My text this morning is going to be found in Proverbs 16, if you would turn there with me. Proverbs 16. I'll give you a moment to get there. And let me give you the title. I've titled this, Who is the Decision Maker? Proverbs 16. Who is the decision maker?

I want you to listen to me closely for a few minutes before we get into our text. This message might help some who are struggling with how God's sovereignty and salvation and man's will are reconciled in the scriptures. And when you tell sinners that man's free will, quote, free will, is not taught in the Bible and that their will, which they believe to be free, has nothing to do with their salvation, most get very upset.

And the key word in the teaching, the doctrine of man's free will, if there is such a thing, is that word free. That word free means not under the control of, not under the authority of or power of another, to be able to act or do as one wishes. And the word free means to not be controlled or confined or restrained. And when we consider our will in the context of it being free, We see that it cannot be. Why? Because it's in bondage to our sin nature, which will not allow our will to be in control, or to have authority, or to do as it freely pleases.

Our will is not free to accept or reject Christ apart from God giving us life, and enabling us to come to Him and believe on Him. You see, man cannot choose life in Christ apart from God's divine intervention of sovereign grace. Man's choice is never independent from God. When it comes to the gospel, God's word demands a real human response. The Bible repeatedly calls for men and women to repent, to believe, to choose, to come, and these commands are absolutely meaningless if no real choice exists.

Well, Brother David, are you talking out of both sides of your mouth here? So does man have a choice in their salvation? Yes. Yes, they most certainly do, but not until God first gives them life so they can. Now, if a man or a woman really wants to be saved, have Christ to justly put away all their sin, they can, but they will discover That if their will is to be saved, then God has already saved them by giving them life, so they are able to choose life.

God's choice to give chosen sinners life came before their decision to choose life. If a man is not given life, he will every time choose death. Because he is dead. by rejecting Christ and His salvation. In Joshua 24 verse 15, Joshua said, choose this day whom you will serve. Elijah in 1 Kings chapter 18 verse 21 asks the people this question. He said, how long halt ye between two opinions? He said, if the Lord be God, follow Him, but if Baal, the idol Baal, then follow him. And in both those examples, a choice and a decision was demanded.

Revelation chapter 22, verse 17 says, in that scripture, the word of the Lord declares, whosoever will, will you or won't you? Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Now the command there demands a response. It demands a decision. But understand this, man's will is not neutral to decide for himself. Man must choose, but man cannot nor will not choose apart from God giving him life first.

Now how do I know that? What makes me believe that? Romans 3.11 says, there's none that seeketh after God. They're dead. How do I know that? Well, Ephesians 2.1 says, and you had to quicken the made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins. Now, dead men and women do not initiate life. God does the quickening. That word quickening means restoring of life. Those dead in sin always choose according to their nature, which is sin, a sin nature. Man's nature is hostile to God and His grace, Romans 8, 7. The carnal mind, the fleshly mind is enmity, hostile to God.

God must act or no one will be saved. If salvation depended on man's independent decision, heaven be empty. Our Lord Jesus said so plainly, no man can come to me except the Father that sent me draw him. No man can. No man has the ability to come. Why? Because they're dead. Except the Father that sent me, draw him, give him life. If God don't give you life, you don't have the ability to come because you're dead. A dead man can't do anything.

Acts 13, 48 says, as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. Psalm 110, 3 says that God makes the dead sinner willing in the day of his power. That simply means that God must first give him life in his power, by his power. And then the sinner is made willing. Then the sinner makes a decision. Then the sinner chooses.

Now, according to Scripture, these two things hold true at the same time. What are they? God sovereignly saves, and secondly, man genuinely responds. And both can be seen in two verses of Scripture, Philippians 2, 12 and 13. God says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Paul says it, but it's the Spirit of God. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you to will and to do of His good pleasure.

You see, man works out only what God works in. Man only outwardly performs, decides, chooses, comes what God gives inwardly, which is life. The bottom line is, man's not a robot. I've had men accuse me of believing, they say, you believe man's a robot. And I've said before, well, that's okay with me as long as I'm God's robot. But man's not a robot, but listen, neither is man his own savior. Salvation's of the Lord, that's a pretty plain statement. We're saved by grace through faith in Christ.

Now that was another long introduction, I'm known for them, but now look at our text, Proverbs chapter 16, verse one. It says in verse one, the preparations of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. Now that word preparations there means disposing. The word disposing in this context means determine. The determination, the plans, is in the heart of man. But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

In other words, man makes plans, but God decides. Man can scheme and outline and rehearse all that he intends to do, but the final outcome, the decisive word, belongs to the Lord. And salvation is not the result of man's planning, but it's the result of God's action. This exposes the inability of self-salvation. Even our speech depends totally on God. How much more does our standing beforehand? You ever seen a dead man or woman stand? You ever seen them walk? You ever seen them come?

This verse quietly undermines any idea that man can talk himself into righteousness. No one's justified by their own works. We're justified freely. By our own free will? No, by God's grace. How? Through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. That's what Paul wrote in Romans 3, 24. And beloved, in the gospel, God doesn't merely assist human plans. He interrupts them. God is the first cause of all things. We say that often. But all of the things that our plans fail us are secondary. This should humble us. This should crush our pride. We're not in control of anything, and especially salvation. And I am so thankful. What good news that is. Where's the gospel in this message? Well, there's some of the gospel right there. We're not in control of anything. God's in control of everything, and we're saved by his grace, by his decision, by his choice.

Look at verse two. All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes, but the Lord weigheth the spirits. And this verse exposes mankind's blindness to sin. We naturally assume that we're always right. That's the reason for every war in history. Each side thought they were right. This is why there are churches and various denominations everywhere, on almost every corner. But man cannot accurately judge himself. Why? Because there's none righteous, no not one. There's none that understands. There's none that seeks God. We are all gone out of the way. That's talking about all of us. We are all gone. We are all together unprofitable. There's none that doeth good, no not one.

What does that mean? It means Christ must become our righteousness. And He passes all the tests that you and I fail. You and I are weighed in the balance of God's justice and found wanting. We come up way short of the glory of God. But our Lord's motive stood up under God's weighing. Christ is weighed and approved. And at the cross, God judged sin honestly and justly. And then he credited the Lord Jesus' perfect righteousness to those who trust in him. And self-confidence is demolished. And this drives a chosen sinner to grace. We're not the judge of our own hearts. That's why we need a savior.

Scripture doesn't deny human planning. We plan, we choose, and we act. But human intention never has the final word. Look at verse 9. Proverbs 16, verse 9. A man's heart diviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps. Now, human control is a myth. We can be sincere and strategic and even competent in what we do and still be wrong. God alone determines our path.

And now some are gonna push back and say, well, if God decides and determines everything, then my choice don't matter. But the scripture never allows that backdoor way of escape. Joseph's brothers chose evil. Pharaoh chose hardness. Judas chose betrayal. What they meant for evil, God meant for good. Genesis 50, 20. Men make real choices, but God rules every outcome. I'm so thankful, aren't you? I'm so You see, we're decision makers only by permission. God is the only true decision maker.

What's the title of this message? Who is the decision maker? I just answered it. God is. In James chapter four, verses 14 and 15, James wrote, now today or tomorrow, you may go into such a town or place and start a business with the intention of making great gain. I'm paraphrasing. But then he says, but we don't know what tomorrow may bring. And then James adds, instead of saying, we're going to do this or do that, we ought to say, if the Lord wills. If the Lord wills. We will live and do this or that. And this is not just religious talk. Oftentimes, we believers say, if the Lord wills, if the Lord wills. That's not just religious talk. You know what that is? That's godly submission. To plan things without asking God is just rebellion. How many times have we done that? How many times? Have I just done something without asking God's permission, asking God's blessings, or asking the Lord to show me if I'm doing what's right?

God makes decisions for His own glory, not for our comfort. And listen, one of the greatest lies in religion today, now hear me on this, is that God's decisions are primarily about our happiness. It's not about us. God's decisions are not about us, they're not. He works all things according to the counsel of his own will. Yes, and they always turn out according to Romans chapter eight, verse 28, to be for our good. But again, the first cause is for God's glory, the glory of God. That's why the psalmist wrote, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name. You get all the glory.

God's decisions are God-centered, not man-centered. God's decisions are eternal, not immediate. God's decisions are redemptive, not sentimental. And sometimes, well, most times, When God decides against what we want, it's in order to accomplish what we need. Did you hear me?

Nowhere is God's role as a decision maker clearer than in Gethsemane. In Luke 22, verse 42, the Lord Jesus, having all the sin of all the elect throughout all time, put on him. That's why he sweat great drops of blood. He cried these words, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me, nevertheless, What a beautiful word. Regardless, he says, nevertheless, regardless of what I want and desire at this very moment, not my will, but thine be done.

Our Lord doesn't attempt to negotiate there. He chooses to submit. He chose what God wanted. He desired not His will, but the Father's will. And I'll add, you've got to have the Spirit of God in you to do that. The cross wasn't an accident. The cross was not plan B. The cross was the Father's decision before the foundation of the world. Salvation exists only because the Son trusted the Father's will, the Father's purpose, and the Father's choice more than His own relief.

So if God is the decision maker, what should our response be? It's not a response of anxiety, but it's a response of surrender. Save me, Lord. Help me, Lord. We trust, obey, and humble ourselves to His will, purpose, His choice, and His decision, And we choose to do what He tells us to do in the Scriptures. He said, come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. And what do we do? We choose to come. We choose to trust His wisdom. We choose to obey His Word. In all our ways, we acknowledge Him. And He makes our path straight, Proverbs 3, 6.

Acknowledging God is not allowing Him into our plans, it's yielding our plans to Him. You know, I wonder how many times the question has been asked to families all over this world, who is the decision maker in your family? I've been asked that, have you? But see, the real question is, who already is? God doesn't ask permission to rule, He reigns. All things, especially eternal matters, are not left up to a boardroom vote or power struggle between man and God. God's will and purpose is independent of man, but not man's to God.

God said, I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing, therefore choose life. that both thou and thy seed may live, that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him, for he is thy life in the length of thy days, that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord swear unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, to give them. Therefore choose, Deuteronomy chapter 30, 19 and 20.

God said, come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool, if ye be willing and obedient. Do you choose to be willing and obedient? If you do, you shall eat the good of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it." Isaiah 1, 18 and 20.

God does not say, wait and see if you're one of the elect. He said, choose life. He said, come now, let's reason together. But God also said, I have set before you life and death. He must give you life before you can choose it. If you choose life, then he's already given you life because a dead man or woman cannot choose. God said, come now. But he also said no man can come except God the Father draw him.

Listen, no dead man or woman can obey God's command apart from God's grace in giving them life. But the inability of man does not cancel the command of God. God commands decisions even from those who cannot obey, and that's what makes salvation God's decision. It's not cruelty. It's justice. It's mercy and truth meeting together. It's righteousness and peace kissing one another. And it shuts us up, 100% shuts us up to the fact that there's no life in us, no decision that we can make until God makes us alive in the Lord Jesus Christ.

It's in Christ where mercy and truth meet. It's in Christ where righteousness and peace kiss. God gives us the ability, the life, to choose Christ. And with this God-given life, He gives us also the willingness to choose Christ. Why then do some still not believe? Because God didn't give them life. They remain dead in trespasses and sin.

And that's why the Lord Jesus said in John 15, verse 16, You've not chosen me, but I've chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever you ask of the Father in my name, He may give it you.

Let me take a quick drink of water.

Friends, salvation is determined by God's sovereign choice. We choose God because God first chose us. We love God for the same reason. We love Him because He first loved us. Not because we were outstanding, not because we were deserving. Christ appoints us for a purpose. The Lord told us there in John 15 why. that we might go and bear fruit. Our election is not just for personal comfort. Our election comes with a mission. Our new life is meant to be active and fruitful. This action and fruit is directed toward God's kingdom. This fruitfulness is enduring. The believer's fruit will remain, it says. This is fruit that will last. Our union with Christ brings us eternal blessings. He said, whatsoever we ask according to His will, He will give.

Choosing is God's initiative. Choosing is Christ's appointment. Fruit is the Spirit's giving because God is the decision maker. Man's choice is attractive to his ego, but it's a lie. Apart from God, it leads to deception, sin, and death. We always choose what's wrong by nature. Real freedom is not doing what we want. True freedom is choosing in alignment with God's will, and this requires His divine intervention and grace.

Men took by their wicked hands and crucified and killed the Lord Jesus Christ. But ultimately, Christ was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, Acts 2 23. God ordained the cross and men willingly nailed Christ to it. And this is exactly what you and I would have done. Had not God divinely interrupted and given us life, We would have done the same thing. It was God's decision that saved me, not mine. I chose God, yes. I trusted Christ, yes. But only after He made me willing in the day of His power by giving me life. My will's only free when it becomes His will. He freely gave me life in the ability to choose Him. So in Christ, my will is now free.

A believer can say he has a free will because it's not in bondage to our sin any longer. Christ put our sin away. My will to serve Christ and to trust him for every blessing, including the blessing of eternal life itself is free only because in Christ, I'm no longer controlled by my flesh, but by his spirit. My will in Christ is no longer confined and restrained or hindered, but it freely leans on His sovereign providence that always works together for my good. I now have the free will to love Christ. That will given freely to Adam that he lost. How did he lose it? By being disobedient. How do I keep it? By Christ's eternal, perfect obedience.

Salvation belongs to the Lord. Christ lived the righteousness that we couldn't. Christ died the death that we deserve. God decides to save. God provides the means. God grants repentance and faith. God keeps His people to the end. He who began a good work will bring it to completion, Philippians 1 says. And God not only saves us, but He keeps us. What do we have to fret and worry over? Yes, once saved, always saved, when it's God that saves you. Every sinner who comes to Christ will discover they came freely because God, from the foundation of the world, freely, without a cause, chose them in Christ.

Let me leave you with the words of Scripture.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ, as according as He hath chosen us in Him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. having predestinated us unto the adoption of children, how? By Jesus Christ to Himself. How? According to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, that being Christ, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. Ephesians 1, 3-7.