[SUB12] A TEORIA DA CONSPIRAÇÃO - Luciano Subirá

Have you ever heard the expression: "conspiracy theory"? Well then, in the next few minutes I want to show you, through the scriptures, what we could call "divine conspiracy theory". Stay with me and we will talk about that.

Guys, today I am in Dubai. I'm here to bring a message to your heart. The scriptures tell us, in the book of Romans 8:28: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

" The scriptures clearly and categorically tell us about things working together in our favor. Not in favor of every single person, but in favor of those who love God, in favor of those who are called according to His purpose. We need to understand that God has a plan and a purpose to every single one of those who serve Him.

That purpose does not involve only salvation and, by no means I wish to diminish it by speaking this way, but salvation generically extends to all men, salvation is God's wish to all men, because in 1 Timothy 2:5 the scriptures say that God wishes all men to be saved and come to a full knowledge of the truth. So when we think about the salvation perspective, God's purpose to all mankind is exactly the same. But there is a will, a personalized plan for each one of us.

For example, God wants us all to preach the gospel, but He does not necessarily want all of us to go to every place, He selects a few of us to be of influence in a certain place, while others are sent to be of influence in other places. And I don't mean just geographically, but society status. God is able to use both a servant to speak God's word to Naaman, the Syria general, and at the same time He uses a Joseph of Arimathea who has access to the Roman governor Pilate.

They were people in very distinct social positions but both were serving God's purpose. And, accordingly to this purpose God has for our lives, that personalized plan, He will work circumstances so, in the end, they are cooperating so that His purpose is fulfilled in our lives. When we think from this perspective, you can say that the believer, the one who loves God and was called accordingly to His purpose, surely can say that there is a "conspiracy theory", that all things work in his favor.

That is what we are going to see through the scriptures. We realize, for example, the way God handled Joseph's situation. Joseph received promises from God.

What is interesting is that we see in the book of Psalm that the word of God tried him. The same prophetic word that Joseph received tried him. What does it mean "the word tried him"?

It means that circumstances are not always working or happening or unfolding according to what God has promised. Or, in other words, not always the circumstances seem to be aligned with God's promise to reveal His purpose. When Joseph received a promise to rule and his brothers to bow before him, God was revealing a part of His purpose.

Joseph still didn't understand exactly what was the purpose. Joseph still didn't understand why a government position. In the future he would understand that God wanted to use him to save his own brothers's lives, so that he would be a provision instrument for the whole family.

But, even before he could understand the purpose clearly, he knew, at least in general, where things were going in his life. But circumstances were not according to what God said. So, when we read that "the word of God tried him", he begins to think about what God had revealed to him and starts to look at the circumstances and can not see them aligned, at least not at the beginning.

But further ahead that vision changes and changes completely. The scriptures tell us in the book of Genesis 45:5 to 8, when Joseph meets his brothers again, he says to them the following: "and now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. " "God sent me ahead of you", that is Joseph's statement.

He goes on and says: "For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. " By now, the pieces of the puzzle already fit together and Joseph understands God's purpose.

Verse 8: "So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God, He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. " In those four verses, Joseph states three times: "God sent me here. " In other words, he is saying to his brothers: "my destiny was never in your hands.

My destiny was never in Potiphar'’ hands, captain of the guard of the egyptian pharaoh. My destiny was never in any man's hands. My destiny was always in the hands of the God who called me upon His purpose.

And that God decided to use something you did against me. " and here we need to understand the text. Because when Joseph is saying: "God sent me here", he is not saying to his brothers: "God made you do this to me", it is not what he is saying.

In fact, the explanation for this we find in the end of the book of Genesis 50:20, where Joseph says this: "you intended to harm me; but God intended it for good, to accomplish, what is now being done, the saving of many lives. " He is saying: "you were the ones who intended harm. " In other words, "God has nothing to do with the harm you planned against me, but while you were planning to harm me, God decided to recycle these circumstances idealized by you so that they would work in my favor.

" In other words, Joseph is saying the following: "your attempt to harm me was managed by God so that I would end up going to Egypt through those merchants to whom you sold me. There I got a transition to prison, not for being unfaithful to God, on the contrary, precisely for being faithful to the Lord, I was unjustly thrown in prison and, at the right time, that cupbearer who was influent before the pharaoh that I had blessed in prison, was an instrument to get me out of that place, so that I could be in the position of the greatest authority in the biggest potence of the world in those days, only the pharaoh was greater than him. " That’s what Joseph is telling his brothers: "you intended to harm me.

God intended it for good. " When he is saying that God intended it for good, he is saying "God changed your intention so that his intention would prevail. " Did the word of God try Joseph?

Yes, because he hears God’s statement and the circumstances seem to be against it. Now, notice what I’m saying: "seem", because most of the time we can’t understand what is God’s plan, what is God’s purposes, nor can we understand what the unfoldings will be so that everything happens. But one thing is for sure: every one of us can trust in what God has said.

Every one of us can trust in what God has promised because He is faithful. The word of God is clear when it says that He can’t lie. So we need to believe that God works for our own good.

We see an apostle Paul that ends up getting involved in a shipwreck and ends up on the island of Malta and God turns that into good and all of that island received the word, the gospel of Christ. We need to believe that along our path, even if some things don’t go as we planned, even if some things don’t happen as we had wanted them to, even if they seem to go against the revelation of God’s plan and purpose, we need to trust that there’s a sovereign God ruling absolute, not only over the universe, but over the singularity of our life in that personalized plan, let’s put it that way, that God has for each one of us. I believe that it’s necessary that we learn to walk in faith and in trust.

It’s necessary that we believe that our life is in good hands. Apostle Paul makes the following statement: "I know whom I have believed. " He doesn’t say: "what I am believing", he says: "I know whom I have believed.

" Because faith is based on God’s character. On the character of a God who can’t lie, on the character of a God who can’t fail, on the character of a God that doesn’t play around, who is faithful and when we’re able to put our faith in the person of God holding on to the immutable unquestionable character, of a God who is above any suspicions. We can rest because even if the word God has given us tries us, even if the circumstances around us scream the opposite, saying "God forgot about you, He doesn’t seem to be with you", we can keep on trusting that He is going to do exactly what He promised He would do and He will use the circumstances that we don’t understand in a way that they will work for our own good, in a way that they will work in our favor.

If there is a "conspiracy theory" that we can testify by the word of God that exists is God conspiring in our favor, is God making circumstances around us conspire for our own good, so that we can live the fullness of God’s plan and purpose for our lives. I have experimented this in my own life. Circumstances that were apparently not only hard to understand at first, but that seemed to contradict the promise.

Circumstances that I had to face with a firm declaration of faith inside of me: "God is faithful. God will not deny His own word. God hasn’t abandoned me" and, these same circumstances that tried me, that tried the word of God in life, later, turned out to be managed by God in a really thorough way so that His plan and purpose could be fulfilled in my life.

When Lord Jesus wanted to wash apostle Peter’s feet, he rejected it. Jesus tells him: “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me. " In that moment, Lord Jesus explains to Peter what doesn’t seem to be an explanation, He says: " you do not realize now what I’m doing, but later you will understand.

" Basically, Jesus is saying: "Peter, you don’t need to understand everything now, you only need to accept my word, trust in me. There will be one day when things will make sense. There will be one day that there’ll be no need for explanations anymore, but until the explanations come, you keep on trusting.

While you trust, let me do the work. " In the book of Isaiah, we read about a God who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. My job is to wait.

Wait trusting in the Lord and, while I wait, God acts on my behalf using the circumstances that I understand and the ones I don’t understand; the ones that seem favorable and the ones that seem unfavorable. Because He remains sovereign, reigning absolute and He is worthy of all trust.