Matt Hagee - The God Who is For You

I want you to look at Romans 8, beginning in the 28th verse, as today we talk about "The God who is for us". I think we've learned a lot about ourselves, and I think we've learned a lot about the world that we live in, in the past few days. Never has uncertainty been any greater than it is today. You know whenever I was in school in business class, they didn't have a chapter in the book where it said, "Whenever they call for a global shut down, whenever they send you home to quarantine, whenever they bring the world to a stop for 14 days, here's how you keep things running".

I'm certain that whenever the teachers, who went off to learn how to be educators, sat in their classroom, they didn't say, "Whenever they decide to send kids home and everyone's in quarantine, this is how you keep your classroom going". They didn't talk to doctors and nurses about what to do when medical supplies were in shortage. They didn't speak to lawyers and attorneys in law school about how to handle a situation like this. There's no chapter in a book in seminary that says, "Whenever they don't allow you to meet in groups larger than ten, here's how you have church".

There's a lot of things that we've learned about the world that we live in, how quickly it can change: and how suddenly, everything that we know, we can be uncertain of. But here's one thing that I know: we're all in this together. It doesn't matter how you voted in the last election: you're in this situation. It doesn't matter what your desire in life is. Today, you are being interrupted by this circumstance. It doesn't matter what your economic standard is. It doesn't matter if you're rich, if you're poor, if you're educated, if you're uneducated. It doesn't matter which side of town you live on. Every individual on the face of the earth is in this same circumstance, which is what the Bible says, "It rains upon the just and the unjust". But when it's raining on the just, our God is a refuge, and our God is a strength, and he is an ever-present help in a time of trouble.

I learned a lot this week about things that I miss, things like a hand shake and a hug. Don't ever take for granted the little ways that you communicate to people what they mean to you. I miss the church. Today, I know how Paul felt in a small measure when he wrote his letters to the churches that he had started. And in his expressions and greetings, how he said, "I long for you," "I miss you," "Oh, that I could come to you". Prior to this, we looked at church as just part of our weekly routine and obligation in many cases. It was just part of our tradition. But I assure you, when this situation passes, whenever the storm of this COVID quarantine is over, I'll know exactly what it means to say, "I was glad when they said unto me, 'let us go into the house of the Lord'".

You miss things like a routine trip to the grocery store. You miss things like the car line at school where you got to drop your kids off so that they could go learn to read and write and do math. I guarantee you: there's going to be a lot of fresh apples sent to the schoolhouse whenever they open the doors and let the kids back in front of those teachers. And parents, you're now going to have a special gift to pray for the teachers that your students are sitting in front of. I miss having a simple conversation about something light and fun instead of just heaviness and burdensome. But the good news is, in heavy seasons, the Bible says, "Put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness".

I assure you: what we've done here today has lifted the spirit of heaviness in my heart. I pray it lifted the spirit of heaviness in your heart. And I want to take you to the Word of God where we turn in uncertain times. Because as uncertain as things are, of this I am certain: that God Almighty is still on his throne. I am certain that the Word of God is true from page to page and cover to cover. I am certain that every promise locked in these pages is good for a thousand generations. I am certain that even though men on this earth may plan, and they may plot, and they may have devised schemes and try to control the things of this earth: it is God, who exalts one: and it is God, who uses men here on this earth. I am certain that God is a healer. I am certain that God is faithful. I am certain that God is all-sufficient.

I know that he has given his angels charge over me. I know that he will protect me. I know that he is a help to the helpless and hope to the hopeless. I know that his goodness and his mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I know in whom I have believed, and I believe that he is able to do exceedingly and abundantly, above all that I could ask, think or imagine. I know who he is. His name is Jesus Christ. And he is a resurrected Savior, the son of the living God, the bright in the morning star, the fairest of 10,000, the lion of Judah. And he is a soon-coming king! Of this I am certain! And the reason I know is because his word has told me. His Holy Spirit has confirmed in me. And I hear his voice, saying, "Lift up your heads and rejoice. Your redemption draweth nigh".

Read with me Romans 8:28 and following. It says, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to his image of the Son of God that he (Jesus) might be the firstborn among many brethren. More over, he predestined these he also called. Whom he called, these he also justified. And whom he justified, these he also glorified". Now verse 31, "So what shall we say of these things"? Listen to this. "If God is for us, who can be against us? He, who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things"?

Child of God, right here, you have it chapter and verse that God, the God who created the heavens and the earth, the God who holds the mountains in a scale and the hills in a balance, the God who has numbered the stars and has numbered the hairs on your head, that God has given you all things when he gave you his son, Jesus Christ. Paul says, "What shall we say of these things? Knowing that God has given us his only begotten, how will he not freely give us all things? If God is for us, who can be against us"?

The reason that I chose Romans 8:28, as a verse for our perspective today is because I consider Romans 8:28 an outlook indicator. Predicated on how you read this verse determines your outlook on life. And your outlook on life determines your outcome. We're all in this same situation together. We're all facing trials and struggles like we've never known before. But each and every one of us have the opportunity to choose our own outlook, which gives us the opportunity to decide the outcome.

Some people read, "And we know that all things work together for good to those that love the Lord and are called according to his purpose". And when they hear, "We know all things work together for good," they live in a land in a world of denial. They say, "Well all things haven't worked out for my good". "Look at what's going on in my business right now". "All things haven't worked out for my good". "I've got family members who are sick and they can't get medicine". "All things haven't worked out for my good". They're in denial that God could mean what he said when he said, "All things work together for good". And it's this foundation of denial that causes them to struggle. The longer you deny a difficult situation, the harder you make it.

Denial goes two ways. There are some people, who deny that this verse could be true. And then there are some people who deny that struggle could ever occur. You know for many years, there's been people who have stood upon a very weak theology and doctrine that the Christian life is a life that's absent of struggle. I don't think that that doctrine is holding up too well these days. Here's the assurance that we have, not that we would go through life without difficulty, not that we would go through life without struggle, not that we would go through life without some storm of some kind, or some need arising: but that when we go through life, we go through life with the promise that in our struggle, he is our strength. In our struggle, he is our provider. In our struggle, he is our healer. In our struggle, we have a firm foundation and Jesus is his name!

So one outlook that you can have is to deny. Deny the fact that all things work together for the good, because you're facing a struggle, or deny that you have a struggle. But the outlook of denial does not give you the opportunity to overcome. Another outlook when people read this verse is defeatism. They hear, "All things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to his purposes," and they allow self-defeat to overwhelm them. God couldn't love me because of the things that I've done in my past. That's they're mindset. God couldn't love me because of the sin that's in my heart. That's they're attitude. God couldn't use me, because I've been rejected, because I've been hurt, because I've gone through so many different situations and struggles that would say God doesn't care for me.

That's self-defeat. And that self-defeat is a denial of the fact that greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. God loved you so much that he gave his only begotten son to die for you. "What shall we say of these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Seeing that he has given us his only begotten son, how will he not give us all things"? There is not one ounce of defeat in these words, so don't you let the attitude of defeat come into you, because God created you to be more than a conqueror. You will go through a season of lack, but God created you to conquer lack. You will go through a season of weakness, but God will bring you through that season of weakness, stronger than you've ever been before.

You need to understand what David said when he said, "It was good that I had been afflicted". Why? Because it was in his affliction that he learned God's faithfulness. It was in his affliction that he learned how to run into the secret place of the Most High and dwell in the shadow of the Almighty. It was in his affliction that he learned the words, "God is a refuge, and God is a strength. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. And the righteous run into it and are saved".

When you come into a season of struggle like you're in right now, do not be defeated, because if you're breathing and the sun is shining, then God has a purpose for you. I'm speaking to families right now that don't know what to do. They're overwhelmed. Turn to Jesus. He's for you. I'm speaking to businessmen, who are looking at the future forecast and they're uncertain about where the provision is going to come from. Turn Jesus. He's a business partner that will provide for you. I'm speaking to pastors and leaders who are lost, trying to figure out what to do for their community. The Bible says that Jesus went about doing good. You do the same. Go find somebody with a need and meet that need. And let them know how much Jesus loves them when you do it. But don't let defeatism enter your heart, your mind, or your spirit, because we are more than conquerors through Christ.

This verse is an outlook indicator. You can read it and deny it. You can read it and allow defeatism to sink in or you can read it and be determined. You can read it and understand that what Paul was saying here is that not everything is good, but God will take all these things and work them out for good. He says, "And we know". It's an assurance to him. "And we know". He said it with confidence. "And we know". It wasn't a question. "And we know all things," "All things". He wrote these words chained to a wall in a Roman dungeon. "And we know all things". Think about it. He's not in the penthouse suite at the JW Marriott waiting on room service when the Holy Spirit inspires him. He's pressing his hand to parchment, and he's telling the church, do not be afraid.

"We know all things work together for good". When you have that attitude, it takes the adversity that you're in, and it shapes you and it molds you. When you have that attitude, you look at struggle as a season for you to gain strength and for it to pour the rock-ribbed confidence into your soul that God is on his throne and everything is going to be all right. When you have that attitude that we know all things work together, you can say, "This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be made glad in it".

Today, I want you to make the decision, wherever you are, to rejoice. Rejoice that you're saved. Rejoice that the blood of Jesus is strong enough to conquer every sin and every shackle of shame in your past. It is strong enough to conquer every disease and every sickness in your body. It is strong enough to protect you. Rejoice that God has a plan for you. He has a plan to prosper you and not to harm you. He has a plan that is far better than you could ask, think, or imagine. Rejoice that in the darkest of midnights, the name of the Lord is a light and it is a salvation. Rejoice that in the midst of the storm, you are worshiping the master of the wind. Rejoice that in an hour of need, he is still El Shaddai, the all-sufficient one. Rejoice that in a day of trouble, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all"!

Child of God, you have a reason to rejoice today ! The Bible says that God is coming back for a church that is without spot and without wrinkle. Well I assure you: this is washing some of the stains of our attitudes, and some of the stains of our pride, and some of the stains of ourselves off of the garment that Christ is coming back for. This is pressing out some of the wrinkles so that we will be prepared whenever we see him face to face. But stay with that thought that when you're called and you have a purpose, you have to know what that purpose is.

In the Bible, whenever you read a name, the name that you read tells you the purpose. For example, Abram was the father of many nations: Eve, the mother of all who were living: Israel, after God changed Jacob's name, he made it Israel, which meant he was a priest with God. The name that someone carried told you their purpose. The name Moses meant deliverer. The name Joshua was a Savior, was a Messiah. Whenever Moses asked God for a name, and he was going back to Egypt, God said, "You tell them I am".

And throughout the Word of God, and as God began to reveal himself to his children, he began to tell them who I am was. I am Jehovah Jireh, a provider. I am Jehovah Shalom, your peace. I am Jehovah Nissi, the Lord your banner. I am Jehovah Rohi, the Lord your shepherd. I'll guide you through the wilderness. When you don't know where to go, I'll lead you to green pastures. I'll lead you beside still waters. When you're walking through an hour of adversity, I will be the lamp unto your feet and the light unto your path. Even through the valley of the shadow of death, my rod and my staff, they will comfort you, because I am Jehovah Rohi, the Lord your shepherd. I promise you this: the sheep have learned to hear the shepherd's voice lately. I am Jehovah Tzidkenu, your righteousness: Jehovah Rophe, your healer: Jehovah M'Kaddesh, the God who satisfies: Jehovah Shammah, the Lord who is there.

You see when you're called according to God's purpose, you call upon his name. And I assure you of this: in his name, you find provision, you find peace, you find protection, you find direction, you find health, you find satisfaction, you find sufficiency, you find righteousness. You find comfort when you call upon the name of the Lord. That means that there's not one hour of one day that you will face one situation when Jehovah God, your God, the great I am, does not have the strength and the power to sustain you. Call upon his name, and he said, "I'll answer you and show you great and mighty things that you know not". No matter what you face in this life, as long as you can call upon Jesus, you can overcome anything!

Proverbs 18:10 says, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower, and the righteous run into it and are saved". Joel 2:32, it says, "Those who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved". No matter what you do today, if you call the prayer line, we'll be there. If you go online, we'll be there. But when you call upon Jesus, we're not waiting for him to come there: he's with you! When you face a problem that you can't answer, call upon Jehovah, because Jehovah Jireh means he's the God who can see. There are men sitting in office buildings that are empty, trying to see their way to a solution. Call upon Jehovah Jireh. He sees your provision before you ask for the need.

When the weight of the world has pulled you to your knees, and you're about to break under the pressure of fear, call upon Jehovah Shalom. He is the Prince of Peace. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will rule your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. When you feel abandoned and alone, call upon Jehovah Shammah. He's the God who's there. When your soul is barren and dry, and you're searching for some form of satisfaction, call upon Jehovah M'Kaddesh, because he is the living water who will satisfy. If you're needing healing, call upon Jehovah Rophe. He's the healer. But whatever you do, do not be defeated, do not live in denial. Live in determination that God is for you: and therefore, no one can be against you.

Here's how I want to close our service today. The Bible says, "Call upon me and I'll answer you, and I'll show you great and mighty things that you know not". We have prayer requests coming in from all over the nation and around the world. We're going to pray, not only for those who have sent in requests, but we're going to pray for every person who's watching now. We're going to pray, in faith believing, because the Bible says that when you ask, ask in faith, and God will do it. We're going to pray that your household is protected: that your needs are met: that your answer is on its way. We're going to pray, because this is a prayer chapel that was dedicated unto the Lord: that whenever people came into this room and they lifted up their voice to heaven, that God would hear and God would answer. So right where you are, I just want you to lift your hands. And I want you to bow your heads. And I want you to enter into an atmosphere of prayer with me. Say:

Lord Jesus, today I come to you, and I declare that you are my Savior. And I declare that you are all that I need. I come to you and I call upon you to heal those who are sick in body. I call upon you to protect those who are in harm's way. I call upon you to meet every need of every businessman, of every father, of every mother, of every son, of every daughter. I call upon you, father, to bring out a harvest of abundance in this season when those who are faithful are still sowing, when those who are faithful are still doing, when those who are faithful are still reaching, when those who are faithful are still striving. I call upon you to bring hope to every troubled heart. I call upon you to bring joy to every season of sorrow and every tear that is being cried. I ask you to catch it in a vase, Heavenly Father, and turn it into a shout of praise when they realize your faithfulness in their life. I call upon you to bring strength to those who are weary and bring peace to those who are tormented. I call upon you to bring healing to broken hearts and ruined lives.

Father, we call upon you because your name is great and greatly to be praised. You are wonderful. You are mighty. You are from everlasting to everlasting. You are highly exalted. There is none liken unto you. We mention your name because powers and principalities cannot resist, cannot stand against the name of Jesus. We worship your name because you inhabit the praises of your people. We declare your name, because it is a banner in battle that gives us victory. It pulls down strongholds. It removes burdens and destroys yokes. It turns sorrow into dancing. We lift our voice and we declare that Jesus is our king, and God, our father in heaven, is watching over us. We lift up all these requests, in the mighty name that is above every name. And we ask, in Jesus' name, that you, Heavenly Father, would be pleased with our sacrifice of praise to you today, in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.