Study# | I Know You Know

Text:

Romans 8:28-31:

28 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.

29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

Theme:

I Know You Know

Introduction:

In Romans, Paul is writing to a group of people who are the heart of the Gentile nation. These are a people who do not and cannot relate to the strict traditions and rhetoric existing in the Jewish community. They couldn’t understand “Old folk talk”. They needed things to be broken down to plain and simple terms that relate to their real existence. Paul did just that. He wrote Romans closer to the “How To” methodology than any of his letters.
- The church in Rome was begun by Christians after Pentecost and had in its population a large number of Romans or Gentiles.
- Paul’s purpose is to explain the great “truths” of the gospel to the Jewish-Gentile church in Rome
- It is unique in that it is a systematic exposition of the gospel of universal applicationàSalvation is free to all.
The eight chapter of Romans is within the main section of the letter that explains the doctrines of Justification, Salvation, and Grace.
- We are justified by faith
  - Romans 3:28, “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”
- Salvation is free gift of God to those who accept it
  - Romans 10:9, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
- God’s Grace is the power that saves us
  - Romans 11:6, “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”
This 8^th chapter specifically highlights the believer’s freedom from condemnation.
- The first verse begins with “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit”
- The last verses then concludes by saying that “For I am persuaded, that [nothing] shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
- Verse 28 is the well-known bridge between these two thoughts that comforts the believer!
  - “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.”
    - We often can recite “that all things work together….” BUT we often forget the most important part of the verse for the believer, “AND WE KNOW”

Body:

KNOWING is an important concept. My grandmama when facing situations that she could not understand or figure would just look up towards Heaven and say four words to God, “I KNOW YOU KNOW”, our theme.
- I KNOW YOU KNOW à These four words were the penultimate words of comfort for my grandmamma!
- The BAD and the GOOD of I KNOW
  - I KNOW is a bad phrase for the believer in the case of exhibiting PRIDE
    - To tell OTHERS I know is to refuse any knowledge that they are willing to offer.
    - To tell YOURSELF I know is to lift oneself up in vanity
    - To tell GOD I KNOW is to tell Him to leave you alone…not good…J
      - Whether it is to push away others, lift yourself or to turn from God, it is submerges us in PRIDE!
  - I KNOW is a good phrase for the believer in the case of exhibiting FAITH.
    - We believe based on perception and trust…We know based on experience
    - I believe that there is an Eiffel Tower based on study and eyewitness accounts…I KNOW that there is a God based on my PERSONAL EXPERIENCE!
      - As Job said, Job 19:25, “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:”
      - The experience is by FAITH!!
        
        Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
- The complete ASSURANCE of HE KNOWS
  - When Grandmama said “He” she was not referring to:
    - Friends, family, spouse, job, riches, doctors, or preachers
    - She was referring to God, Himself!
  - God is OMNISCIENT à All-Knowing
  - He knows…
    - Our situations…
      - Romans 8:22-23, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”
    - Our needs…
      - Philippians 4:19, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
    - US
      - Psalms 139:1-3, “O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.”
  - Since He Knows, He will take care of us!
    - Romans 11:2, “God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew….”
    - Romans 8:29, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

Conclusion:

So, I now understand why Grandmama would say , “I know You know”!
- She was reassuring herself that God is sovereign…
  - …even over her problems
  - …even over her enemies
  - …even over her flesh
- She was reassuring herself that by proclaiming to her Creator, “I know You know!”, she was claiming the victory over…
  - Her pains
  - Her confusion
  - Her weakness
  - Her sins
I KNOW YOU KNOW!
- We don’t have to tell
  - A friend
  - A counselor
  - A doctor
  - A girlfriend
  - A boyfriend
  - A spouse
  - A relative
- We can talk to God all about it because…
  - I KNOW YOU KNOW!

#320

I Know You Know

Romans 8:28-31:

I Know You Know

Contact Us