Now divine providence is the
daily constant sovereign rule of our God over all things for
the accomplishment of His purpose. His purpose of grace and predestination Our great God is in control,
otherwise He would not be God. If He's not in control of all
things, then He's not God. But our God is in control of
all things. The Bible declares that our God is in control of
all things, over everything. He is sovereign, eternal, immutable
will. and purpose comes to pass all
by his divine power and all according to his own will, to his own will,
and his good pleasure, and his good pleasure. Like we have seen
in our study in the life of Joseph, divine providence is the accomplishment
of God's sovereign will and purpose. Now Joseph, when he was sold
into slavery, had no idea that he would eventually be taken
to the position of second in command over all of Egypt. But
he had no idea when his brothers cast him into that pit, did he?
He had no idea that that was going to be all, it was all part
of the purpose of God. No. And our great God and King
brings to pass in time, sovereignly, absolutely and perfectly, that
which he has purposed in eternity. That which he has purposed in
eternity. Divine providence is the execution of God's purpose. The execution of God's purpose.
Turn, if you would, to Psalm 12. Psalm 12. We know that the
wicked speak against our Lord daily. As a matter of fact, before
the Lord saved me, in my sinfulness, in my wickedness, I spoke against
my King. Now, I did it ignorantly, but
it still doesn't matter. I was accountable for that. But
praise God, the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ has
washed me clean. Washed me clean. And now the
name that I had no regard for, now I uplift in praise and worship
and adore. And I know it's the same for
you. You worship and adore our king, don't we? Oh, his name
is wonderful. It grieves us when we hear people
use it in vain. It grieves us. That's the name of my king. Psalm 12, again, we know the
wicked speak against the Lord, but what we should always remember
is their end. Their end. If the Lord doesn't
save them, their end. They're going to spend eternity
in hell. My. Now they use flattering lips
and they speak proud things, but one day those lips will be
silenced. They'll be silenced. And they
will stand before the Almighty King of Glory. He will stand
before the almighty King of glory. Look at this in Psalm 12 verses
one to eight. Help Lord for the godly man ceases
for the faithful fall fail from among the children of man. They
speak vanity, everyone with his neighbor with flattering lips
and with a double heart. Do they speak? The Lord shall
cut off all flattering lips. Look at that. They're cut off
all flattering lips. And with a double heart do they
speak. Again, so look at verse 3. The Lord shall cut off all
flattering lips and the tongue that speaketh proud things. Oh,
men are proud now, aren't they, in their flesh. He's going to
cut them off. Who have said, with our tongue
will we prevail, our lips are our own. Who is Lord over us? They say, who's Lord over us?
We'll not have this man reign over us. See, people often say,
well, I never hated God. I've heard people say that, but
you know what? In our hearts and our actions, we did. Because
in our sinfulness, we said, we're not have this man reign over
us. That's what the scripture means, that there was enmity
with us and God. Because in our lips and in our
actions, we said, we're not have you reign over us. We were at enmity with God. That's our natural state. But
look at this. Who is Lord over us? People say,
well, I know God. Well, yeah, there is. One day
your lips will be silenced from saying that. Yeah, there is. He's real. He's real. He's absolutely
real. For the oppression of the poor,
for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord.
I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him. He has
his people safe. He keeps us. Praise God, he does. He keeps us. We're safe in him. He's our hiding place from those
who puff up at us. They say all kinds of things
about our King and about us. Let them say them. Let them roar.
Their mouths will be silenced one day. Absolutely silenced. The words of the Lord are pure
words, as silver tried in a furnace on earth, purified seven times.
Thou shalt keep them, O Lord. Thou shalt preserve them from
this generation forever. Our God He preserves whom He
keeps, whom the Lord Jesus Christ shed His blood for on Calvary's
cross. He saves. He's redeemed us there,
didn't He? The Holy Spirit regenerates us and Christ keeps us, beloved. He keeps us. He preserves us.
And then one day we will be with Him. And it won't be long. It
seems long in our lives, but it won't be long. And we go to
a land where there's no more, no pain. Can you imagine it?
No pain, none. None. No sorrow, no tears shed, just
joy looking at our Savior. No sin. We can't even imagine
that, can we? No sin. We can worship our King in glory
with no sin. Perfect worship. Why? All because of Christ and all
because of what He's done for us. The wicked say, God's not coming.
They say, ah, he's not coming, but he'll come, one day he'll
come. Because God's eternal purpose for this world will be finished
one day, and they will stand before the King of kings and
the Lord of lords. Picture, picture that great day.
Picture that great day. When all of mankind, everyone
who's ever been born, stands before the great sovereign king. And you know who that king is?
That's the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. All are gathered before the throne
of God. Even those who are robed in the
perfect righteousness of Christ, they'll be gathered to the right,
clothed in the righteousness of Christ. The rest will wait
to hear his condemnation. Depart from me. Depart from me. You know the only one who's made
the two to differ? is the one who's on the throne. The one who's on the throne.
Will anyone have anything to say on that great day? Man has
lots to say nowadays, don't they? Now they pop off all the time.
They pop off all the time about God and what they think and all
that. But on that great day, will there be anyone that will
come forth to say anything? If there be one who has no sin,
let him step forth and say so. Come forth, my friend, and state
your case. What about the righteousness
and the holiness in which religious folks boasted in during their
time? They won't come forward. Well, they're on earth. They
boasted of their own righteousness and their own holiness, but their
mouths will be shut in that day. Come forward, tell about your
works, tell about your gifts, your denomination. You once found
comfort in them, come forth. Not one will come forth. Not
one. You who scoffed at substitution.
You who scoffed at substitution. You who laughed at free grace.
You who laughed at imputed righteousness and covenant mercies. You're
not laughing now. Not laughing now, on that great
day. You never trembled before, as
you always had so much confidence in your decision, or boasted
of being as sure for heaven as if you were already there, because
of something you'd done. Why not tell God what you did
for Him on earth? It's quite evident that He did
nothing for you. That's what's gonna, and there'll be silence,
beloved. There'll be absolutely silence. Silence. Those folks who says God's done
all He can do, now salvation's up to you. What a terrible time
to discover that as gospel preachers proclaim salvation is of the
Lord, and not by works of righteousness which ye have done according
to His mercy ye have saved us. What a terrible time to tell
that the statement of God's done everything He can do, now all
the rest is up to you is another lie. Oh my. So why do they not speak
at the great white judgment? It is because of the awesome,
infinite holiness of our great God beloved. The awesome, infinite
holiness of our great men will cry for the mountains to fall
upon them at the site of our great king. their clutch, their self-righteous
garments, which are nothing but filthy rags, and they will know
it at that time. Oh, my. And then the wicked will
hear, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. And God's people, who the only
thing that has made us to differ, is the grace of God, and that's
what we proclaim. Well here, well done, my good
and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of thy rest.
My. And it's only because of the
distinguishing grace of God and his divine providence The Lord will not chide His people,
neither will He always let the wicked go unpunished. He sees
their day coming, beloved. He knows the end from the beginning.
He sees their day coming. Even though they don't see it,
He sees it. This morning we looked at how
we see in part, we see through a glass darkly. But God's view
is from the end to the beginning. He sees it in the exact opposite
that we see it. Nothing catches our God by surprise. Absolutely nothing. Nothing. With each tick on the clock,
with each tick on the clock, God's sovereign will is being
accomplished. With each, every tick, every
second that passes by. God's sovereign will is being
accomplished. Isn't that amazing? We do not see the mysteries of
God's providence until they are passed. We usually don't. We
don't see what's occurred in our lives until it's passed.
When we're going through something, we're not focusing on, well,
this is God's will for us. We tell ourselves that. And it's
difficult, isn't it? But later on is when we see the
hand of the Lord at work. And we're usually in awe of it.
We're usually in awe of it. We've been taught the wisdom
of man is foolishness. But our great God is infinitely
wise, beloved. Oh, that every man knew that
he himself is a fool and that Jehovah alone is God and he alone
is wise. We are indeed poor judges of
what is best. And we cannot see it far off,
can we? We can't see it far off. We only know what's happening
here and now. We don't even know who has them
all, but we know who holds them all, don't we? That's our great
God. And we trust him. We trust him
today, just like we trusted him yesterday, and the day before,
and the day all the way back until he saved us. When he saved
us, then we started trusting him, didn't we? And we're going to trust them,
every believer will trust them until the day we die. We go home
to be with the Lord. Think of the wisdom. I was talking
to Brother Roy about this before service. I said, I don't think
I'm ever going to stop being in awe that God chose me. And if you're a believer, he
chose you. Just let this sink in. He chose us in eternity.
He chose us in Christ. by the same sovereign will that
he works out things every day. He chose me. I'm probably the
last person I'd choose, because I know I'm a sinner. And you
all feel the same way. We all know we're chief of sinners. But he chose us by his mercy
and his grace in eternity. Don't ever let that become old.
Don't ever let it just become, oh that's a doctrine I know.
Don't ever let that happen. That's amazing. That's truly
amazing that God would choose a sinner like me. And he did it in eternity? In
Christ? That when his divine providence
was planning salvation's plan in Christ, he included me in
that number. My! Let it fill your heart with
joy, beloved, that you're included in that number. Because He didn't
include everyone, did He? No. But the believer in Christ
says, praise God, He included me. He included me. Again, think of the wisdom that
drew salvation's plan, that God himself would save a people of
his own choosing. He chose you, he chose me, who
are believers. You who are a believer, you who
are born again by the Holy Spirit of God, he chose you in Christ. And then the wisdom that drew
salvation's plan and the fact that God the Son would leave
the glories of heaven, condescending to this world, You talk about
being bottle of loving. The scripture says, I have not
seen or heard the things that God had prepared for those that
love him. We can't even fathom what heaven's like. People write
books on it, you may as well just throw them away. We don't
have a clue what heaven's gonna be like. We just get a couple
little things about it. Paul said, I can't even speak
about the things that I saw in the third heaven. I can't even
speak about it. That's why he wrote, I have not
seen nor heard the things that God had prepared for those that
love him. But oh, we know it's gonna be glorious because Christ
is there. Because Christ is there. But the wisdom that drew salvation's
plan, that the Son of God would leave the glories of heaven and
humble himself and become a man and die upon Calvary's cross
to redeem God's chosen people. And we who are sinners by birth,
nature, and choice, that He would do that willingly. My, so marvel
at the wisdom of God in sending His only begotten Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, into this world to save His people from their
sins. And you can say with me, who
are a believer, to save me. My. And praise God, that God, the
Father, is satisfied with the sacrifice of Christ. He is fully
and completely saved us, Christ is fully and completely saved
us. It is finished. Anyone tells you anything else,
you just say it's finished. The King of Kings and the Lord
of Lords said, it's finished. That means it's finished. Finished
means finished. Brother Neil, when you finish
a project, it's finished. You don't have to do, it's finished.
Brother John, when you were working in, when you're doing construction,
when you did a job and it's finished, it's finished. It's done. Christ finished the work that
he was sent here to accomplish. It is finished. There's nothing to be added to
it. He did it all, beloved. He did it all. And again, we are indeed poor
judges of what is best. We cannot see afar off. We can
only see in part. And after it's completed, think
of this, the axe and the axe head are useless by themselves.
Chop down a large tree. You get a big tree and you get
an axe head and you just start hitting it like that, it's useless,
isn't it? You're gonna get a little bit far, but you put that axe
head together with that handle, and you can take that tree down,
can't you? You can take that tree down. God's divine plan was not for
man to be glorified, but God's divine plan is for God to be
glorified. The preaching of the gospel,
Brother Roy and I were doing a study, the preaching of the
gospel is just an instrument. The preacher is an instrument
and the word of God is an instrument. But when the Holy Spirit takes
this word and makes it effectual, we're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. This divine word is wonderful
to us. Wonderful to us. God's glory
is magnified by the workings of His divine providence. And
we are but instruments in the hands of the Lord. We see that
clearly in the life of Joseph's study. Just instruments in the
hands of the Lord. Beloved of God, all things are
made for God's pleasure and for His glory. It is He who has formed
us. It is He who has created us.
for His people, it's He who has regenerated us, and it's He who
has redeemed us, and it's He who governs us with His almighty
hand, working out His will in good pleasure in our lives. So
let us patiently, we who are the people of God, let us patiently
trust He who governs the world. We do not rule, no, we submit
to His sovereign rule. We submit to His sovereign will.
We need to be still before our great God, beloved. We need to
be still before our great God. We need to praise Him for His
majesty and His power, and we submit ourselves to His will,
don't we? We submit ourselves to His rule. There was a time
when we said, we'll not have this man rule over us, but when
we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God, oh, we submit
to our great King, don't we? We submit to Him. Lord, You are
King. You are ruler over all. And we don't make Him Lord. He's
already Lord. We just acknowledge His Lordship,
don't we? We acknowledge His Lordship.
He's Lord, beloved. He's Lord. So let us patiently
rest and trust in He who governs the world, submitting to His
rule, resting in the fact that He works all things after the
counsel of His own will. Here are some promises to rest
in from the scripture. Here are some promises for God's
people to rest in from the scripture. As thy days, so shall thy strength
be. As thy days, so shall thy strength
be. Our great God is a source of
our strength, beloved. Each day he gives us grace and
strength and keeps us, and we just rest in this wonderful promise,
as the days, so shall thy strength be. Oh Lord, I'm weak, but you're
strong. Another promise. trust in the
Lord and do good. So shalt thou dwell in the land,
and verily thou shalt be fed. We are the sheep of his pasture,
beloved. And God's saints, his people,
we look no longer to ourselves to be saved, no. No, we've seen
that all our works would not merit us anything before God,
but only our condemnation it would bring. And we find merit
before God only in Christ, and only in his finished, complete
work. We rest in the fact that God is satisfied with the finished
work of Christ. Trust in the Lord and do good.
Just trust the Lord. Trust in trust in him. Another
promise from God's scriptures. Delight thyself also in the Lord
and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Delight yourself
in the Lord. Just delight in him. Delight
in him. God's saints and his people,
we look to him. We delight in the Lord. We delight in his sovereignty.
We delight in his redemption. We delight in the salvation that
we have in him. We delight in his holiness. We delight in his
ever wise providence. He is ruler over all. Commit
thy ways unto the Lord. Another promise. Commit thy ways
unto the Lord. Trust also in him. Commit your ways to him.
Trust in him. The believer in Christ commits
our lives to our great God who works all things out according
to His will and purpose. Paul wrote, he's our all in all.
Take away Christ and we have nothing. Take away Christ from
the believer and we have nothing. We have no hope without Christ.
We have no salvation without Christ. We have no pardon of
our sins without Christ. We have no righteousness without
Christ. We have no sanctification without Christ. So truly Christ
is our all in all. Another promise is rest in the
Lord and wait patiently for Him. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently
for Him. It's hard for us to wait patiently. It's hard for
us. In our flesh it's tough. But
rest, true rest, is what the believer finds in Christ. We
find rest from our labors and rest for our souls only in Christ. Turn, if you would, to Hosea
2, verses 19 and 20. Hosea 2, verses 19 and 20. The Lord's people are the bride
of Christ. We saw that in our study in Song
of Solomon. The Lord's people are the bride
of Christ. They're a bride who he's purchased. He's purchased. Look at this in Hosea chapter
2 verse 19 and 20. And I will betroth thee unto
me forever. Look at that. And I will betroth
thee unto me forever. This is what our God says to
his people. Yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness.
How has he betrothed us in righteousness? We are clothed in the righteousness
of Christ, beloved. And in judgment, all our sins
are judged at Calvary. And in loving kindness and in
mercies. Oh, has not the loving kindness of our great God been
shown us? In the manifold mercies that we have received in Christ?
Look at this, I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness.
He is ever faithful to his people, beloved. And thou shalt know
the Lord. He's revealed himself to us,
beloved. But look at that. I will betroth
thee unto me forever. Forever. Yea, I will betroth
thee unto me in righteousness and in judgment and in loving
kindness and mercies. I will even betroth thee unto
me in faithfulness. And thou shalt know the Lord.
Oh my gosh. What a great God. Now, the same
one who says that to his people is the same one who works all
things out according to his will and purpose. The Lord's people, again, are
the bride of Christ. He's purchased us. We are His
forever. Clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. And He is ever faithful to keep
us. And we've had this all revealed to us by divine revelation. We've had revealed to us that
He is the Lord. He is the Lord. And in here,
another promise. Listen to this. The eternal God
is thy refuge. We used to take refuge in ourselves.
My goodness. That was a refuge of lies, wasn't
it? Some people take refuge in religion. That's a refuge of
lies. The only refuge for the believer
is Christ. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are
the everlasting arms. The ancients of days, beloved,
is the believer's refuge. Christ is our city of refuge. He's our refuge, the ancient
of days. God Almighty, creator of heaven
and earth, ruler over all things, is our refuge. And we are safe in His everlasting
arms. So what comfort the believer
can find in this promise of God? Lean on the promises of God,
beloved. Lean on them. Rest in them. Rest
in them. Because He alone has all power
and might to make that which He has promised come to pass.
Only God has that power. Only God has that power. Turn,
if you would, to Isaiah chapter 55 and then put your finger in
Romans chapter 8. Isaiah chapter 55. God's people
never arrogantly claim to understand the counsels of the Most High
God because His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways
are not our ways. We don't understand the mysteries
of God and how He works. We've had a little bit revealed
to us. But all the mysteries of His providence and how He
works and how He moves. And think of salvation's plan,
that he would choose a people who shake their fist at him. That he would choose to make
a people who are sinners by birth, nature, and choice, holy. Truly,
then, God's ways are not our ways. Look at this in Isaiah chapter
55, verses 8 and 9. For my thoughts are not your
thoughts. Oh, that we could learn that. See, this is what religious folks sometimes think,
that God's thoughts are just like ours. No, the scripture
says his thoughts are not like ours at all. Neither are your
ways my ways, saith the Lord. Now, how big is the contrast
between our thoughts and his thoughts? For as the heavens
are higher than the earth. Oh, that's a long way. That's
a long way. I don't know how long the measurement
is, but that's a long way. So are my ways higher than your
ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. It's a span that we
can't even measure, beloved. His thoughts are so high above
ours. His ways are so, so above ours. And thus the secret things
belong to the Lord. The secret things belong to the
Lord, our God. And we've been taught that the
finite, which is us, The finite can never understand the infinite.
It'd be good for us to learn that, eh? The finite can never
understand the infinite. And He is infinite, beloved.
He is infinite. Our God is infinite. When one studies history and
the world events in light of God's sovereignty, we quickly
come to know the answer to the question, who is wise? Well, our great God is the only
wise God and King, immortal, invisible, eternal. And we give
Him all the glory and honor and praise forever. Amen. We quickly learn that the ways
of the Lord are right, and that the righteous walk in them, but
the rebellious stumble in them. We know because we were once
rebellious. We still are, even though we're
saved. We still struggle with sin, don't
we? But praise be to God, we're saved sinners, beloved. We're
saved sinners. Now turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter 8. We cannot grasp the vastness
of the heavens. Have you ever went out at night?
Brother Neil where you guys live is beautiful because there's
not a lot of light from here I come out and I look at the
stars often But I remember going up to a lake in the mountains
when we lived in Oregon and we go out there And I just look
up And you'd see the Milky Way just spread across the sky it
took your breath away Stars just so many stars So many stars,
and you know what I thought I'm nothing When you see that, you
realize our nothingness. Don't we? Real quick. I'm just
a piece of animated dust. And when we meditate on God's
providence, it'll help us to see that our God is sovereign.
And we will see that His sovereign purpose is being worked out.
And we'll see His superior wisdom, which is unsearchable to us,
beloved. And it works out for His glory and our good. Look
at this, Romans chapter 8, look at this. Start in verse 18. For I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us. Now God's people, while
we're going through this earth, we suffer things. We suffer afflictions.
We suffer health issues. We suffer trials and tribulations.
Look at this. I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation
of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of
God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly,
but by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope. Because
the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage
of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travails 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 the body. We can't wait to get home to
glory. That's what he's saying. Imagine again, no pain, no suffering,
no crying, no nothing, just joy and in the presence of the Lord.
Look at this, for we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen
is not hope. If you see something, you're
not hoping for it. But we, look at that, we are saved by
hope. We're saved by one we haven't saw yet. But hope that is seen is not
hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if
we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait
for it. We patiently wait for the redemption of our body when
we'll be in the presence of the Lord. When we breathe our last
breath and we'll be in his presence. We patiently wait for that. Likewise
also, likewise the Spirit also help with our infirmities for
we know not what we should pray for, as we ought, but the Spirit
itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot
be uttered. And he that searches the hearts
knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession
for the saints according to the will of God. Now look at this.
This verse 28 is often quoted, but people leave the last part
of the verse out. I can't tell you how many times I've heard
people say this. They always say, and we know that all things
work together for good. They stop right there. I can't
tell you how many people I've heard say, they put the brakes
on right there. You gotta read the whole verse,
though. You gotta, Brother Henry Mahan, he was saved when Ralph
Bernard preached from this text here. And he stopped. He stopped
there and I guess Brother Ralph said, read the whole verse, son. And he read the whole verse,
look at this. 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. The called, the called, the called,
how? According to his purpose. They usually stop where it says
love God there, but they don't do that last part. Look at that. To them who are the called according
to his purpose. If you are a believing saint
of God, you are called according to his purpose. And that was purposed in eternity. It's just leaving you in awe. It's incredible. It's absolutely
stunning. For whom he did foreknow, Look
at this. He also did predestinate. Notice this is all in past tense.
To be conformed to the image of the Son, that he might be
the firstborn among many brethren. 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. It's all past tense. Isn't that
wonderful? Because God knows the end from
the beginning, beloved. He knows the end from the beginning. Those
He foreknew, He predestinated to be conformed to the image
of the Son. And then those whom He predestinated,
He also called. And whom He called, them He also
justified. And who He justified, them He
also glorified. All according to the purpose
of God. All according to the purpose of God. So that when
we get to heaven, all we can sing is worthy is the Lamb. That's
all we can do is sing salvation's story and give Christ all the
glory and all the honor and all the praise. Nothing comes to
pass in this universe, beloved, by chance. Man speaks of luck
or good fortune or blind fate, but the born-again believer knows
that everything comes to pass in time, was planned and purposed
by our great God. We know that. We know that. When
we have a proper view of God's providence, as I mentioned this
morning, we will see the hand of God in everything. We will
see the hand of God in everything. In all the experience of our
lives and all coming to pass according to God's wise and good
providence. His wise and good providence.
Now how do things work out for our good? Well, we're saved by
the blood of the Lamb, beloved. That worked out for our good,
didn't it? all according to God's will and purpose. Because his
love, his eternal love was set upon us in eternity. And it's
the goodness of God that brings men to repentance, isn't it?
It's the goodness of thinking of how good he's been to me.
How good he is to sinners of his chosen. He says, come unto me all ye
that labor. And I'll give you rest. The gospel preacher preaches
salvation in Christ. We preach to all because we do
not know who the elect are. And God does the drawing in,
beloved. He regenerates his people. And
oh, we cry out. Praise his mighty name. Praise
His wise providence. Now Job knew of this truth, beloved.
Job knew that God was in full control. After everything that
had happened to him, he said this, naked came I out of my
mother's womb, and naked shall I return to thee there. The Lord
gave, and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of
the Lord. That's after all those calamities that had happened.
His children all died. Everything he had was gone. And he still trusted the Lord.
That's because of the grace of God, beloved. That's only the
grace of God. And remember this too. Our God
never slumbers. He never sleeps. He doesn't need
to rest and recuperate like we do. He don't need to do that. He doesn't need to regroup. He don't need no R&R. No, our great God is always day
and night governing over this whole world. day and night, governing
over this whole world. And think of this, that not even
a sparrow, we see all these beautiful birds flying in the sky all the
time. Think of this, this is how in
control our great God is, that not even a sparrow falls to the
ground without Him knowing. And then think of this, the very
hairs of our head are numbered. God's providence is all-inclusive,
beloved. He rules and reigns over everything. Everything great, everything
small. Visible and invisible. Everywhere
and at all times, our great God is in full control of all things. That's how in control our God
is. He is the creator of all things, and He rules all things. I like this statement, nothing
in God's universe breeze or wiggles contrary to God's decree. Nothing. You look at an ant crawling on
the ground and that ant's crawling on the ground by the decree of
God. Isn't that amazing? I don't like Japanese beetles.
They eat my morning glories. I don't like them. But it's by
God's decree that they're eating those morning glories. That's how it is. That's how
it is. By His decree. So nothing in God's universe
breathes or wiggles contrary to God's decree. Isaiah chapter 46. If you want
to turn there you can. Isaiah chapter 46 verses 9 to
13. The scripture plainly and clearly
brings forth that our great God is in full control. Very plainly
and very clearly. Look at this. Isaiah chapter
49 verses 9 to 13. This is a good passage. If anyone
ever says, well, you know, come on, God's not that sovereign.
This is a really good passage, beloved, to bring them to. Because
what do we do? Again, we don't argue what the
Word of God says. We just present it, don't we? No use arguing with people. Won't get you nowhere. Won't
get you nowhere. Only the Spirit of God can can
regenerate a lost soul. And all we can do is give the
report, give the scripture, right? Look at this in Isaiah 46. I'm sorry, 46. Three chapters
over. Isaiah 46, verses 9 to 13. Remember the
former things of old, for I am God. So there's a statement by
God. He says, I'm God. I'm God, right? And there is none else. All these
other gods that are in this world are just figments of man's imagination. And man's heart, beloved Calvin,
said man's heart is an idol factory. We're real good at making them.
Just look at the statues of Mary all over the place. You see them
even on people's lawns and stuff. Just false pieces of stone. Idols. False idols. false idols. Look at this though. Remember
the former things of old, for I am God and there is none else.
I am God and there is none like me. No one even close to him. So man have cooked up in their
imagination how gods are. Those gods aren't even close
to our God. Who he is? Who he is? Look at this, declaring the end,
and I mean the end. He knows, he knows how this whole
thing is gonna all wrap up. The end, from the beginning. This is not my opinion, this
is what scripture says, hey. Look at that. He wouldn't be
God if he didn't know the end from the beginning, would he?
He wouldn't be in full control if he didn't know the end from
the beginning. Our God's God. Look at this, and I like this,
look at this. And from ancient times, the things that are not
yet done. My. Chosen in Christ before the
foundation of the world. And it comes to pass when the
Holy Spirit grants us faith to believe. And he knew it was gonna
happen. Because he ordained it to happen.
Isn't that wonderful? Oh my. Look at this. Saying,
my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. Same thing
as what Daniel said when Nebuchadnezzar said, who can stay the Lord's
hand? No one. No one. He does whatever he pleases.
Man talks about free will. Well, our will is bound. Our
will is bound by our nature. I remember one grace preacher
saying, he said, the only free will is the free will of God. Because our will is bound by
our nature, whether it's the new nature or the old nature. But he does whatever he wants.
So that's what makes our salvation incredible, too. It pleased him
to save us. It pleased God to save us. My,
my oh my. So my counsel shall stand. I
will do all my pleasure. Call on the ravenous bird from
the east, the man that executed my counsel from a far country.
Look at this. Yea, I have spoken it. I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it, I will also do it. I don't know who the Lord's
sheep are, but I know he's got sheep scattered all over. Lost
sheep. He knows who they are. And they
shall be saved, beloved. They shall be saved. And I keep
praying for my family members till they breathe their last
breath. That's what we should do. Pray
for our family members till they breathe. After they breathe their
last breath, there's no hope. But if they're still breathing,
there's hope, beloved. Just keep praying for them. Keep praying
for them. Oh, my. Because we don't know.
We have no idea who God's people are. But He does. Look at this. Yea, I have spoken it. I will
also bring it to pass. Look at this. I have purposed
it. What did He purpose in eternity? He purposed that we've chosen
Christ and that Christ would die for us, isn't it? And it
happened. Just as he purposed it, beloved.
Look at that. I have purposes, I will also
do it. When God says he's going to do something, it's going to
happen. Remember with Abraham? We saw
that in Sunday school? He said to Abraham, your seed
is going to go into a country, and they're going to be in bondage
for 400 years. But I'm going to take them out with a mighty
hand. And he did that, didn't he? He did that. They went into
Egypt. They were taken out with a mighty
hand, the mighty hand of God. Oh. Hearken unto me, you stout-hearted,
you proud people. That was us. Stout-hearted, stubborn. Oh. That are far from righteousness,
I will bring near my righteousness. It shall not be far off. And
my salvation shall not tarry. And I will place salvation in
Zion. We know that's a church for Israel. My glory. Oh, wonderful. Here's a good quote to remember.
Here's a good quote. A wise, skilled pharmacist mixes
medicine. Our heavenly father wisely mixes
exactly the right measure of bitter things and sweet to do
us good. Think of this in our trials and
tribulations in our lives. Too much joy would intoxicate
us. Too much misery would drive us to despair. Too much sorrow would crush us. Too much suffering would break
our spirits. Too much pleasure would ruin
us. Too much defeat would discourage us. Too much success would puff
us up. Too much failure would keep us
from doing anything. Too much criticism would harden
us. Too much praise would exalt us. Our great God knows exactly
what we need. His providence is wisely designed
and sovereignly sent for our good. For our good. Let Him, therefore, send and
do what He will by His grace. If we are His, we will face it
and bow to it, accept it and give thanks for it." End quote. And the way we can do that is
because He gives us grace and strength in time of need, beloved. He gives us grace and strength
in time of need. Always remember that our great
God's wise providence always comes to pass in the wisest manner
possible. He knows what's best for us.
He knows. When we're going through a situation,
we often do not understand the reasons for these events in our
lives or in the lives of others or people we love. We don't understand
it. We don't understand it. Sometimes
in what comes to pass in this world, we don't understand. But these things do not stop
the born-again believer from trusting God's wise providence.
You know, we trust our great God, we bow to His sovereign
will in our lives, and we say, oh, the depth of the riches,
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are
His judgments and His ways past finding out. The God of providence rules all
things well. Oh, how we ought to trust Him.
Oh, how we ought to trust Him. Always remember that our Father
is God. He's God. He's Jehovah. He's
all-wise, good and omnipotent. He's too wise to err, beloved.
He's too wise to err. Too good to do wrong. He's perfect. He's holy. He never does wrong.
Too strong to fail. He rules from a throne of absolute
holiness and absolute righteousness. Turn, if you would, to Luke.
We're close here. I'll say a few things after this,
but let's look at this passage over here in Luke, Chapter 12.
Luke, Chapter 12. Look at this. Luke, Chapter 12. Luke, Chapter 12. Verses 6 and
7. Are not five sparrows sold for
two farlings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? Even a sparrow whose soul for
two farlings are not forgotten before God. But even the very
hairs of your head are all numbered. In these marvelous words again,
fear not. Fear not, therefore, ye are of
more value than many sparrows." How many are there who do not
care or want to hear about the divine providence of God? They're
willing to follow a God of their own imagination, who bows to
their will, but speak of the absolute sovereignty of God,
and they will recoil. They will recoil. That is what
religious men and women do. The scriptures teach here, right
here before us, that even the very hairs of our
head are numbered. That which would seem insignificant
to us are numbered by God. Numbered in notice by our Almighty
God. Think of this too. He who causes
the sun to rise each day and set each day has formed the moth. The moth, the butterfly that
bathes in the light of the sun and even the insects which we
see each day. They all truly demonstrate the
limitless power of our great God beloved because He cares
and provides for them each and every day. Each and every day. All that
occurs in His wide empire and the universe and all we see,
visible and invisible, is all part of His wide empire, beloved. He's a ruler over all. He's King
of kings and Lord of lords. From the falling of a leaf to
the death of a sparrow to the dying of a star only occurs by
His permission. His permission. He who is from everlasting to
everlasting, the eternal God, whose counsel shall still stand,
and He will ever do His will in good pleasure. There is a
God who reigns. Oh yes, there is. He's the Lord
God omnipotent. He reigns. As one preacher of
old said, rising above the roaring of the ocean, above the moaning
of the blast, even above the shrieks of dying men has heard
the solemn voice of the Almighty saying in tones of overwhelming
majesty, be still and know that I am God. Be still and know that I am God.
So let us always look above the apparent disorder and appearing
chaos of things in this world to see our sovereign God upon
the throne. Upon the throne. a God of wisdom,
a God of power, a God of love, a God of mercy, a God of grace,
who sees the end from the beginning, beloved, and orders all things
according to the counsel of His own will. What peace this will
give the children of God as we journey through this world. Truly,
He is the anchor of our soul, beloved. And as our Lord proclaimed, May
God give us grace to say even so, Father, for it seemed good
in Thy sights. Praise His mighty name, beloved.
That's our Savior. That's our God. Hallelujah. What a Savior. Heavenly Father, we thank You
again for allowing us to gather together and to look in Thy glorious
Word. And, O Lord, now We who are born
again, we see on the pages of scripture your divine sovereignty. Oh, Lord, it's unquestionable
in our eyes, but there was a time when we didn't see it. There
was a time when we were blind to the things of you, blind to
our Savior. But praise be to God, you've
given us eyes to see and ears to hear, Lord. Oh, we pray, Lord,
that if there's a lost sheep of yours that you give him, You
give me ears to hear and eyes to see you, Lord, to just to
look to the Lord. That's what you say. Look to
me and live. And that's all we do. As believers, we just look
to you and live and. And then we find out it's all
according to the divine plan and purpose, and we just. It
just causes us to be in awe, Lord. Thank you, Lord, for your
goodness and mercy and grace to your people continuously in
Jesus name. Amen.