This is one of the best known and best loved and most quoted verses in the Bible. It’s one of the most comforting verses in the whole Bi­ble. It’s a golden text. It’s a pillow to lay down your weary head at night and a rock to place your tired feet on in the morning. My approach (following Stott) is to try and parse it; to break it down phrase by phrase and word by word.

The verse reads, ‘And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called accord­ing to his purpose.’ (ESV). (There is a slight difference in the translations — the question is whether the ‘all things’ or ‘God’ is the subject of the sentence).

There are many things we don’t know. We don’t know, for example, what we ought to pray for. We don’t know what heaven will be like. We don’t know what we will be like in heaven. There are secret things that belong to the Lord our God. But there are things that God has revealed in His word that we should know. There are things that we can know only because God has re­vealed it in His word - the Bible. Our text tells us what some of these things are.

1. We Know that God Works ⤒🔗

The familiar AV rendering which states that, ‘we know all thing things work together for good’, could be slightly misleading. It could give the impression that all things automatically in themselves work out for good as though life is one lucky lottery. But things don’t just happen. Someone must make it happen. We need to stress that God is the One who makes things work. Even though He made the world in six days and rested on the Sabbath; He has not stopped work­ing. Jesus said, ‘My Father is al­ways at work to this very day, and I too am working’ (John 5:17). He is not like a heavenly clockmaker who made the clock, wound it up and walked away from it. He is not an absentee landlord. Rather, He is involved in the work of His creation. He is a ‘hands on’ God. He contin­ues to maintain the work of His creation. He governs everything. ‘By Him all things consist.’ ‘It is in God that we live, and move and have our being’. He holds the whole world in His hands. Not a sparrow can fall to the ground (and die) apart from His will. This all points to an Almighty God who is ‘ceaselessly, energetically and pur­posefully’ at work on our behalf in this world.

We don’t therefore subscribe to the; ‘Que Sera Sera’ — ‘what will be will be’ approach to life. Paul is not saying that ‘it’s all good’, nor is he saying, ‘she’ll be right mate!' Nor is he saying that it will all work out in the end, therefore don’t worry. No! The doctrine of provi­dence, which we are here taught, teaches us that we are not in the grip of blind forces — fortune, chance, luck or fate — but we have an Almighty God who is at work in the world and in our lives. ‘He is working all things.’

2. We Know that God is at Work for our Good ←⤒🔗

Not only is God sovereign and almighty — He is also good. We may have difficulty reconciling these things in the face of per­sonal tragedy and adversity or suffering and pain. Nevertheless we know – though we may not understand — that God is at work for our good — because the Bible tells us so. ‘God is not a man that He should lie’. God is good: He is good to all in many ways; He is good to His redeemed in every way. Pause and read if you need a reminder Psalm 145:8-9, 17-18, 20.

The Shorter Catechism asks: ‘What is God’? Answer: ‘God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable, in His being, wis­dom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.’

If that is what God is, then it is in­conceivable — indeed impossible — that He should do anything evil. His works are an expression of His character. He is not evil or immoral or a-moral. He is holy, loving, kind, generous and merciful. Even when we are in the crucible of suffering and hardship God is still at work for our good.

What is He doing? It’s defined for us in verse 29. ‘To be conformed to the likeness of His Son that He (Christ) might be the first born among many brothers.’ He is like the master sculptor chipping away at us with his hammer and chisel because He has a pattern for us. God’s ultimate purpose is the hon­our and glory of His Son Jesus Christ. He will be glorified when we will be like Him. That’s what God is ‘chipping’ toward.

3. We Know God is Working for our Good in All Things ←⤒🔗

We know that some things work for our good. A good meal will do us good. Exercise will do us good. Rest will do us good. A holiday will do us good. A good book will do us good. Friends will do us good. Fel­lowship will do us good. A steady income and secure employment will do us good. Savings will do us good. A happy family will do us good. These are some of the things we know will do us good.

However the apostle says, ‘we know that in all things God works for our good.’ Not just some things — but all things! Every single thing that happens to us expresses God’s love to us, and comes to us for the furthering of God’s purpose for us. What does he mean by ‘all things?’ It must at least include everything in the context of this chapter. E.g. ‘Suffering; frustration; bondage; de­cay; groaning; trouble; hardship; persecution; famine; nakedness; danger; sword; death and God not sparing His own Son!’ Most of these things don’t seem too good to me! But that’s the point. Paul is not saying that all things are good to believers. No! He is saying that God uses all things for the good of the believer — which includes the bad, cruel, nasty, painful, frustrating, heartbreaking things. Let’s try and illustrate this.

Think of Joseph. Rejected and hated by his brothers! Was that good? They plotted to kill him. Was that good? They sold him. Was that good? In Egypt he is ac­cused of rape. Was that good? He is thrown into prison. Was that good? The cupbearer forgot about him. Was that good? No! All these things were bad. Yet, years later Joseph is able to say to his brothers — ‘You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accom­plish what is now being done, the saving of many lives’ (Gen. 50:19­-21). What can we say? God uses evil, and suffering, and sin and dis­aster to fulfil His good purpose.

Think of the story of Naomi and Elimelech and their two boys. It was famine which drove them away from Bethlehem to Moab. Was that good? Within ten years a husband and two sons were all dead. Was that good? Naomi (Mara) returned penniless with her daughter-in-law Ruth to Bethlehem. Through the goodness of Boaz, Ruth is accepted into the community, married Boaz and became the great grandmother of David. It was through the circum­stances of famine and tragic be­reavement that God preserved the line of Christ. What do we learn? That God is working all things for our good to fulfil His good purpose.

The psalmist said, ‘Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word... It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.’ (Ps. 119:67, 71). Spurgeon comments, ‘Often our trials act like a thorn hedge to keep us in the good pastures, but our prosperity is a gap through which we go astray ... A thousand benefits have come to us through our pains and griefs.’ What do we learn? God uses affliction in the life of the believer for our good and for His purpose.

Remember what wicked men did to Jesus. He was hated. He was arrested. He was tried. He was condemned. He was beaten. He was mocked. He was spat upon. He was nailed to the cross. He died. Was that good? It was wicked! Yet this was God’s loving purpose for our good!

Think of Stephen: a man full of grace and the Spirit; a mighty man in the scriptures. He was arrested, charged with blasphemy and stoned to death. Was that good? It was a tragic loss. A great persecution broke out against the church. Was that good? Yet, as a result many were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria and wherever they went they preached the Word; and the church grew! What do we learn? God uses even cruel persecution to fulfil His purpose.

Remember the man behind these words (v. 28). Paul himself had a hard difficult life after his conversion. He was no armchair theologian who enjoyed the re­cluse of academia. He was a man who lost everything for the sake of the gospel — reputation, career, family, property. He was beaten, imprisoned, stoned, and ship­wrecked. He was often disap­pointed in the churches he founded and in his converts. Yet he tells us, ‘God works all things for the good.’

It’s not only the pleasant things that work for our good. It’s the painful, nasty things too. An ill­ness, a rebuke, a disappointment, unemployment, cancer, death, a natural calamity and any adversity you can think of. God works all things together (Gk. sunergeo) for the good of His people. God mixes it all together — the good, the bad and the ugly — the end result — is good! It’s like baking a cake. Some of the ingredients on their own taste good. Other ingredients like flour, margarine, and baking powder are yuck! Only after all the ingredients are mixed together by skilful hands, and then put into the oven, is the cake ready to be eaten. The ‘all things’ are like the ingredients. By themselves they may be yucky. But when God in His infinite skill blends them all together and cooks them properly in the oven of adversity, it turns out good every time.

God is working all things for our good. Spurgeon says;

The Chris­tian does not merely hold this as a theory: he knows it as a matter of fact. Everything has worked for good as yet; the poisonous drugs mixed in fit proportions have worked the cure; the sharp cuts of the sur­geon’s knife have cleansed the proud flesh and facilitated healing ... The believer can in the spirit of true resignation pray, ‘send me what thou wilt, my God, so long as it comes from Thee; never came there an ill portion from Thy table to any of Thy children.'

4. We Know God is Working All Things for the Good of Those who Love Him ←⤒🔗

This is a specific promise. It’s not for everyone. It’s for Christians only. It’s for those who love Him. It’s emphatic in the Greek — it’s at the beginning of the sentence. ‘And we know to those who love God, all things work together for good.’ If you are not a Christian — you can­not claim this promise. Indeed if you are not a Christian and keep up your resistance against God, then God has some things planned for you which are not good! (This is good reason why you need to make that change!)

Who are they who love God? The following verses tell us. God works everything for the good of those He predestined to be conformed to the likeness His Son, those He predes­tined and called and justified and glorified. In other words, those who love God are those who are first loved by God. As John says, ‘We love Him because He first loved us’ (1 John 4:19).

The story is told of the famous 18th century Baptist preacher C. H. Spurgeon, that on one occa­sion he gave a young couple a weather vane as a wedding gift — with the verse ‘God is Love’ on it. ‘Does that mean that God’s love is as changeable as the wind?’ the young man asked. ‘No’, said Mr. Spurgeon, ‘it means that God is love no matter which way the wind is blowing!’

Dear Christian, God loves you at all times and in all circumstances. He loves you in the warmth of the summer and in the chill of the win­ter. Do you love Him at all times and in all circumstances — whether the wind is on your face or on your back? The promise of this verse is, ‘we know to those who love God (i.e. and keep on loving Him) all things work to­gether for good.’ If you love Him you can sleep peacefully tonight knowing that God is at work in everything for my good. If you love Him you can get up in the morning and face the new day with the knowledge God is at work for my good and for His glory.