I know that some of you have
had the privilege of visiting Plymouth, Massachusetts, and
you have seen the replica of the kind of town that our Pilgrim
forefathers built and in which they lived in the 1600s after
arriving on these shores from Great Britain. And most likely,
those of you who've been to Plymouth went aboard the Mayflower II,
an exact replica built from the very original plans, the original
drawings of the Mayflower I. And if you did a thorough tour
of that ship with a guide or on your own, you went down into
the belly of that ship and there you saw a strange sight. You
would have seen a number of oak barrels standing rim to rim all
throughout the lower part of that ship. And if your guide
was explaining things or if you read one of the explanatory plaques
somewhere posted there, I was trying to reconstruct that from
my memory and I'm not sure, but I believe it had an explanatory
plaque somewhere near to the visual site of those barrels,
you would have found out that they were performing a very necessary
function in that Very hazardous transatlantic journey in that
ship that we now wonder how in the world did 120 people make
that journey for weeks, cooped up in that thing and land safely
on our shores. Well, what you would have found
out about those barrels is that they were essential to that journey. Before they took the journey,
they filled them with potable, good drinking water the water
that they would use for their cooking and for their refreshment,
that commodity without which they could not have lived in
that journey. But then every time one of those
barrels was emptied of the drinking and cooking water, they filled
it with seawater because the barrels filled a second function. They were ballast there in the
bowels of that ship. Now you kids know what ballast
in a ship is? That's heavy weight put in the
lower part of the ship to give it stability. Once it gets out
to sea and meets something more than little rippling waves and
begins to know something of the turbulence of the sea without
ballast, the ship could be capsized, it would be difficult to keep
it on course, and the ballast, that weight down in the belly
of the ship, is what enables it to make its way through the
turbulent sea to keep on course and to arrive safely at its destination. Well, for some reason, as I was
prayerfully considering what to bring as an appropriate last
of the year and New Year's meditation, the imagery of ballast came so
forcibly to my mind. What do you need and what do
I need as we, in a few hours, will set out on what for us is
the uncharted sea of the coming year? When those people left
Britain to come to Plymouth, they at least had what we would
now regard as crude navigational charts, but they had some clear
sense of direction, some definite sense of what they were doing
when they cast off and made their way to the New World. But you
and I are embarking upon an uncharted sea. The Scripture says we don't
even know what one day will bring forth. Boast not yourself of
tomorrow, for you know not what a day will bring forth, let alone
365 days. And as we are let loose in a
few hours and go out to sea in this journey that is the new
year before us, I want to lay before you the principle that
we desperately need those old oak barrels there in the bowels
of our souls. And we need them for the same
two reasons that those pilgrim forefathers needed them. If the
seas are smooth and not at all turbulent, I don't care how fair
the weather, how smooth the seas, You're going to need water to
live. And these are the truths that the child of God must constantly
drink into his soul if he is to live in any way that approximates
what the Bible would describe as a spirit-filled life. And then it is certain that for
most, if not all of us, the coming year will hold some period of
a turbulent sea. And we know that because Jesus
said, in the world you shall have tribulation. And the Apostle
Paul, in exhorting young believers, Acts 14, said that through many
tribulations we must enter the kingdom. And when we hit those
turbulent seas, if we don't have ballast in our hull, we're going
to capsize. We're going to be moved off course.
And it's too late to get your ballast when you're in the midst
of the turbulent sea. It's time to fill up the barrels
now before you set out in this uncharted sea. And what I propose
to do, because I've not preached the sermon on barrels of ballast
in the belly of your soul, I think we'll cover two of those barrels
tonight and then two of them next Lord's Day as a communion
meditation. And what are those biblical truths? Nothing new to many of you, but
as Peter said, I think it neat to stir you up by way of remembrance,
perhaps expressing them in a different way. God will enable us to lay
hold of them with fresh dimensions of understanding and of the response
of faith. Well, into barrel number one
goes this very refreshing, substantial, essential truth. And I'm stating
it this way. God is on His throne, governing
all things in this universe as an absolute sovereign. What truth do you have to have
deep in the depths of your soul as you embark upon this coming
year? I'm saying this is the most foundational
of all truths, that God is on His throne governing all things
in this universe as an absolute sovereign. Now let me take a
moment to explain the choice of several of those key words.
The word universe refers to the totality of all things that exist,
the cosmos, from the subatomic particles in every cell of your
body. right out to the particles in
the farthest star in a yet undiscovered galaxy, God is on His throne
governing all things in this universe. That is, everything
that exists outside of Himself. Every created reality from the
macrocosm out there to the microcosm within. And that's what I mean
by asserting God is on His throne governing all things in this
universe as an absolute sovereign. And I'm using the word absolute
in its first and second meanings in the dictionary. Absolute is
that which is perfect and complete. I came into a room And I found
the room in absolute silence. What do you mean? There wasn't
any noise of any kind whatsoever. We say in some situations, excuse
me, the silence was deafening. All you can hear is nothing.
If someone were to snap a match, you'd hear it. Absolute silence. Total silence. Complete silence. And I'm using it also in the
second sense, not limited or restricted. We speak of an absolute
monarchy. What do we mean? It is a rule
in which the king has total authority and power. There's no parliament
with which he must consent. There is no populace whose consent
of the governed he must wait upon before he executes his will
and sends out his decree. And what I'm asserting is that
the Bible teaches, and we must grasp as a present reality facing
the coming year, that God is on His throne governing all things
in this universe, and that as an absolute sovereign, one who
is supreme in rank, power, and authority. Now that's what I
mean by saying this is what needs to go in to the barrel of your
soul and mine and must remain in there. And when it begins
to be used up or leaks out, don't fill it with seawater. Fill it
again with this pure, refreshing truth from the Word of God. Now
let's look, having spent a few moments on the meaning of the
key words, at a sampling of the biblical witness to this fact.
Now in our Working through the book of Psalms, Lord's Day Mornings,
we've come into that section of the Psalter that men have
designated as the kingship section of the Psalter. The reign of
God is celebrated as a dominant theme in these particular Psalms. And I want you to look with me
now at four of these simple assertions with respect to God's absolute
sovereignty. Psalm 93. begins with the simple
words, the Lord reigns, Jehovah reigns. Now notice what it says.
It doesn't say Jehovah reigned, past tense, but we don't know
who's in charge now. Jehovah shall reign, future. So we have hope, but we sure
don't know what's going on now. Nor does it say Jehovah may reign. It's not subjunctive. It's not
past tense. It's not future. It's indicative.
Jehovah reigns. Now, you don't need to be a philosopher
or a theologian to understand those two words. Jehovah, the
one true and living God who says I am that I am. I am that I will
be. All that I have ever been, I
am. And all that I am, I ever shall be. I reign. Jehovah reigns. Now notice how
that simple assertion is picked up several more times in these
psalms. Psalm 96 and verse 10. This is
not a truth to be whispered in the corner when you're in the
presence of people that understand and believe the doctrines of
grace. Contraband goods. You know, you only share it with
the right people. Now, notice what the psalmist says. Psalm
96, 10. Say among the nations, the Lord
reigns. Same assertion. And this is not
something to be whispered in secret with the initiate. This
is something to be heralded among the nations. But you say, Pastor,
people don't like to be told God's in charge. That doesn't
make any difference. The reality is God is in charge.
And let every single human being in the world get together, if
they could, in one place and vote to assert that something
else or someone else reigns. It doesn't change reality. Say
among the nations, Jehovah reigns. Psalm 97, 1. Jehovah reigns. And what is to be the response
to this? Some kind of a poor, trembling spirit of bondage? No. Let the earth rejoice. There
is nothing to rejoice in if there is no sovereign holding the reins
of the universe. How do we know that some meteor
will not come crashing upon earth and knock this little planet
into a billion pieces? Because there is a God who reigns
and says, as long as the earth remains, there shall be seed
time and harvest, summer and winter. And this earth, as we
now know it, will remain until Jesus comes and, in flaming fire,
takes vengeance on His enemies. And God renews this world by
fire and ushers in the new heavens and the new earth. Jehovah reigns.
Psalm 99.1. He says it again. Jehovah reigns. Now the call is not to rejoice,
but let the people tremble. There is a darker side to this
reality. God is in charge, not you. Let your whole life be witness
to the fact that you believe in the depths of your soul that
it is indeed Jehovah that reigns. And then the two passages, the
two chapters that we read together from Revelation 4 and 5, we go
back to them for just a few moments. I've already hinted at their
significance. Before John is given to see visions
and hear voices with respect to things that are and are to
come, he is given this vision in which the throne is central. As soon as heaven is open, And
that voice has summoned him, come up hither. Now notice, verse
1 of chapter 4, I'll show you the things that must come to
pass. And what does John see of things
that are to come to pass? Nothing. The text says, Straightway
I was in the Spirit, and behold, there was a throne. Before the
things that come to pass, John is given this magnificent vision
of a throne. And on the throne is not some
impersonal force, but the majestic, glorious, living God, Jehovah,
sits upon that throne. The God celebrated by the psalmist
in those kingship psalms, John sees Him here. And as I mentioned,
in this chapter and in the next, seventeen times the phrase, the
throne, the throne, the throne, the throne, the throne, the throne,
the throne. John, I want the seven churches
to get the message. You're sending to them My Word. In two cases, no word of condemnation,
but only commendation. In five cases, greater or lesser
degrees of rebuke and condemnation. as well as calls to repentance. And the overall picture of the
life of those churches is the picture of churches beset with
the enemies of false doctrine, of heterodoxy, of people turning
the grace of God into license, of opposition, of persecution.
And what's the first thing God wants these churches all to know? After the risen Lord has given
His specific Word to each one, He says, I want you to see a
throne. Whatever is to come, it's administered
by one who is an absolute sovereign. A throne. A throne. That's what
John sees. And so as we seek to peer, as
it were, into the new year, And we see that all is shrouded in
uncertainty. The unknown, like a ship that's
set out to sea and suddenly is enveloped in fog, can get no
bearings from the pole star, no sense of east, west, north,
south. What direction are we going? You and I need to have a new
sense of confidence that every single thing that transpires
in the coming year, at the end of the day, it's very simple,
it will be the revelation of God's secret decree as a result of His sovereign
action. Everything that unfolds in the coming year will be nothing
more or nothing less than the revelation of His secret decree
as a result of his sovereign action. And there are texts upon
texts in Scripture that cover the whole gamut, and I want you
to just look at several with me here. There is that well-known
statement in Daniel 4 and verse 35, covers activity in heaven
and upon earth, spoken by a king who thought that he was an absolute
sovereign. He walks by the grandeur of his
Babylonian kingdom, and he swells with pride and spreads his peacock-like
feathers in his soul. And God says, I'm going to humble
this man and let him know who the real boss is. And so God
deals with Nebuchadnezzar. And at the end of his lengthy
period of madness, When He lived like an animal in the open field
and His fingernails grew like bird's claws, the Scripture says,
look at Daniel 4.34, And at the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted up my eyes unto heaven, and my understanding returned
unto me. And I blessed the Most High and
praised and honored Him that lives forever for His dominion. is an everlasting dominion and
His kingdom from generation to generation. And all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing. And He does, according to His
will, in the army of heaven, those unseen heavenly creatures,
angels, cherubim, seraphim, archangels, He does according to His will
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
even the proud, boastful nebuchadnezzars who think somehow at least they
have some niche on some sphere of independent sovereignty. No,
no, my understanding has come back to me. I now see reality. It is Jehovah God, the one true
and living God, who does according to His will among the inhabitants
of the earth, and none can stay His hand, literally strike His
hand. When God stretches out His hand
to do what His decree has purposed, who can slap God's hand and say,
hands off? Don't you touch that person?
Don't you touch that nation? Don't you touch that economy?
Don't you touch that person's looks? Don't you touch that person's
health? Who can strike God's hand and
say, hey, no, no, no, you don't do that, God? Nebuchadnezzar
asked a rhetorical question, the answer of which is obvious.
None can stay his hand or say unto him, what are you doing? That's a statement. of God in
His posture upon His throne, administering and governing all
the affairs of the universe as an absolute sovereign. And you have the sweeping declaration
of the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 46. And this is only
a teaser. These are only some of the biblical
testimonies. And I was embarrassed with riches.
Which one shall I read and barely quote upon? And which ones to
pass over? Isaiah 46, verses 9 to 11. Remember the former things of
old. For I am God and there is none else. I am God and there
is none like Me. And then He's going to say wherein
His uniqueness consists. There is none like Me. Declaring
the end from the beginning and from ancient times, things that
are not yet done. Why can God infallibly predict
the future? Because He plans and executes
what to us is future. He is the God who from ancient
times, things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall
stand. I will do all My pleasure. And then there's a specific expression
of that, calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man of my
counsel from a far country. God describes the instrument
of judgment upon His people in terms of a ravenous bird, the
man of His counsel from a far country. I've spoken. I will
bring it to pass. I've purposed, and I will do
it. Very simple. God says, it is
in my heart to do it, and I will accomplish what I purpose to
do. And then you have the ordering
of the elements. Why did we get dumped with that pile of snow?
Well, the meteorologist on Channel 2 and 4 and 5 and 7 and 9 will
say, because there was a moist weather system forming down off
the Carolina coast. And because of the movement of
the jet stream, et cetera, and the vapors rising from the ocean,
it was drawn up this way, and then there was a cold front coming
in from the northwest, and that all met, and it hung over us.
Yes, yes, I fully understand that. I've seen your weather
maps. I've heard your explanations. But Mr. Weatherman, I've got
a question. Why did that bit of moisture get formed? Oh, that's
because it went, and it, yes, fine. And why was it there to
do this? And ultimately, you see, you're
driven back and back and back until you say, it just happens. Or you think biblically. And
to think biblically is to bring our minds to a passage like Psalm
135. Psalm 135, verses 5-7. It's a
psalm that begins with a call to praise the Lord Those who stand in the house
of God, in the courts of God, sing praises to His name. Verse
4, Because of His sovereign love to His people. Verse 5, I know
that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods, whatsoever
the Lord pleased. That He has done in heaven, in
earth, in the seas, and, if I have missed anything, in all deeps.
And how does He do it? Does he do it like the god of
the deist? He just put certain forces and laws and principles
and wove them into the texture of the world and walked away
and lets it work out itself? No. Look at how specific he gets. Who causes the vapors to ascend
from the ends of the earth? Who makes lightnings for the
rain? Who brings forth the wind out
of his treasure? You say, that's poetic language.
Yes, it is. But it's poetry not conveying nonsense and non-truth,
but reality. Why is it that the clouds are
forming from vapors rising from the earth? God causes it to do
so. The Scripture says that our Lord
Jesus upholds all things by the word of His power. And in Colossians,
in Him all things literally not consist, but adhere. They hold
together. with all of that potential energy
in every atom? Why doesn't it just break off
and cause perpetual atomic explosions? In Christ they are held together. These are not distant, detached
laws of nature that operate on their own. God is imminent and
active in the exercise of His absolute sovereignty in His world. The expansive statement of Daniel. The sweeping declaration of Isaiah. The ordering of the elements.
Right down to that little bird that is flying and thinks your
picture window is open space. And thwack! He hits it, breaks
his neck, and falls dead in your shrubs. Where was God? Turn to Matthew 10. Matthew 10. And verse 29. are not two sparrows
sold for a penny, and not one of them shall fall on the ground
without your Father." I mean, God was there superintending
the flight of that bird, allowing that little bird's brain to think,
this is open space, when all the while it was double-paned
glass. Yes. Rule God out of the sphere
of that bird, then you can rule God out of the sphere of anything. God is either sovereign over
all the universe, in all that makes it the universe, or you
will eventually exclude Him from the whole. Even the most wicked
deed ever perpetuated by mankind was sovereignly directed by Almighty
God. He is not responsible for the
sin, but the sin did not operate in a no man's land. What was
the most wicked deed ever perpetrated upon earth? It's the deed for which you and
I are most thankful, the crucifixion of our blessed Lord. And how
did the people of God view that most wicked of all deeds? Well,
we see how they viewed it when they prayed in Acts chapter 4.
The servants of God have been opposed and threatened, and they
return to their company, either the company of the apostles,
it's not definite, or all of the people of God, or a group
of the people of God, and they have a prayer meeting. And their
prayer meeting begins, not with this laid-back conversational
so-called prayer. Hey, Lord, we've got a little
bit of trouble. Thank you. You hear us? No, no.
Their prayer had the elements that a lot of people would say
was stuffy and formal. It began with high theology. Look at it. Verse 23 of Acts
4, they being let go, came to their own company, reported all
the chief priest had done. And they, when they heard it,
lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said, O Lord,
now notice, You made the heavens and the earth and the sea and
all that in them is. We come to you as the mighty
Creator of all that exists in this universe. You are the God
who by the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David, did
say, and then they quote from Psalm 2, verse 27, for of a truth
in this city against your holy servant Jesus whom you did anoint,
Both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people
of Israel were gathered together to do whatsoever the devil stirred
them up to do. And Lord, there is nothing you
can do about it. No, to do whatsoever your hand
and your counsel foreordained to come to pass. God's hand and
God's counsel foreordained what wicked Herod did. and Pontius
Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel? False accusations,
mockery, spittle on his face, buffeting him, bruising him,
taunting him? Yes. Not one hand could have
been raised to strike him. Not one nail could have been
placed on his hand and driven through. If God's hand and counsel
had not foreordained that it come to pass. That's in your
Bibles. Don't give this any human label.
Oh, you're preaching something isn't. No, no. This is what our
Bibles teach us. And this must become something
more than a theological tenet to which we occasionally point
to say, oh yes, I believe that. It must be in the soul like the
barrels of water in the bowels of a ship, so that no matter
where we are taken in the will of God, in what to us is a sea
shrouded in mist and fog, we can say at any point, God is
on His throne. God is governing everything in
His universe as an absolute sovereign. And then we bring that to bear
upon the specifics of our own circumstances. And I was struck
in my recent reading and then listening on the treadmill to
the book of the Revelation, one of the most striking passages
turned to Revelation 17. Here in this passage, those forces
that are likened to a beast and to the scarlet woman the combined
forces that are to oppose Christ and His people. We read in verse
13 of Revelation 17, these have one mind and they give their
power and authority to the beast. Now notice, these shall war against
the Lamb. These combined forces of evil
come to one mind in their insidious, demonic determination to war
against the Lamb. And we are told the Lamb shall
overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and
they also shall overcome that are with Him, called and chosen
and faithful. I've got to preach a sermon on
that sometime. All His people are the ones effectually called.
And why are they called? Because they've been chosen.
And how do we know they are called and chosen? Because they are
faithful. And He said, the waters that you saw where the harlot
sits are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. And
the ten horns which you saw in the beast, these shall hate the
harlot and make her desolate and naked and eat her flesh and
burn her utterly with fire. Now why do they do all of this?
These evil powers doing evil things. Look at verse 17. God
did put it in their hearts to do His mind and to come to one
mind and to give their kingdom unto the beast until the words
of God should be accomplished." Are you offended at that? God
did put it into their hearts to do His mind. God says, I'm running the show.
And at this point in the unfolding of the drama, I want you and
you and you and you to get your powers all together and see what
you can do to defeat my Son. Now, does God create the evil
disposition? No. He cannot be tempted with
evil, neither tempted He any man. He is a pure eyes and a
look upon iniquity. We guard the statement with the
rest of Scripture. But I will not blot out this
and say there must be a wrong translation. God stood back and
let them know. It said God put it into their
hearts to do His mind. By allowing their evil powers
to cut a given course, God is putting it into their hearts
to do His mind and to accomplish His will. If you don't have a
God who is in charge of evil and the devil, I wouldn't want
to trade places with you. He is sovereign. Even. in these matters. So, my dear
brethren, as you and I set out to sea, may I exhort you as I
exhort myself, fill the barrel of your heart with this basic
conviction. God is on His throne, governing
all things in His universe as an absolute monarch. Now, what
practical effect will the settled faith in Him produce? Now, notice
I didn't say faith in this doctrine. That's impersonal. I said the
settled faith in Him, faith in the God who is, is faith in the
God who is on His throne. And He's not on His throne to
give the appearance of a monarch. He's on His throne administering
His will in absolute sovereignty. So what's the difference? What's
the big deal? Well, let me suggest several
things. First of all, Under God, this will produce stability in
the face of the most radical upheavals and disruptions around
you and in the world. Under God, it will produce stability
in the face of the most radical upheavals and disruptions. I
commend to you Psalm 46. God is our refuge and strength,
the very present help in trouble. What God? the God whose hands
are tied, the God who must always be wringing His hands, wishing
and hoping He could do something, but because He must respect man's
so-called freedom, He cannot touch the situation. Now, read
Psalm 46. The psalmist says, even though
the mountains begin to play hopscotch or leapfrog one another and end
up in the sea, he said, I'm going to say to myself, be still, know
that He is God. He's on his throne. That's why
we don't go around nervously biting our nails. What will the
president's next cabinet appointment be? Will they get approved? If they get approved, my friends,
loosen up. He may be president, but I've
got news for you. The White House doesn't hold the monarch of the
universe. No, it doesn't. And the people
that meet and the halls of government, Congress, the House of Representatives,
the House of Representatives, the Senate, they don't hold the
reins of government, nor does Putin, nor does any other earthly
monarch. We know who the monarch is. And
while we, in obedience to the Scriptures, pray that there be
stable governments, we pray that God will end the horrible oppression
of these dictators in these countries that thought that independence
from colonial powers would be something next to heaven, and
they've had a living hell for decades. millions slain, people
starving. And we cry to God, Oh God, end
this horrible stuff. Bring stability. 1 Timothy 2.
Yes, that's our prayer and our yearning. But at the end of the
day, folks, whatever may collapse, whatever looks like a mountain
today that ends leapfrogging another mountain and ends up
buried in the sea, God's throne hasn't twitched a bit. And God's
not scurrying about for plan B. all of his counsel, all that
happens in history is but the exegesis of God's decree administered
by his own sovereign power. You see, that stability of a
Christian in the midst of the crises that impinge upon all
men around us is a marvelous testimony to the fact that the
God we know and whom we profess to serve is not the little God
that can be stuck in your hip pocket, but He's the awesome,
glorious, all-powerful God of the Scriptures. Secondly, it
will produce submission in the face of crushing negative providences. I don't know how else to describe
them and make sense with you. No providence is a negative one.
We know all things are working together for good. But you know
what I mean when I talk about crushing negative providences. I was stunned when a couple of
years ago I listened to a sermon I preached at a Ligonier conference
in February of 1997. They had asked me to preach on
the sovereignty of God over nature. And so I sought to preach on
the sovereignty of God over nature. I opened up a number of passages. He hath his way in the whirlwind
and the storm and the clouds and the dust of his feet. Some
of these passages in the Psalms. And then when I got to application,
One of the applications I made said, now what's part of nature?
Your physiology, your body, with the seeds of death in it, that's
part of nature. And part of the result of the
fall is that there has been work into the fabric of the gene pool,
certain predispositions to certain diseases, and then there are
certain toxins and all of the rest. And I said, what are you
going to do when you go to the doctor and you've had that biopsy? A few days later you hear the
dread C word. Little did I know that three
months later I would have the biopsy and I would hear the C
word. What do you do? What do you do? If you don't have in the belly
of your soul this barrel full of the ballast, God was not vacating
His throne. When that strange influence caused
these aberrant cells to begin to multiply, either God was there
or He is nowhere. Child of God, this has got to
touch you at the deepest level of the darkest providence that
may break upon you in the coming year. Or you are never going
to sit with Job. Worship ten kids dead in a day. all your accumulated wealth gone
in a day. And it says, He fell upon His
face and worshiped, saying, The Lord gives. The Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
I'd rather have a universe ruled by God, even when that God orders
the death of my ten children, takes away all my wealth and
possessions, than have a universe at the mercy of pure chance. Child of God, is this where you're living?
It better be. Set out to the sea with that
conviction, and you will be a monument of God's stability in the midst
of upheaval and disruption, submission in the face of crushing providences. Romans 8.28 will be something
more than a plaque on the walls. when some thing or some things
come to bear upon you that seem to drip with the smell and the
flavor and the sight of evil, for you to look at all of that
as a man or woman of faith and say, all things are working together
for good. My loving Sovereign Father has
brought this upon me for good. I don't have a clue what the
good is. But I do have a few clues about
the God who says all that he brings is good and he's worthy
to be trusted. That's why I have no sympathy
for this health, wealth and prosperity nonsense. Misrepresents God and
misrepresents what the life of faith is like. And then confidence
in the face of danger. What is it that gives the child
of God confidence in the face of danger? In that passage we
quoted from Matthew 10, 29, that comes right on the heel of Jesus
telling these men whom he has commissioned, you're not going
to go out and be welcomed as citizen of the year everywhere
you go. In fact, there may be some who threaten to kill you.
In fact, some of you may actually be killed. So what are you to
do? Matthew 10, 28. Don't be afraid of them that
kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Fear him who
is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Well, who is
he? He is the God who does not allow one sparrow, insignificant
as it is, to fall to the ground without his sovereign will and
his sovereign purpose for that little sparrow. That takes the
most timid, shy, fearful man or woman and makes him a rod
of courage. That's what happened with Paul
in Acts chapter 18. He knew what the Jews would do
when they got angry with him and rejected his gospel. And
he comes to Corinth, and sure enough, they're there, and they
are opposing and blaspheming. And Paul shakes out his raiment
and says in Acts 7, 18, 6, Your blood be upon your heads. I'm
clean. I go to the Gentiles. He goes to the house of one Titus
Justus. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue,
believes. And the Lord knows His servant.
And He comes to him in verse 9. The Lord said to Paul in the
night by a vision, Don't be afraid. Speak and hold not your peace,
for I am with you. No man shall set on you to harm
you. Now let me ask you something.
If God is not sovereign over all the plottings and over all
of the plans of evil men with their evil intentions, how could
He make such a promise as this? No man. No man. shall harm you. I've got gospel purposes." So
Paul, with gospel boldness, stays on for another year and a half,
ministering the Word of God in that city, confidence in the
face of danger. Boldness and largeness of petition
at the throne of grace. If the God to whom we pray is
indeed on His throne, governing everything in His universe as
an absolute sovereign, Then He can say, call upon Me and I will
answer you and show you great and mighty things which you know
not. Behold, I am the God of all flesh, He says through the
prophet Jeremiah. Is there anything too hard for
Me? That's what gives us hope for some of you who've sat here
hard as flint for another whole year. And the Gospel has been
taught and preached and you've been pleaded with and with holy
cajoling and urgency and in every way we sought to bring you to
Christ. Why don't we just say, phooey
on you. Go to hell if you want to. No. We pray to a God that can take
all your smugness and all your smart-alecky, indifference, and
God can break it in a moment of time. So we pray to Him. We pray to a God who holds the
hearts of men in His hands. We pray to a God who can restrain
the most adamant, evil-minded man or woman purposing to harm
the child of God. It's a simple, some may call
it a trite statement, but I find great comfort in it. As a Christian,
I'm invincible until my work is done. And I don't want to stay around
three seconds beyond the time my work is done. There aren't
enough demons in hell. There aren't enough evil men
on earth to thwart the child of God from fulfilling the will
of God against the purposes of God. Can't do it. And that's
the source of boldness and confidence in the face of danger. Boldness
at the throne of grace. We pray when we pray. Jesus said,
when you pray, say, Our Father who is in the heavens. What's
the significance of being in the heavens? Psalm 115.3, our
God is in the heavens. He has done whatsoever He has
pleased. He's in the heavens. Not as a king who simply got
a crown and a scepter but doesn't wield any authority. He is in
the heavens. He does whatsoever He has pleased. Those are just a few of the implications.
You see, this truth that God is utterly, absolutely, pervasively
sovereign is world is not an abstract philosophical concept. It is not a detached theological
proposition. It's the ballast in the soul
of the child of God. And may God grant that the oaken
barrel of your soul will be filled afresh. Now, very briefly, let
me take the second barrel because much of what we've already
established pours into this second barrel, and it is this. The crucified,
risen and exalted Lord shares that throne as the administrator
of all things leading to a glorious consummation. The crucified,
risen and exalted Lord shares that throne, that throne on which
God sits as an absolute sovereign governing everything in His universe,
the crucified, risen and exalted Lord shares that throne as the
administrator of all things, leading to a glorious consummation. And where do I get that idea? Well, from a number of passages.
We go back to the Revelation passage. John is given this vision
of God upon His throne, Creator, Sovereign, holy, eternal. And then in chapter 5, John says,
I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne, he sees
some being upon the throne that is God. He has in his right hand,
we poor lefties always get bad shrift, had in his right hand
a book written within and on the back, close sealed with seven
seals. I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a great voice, Who's worthy to open the book and loose the
seals? No one is found in all the created
universe. And John weeps. No one is found
worthy to open the book or even to look thereon. Until the elders,
one of those elders, who they are, I don't know. Commentators
differ. But one of them says, Don't weep,
John. Behold, now notice, the lion
that is of the tribe of Judah, The root of David hath overcome
to open the book and the seven seals thereof. The person who
is worthy is identified as the lion of the tribe of Judah. A
lion, the king of beasts. The root of David. He is of the
line of David. He is David's root as well as
David's stock. David's Lord as well as David's
son. He has overcome to open There
was an overcoming that uniquely qualifies him to open this book
and the seven seals. And then John sees in the midst
of the throne and of the four living creatures, in the midst
of the elders, a lamb standing as though it had been slain.
What a strange vision. When you try to conjure up in
your mind, what did John see? What does a lamb look like that's
standing but It's a lamb standing as if it had been slain. Well,
apparently. It's stained with blood. Maybe
there's a gaping wound on its throat. I mean, it's grotesque
when you try to actually visualize what John is describing here.
A lamb standing as though it had been slain, having seven
horns, seven eyes, What a grotesque looking lamb. You'd never take
that home or say, Mary, here's a little lamb that you can take
and follow you wherever you go. No. Seven horns, seven eyes,
which are the seven spirits or the sevenfold spirit of God sent
forth to all the earth. And now the lamb comes and takes
it. How did he do it? Well, most
likely, if a lamb takes something, he'd have to take it in his mouth.
Now, it doesn't say the mouth, but trying to. Listen and see
what John is describing. I see a lamb as though it had
been slain in its standing. And then that lamb that's in
the midst of the throne comes to the very right hand of the
one upon the throne, and he takes that scroll that is sealed out
of the right hand of him that sits on the throne. And as soon
as he takes the book, the four living creatures, the four and
twenty elders, they fall down before the lamb, each one having
a heart. Lenski suggests the term zipper,
but one thing is clear, there's going to be instrumental music
in heaven. Each one of them a harp and golden bowls full of incense,
which are the prayers of the saints, and they sing a new song
saying, here's the ones who have been singing and worshiping Him
who sits on the throne, holy, eternal, This is the one who
has created all things. He did it because of his own
will and for his glory. Now they are caught up and they're
singing a new song. Worthy are you addressed to the
lab to take the book, open the seals. For this is what constituted
Him worthy to open the seals of that book. You were slain
and you purchased unto God with your blood men of every tribe
and tongue and people and nation and made them to be unto our
God a kingdom and priest and they reign on the earth. And
then He sees all of these other creatures taken up in the praise.
Worthy is the Lamb that has been slain. Verse 13, In every created
thing, in all realms of reality, are caught up in praise. Now
notice, unto him that sits on the throne and unto the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.
All of the worship that is focused upon the enthroned God in chapter
4 is now focused equally upon God and the Lamb who is in the
midst of the throne. What is God saying to Well, whatever
else He is saying to us, and whatever our peculiar conviction
may be about the precise significance of this book written within and
on the back closed, sealed with seven seals, as you see the Lord
Jesus opening up seal upon seal, verse 1 of chapter 6, and when
the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, it is evident that it
is the outworking of God's purposes in the great redemptive scheme
of things in this constant warfare between the devil and the Lamb
and the people of God and the enemies of God. It is Christ
as the Lamb who was slain, who conquered, who now in His exalted
position has this unique responsibility. This is why I use the terminology
of being the administrator of all things leading to a glorious
consummation. Because He was willing to humble
Himself and become obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross, God has highly exalted Him, given Him a place at His
right hand and not just a position to be admired. but God has deposited
in him this unique privilege and responsibility of being the
administrator of his sovereign will and purpose, leading to
a glorious consummation. That's why Jesus could say, subsequent
to his crucifixion and resurrection, just before his ascension, all
authority has been given unto me. Not all authority has been
Mine as the eternal Word. That's true. But that's not what
He says in Matthew 28. He says, All authority has been
delivered unto Me in heaven and upon earth with what reference
in particular? Going therefore, make disciples
of all the nations, baptize them, teach them, and lo, I am with
you even to the what? Consummation of the age. All authority in heaven and in
earth deposited in Jesus, the resurrected Christ, the soon
to be exalted Christ with peculiar reference to administering the
purposes and plan of God leading to the consummation. Ephesians
chapter 1, a similar emphasis. Paul says he's praying for these
Christians that God would give them understanding and illumination
and insight concerning three specific things, and one of those
things he identifies with this language. Ephesians 1, verse
19, he's praying that they might come to know the exceeding greatness
of the power of God to us who are to believe. And what is the
measure, the standard of that power? according to the working
of the strength of His might which He wrought in Christ when
He raised Him from the dead, made Him to sit at His right
hand in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority
and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only
in this world, but also in that which is to come. And He put
all things in subjection under His feet. and gave Him to be
head over all things to the church. You see, Christ is given this
particular administrative responsibility with reference to His church. And in the interest of the cause
of His church, He is given a place of sovereignty over all things. And what is that consummation
towards which his administration is leading? We'll turn to 1 Corinthians
15 for a specimen passage. We could look at many passages,
but here's one that is explicit. 1 Corinthians 15. Verse 20, But now has Christ
been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them that are
asleep, for since by man came death, By man came also the resurrection
of the dead, for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall
all be made alive, that is, all who are in Christ, but each in
his own order. Christ the firstfruits, then
they that are Christ it is coming. Then comes the end, now notice,
when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father. when he shall have abolished
all rule and all authority and power, for he must reign till
he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that
shall be abolished is death. For he put all things in subjection
under his feet. But when he says all things are
put in subjection, it's evident that he is accepted who did subject
all things unto him. And when all things have been
subjected unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subjected
to him that did subject all things unto him that God may be all
in all. And I don't have time to attempt
to open up the significance of that last verse. I know if your
mind fasses on it, but get the overall picture. Christ must
reign. He is reigning. And He shall
reign until the last enemy is destroyed. And what is the last
enemy with reference to His people? It's death. Death that has taken
them to the grave. Grave that has taken them to
dust. dust that has been interred in
the earth and has nourished plants and flowers, bodies eaten by
lions. And you can think of all of the
things. But the grave doesn't have the last word. Christ is
reigning with a view to the consummation. when that which He secured in
His resurrection. He did not die as a private person. He wasn't buried as a private
person. He was not raised as a private
person. He was not exalted in a private
person. As Adam was a public person,
he stood as representative and head of all humanity. So Christ
was head of all of His seed, all of God's elect. And as surely
as Christ died, and in His death was their death, death to the
condemning power of the law, death to the dominion of sin
and the power of the devil, so when He was raised, His resurrection
not only secured their spiritual resurrection, Romans 6, but their
literal, physical resurrection. And as surely as Joseph's borrowed
tomb was empty Easter morning, When you put me in my grave,
say to that grave, you're going to cough him up someday. As sure
as Christ is at the right hand of God, I must be raised. I must be raised. Then shall
come to pass the saying, O grave, where is your victory? Don't
ever quote that at a funeral. The grave does have a temporary
victory. It swallows up the remains of
our loved those dear to us, wrenches them away from us. But it doesn't
have the last word. It doesn't have the last word.
And it doesn't have the last word because the crucified, risen
and exalted Lord shares that throne of sovereignty. He must reign. And He shares
it as the administrator of all things leading to a glorious
consummation. And that consummation for us
as God's people will be the resurrection for this world in the language
of Romans 8. I've gone too long already. Romans
8, this whole creation will be delivered from this bondage to
which it was subject because of our sin. And it yearns and
groans, waiting for the adoption, Paul says, that is the redemption
of our bodies. And then Peter tells us in 2
Peter 3 that the returning Christ will purify the existing cosmos
by fire and there will be ushered in the new heavens and the new
earth. And we will then join the chorus which we've read about
in Revelation 5. Worthy, worthy is the Lamb. Child of God, this has got to
become the stuff in the barrel of your soul. as we face the
coming year, not only to be persuaded afresh and to remind myself every
day that God is on His throne, and on that throne He is governing
all things in His universe as an absolute sovereign, but that
the crucified, risen and exalted Christ shares that throne as
the administrator of all things leading to a glorious consummation. I close with this simple illustration.
I'll tell you what the next two barrels are going to be that
I'm going to try to fill. That the enthroned God is our all-knowing,
loving, patient, and principled Father, and the enthroned Christ
is our intercessor, advocate, indwelling life, and constant
companion. So we're going to go back to
the throne, but view that relationship in its more interpersonal dimensions,
but the order in which I've given them is the right order. You
start with an enthroned God, an enthroned Christ, then you
draw some comfort from the relationship of father, advocate, intercessor,
and companion. But that will have to wait, God
willing, until next week. I want to close with this simple
incident that I read in a book that I hope a number of you will
get. You may get a batch of them in the bookstore. I had the privilege
of reading it and filling out the recommendation form. It's
a book on a very straightforward, helpful, non-complicated commentary
in the Book of the Revelation by Dr. Verne Poitras. And in
the introduction, trying to clear away the misconception that you've
got to be some kind of an astute theologian and a great imagination
and a lot of other things to even hope to begin to understand
the Book of the Revelation. He shared an incident with some
seminary students, I think he said they were in a gym somewhere
playing basketball, and they saw a janitor over in the corner
reading. So these Christians, they were seminary students,
went over and said, Sir, what are you reading? He said, I'm
reading my Bible. Now, where are you reading? He said, well,
I'm reading the book of the Revelation. They said, well, would you like
some help to understand it? He said, no, I understand it
very clearly. They said, you do? He said, yes. Well, tell
us, what is it teaching? He said, it's very simple. There's
a war. and Jesus is going to win. That's
it. There's a war and Jesus is going
to win. That's what I mean by Christ
is sharing that throne, all heading to the consummation. And unlike
your favorite football team that you may want to watch and root
for on Monday, the outcome of this one is already settled.
You don't need to wait for tomorrow's news to find out do they make
the next step in the playoffs. It's all settled. And that needs
to become the stuff that's in your soul. And when it appears
that the devil and sin and wickedness are on the throne, you say, No!
Christ is on the throne. He is reigning. And the time
is coming. when the whole created order
will be one united hallelujah chorus and my voice is going
to be there with the second tenors and yours is going to be there.
And some of you that can't carry a tune in a bucket, you're going
to sing like nightingales. And it's certain. Now what in
the world are we going around dragging our chins on the ground
when God's given us this stuff? This is not pie in the sky buy
and buy for us. This is the stuff of biblical
reality. May God help us to fill up the
barrel of our souls with it as we embark upon the new year. Let's pray.