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This morning I am going to tell you what God has done for me. The passage we just read is my “life verse.” It is the Bible verse that speaks most to my heart. It is the verse that I like to think about and meditate on again and again. It is the verse that reminds me of what God has done in my life.

This verse contains a great promise of God, “All things work together for good.” But it is not a promise that God has made to everyone. It is a promise that God makes to every real Christian. Life is very difficult. That’s true both for the Christian and non-Christian. There are many challenges, hardships and disappointments that everyone faces. Life can feel overwhelming at times. Sometimes it even feels hopeless. But God promises the Christian that whatever happens in his life will in the end work toward his spiritual good. Notice, the verse doesn’t say that all things are good. No, some experiences in life really are bad. But even the seemingly “bad things” will work toward the Christian’s good. The Christian is comforted knowing that our loving God is in control! Nothing happens by chance or misfortune. God will make sure that all things will work together for our spiritual good in the end.

I did not have a happy childhood because I was very sickly. When I was 4 years old, I developed a rare form of kidney disease. I was placed on high dose steroids and was extremely bloated all the time. I looked just like “Chubby” in the “Little Rascals.” For the next several years most of my time was spent in the hospital. And the hospital was a very lonely and scary place. Because of my weakened immune system, I was kept in isolation. I was placed in a crib with bars so I had no contact with other children. Visiting hours were very strict. My mother was the only person who ever visited me. My mother would take care of my two other brothers, my sister, and many other cousins during the day, then visit me every early evening for a couple of hours. But then she would have to leave at 8:00 PM sharp. And during the daytime there were the constant blood draws and intravenous lines. Because of low blood protein I frequently needed to receive protein infusions through thick intravenous tubing. I was poked again and again because the doctors couldn’t find my veins. They would often have to tie me down and cut me with a knife to find my veins. As a child I had many nightmares of these terrible experiences.

I remember one time when I was about 5 years old I was sent home from the hospital for a short time. Because of my kidney disease I had a hard time producing urine. I was very sick. The doctors told my mother that if I didn’t urinate I would have to be rehospitalized, start dialysis, and then wouldn’t live much longer after that. I told my mother that I saw an angel coming down from Heaven for me. She made both of us get down on our knees and pray to God that He would let me live. And He did. Soon I started to urinate and did not need to go back to the hospital until later. That experience made a great impression on me. And ever since then I have felt the reality of God in my life. I wasn’t converted to Christ yet, but from then on I knew that God was real. I could feel His presence. As a young child I would frequently stand in front of a mirror, touch my face, and think, “Who am I? Why am I here? And where am I going?” But although I felt God, it wasn’t enough. I knew that I had a soul. But I also felt empty. I felt so empty that it hurt. It hurt really bad. I felt that something was very wrong with me, but I didn’t know what it was. That thought stayed with me and bothered me. I was constantly filled with these existential feelings of loneliness.

I had an older brother named Kerwin that I never knew. He died a few years before I was born, when he was just 2 months old. I remember as a child our family often visited his grave. Whenever we did I would always think, “He’s not really dead. He’s in Heaven, and I will see him some day.” My mother has told me many times that she prayed especially for me before I was born. In her heart, I would be the son that would replace my brother. So I was her answer to prayer. When I was still a child my mother knew that she would give me one of her kidneys. And her dream came true 12 years ago. At the age of 65 my mother gave me one of her kidneys. And as it turns out, no one in my family but my mother could have given me a kidney, because only she and I have the same blood type.

As I grew older my mother made it clear to me that she wanted me to become a doctor. She had gotten very close to all of my doctors and wanted me to help other people the way these doctors had helped me. And that placed a great weight upon my shoulders. I loved my mother, and I would do anything for her. And I couldn’t bear the thought of failing her. So getting good grades became my only goal during high school and the first few years of college. I knew I had to get straight As if I had any hope of getting into medical school. Gone were the feelings of existential loneliness. By then I thought that these feeling were due to my insecurity and lack of confidence. I thought that if I became a doctor, these bad feelings would disappear. The loneliness of existentialism was replaced by the loneliness of being a recluse studying, studying, and studying. Then the day finally arrived. I received a letter of admittance to the UCLA School of Medicine. I was happy at first. But it didn’t last long. It seemed like a huge letdown. I thought I would be thrilled, but I wasn’t. My feelings of emptiness returned greater than ever. I knew that something was not right. I felt that there must be more to life than this.

Soon after that someone invited me to our church, and I heard Dr. Hymers preach on Christ and Him crucified. I remember everything so clearly. I had an overwhelming sense of God’s presence. I felt that God was speaking directly to me. Everything and everyone else faded to the background. During the preaching I felt that a dagger had been stuck in my heart. I was convinced that the emptiness of my heart was due to not having Christ. This seemed to me a great sin. The Spirit of God convinced me of this. I felt the overwhelming power of God draw me to Christ. I felt that Christ had received me. I felt that I was His and He was mine. I felt that his Blood washed my sins away. I felt clean. I now felt complete. Gone was the empty feeling of life without God and without Christ. I knew that I had a new life with Christ. I knew that I now belonged to the family of God. I knew the church was my new home where I would stay to the end of my life.

“All things work together for good” (Romans 8:28).

That is my life verse. That verse reminds me that God is all-powerful, that He loves me, and that He is in control. Through Christ I rejoice that I have this great and precious promise of God for my own. As I think back, I can see how this great promise of God has worked in my life. When I was sick and alone in the hospital, God worked it for good. because I had the time to think about God and the meaning of life. When I was stuck with all those needles, and went through so much pain in the hospital, God worked it for good. Because it taught me that there is pain in this life, but it does not last forever. And it made me hope for another world without pain or sorrow. God used my kidney disease for my good. For without it I would not have received a kidney from my mother and would not have become so close to her. All the impressions of God that I had, He used it for good, because these thoughts convinced me of His reality and that there is more to life than this material world. And that great empty and painful void in my soul God used it for good, because it created a want and need for God in my soul which He satisfied through my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

And throughout my Christian life God has worked all things for my good. When I was in medical school, my classmate Judy and I were very zealous in evangelism. We made sure to do all our medical school assignments, but at every opportunity we had we told young people about Christ and what great things He had done for us. That was more important to us that anything else. We took our pastor Dr. Hymers as our example of zeal for Christ in winning souls. Soon there was a great stir among the other medical students. Some were Jews, and Buddhists, and many others were evangelicals. They were all angry with us. They wouldn’t speak to us. They brought us in front of their “Honor Council.” They said we acted dishonorably. They charged us with harassment and said that that we were abusing our role as medical students. They told us we had to stop or we would suffer terrible consequences. They said we would not graduate from medical school. We kept on evangelizing, and God protected us from harm. And God used this time of persecution to strengthen us. Through this trial God gave Dr. Judy Cagan and me even more boldness to witness for Christ.

“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” (Romans 8:28).

And we know – the Apostle Paul is writing to the Christians in Rome. All Christians have this great promise of God. Ask any converted person here, and he will tell you about many times when difficulties worked out for their spiritual good. We sense the hand of God in our lives. We sense the fellowship of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. “We know that all things work together for good.” This promise was also true for our church. We went through a terrible and gut-wrenching time in our church when it was filled with many lost people. But God used this for our church’s good. Through it we learned the error of Decisionism. Through it we discovered Puritan conversion – that God through preaching would demonstrate His sovereign grace and power in producing conviction of sin, awakening, and then in drawing sinners to Christ.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28).

“To them that love God.” All true Christians now love God. But we did not always love Him. Through faith in Christ and His Blood our hearts have been changed. God took away our selfish hearts of stone, and through Christ He has given us hearts of flesh to love God. And that’s also why we love each other, and love you that are with us this morning. We have become new creations through Christ Jesus. And true Christians are rare these days. You will seek long and hard to find a group of true Christians that love you the way that we love you. Come back and with us tonight! Give us a chance to love you in our church!

“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” (Romans 8:28).

“Called according to His purpose.” Every true Christian will remember the time when God called him through preaching to come to Christ. Nearly all the Christians in our church were called to come to Christ through the preaching of our pastor Dr. Hymers. God called me to Christ through our pastor’s preaching when I was 20 years old. God’s purpose in sending Christ into the world is that you may be saved. It is our prayer that you too will hear God’s call for you to come to Christ and be saved.

Christ died a horrible death on the Cross to pay for your sins. On the third day He rose physically from the grave to give you life. He ascended into Heaven. He now sits at the right hand of the throne of God. Come to Christ. He will wash your every sin away in His Blood. Amen. Dr. Hymers, please lead us in prayer.

(END OF SERMON)
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Scripture Read Before the Sermon by Mr. Abel Prudhomme: Romans 8:28-31.
Solo Sung Before the Sermon by Mr. Benjamin Kincaid Griffith:
“There’s Room at the Cross for You” (by Ira F. Stanphill, 1914-1993).