Let's open our Bibles together
to Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4. One of the believers' great hopes
and comfort is that our God is sovereign. We're going to be
looking at sovereignty of our God tonight. And because of that,
we know that all that He does, He does for our good. And though there be times of
sadness and sorrow and times of pain, in spite of those things,
the Lord's telling us here that we have reason to rejoice. Look
what he says in verse 4, Philippians chapter 4. Rejoice in the Lord
regardless of how things might be in our experience. We have
the consistency of our God who reigns and we're the hope of
knowing that he has put away the sins of his people. And so
he says, rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say, rejoice. Let your moderation be known
unto all men. Don't be given to extreme emotional
responses to your circumstances. That's what he's saying here.
Be moderate in your response to your circumstances because
the Lord's at hand. The Lord's the ones who ordained
these things. Be careful for nothing. Don't live your life
in fear, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving, let your requests be known unto God. Present your
needs to him. And the peace of God, which passeth
all understanding, and we've looked at this before, that word
passeth means that it exceeds. And I always read this for years
thinking that God's peace cannot be understood. It's beyond understanding. But really what he's saying here
is that the peace of God is better than understanding. It exceeds
understanding. Isn't that what causes us to
be disquieted and anxious in our circumstances is that we
don't understand and we want to understand. And what the Lord's
saying here is the peace of God is better than understanding. which passeth all understanding,
and that peace in Christ shall keep your hearts and your minds
through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things
are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue,
And if there be any praise, think on these things." Another way
to translate this verse would be to say, set your affections
on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of
God. He's the one who's pure and lovely and worthy of all
praise. Verse nine, those things which
you have both learned and received and heard and seen and made do.
And the God of peace, shall be with you. I want us to pray together. I mentioned Sunday that Fred
Newman was having a pacemaker put in this Friday. Well, they've
postponed it till next Friday. So he's feeling some anxiety
about that, of course. He and Mary Jane. So I want to
pray for them. Tim Murray had his back surgery
today, and he walked out of the surgical center. with no pain
and so very, very thankful for that. Roger and Bonnie Schuff
have visited here on several occasions. They live up in Ohio
and they watch all of our services. They have a daughter named Sarah
who's been battling cancer and she's been taken to Columbus
Hospital today with some sort of brain swelling. and they're
very concerned about that. So I want us to pray for them
as well. Let's pray together. Our great and glorious, merciful
God, we pray that you would give us
the spirit of grace that we might hear what you've told us in your
word, to rejoice in the Lord always. That we might be moderate in
our responses to the things which you have ordained for us to go
through. And Lord, that we might experience
that peace that only you can give to the hearts of your children
as they set their affections on things above. Lord, use this
hour to bless us to that end, cause us to find our rest and
our hope and our peace in Christ. Thank you for the forgiveness
of sin. Thank you for the hope of eternal
life. Lord, we come before you as sinners in need of your grace
and so grateful that your throne is the throne of grace. We thank
you for Tim's successful surgery today, and we pray for your continued
healing for him, and Lord, for the grace that you've given him
to rejoice in your gift. Lord, we pray for Fred and ask
that you would comfort he and Mary Jane as they wait on you
another week, and Lord, that you would be pleased to place
your hand of healing there as well. Lord, we pray for Roger
and Bonnie and ask that you would comfort their hearts and pray
for Sarah and the doctors that minister to her even now and
ask Lord that you would give healing to her body and comfort
to the soul. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Let's stand together again. We'll
sing hymn number 23 from your Spiral Gospel Hymns hymn book,
number 23. O gracious Father, sinful, wretched
hope I be! Though you bind in truth condemning,
let your mercy so rich and free Ask me not, O blessed Savior,
let me hear your gracious call. I'm a guilty helpless sinner,
Savior, at your feet I fall. Love of God so everlasting, blood
of Christ so rich and free. Grace of God so strong and saving,
magnified. past me Power, give me faith and make
me live. Love of God so everlasting. Blood of Christ so rich and free. Grace of God so strong. ? Ask me not of your lost sinner
? ? If you will, you can save me ? ? Reach down with your hand
of mercy ? ? Saving others, Lord, save me ? ? Love of God, so evermore
be ? Please be seated. We open your Bibles with me to
Acts 17. Acts 17. You already know the
setting. The Apostle Paul is preaching
the gospel to those proud philosophers of Athens. And he's told them
that he's going to declare unto them the God that they don't
know. They ignorantly worship him. And when he's finished,
they will not have that excuse anymore to say that they were
without knowledge. God brought them a gospel preacher
and they heard the truth. And in verse 25, he goes on to
say, neither is worship with man's hands as though he needed
anything. That God that you don't know
needs nothing from you. He's absolutely sovereign and
self-sufficient and self-sustaining, self-existent. He's not dependent
on anything or anybody for anything. He reigns. This is a believer's
comfort. Our God doesn't need anything
from us, and we need everything from Him. seeing that he giveth
to all life and breath and all things all life and all breath
and all things to all men are given by God a man can receive
nothing except it be given to him from heaven now only the
believer can enter into that and rejoice The unbeliever goes
through life just presuming upon God. But we read that here and
we say, amen. My very breath is given to me
by God. Whatever I enjoy in this life
has been given to me by God. And most especially, the hope
of my salvation and the forgiveness of my sin was given to me by
God. In verse 26, And he hath made
of one blood all nations of men to dwell on earth, on all the
face of the earth, and hath determined the times beforehand appointed
and the bounds of their habitation." Now, Paul's saying to them, you're
no different from everybody else. You go anywhere in the world,
all men are the same. We all came from Adam. We all inherited
that same nature from Adam. We fell in Adam. We died in Adam. We've got to have salvation,
and salvation is the same for all men. And that God has determined
the days in which he'll live and the places in which he'll
go. You see, Paul is asserting to these proud philosophers that
there is a God in heaven who is in absolute, total, sovereign
control of everything in this world and everything in their
lives. and that they're called on to
bow to that God. Verse 27, that they should seek
after the Lord. Seek after Him, that they might
feel after Him and find Him, though He be not far from every
one of us. Well, Romans chapter 10 tells us how far He is. He's
as far as our lips. If any man call upon the name
of the Lord, he shall be saved. And you know, that's what the
Lord's saying. This is who he is. This is how near he is. You don't have to work your way
to him. You don't have to build a tower
of Babel with having bricks for stone and slime for mortar in
order to try to earn favor with God. You don't have to present
your righteousness before God in order to achieve the salvation. He's as near to you as your lips. cry out to him and call on him
for and here's our message look at verse 28 for in him we live
and move and have our being i notice he says we and our he's talking
to some pagans some godless pagans who you're not talking to a group
of believers here. He's talking to unbelievers and
he's saying to them, all of us live and move and have our being
in him. And at any time that, you know,
that all the life that we have, All the life that we have, both
physically and spiritually, comes from Him. But this physical life
is true for the believer and for the unbeliever. And the only reason the unbeliever
is enjoying water as rain from heaven rather than fire as rain
from heaven is because of the presence of the church of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Let me show you that. Turn with
me to Genesis chapter 18. As long as the church is here,
the sun will shine on the righteous, on the unrighteous, the rain
will fall, the good and the bad. The Lord will allow the unbeliever
to enjoy the benefits of his gifts, which he is giving for
his church. Look at Genesis chapter 18, the
Lord speaking to Abraham, he's making a promise to Abraham,
and this is where he's told Abraham and Sarah that they're going
to have a child. And you remember Sarah laughs,
and the Lord responds to Sarah, Sarah, is anything too hard for
the Lord? Anything to, no, nothing's too
hard for me. He reigns sovereign. He possesses
all power, nothing he can't do. Sarah, believe me, next year
at this time, I'm gonna come back and you're gonna have a
son. And in verse 18, here's what,
verse 17, and the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham? that
thing which I do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a
great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth
shall be blessed in him." Now our text says, in him, we live
and breathe and move and have our being. Why do Why does the
reprobate live and move and have been in this world? Because they
live in a world that Abraham lives in. The children of Abraham
live in. That's what our Lord's saying.
He said that they're gonna be blessed in him, in Abraham. Only because the blessings of
God are coming to Abraham, they will be enjoyed by the world.
For I know him. Abraham, that he will command
his children and his household after him, and they shall keep
the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may
bring upon Abraham that which he had spoken of him." Now this
phrase, in him, I looked it up in the Bible, and this is the
first time that it shows up. And what the Lord is saying is
the world, all the nations of the world are gonna be blessed
in Abraham. Only because of Abraham's presence
do they enjoy the blessings of God. And so Paul is saying to
these philosophers, all the blessings of God that
you have are in him. They're in him, they're in God.
And the only life that you have is in him. And the reason that
you move about is because of Him. And all that you have comes
from Him. The God you don't know is the
God who is absolutely sovereign. And we know from Romans 8 28
that God works all things together for good for them that love Him. and those that are called according
to his purpose. But let's not err in thinking that that means
that God puts a silver lining around the storm clouds of life. God sends the storm clouds. He
sends the storm clouds. You ever heard someone say, you
know, let's just, you know, let's just make lemonade out of lemons. You know, that's not what God's
doing. God put the sour in the lemon. He's not just picking up the
pieces of our broken lives and putting them together. He sent
the storm that broke us. This sovereignty of God involves
everything we live and move and have our being in him. Not only do all men owe their
very existence to God, but all of their activities are
being controlled by the sovereign purpose of God. And that's true
of believers and unbelievers. Our God reigns sovereign over
the living and over the dead. You remember what the Lord tells
us in Daniel, he said that our God reigns over the armies of
heaven and all the inhabitants of the earth. And he hath done
whatsoever he wills. And no man can stay his hand
or say unto him, what doest thou? So it's not that God is just
putting together some pieces that he finds laying around.
He's ordained everything from beginning to end That's the God
that we worship. That's the God that Paul is preaching
to these Athenians. The God that you don't know is
the God who is in need of nothing from you. He's the God who controls
everything. He's the God that you are completely
dependent upon for the very breath that you breathe. The truth is
that either our God governs all things or he is governed. Either he rules or he's being
ruled. Either he's absolutely sovereign
or he's limited and dependent upon something else. Our God doesn't just make a,
he's not just fixing the end. We live and we move and we have
our being. Everything about this world being
is under the absolute sovereign control of our God. That's true of the of the devils
of hell as well. You know, what was Judas, the
son of perdition, was ordained of God to do what he did? It wasn't that He was a vessel fitted for destruction,
but it was purposed of God that he would come and do what he
did. He bore the full responsibility for all that he did. We saw that
Sunday from James chapter one, let no man say when he sinned,
he's tempted of God. God tempted no man. We're tempted
when we're drawn away of our own lust and lusted to conceive
bringing forth sin and sin bringing forth death. And, you know, we're,
We own our own sin, don't we? And yet, and yet our great and
glorious God has ordained that. He's ordained, he knew what Judas,
he purposed what Judas would do in order to accomplish his
purpose, his end. He purposed what Satan would
do. What was Satan all about in the crucifixion? Well, I'm, you know, I'm going
to get rid of the son of God. And the very purpose, Satan was
unbeknownst following the very purpose of God to bring about
the salvation of his people. That's the God that we serve. Listen to Proverbs chapter 16,
verse one. The preparations of the heart
in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. The preparations of the thoughts
of the heart in man and the answer of his tongue is from the Lord.
There's nothing that's happening. There's nothing that you've thought.
There's nothing that you've said that wasn't ordained in God's
purpose. Our God reigns. A man's heart deviseth his ways,
and the Lord directs his steps. A man makes his plans, God orders
his steps. Why? Because the purpose of God
shall stand. Whatever man plans and does,
he is carrying out the will of his
maker. And you can carry that to every,
everything, everything. There's no exceptions to these
things. Our God reigns. We live and we move and we have
our being in him. This is the message that Paul's
preaching to these men. There is a God in the heavens
and he's absolutely sovereign and he reigns. This is such a
great comfort to the, to the people of God. In times of trial,
to know that they can rejoice in the Lord always. In times
of trouble, they can know that when that thorn in the flesh
is so sharp and so strong, my grace is sufficient for thee.
These things have been purposed of God. I often think of that
time where Jacob's sons came back from Egypt. And Joseph,
who they didn't know was Joseph, said, bring Benjamin back with
you or you'll not get any more bread. And so they came back
and what did Jacob say? Jacob said, Joseph is not. Joseph is not. He's gone. I've
already grieved his death. He's gone. And Simeon now is
not. You left him in Egypt. And now you want to take Benjamin
from me? And then what was his conclusion? All these things
are against me. It was God that ordained Jacob's
brothers, Jacob's sons, to sell Joseph into slavery, that Joseph
might go before them. You meant it for evil, God meant
it for good. And the best years of Jacob's
life. I mean, here Jacob was a, was
a shepherd, a Bedouin shepherd in a desert land. And he's going
to live in the land of Goshen, a fertile land. And his son is
going to be the prime minister of Egypt, the greatest nation
in all the world. The best years of Jacob's life
were in front of him. And he thought all these things
were against him. The Lord was working all these things out
according to his purpose. for the good of his people. That's what Joseph said to his
brothers. He said, the Lord sent me here ahead of you to save
you, save you. Then that's the way we are. We
look at our circumstances. We think all of these things
are against me. I want to remind you tonight, brethren, our God
reigns and every single thing that's happened, there's not
a molecule out of place. There's not a believer or an
unbeliever that's not doing exactly what God has purposed for them
to do in order for him to save his people. It's all about the
salvation of God's people. And our God is not leaving anything,
anything unchecked or out of place. You know, We get frustrated with
our political leaders because of the corruption and the hypocrisy
that we see. And yet here's what God says.
The King's heart is in the hand of the Lord. Not just what the
King does is in the hand of the Lord. His heart is in the hand
of the Lord. And as God leads the rivers of
water, so shall he lead the heart of the King. As the rivers of water, he turneth
it whithersoever he wills. He turneth the heart of the king
whithersoever he wills. You see, the heads of state,
the president of our country and the president of North Korea
is doing exactly what God wills him to do. Exactly. It's all happening according
to God's purpose. He directs it whithersoever He
wills. You know, we look at the supply
chain and we think, you know, things are out of control. And we look at the economy and
the inflation and coronavirus, and we think, boy, this thing
is all falling apart. No, no, it's all right on schedule. It's right on schedule. For in
Him, we live and we move and we have our being. All men live
and move and have their being in God. All men are under the complete
control of almighty God. Job chapter 23, verse 13, but
he is in one mind and who can turn him? What his soul desireth,
that he doeth. Now, Job was talking about God
and he spoke the truth. He's of one mind. Who can turn
him? What he desireth, that he doeth. With the devils of hell, he doeth
it. Look, Psalm 33, verse 11. The counsel, and that word means
purpose. The counsel or purpose of the
Lord standeth forever. The thoughts of his heart are
unto all generations. So what God said to Abraham back
there in Genesis chapter 18, long, long time ago is just as
true today as it was then. The nations of this world are
being blessed because of him. Psalm Proverbs 21 verse 30 says,
there is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. There's not a single man in this
world that can frustrate the purpose of God, can thwart it
or change it in any way. Listen to what Isaiah said in
Isaiah 14, 24. The Lord of hosts hath sworn,
saying, surely, as I have thought, so shall it come to pass, and
as I have purposed, so shall it stand. Does this not give
you courage? Does this not give you hope?
Does this not cause you to just rejoice in the Lord and knowing
that our God reigns? Listen to what he went on to
say in verse 27 of Isaiah 14. For the Lord of hosts hath purposed,
and who shall disannul it? His hand is stretched out, and
who shall turn it back? I am the Lord, I'm God, and there's
none else. Let me show you that. Turn with
me to Isaiah chapter 46. Isaiah 46. This is glorious. Paul's standing
before these philosophers saying, all those idols you've got out
there, they're not gods. They've got no power, no control. You see that one you've got over
there says the unknown God, the catch all one that you're trying
to, that's what I'm talking about. The one you don't know. That's
the one I'm preaching to you. And he is the one and only true
God and he's God. He's just God. And as God, he's sovereign, he's
omnipotent. Look at Isaiah 46. Look with
me at verse nine. Remember the former things of
old. Remember the things that I did in the past. I haven't
changed. I'm the same yesterday, today,
and forever. What I did for Abraham, what I did for Jacob, what I
did for my people all through the ages, I'm still doing. I
haven't changed. Remember the days of old. That's
why the Lord gives us so many of these stories in the Bible
to encourage us to believe him. For I am God and there is none
else. I am God and there's none like
me. Declaring the end from the beginning. So I say again, God's not putting
a silver lining around storm clouds. He sends the storm clouds. He's not just making something
good out of something bad. Has evil come to the city and
the Lord's not sent it? Our God's ordained and purposed
everything from the beginning to the end, and he's left nothing
undone, nothing unchecked. Declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times of things that are not yet done, saying,
my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. Every bit
of it. calling a ravenous bird from
the East, the man that executed my counsel from the far country.
Yay. I have spoken it. I will also
bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will also
do it. And God's people say, Oh man,
I can rest in a God like that. God, who's absolutely sovereign. And we're not talking about just
sovereign in Providence. We'll get to that in a moment. No man can change or thwart anything
about the purpose of God. That's why Psalm 2 said, well,
the heathen may rage and the people may imagine a vain thing.
And the kings of the earth may gather themselves together and
say, let us cast his courts from us. We'll not bow to this man. And God says, I've set my king
upon my holy hill. And the Lord who's in the heaven
laughs. He holds them in derision for
one of his puny creatures to raise his fist to heaven and
say, well, cat, let's cast his cords from us. Let's do it our
way. Let us break his bands asunder.
He that sitteth in the heavens. He that sitteth in the, God doesn't
have to get up and get anxious and try to figure out what he's
gonna do when somebody, when they act this way. He hasn't
gotten up, he's still sitting down. He's laughing at him. That's why that Psalm 2 ends
with kiss the son. Kiss the son, lest he be angry.
And he kindled his fire with just a little wrath. And that's
what faith is. Faith is coming before an absolute
omnipotent sovereign God and bowing before him, confessing
him as Thomas did, my Lord and my God. Or do you do rain and
you do all things together for good? for them that love you
and those that are called according to his purpose. That's why the
Lord said, don't, don't strive with your maker. Let the potsherds
of the earth contend with the potsherds of the earth. You bow
to your maker. You love your maker. You trust
your maker. You believe your maker because
in him, you live and you move and you have all your being.
And all life is in Him. And all movement is in Him. And
all being is in Him. The devils do His bidding. I
can remember in times past when I had trouble with I think he's at first Samuel
16, where Saul is trying to kill David. And the scripture says,
there's like five or six times in that one chapter where the
scripture says, and God sent an evil spirit to trouble Saul. You see, it's not just the men
on this earth that are under his sovereign control. It's not
just the angels, the elect angels in heaven who lovingly and willingly
do his bidding. It's the demons in hell that
are under his sovereign control. And when God wants to send an
evil spirit, he just calls one of them and they do his bidding.
Why those, that legion of angels, did they not have to ask permission?
to be put into the swine? Did Satan himself not have to
ask the Lord to get permission from the Lord before he could
do anything to Job? The demons in hell do the bidding
of our God. They are under His absolute sovereign
control. And everything they do is according
to His purpose. Peter, Satan has asked to sift
you. Could Satan have sifted Peter
without coming to the Lord and asking him? No, no. And he can't sift you or me without
the Lord allowing him, without the Lord saying, you have my
permission. I'll use that, I'll use that. I purpose that. With first Kings chapter 22, the scripture
says, the Lord put a lying spirit in the mouth of the prophets
of Israel. I don't have any trouble with that
anymore. Now that I understand my God's sovereign, I don't have
trouble with God putting a lying spirit in the mouth of a prophet.
or God sending evil spirits to trouble the soul. You see, they're
all under his sovereign control. That's why we fear God, not the
devil. We know that he's the only one
that can... All the spirits of heaven and
hell are under his control. In 1 Chronicles chapter 21, you
remember when David numbered the children of Israel against
the Lord's will and the Lord gave him an option as to what
kind of punishment would come and chastisement against the
children of Israel. And David chose the pestilence
and the Lord sent an angel. He sent an angel and started
destroying the city of Jerusalem. And then God stopped that angel,
said, that's enough. That's enough. The angels elect and the angels
fallen are all under the sovereign control of our God. Just go back to the Garden of
Eden. When the Lord cursed the devil in the garden of Eden,
no objections from him. You're going to crawl on the
belly of your, as a serpent on the belly and the dust of the
earth forever. And what was he going to say?
Nothing. Our God hath done whatsoever
he wills. Oh, brethren, why do we murmur? Why do we complain? Is it not
our unbelief? Is it not accusing God of wrongdoing? Is it not the pride of thinking
that maybe we know better than he does? Oh, Lord, forgive us. forgive us. Does not the God of all the earth
do right? Does he not purpose all things
from the beginning to the end for the good of his people? When We're bothered by an evil
spirit. The Lord sends. What do we say? Oh Lord, lead me not into temptation. Deliver me from that evil one. Take that accusing spirit away
from me. Be thankful in all things. Rejoice
in the Lord always. Oh, the Lord said I've loved
you with an everlasting love. We got nothing. I know the thoughts
that I think towards you. Thoughts of good, not of evil. Turn with me to Colossians chapter
one. In him, we live and we move and we have
our being. And that's true physically of
all men and of all angels and of all devils. They all live
and they all move and they all have their being according to
his divine purpose. Our God is sovereign. Spiritually, it's true in God's
elect. In Christ, we live. In Christ, we move. In Christ,
we have our being. And only in him, in him was life. And the life was the light of
men. And the light came into the world. And the world comprehended
it not. Why? Because it exposed them
for what they were. exposed their sin for what it
was, exposed their righteousness for what it was. And they loved their sin more
than the truth and would not bow. Look at Colossians 1 at
verse 19. For it pleased the Father that
in him all fullness dwell. And having made peace through
the blood of his cross by him, to reconcile all things unto
himself by him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things
in heaven." The Lord made, the Father made
the Lord Jesus Christ Lord over the living and the dead when
he raised him from the dead. Look at chapter two at verse
nine. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in him, which is
the head of the principality in power. Oh, from before the foundation
of the world. You know, that's biblical language
for speaking of eternity. You say, well, how far before
the foundation of the world was the covenant of grace established
and will be placed in Christ? No, you can't ask that question
because before the foundation of the world, there's no time.
There's no time in eternity. Eternity is just eternity. We
can't comprehend that. Everything we do is based on
time. And we've got watches, we judge our time during the
day, we measure the length of life by birthdays, and we're
bound to time, aren't we? The Lord's scripture says that
we were chosen in Christ before time was. Before there was time,
we were placed in Him. And all those that God placed
in Him will remain in Him. He said, I'll never leave you
nor forsake you. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. What God has determined
in Him, all the fullness of the Godhead dwell bodily and you
are complete. You are complete in Him. which is the head of all principality
and all power. And that's not just talking about,
that's talking about the demons, that's talking about the earth,
that's talking about everything, everything that men look to as
power, he's the head over it all. And nothing happens without the,
without the head. Look at chapter three at verse,
One, if you then be risen with Christ. See, if we were, if we
were in him before the foundation of the world, we were in him
when he came into this world. We were in him when he lived
his perfect life of, of, of law keeping and obedience. And we
were in him when he went to the cross. And we were in Him when
He raised from the dead. That's what baptism's all about.
We were in Him when He ascended into glory. And all that are
in Him now were in Him before time began and always will be
until there be time no more. Seated in the heavenlies in Christ. Oh, there's our hope. There's
our hope. What God does, if you need to
be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where
Christ seated at the right hand of God, set your affections on
things above, not on things of the earth, for you are dead and
your life is hid with Christ in God. For in him, we live. For in Him we move. For in Him we have our being. You are hid with Christ in God. If God has hidden Christ and
all those that are in Christ are hid in Him, is there any
way that that's... God had made Him sin who knew
no sin. that we may be made the righteousness
of God in Him. In Him. Our God reigns, brethren. He's
sovereign. What He's purposed from the beginning,
He's gonna see it through to the end. And though we can't
see the beginning to the end, let's close with that passage.
Turn with me to Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes chapter three. There are sad and sorrowful and
hard times in this life. And yet in the midst of it all,
the heart of God's people are brought by the spirit of God
to bow and to say, Lord, you do what's right. Do what's right. Look at verse 10 of Ecclesiastes
chapter three. I have seen the travail which
God had given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. Oh, there's some travail. And
there's some travail coming that's gonna be harder than the travail
we've had in the past. He hath made everything beautiful
in his time. God's God's, oh, what is the
beauty of it? The beauty of it is when all
of God's people are gathered together at the Lamb's wedding
feast, and they're robed in the righteousness of Christ, and
they see him as he is, and they're made like him, and they're rid
of sin, and the time's no more. He's making everything beautiful
in his time. That's the beauty. We don't see
much of it here in this world. But by faith, we believe that
all that he's doing is to that end. And in this world, he has set
the world in their heart so that no man can find out the work
that God maketh from beginning to end. Can't figure it out, can you?
Can't see, you can't connect the dots, can you? looking at
the back of the tapestry and there's a lot of knots, and a
lot of different colors, and a lot of stuff that seems confusing,
and yet you know, you know that your God is on the other side
weaving together His purpose to gather together His church Father, bless your word, forgive
us for our unbelief, and increase our faith, we ask it in Christ's
name, amen. Number 12, let's stand together. In the spiral hymn book.