out for you if you don't love God. 48 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:54,400 I wish I had somebody to help me preach it. 49 00:06:54,400 --> 00:07:01,320 We are quick to misquote this passage of scripture because we think that whatever we do, 50 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:06,640 God will just come along and make it right. 51 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:14,680 All things work together for good only for those who love God, 52 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:21,320 and to those who are the called according to His purpose. 53 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:29,600 Besides Psalm 23 and John 316, this may be the most beloved scripture, 54 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:35,240 the most beloved promise in all of the Bible. 55 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:44,280 But I want you to look with me, brothers and sisters, that this Romans 828 has in it confidence. 56 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:49,680 Paul said, we know. 57 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:53,280 He's not guessing. 58 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:57,200 He's not hypothesizing. 59 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:00,840 It's not wishful thinking. 60 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:03,480 It's not hocus pocus. 61 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:04,560 It's not magic. 62 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:06,120 It's not crystals. 63 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:07,600 It's not a guru. 64 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:09,720 It's not getting your fortune told. 65 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:11,800 It's not reading your horoscope. 66 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:16,280 I know. 67 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:19,000 And as a believer, 68 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:26,840 there are some things you ought to know. 69 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:31,920 Paul says, we know that if this earthly house, 70 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:37,040 I wish I had a Bible reader of this tabernacle is dissolved. 71 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:43,280 We have another building, a house not made with hands, 72 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:48,800 but eternal in the we know that when he shall appear, 73 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:55,120 we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 74 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:59,040 I know in whom I have believed. 75 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:02,280 And I know that he's able to keep that, 76 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:05,240 which I have committed unto him against that. 77 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:11,280 We know that all things. 78 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:16,880 He's not speaking with the editorial we. 79 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:21,440 Or the magisterial we. 80 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:29,840 He is speaking inclusively of all of us who are believers. 81 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:34,560 Brothers and sisters, it is not mere conjecture. 82 00:09:34,560 --> 00:09:38,280 It is not mere opinion. 83 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:45,160 It is a declaration of absolute certainty. 84 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:49,720 This is one of the five occasions in Romans 85 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:54,600 where the apostle Paul says that we know something. 86 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:56,400 Romans chapter two and verse two, 87 00:09:56,400 --> 00:10:02,360 we know that God's judgment against those who do such things 88 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:05,720 is based on truth. 89 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:07,800 Romans chapter three and verse 19, 90 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:11,840 we know that whatever the law says, 91 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:15,440 it says to those who are under the law. 92 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,000 Romans chapter seven and verse 14 says, 93 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:22,160 we know that the law is spiritual. 94 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:24,120 Romans chapter eight and verse 22, 95 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:28,160 we know that the whole creation has been groaning 96 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:32,240 as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 97 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:41,360 Romans 828, we know that all things work together for good. 98 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:47,200 To them that love God and to those who are the called 99 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:49,880 according to his purpose. 100 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:54,000 The word Paul uses here gives us our English word 101 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:57,880 for the Greek word synergy. 102 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:01,280 All things work together, synergy. 103 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:06,600 Synergism is a cooperative venture 104 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:11,160 where two people are working in tandem 105 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:14,760 or two people are walking in agreement. 106 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:18,600 They are in synergy. 107 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:26,200 Listen, Paul is not saying that all things are good 108 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:31,040 because there's nothing good about cancer. 109 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:35,200 There's nothing good about ALS. 110 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:39,200 There's nothing good about sex trafficking. 111 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:43,120 There's nothing good about domestic violence. 112 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:48,520 But all things are working together for good. 113 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:53,680 That is the ultimate purpose is a good purpose. 114 00:11:53,680 --> 00:11:56,400 And here, my beloved, the confidence 115 00:11:56,400 --> 00:12:03,040 is based on the fact that the promise is as good as the God who 116 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:05,960 made it. 117 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:14,240 I said the promise is as good as the God who made it. 118 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:17,760 Let me see if I can help you get that. 119 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:21,640 I got one or two nephews who are my God sons. 120 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:26,400 And one or two of them have had one or two refreshments too 121 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:32,160 many and have gotten in trouble with the law. 122 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:36,080 And they spent some time in college. 123 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:36,560 All right. 124 00:12:36,560 --> 00:12:52,760 And so when they went to school, I said, if you need me, call me. 125 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:55,000 And so they've called me. 126 00:12:55,000 --> 00:13:02,080 And the operator said, a collect call from my nephew. 127 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:03,680 I ain't going to call his name because that ain't none of your 128 00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:04,000 business. 129 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:05,200 That's my business. 130 00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:08,440 I don't get in your family mess. 131 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:12,560 You got some crackheads in your family too. 132 00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:17,240 And so they said, collect call from so and so for Terran. 133 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:18,520 I said, he's not here, operator. 134 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:23,640 They said, come on, that's me, man. 135 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:24,200 Come on, bro. 136 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:24,720 Don't do that. 137 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:25,960 I got to say to click. 138 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:32,960 Because the promise is only good as the one who made it. 139 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:36,960 I was lying when I made the promise. 140 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:41,960 Somebody helped me preach it. 141 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:47,960 But when God makes a promise, you can go to sleep tonight. 142 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:56,960 Because not only is he willing, but he's able. 143 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:01,960 Somebody here who went through it last year, but God brought you out, 144 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:07,960 helped me testify that he will come through. 145 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:21,960 And the only folk who can shout right in through here is folk who 146 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:22,960 ain't talking about what you heard. 147 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:30,960 You ain't talking about what they're talking about on television. 148 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:33,960 I've seen the lightning flash. 149 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:35,960 I wish I had some noise here. 150 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:39,960 I've watched God open a door for me. 151 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:43,960 I've seen God pay some bills for me. 152 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:47,960 I know that God can put down some enemies. 153 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:51,960 God has made a way for me already. 154 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:55,960 And if he doesn't do anything else, 155 00:14:55,960 --> 00:15:08,960 I'm going to shout about what he's already done. 156 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:10,960 Confidence. 157 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:17,960 Confidence. 158 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:26,960 F. B. Meyer said that any promise of God should fail. 159 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:31,960 The heavens would clothe themselves in cyclones. 160 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:37,960 The sun, the moon, and the stars were real from their courses. 161 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:40,960 The universe would rock. 162 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:46,960 And the hallowed wind would moan to a ruined creation. 163 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:52,960 If it were possible for God to tell a lie. 164 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:54,960 I have confidence. 165 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:58,960 We know. 166 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:02,960 But not only is there confidence in the text. 167 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:07,960 In the same one verse is completeness. 168 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:13,960 We know that all things. 169 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:24,960 A good working definition for all is all. 170 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:27,960 Everything. 171 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:37,960 Everything in the life of the child of God is working for your good. 172 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:41,960 Jeremiah says, I know the plans that I have for you. 173 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:43,960 I wish I had a Bible reader. 174 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:46,960 Plans to prosper. 175 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:49,960 To give you a future. 176 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:52,960 And a hope. 177 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:58,960 Even things you do not understand are things you don't even like. 178 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:05,960 God is working it for your good. 179 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:09,960 What things, river? 180 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:12,960 Sweet things. 181 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:15,960 Like family. 182 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:17,960 Friends. 183 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:19,960 A job. 184 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:22,960 A warm bed to sleep in. 185 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:25,960 A job tomorrow morning. 186 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:28,960 God is working that thing. 187 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:33,960 And then God even uses sorrowful things. 188 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:36,960 The death of your mother. 189 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:39,960 The loss of income. 190 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:42,960 Cancer that comes in your body. 191 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:47,960 A debilitating sickness that keeps you from being all that you want to be. 192 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:49,960 Tears that come in your eyes. 193 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:59,960 Because only eyes that have been washed by tears can see what God is getting ready to do next. 194 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:02,960 Somebody should have shouted right there. 195 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:10,960 Only eyes that have been washed by tears can see what God is getting ready to do next. 196 00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:18,960 Because what you have already been through is not to be compared to what you've already overcome. 197 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:26,960 We are more than conquerors. 198 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:29,960 Sweet things. 199 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:32,960 Sorrowful things. 200 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:35,960 Satanic things. 201 00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:40,960 Sometimes evil just happens. 202 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:43,960 You didn't do anything to get sick. 203 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:47,960 You didn't do anything for trouble to come your way. 204 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:51,960 You didn't talk about anybody for people to lie on you. 205 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:55,960 Sometimes folks just don't like you because you look good. 206 00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:59,960 Sometimes they just hate on you because you're pretty. 207 00:18:59,960 --> 00:19:02,960 They can't stand you because you dress well. 208 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:05,960 They don't like you because you represent yourself properly. 209 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:07,960 They can't stand how you talk. 210 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:08,960 They don't like your voice. 211 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:09,960 They don't like your hair. 212 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:12,960 They can't stand you because your shoes match your bag. 213 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:15,960 They don't like you because you shout on Sunday morning. 214 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:17,960 They get mad because you teach Sunday school. 215 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:19,960 You're well spoken. 216 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:26,960 Listen, don't let anybody bear the light of your potential under the bushel of their expectation. 217 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:33,960 I'm not in this world for you to like me. 218 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:45,960 If God be far, who can be against us? 219 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:49,960 Lord is my light. 220 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:51,960 I feel like preaching a minute. 221 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:54,960 And my salvation. 222 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:56,960 Whom shall I fear? 223 00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:59,960 The Lord is the strength of my life. 224 00:19:59,960 --> 00:20:01,960 Of whom shall I be afraid? 225 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:05,960 When the wicked, I wish I had a witness. 226 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:10,960 Even my enemies and my foes came upon me to eat up my flesh. 227 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:14,960 Just before they got to me, they stumbled and they fell. 228 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:27,960 No holds should encamp against me. 229 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:30,960 In this will I be confident. 230 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:35,960 One thing, have I desired a below? 231 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:43,960 That will I seek after that army dwell in the house of the Lord for in the time of trouble. 232 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:47,960 Have I got a witness? 233 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:55,960 He shall hide me. 234 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:59,960 Sweet thing. 235 00:20:59,960 --> 00:21:02,960 Sorrowful thing. 236 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:05,960 Satanic thing. 237 00:21:05,960 --> 00:21:09,960 Sinful thing. 238 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:21,960 Most of the stuff that happened to us was caused by us. 239 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:25,960 Sometimes you ain't barren no cross. 240 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:29,960 You're reaping a crop. 241 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:34,960 Some of the stuff you planted in your 20s. 242 00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:38,960 Coming back to haunt you in your 60s. 243 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:41,960 I need somebody to help me here. 244 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:48,960 Some of us who have gotten up here in the 60 club, you can help me testify. 245 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:58,960 If I had known I would have lived this long, I would have taken better care of myself. 246 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:02,960 But now if it ain't your hip, it's your back. 247 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:05,960 If it ain't your back, it's your elbow. 248 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:11,960 Because when you was in your 20s, you was backing that thing up. 249 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:17,960 And dropping it like it's hot. 250 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:26,960 And now you're trying to pick it up because it's cold. 251 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:32,960 But God can use that for you to tell some young person who ain't got no sense. 252 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:36,960 You better sit down. 253 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:39,960 You better take care of yourself. 254 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:41,960 Have I got a witness here? 255 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:44,960 If I had known then what I know now. 256 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:51,960 If I had the sense in my teens that I have in my 60s, you know how far I'd be up the road. 257 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,960 But thank God for grace. 258 00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:57,960 Mercy. 259 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:00,960 He looked beyond my faults. 260 00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:05,960 Hey. 261 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:07,960 Thank you Jesus. 262 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:11,960 Thank you that I didn't die in my foolishness. 263 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:18,960 Thank you that you let me live so I could learn some sense. 264 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:22,960 I could have been dead. 265 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:26,960 Sleeping in my grave. 266 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:31,960 Listen, beloved. 267 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:34,960 I'm trying to hurry here. 268 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:45,960 If you belong to Christ, he is behind every situation that you face. 269 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:58,960 He had to pass across his desk to receive his approval before it could come to you. 270 00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:06,960 The Protestant reformer, Martin Luther, suffered from deep depression. 271 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:12,960 He was the leader of the Protestant Reformation and he was a preacher of some renown. 272 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:16,960 But he suffered from debilitating depression. 273 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:19,960 His wife, try as she might. 274 00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:23,960 She could not get him out of his dull drums. 275 00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:33,960 So one day Mrs. Luther came to the breakfast table before Martin Luther got up dressed all in black. 276 00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:40,960 Martin Luther came to the table and asked her whatever in the world is the matter. 277 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:44,960 She said to him, God is dead. 278 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:48,960 Martin Luther shouted at her, God is not dead. 279 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:50,960 That's blasphemous. 280 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:53,960 Never speak that again. 281 00:24:53,960 --> 00:25:01,960 She said, what's the difference in speaking it and acting it? 282 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:06,960 He got out of his depression from that day. 283 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:12,960 If God is not dead, then act like it. 284 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:16,960 Talk like it. Walk like it. 285 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:19,960 Smile like it. 286 00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:21,960 Shout like it. 287 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:23,960 Laugh like it. 288 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:26,960 Give him glory like it. 289 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:30,960 If God is alive, you ought to be alive. 290 00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:40,960 Let the redeemed of the Lord. 291 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:44,960 Say so. 292 00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:59,960 Let everything that has breath, Dr. A. Lewis Patterson used to say, and good sense, praise the Lord. 293 00:25:59,960 --> 00:26:07,960 That's not only a confidence and a cause in this text, but there's a condition in the text. 294 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:11,960 All things work together for good. 295 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:17,960 Here's the condition. To them who love God. 296 00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:23,960 The promise is not for everybody. 297 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:31,960 Only those who love God can claim the promise. 298 00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:36,960 Don't talk about, I love God. 299 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:41,960 I just don't go to church. 300 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:46,960 Because you can love God. You don't have to be long to know. Yes, you do. 301 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:49,960 Stop that crazy talk right now. 302 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:56,960 I love God, but I just don't love the truth. How can you love God whom you never see? 303 00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:01,960 And hate your brothers and sisters that you see every day. The Bible says you're a liar. 304 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:03,960 And the truth is not in you. 305 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:08,960 So I'm talking about, I love God, but you don't have to go to church to be a Christian. 306 00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:13,960 Let me tell you how much sense that made. 307 00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:18,960 You don't have to go to work to get paid. 308 00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:23,960 See how that works for you tomorrow morning. 309 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:27,960 No, call your bosses. Hey, hey boss. 310 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:32,960 I ain't coming to work. I can't go. I ain't going to work today. 311 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:40,960 See how that works for you when you have to come get benevolence from the church. 312 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:47,960 Because there is no such thing as a person who loves God and does not obey God. 313 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:53,960 See how quiet you got right there? 314 00:27:53,960 --> 00:28:00,960 Because if you love me, Jesus said, you will do the things that I say. 315 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:05,960 The promise is not for everybody. It is for those who are the call. 316 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:13,960 That word, the called, theologically means the effectually call. 317 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:20,960 That is a general call and there is an effectual call. 318 00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:27,960 The general call is going to hedges and the highways and whosoever will let him come and drink from the fountain of life freely. 319 00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:31,960 God is calling that that that call is for everybody. 320 00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:35,960 He wills that none should perish, but that all should come to everlasting life. 321 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:41,960 That's the general call that God has on everybody and some hear it and some don't. 322 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:47,960 But the ones who hear it hear an effectual call. 323 00:28:47,960 --> 00:29:00,960 Meaning that the call of God is so effectual that it pours into an irresistible grace. 324 00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:07,960 So that when you hear it, you might want to rebel against it. 325 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:16,960 But it's so irresistible, it draws you in. 326 00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:19,960 You didn't get it. 327 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:22,960 Jeremiah said it like this. 328 00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:27,960 It's like fire. 329 00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:30,960 Shut up in my bowl. 330 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:37,960 My elders down in Louisiana put it like this. I said I wasn't going to tell nobody. 331 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:39,960 But I can't keep it. 332 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:42,960 You're going to help me increase this, won't you? 333 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:46,960 Somebody here this morning might not have felt like coming to church, 334 00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:52,960 but the irresistible pull of the grace of God got you out of bed, 335 00:29:52,960 --> 00:30:00,960 made you put on all those clothes, drive all this way to sit in the pew that you said last Sunday 336 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:04,960 for me to tell you the same thing I told you three Sundays ago. 337 00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:07,960 He died. 338 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:09,960 Didn't he die? 339 00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:11,960 You're going to help me increase this, won't you? 340 00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:20,960 Because the grace of God is so irresistible, it just draws you in. 341 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:27,960 All things work together for good. 342 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:35,960 To them that love God and to those who are called according to His purpose. 343 00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:43,960 I'm through. Those who are called according to His purpose. 344 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:52,960 This is not a verse designed to make you happy. 345 00:30:52,960 --> 00:31:04,960 God did not send Jesus to make you happy. 346 00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:14,960 Crown Royal can do that. 347 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:19,960 A good shot of gin can do that. 348 00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:28,960 That's what I heard. I don't particularly prescribe. 349 00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:32,960 We can do that. 350 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:48,960 God almost shouted in the back when I said God's purpose in turning everything to good is not to bless you, 351 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:55,960 to make you happy or to make you wealthy. 352 00:31:55,960 --> 00:32:06,960 God is doing all that he does in your life and mind to make us like Jesus. 353 00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:17,960 He will continue to shape you until you reflect His image perfectly. 354 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:26,960 This is John 3 and 2 says, Beloved, now are we the sons of God. 355 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:38,960 But we know that when He comes, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 356 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:44,960 Now I need somebody has a clothes who had some setbacks last year. 357 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:51,960 You are a failure too of sickness and you are still feeling the effects of the surgery. 358 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:57,960 Or you are still going through the aftermath of what you've already come through. 359 00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:05,960 And every once in a while it makes you nervous and you get queasy because you might have to go through something else this year. 360 00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:10,960 And so you are anxious and your heart is troubled. 361 00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:18,960 I've got some good news for you this morning. 362 00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:23,960 Just like God was good last year. 363 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:27,960 That same God will keep you this year. 364 00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:32,960 Just like God brought you out last year. 365 00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:36,960 God ain't through opening doors for you. 366 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:43,960 God healed on last year. You think that same God does not have the same healing power? 367 00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:46,960 God is still opening doors. 368 00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:49,960 God is still making a way. 369 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:53,960 God is still making the sun shine in your life. 370 00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:58,960 God is still moving dark clouds out of your way. 371 00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:09,960 God is still able to do exceeding abundantly above all that you can even ask or think. 372 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:14,960 According to the power that is at work in you. 373 00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:20,960 I need somebody here who is on the other side of your situation. 374 00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:24,960 You were nervous before you had to go through it. 375 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:28,960 Now that you are on the other side of it. 376 00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:32,960 Your testimony is it was nobody. 377 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:38,960 But Jesus, you had some down days last year. 378 00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:45,960 But look back over your life and see how God kept you. 379 00:34:45,960 --> 00:34:50,960 You could have lost your mind. You could have lost your job. 380 00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:56,960 You could have lost your health. But God is good all the time. 381 00:34:56,960 --> 00:34:59,960 God is always looking out for you. 382 00:34:59,960 --> 00:35:03,960 God is always making a way out of no way. 383 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:06,960 God is always sheltering you. 384 00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:10,960 God is always protecting you. 385 00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:13,960 God is always putting food on your table. 386 00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:16,960 Clothes on your back. 387 00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:18,960 Money in your pocket. 388 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:21,960 Making a way out of no way. 389 00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:28,960 But you got to stay with God and trust him for everything you need in your life. 390 00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:31,960 I wish I had one or two more witnesses. 391 00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:35,960 Maybe you saw it on television this past Friday. 392 00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:39,960 That was an Alaskan Airlines flight. 393 00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:45,960 On the way from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California. 394 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:52,960 And 16,000 feet in the air, the door came off of that airline. 395 00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:58,960 And Boeing has grounded all of their 737 fleet. 396 00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:06,960 Trying to discover what was the malfunction that caused the door to come off of that airplane. 397 00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:09,960 At 16,000 feet. 398 00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:16,960 And by the grace of God, nobody was sucked out of that plane. 399 00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:22,960 Oxygen masks came down because the cabin got depressurized. 400 00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:29,960 They put on their oxygen masks and the pilot safely landed the plane. 401 00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:35,960 But they took all of the 737s out of commission. 402 00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:38,960 Trying to find out what the problem was. 403 00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:41,960 Let me see if I can help somebody right here. 404 00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:45,960 You might be going through a storm this year. 405 00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:49,960 Your cabin might depressurize. 406 00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:55,960 But by the grace of God, oxygen masks will come down. 407 00:36:55,960 --> 00:36:58,960 I'm not talking about a literal oxygen mask. 408 00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:01,960 I'm talking about grace. 409 00:37:01,960 --> 00:37:04,960 I'm talking about mercy. 410 00:37:04,960 --> 00:37:10,960 I'm talking about the goodness of God will come down to where you are. 411 00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:17,960 And if you keep your seat, God will not have to take the ship out of commission. 412 00:37:17,960 --> 00:37:21,960 Boeing took the 737s out of commission. 413 00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:25,960 But we are not on an Alaskan airline ship. 414 00:37:25,960 --> 00:37:28,960 We are not on United Airlines. 415 00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:31,960 We are not on American Airlines. 416 00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:34,960 We are not on Southwest Airlines. 417 00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:37,960 Thank God we are not on Spirit Airlines. 418 00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:43,960 But we are on the old ship of Zion. 419 00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:45,960 She has landed. 420 00:37:45,960 --> 00:37:53,960 She has landed. 421 00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:55,960 Many a thousand. 422 00:37:55,960 --> 00:37:58,960 She will land. 423 00:37:58,960 --> 00:38:01,960 Many more. 424 00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:03,960 Is there anybody here? 425 00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:08,960 No, there's no danger in the water. 426 00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:19,960 And the reason why there's no danger in the water is because Jesus is our captain. 427 00:38:19,960 --> 00:38:22,960 You better get on board. 428 00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:25,960 Right on when you grab somebody. 429 00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:27,960 Tell them I don't know. 430 00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:30,960 You know what you have to go through? 431 00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:33,960 Come on, use your preaching voice. 432 00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:37,960 I don't know what your tomorrow looks like. 433 00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:44,960 But if you keep your hand in the Lord's hand, He will. 434 00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:47,960 Yes, He will. 435 00:38:47,960 --> 00:38:49,960 He will. 436 00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:51,960 Yes, He will. 437 00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:53,960 He will. 438 00:38:53,960 --> 00:39:08,960 I know He's all right. 439 00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:13,960 He will go to the hospital with you. 440 00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:17,960 He will go in the courtroom with you. 441 00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:22,960 He will go to the HR office with you. 442 00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:26,960 He will go to the bank with you. 443 00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:28,960 He will. 444 00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:30,960 He will. 445 00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:36,960 He will make a way out of no way. 446 00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:38,960 Won't He do it? 447 00:39:38,960 --> 00:39:40,960 Won't He do it? 448 00:39:40,960 --> 00:39:42,960 Won't He do it? 449 00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:44,960 Won't He do it? 450 00:39:44,960 --> 00:39:47,960 Why don't you ask somebody? 451 00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:49,960 Shake somebody's hand. 452 00:39:49,960 --> 00:39:51,960 Tell them be not. 453 00:39:51,960 --> 00:39:53,960 Dismayed. 454 00:39:53,960 --> 00:39:55,960 Whatever. 455 00:39:55,960 --> 00:39:57,960 Be tired. 456 00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:00,960 God will. 457 00:40:00,960 --> 00:40:02,960 God will. 458 00:40:02,960 --> 00:40:04,960 God will. 459 00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:29,960 I know He's all right. 460 00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:32,960 Take this home with you. 461 00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:34,960 Take this home with you. 462 00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:48,960 I don't know about tomorrow. 463 00:40:48,960 --> 00:41:01,960 I'll just live from day to day. 464 00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:13,960 I don't borrow from expansion. 465 00:41:13,960 --> 00:41:23,960 For His skies may turn to grain. 466 00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:25,960 I wish I had a witness. 467 00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:36,960 I don't worry about my future. 468 00:41:36,960 --> 00:41:39,960 Can I get a witness here? 469 00:41:39,960 --> 00:41:51,960 For I know what Jesus said. 470 00:41:51,960 --> 00:42:01,960 And today I walk beside Him. 471 00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:14,960 Oh, He knows what life ahead. 472 00:42:14,960 --> 00:42:24,960 Can I get somebody to help me here? 473 00:42:24,960 --> 00:42:48,960 Tomorrow I don't seem to understand. 474 00:42:48,960 --> 00:43:03,960 I don't know. 475 00:43:03,960 --> 00:43:14,960 I know who holds tomorrow. 476 00:43:14,960 --> 00:43:26,960 I don't know. 477 00:43:26,960 --> 00:43:28,960 I'm not guessing. 478 00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:30,960 I'm not hoping. 479 00:43:30,960 --> 00:43:33,960 I'm not wishing. 480 00:43:33,960 --> 00:43:40,960 I know. 481 00:43:40,960 --> 00:43:46,960 He holds. 482 00:43:46,960 --> 00:44:15,960 He holds my hand.