All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Proverbs chapter 16. Proverbs
chapter 16. I've been going through the book
of Proverbs now for, well, close to 11 years. And we're going
to plan for today to just back up to one verse of scripture
found, verse 33, Proverbs 16. I feel that for me, and I know
for all God's people, we need to hear and be reminded time
and time again, because we're prone to forget, we're prone
to worry, fret, complain about the circumstances of our life,
and the scripture in Proverbs 16.33 sets forth the truth that
truly is a comfort to our heart. The scripture says the lot is
cast into the lap. But the whole disposing thereof
is of the Lord. Now, we know that we're sojourners
in this world. God's people are traveling through
this world. The Lord has ordered our time
here. He ordered our birth. He orders
our death. It's ordained. It's appointed
unto man once to die. We know that. And we know that
this is not our final home. We know that. Scripture sets
forth that we're in a world that is absolutely under the direction
and government of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
But now, do we really perceive and consider the magnitude of
His government? No. No, we don't. This scripture
sets forth that everything that happens, now this may to some
people seem far-fetched, and as I've said so many times before,
when we say all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to His purpose, He worketh all
things after the counsel of his own wills. That means that if
a fly comes into a room and aggravates me, which it'll do, or if there
is a king, a Hasuerus, who in the book of Esther couldn't sleep
one night and ordered that the book of the records of his country
be brought forth and read to him and he heard that a man named
Mordecai had saved his life. Mordecai, you know, if a sparrow
or a leaf from a tree falls to the ground or if one of the vessels
of God's mercy is brought unto the sound of the gospel. Everything
has been ordained according to the direction and power of God's
will. Now, we've got to understand
this. Nothing happens apart from God's
providence, God's will, God's purpose. All things providentially
are sent for God's glory and the eternal good of his elect. And that truth, which I know
I need to hear, I need to hear again. It's a great comfort. It causes me to rest and say,
Lord, why do I doubt? Why do I not trust you? And thank you for establishing
again in my mind that you're God. and that I'm not running
the show, you are. And that you're the one who has
everlastingly loved your people, you've chosen, you've ordained
them in Christ Jesus according to your good pleasure, your covenant
of your eternal grace, and you've ordained their end from the beginning. And you control everything to
assure that you bring them exactly to that point. And it was for
your praise and honor. So God's will is going to be
done. And God's will for us concerning
His government, here's what the scripture says, 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5, it says, in everything. Now, here again, here we go.
In everything, oh, if I could just remember this. In everything,
give thanks for this, that is, that thankful spirit is the will
of God in Christ Jesus. This is the will of God as He
has revealed Himself to His people in Christ concerning you, concerning
each of His elect. So he's working all things and
we're to, in everything, give thanks. If I could just, if I
could just remember whatever comes, I am so prone, I just
fly off the handle, I just, I lose control, I argue, I bicker, and
I think, why did this happen? If I could remember that Almighty
God is working everything for His glory and my good. Now the
scripture we're looking at today, it says the lot is cast into
the lab. Now concerning the practice of
casting lots, it was a God-ordained practice found in the Old Testament. I think of casting, you know,
dice, shooting dice, you know, roll the dice, and in a sense
I can see that, but what this was, it was where they had a
container, an urn, a hat, a cloak, whatever, and covered up, and
they would take and write on it, write something on it, and
then a priest, whoever, they would reach in. If there was
a decision that had to be made, a decision of important matters,
the priest would take it and he'd reach in and pull it out.
They're looking for an answer from the Lord. And when this
was, according to God's people and God's priests, it wasn't
left to luck. Somebody said, well, he did lucky.
No, it was a God-ordained practice it. There's no such thing as
luck. If luck is an issue, then God's not working everything.
But if God's working everything, it's not luck, it's God's providence. So whenever the lot was cast,
it was the Lord God himself, the governor and the director,
who determined the outcome. That's what scripture, the lot's
cast into the lap, the whole disposing of, A whole disposing
thereof is of the Lord. Now, in the determining of the
will, hold your place right there. Turn to Numbers chapter 26. Numbers
26. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Numbers 26. I want to read verses
52. Numbers 26. Starting in verse
52. When the children of Israel,
when God was going to send His people into into the promised
land. And they were going to determine
the inheritance. They were going to divide it
up. God ordered the division of the land to be according to
his purpose. He divided up the promised land
the way God was determined to do it. And then he also, you
know, they wrote down. They divided it up according
to the, you know, the families of the 12 tribes. And then they
write down that particular piece of property. They put that in
the hat, whatever. And then they write down the
names of the 12 tribes. Put that in there. And then the
priest would take it and he'd reach in. There's the piece of property. This is who gets it. Now, listen
to this, Numbers 26, verse 52. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance
according to the number of the names. To many thou shalt give
the more inheritance. To the few thou shalt give the
less inheritance. To every one shall inheritance
be given according to those that were numbered of him. Notwithstanding,
the land shall be divided by lot. According to the names of
the tribes of their fathers, they shall inherit according
to the lot, shall the possession thereof be divided between many
and few. The priest didn't determine the
plot of land. He didn't determine the name
on the paper. He pulled them out, and whatever
he pulled out, that's who got it. So the determining of the
difference of who got what, God ordered that. whenever, on the
Day of Atonement, one day a year, on the Day of Atonement, the
high priest, not without blood, would go in to the Holy of Holies,
and he would sprinkle the blood upon the mercy seat. And there
were two goats that were brought to him, and one goat was going
to be called the goat that was for the Lord. That goat was going
to be sacrificed. And the other goat would have
the high priest put his hands on top of that goat's head and
he would confess the sins of the people, confess that they
were sinners and they were symbolically placing that guilt and that goat
would be taken away. He was a scapegoat. He would
be taken into a far off place, you know, by a man who left him
out there. That was a picture of two goats
representing the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. the sacrifice
himself, and the taking away of the sins of the people. And
the scripture says in Leviticus 16.8, an Aaron shall cast lots
upon the two goats, one for the Lord and the other lot for the
scapegoat. So casting of lots in the Old
Testament was done that the Lord might show his will, provide
for the people a hearing. And it was done out of reverence
and respect on the Lord, because the Lord determined the outcome. Now the last mention, and this
was an amazing thing, if I err not here, the last time that
lots were cast was recorded in the book of Acts chapter 26,
and it was pertaining to the desire of the apostles to seek
God's will and pleasure concerning replacing Judas. Judas had killed
himself, and the scripture says that the apostles, they got two
guys together, a Joseph and a Matthias, and they were going to cast lots,
and it says in Acts 126, and they gave forth their lots, and
the lot fell upon Matthias. And he was numbered with the
11 apostles. Now, it's been rightly noted
that the name of Matthias, the one that was chosen by Lot, was
never mentioned again in scriptures. The apostles, by Lot, chose that
and it fell on him. But the Lord was pleased to call
a man named Paul. Saul of Tarsus, who later called
the apostle to be the apostle of God's choice. So therefore,
from that revelation, we could consider that God's not pleased
anymore to use the casting of lots to reveal His will, or His
promise. No mention of lots whatsoever
being cast after the book of Acts. And all the establishing
of the churches and stuff, no more. But though the casting of lots
is not found to continue today, we're taught in the picture and
type of what that casting of lots did, is that the Lord himself
is the one that appoints the boundaries of his people in everything. In every part of our lives, our
life is marked, appointed, and directed. by Almighty God. And the Scriptures declare that
when the lots were cast according to the Lord's direction for the
people, the whole disposing of it, it came together, His act
was in His hands and His will was done in the Old Testament.
But now, we don't cast lots anymore. God obviously stopped it. I mean, the lots were cast for
Matthias, That was it. Obviously, that wasn't God's
man. God chose his man. So the sovereign God of this
universe has set forth the truth that the Lord is going to order. The counsel of the Lord standeth
forever. Proverbs 19.21, there are many
devices in a man's heart. Nevertheless, the counsel of
the Lord shall stand. So today, how do we know? what the will of the Lord is.
They cast lots. That's how they knew. How do
we know? Providence. Providence. The providence of God. What happens
now? We know that the Lord has ordained. He knows the end. Again, as I
said before, He knows the end from the beginning. And so we
know that that the Lord promising that he's going to work all things
after the counsel of his own will, all we gotta know is what
happens. What happened? We don't know what's gonna happen
tomorrow. We know, the scripture said,
we don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow. Don't say today or
tomorrow we're gonna go to this city and that city and we're
gonna buy and sell and make gains. The Lord said, you don't know
that. But rather, if the Lord wills. will do this or that. So if we would but consider today
that every single action that comes about, heaven, earth, it's
going to be brought forth by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge
and will of Almighty God. That'll ease us. We can relax. Now what do we do? We pray the
Lord's will be done. Lord, if it be your will, we
ask, Lord, would you direct according to your will? And then whatever
comes about, then we say the Lord's will. The Lord's will
was done. So we're troubled on many sides. I understand that.
But when the circumstances of this life are brought about according
to God's good pleasure, then we know that Almighty God's will
is being done. So, the scripture says concerning
the will of the Lord. Listen to Colossians 1.16. It
says, for by Him And I looked this up, this is an amazing,
it says for by him. And obviously when we think of
by him, that means by his agency, by him, by him, the Lord did
it. That's true. But the word by
there actually means in, I in. For in him. And this to me just
took on a whole new meaning. In my mind, I say, okay, the
Lord created all this by Him. But the scripture sets forth
that in Him, in Him. Now we start thinking of that,
and we start thinking, Lord, I've thought way too low of You. I've not considered You as I
ought. For in Him were all things created
that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible, invisible,
whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers,
all things were created by Him. Now that word by is a different
word. Same verse translated the same
word, but they mean two different things. The first one means,
for in Him were created, and this one means by His service
and intervention. That's what that means. It does
mean He did it, but all things were created in Him. And the
scripture says, and for Him. All things were made by Him or
in Him, and all things were created by His intervention. And they were all created for
him. The most majestic creation. I mean, we look at man. Look at man. What a creation. Created in the image of God.
Somebody said, well, what does that mean? I don't really know.
I don't know. There's some things that I've
thought of, and because I can't put them to words, I don't comment
on them because I don't know how to say them. But when God
said, let us, now there's the Trinity, let us create man in
our image. I know that we're chosen in Christ. I know, but the Lord himself
didn't come into being in time. He always was. He was made flesh
in time. Scripture says in Proverbs 8,
the Lord speaking of Himself as the Mediator, the representative
of His people, He said, I was ever before Him. I was ever His
delight. He's talking about His Father.
So there's certain things that we believe and trust, but I don't
know how to say them. But we were created in His image. That means that He was before
us. But again, I don't know how to
explain that, so I'll just leave it there. But that the most majestic
creation, whether it be, you know, it's got to be man, because
the Lord was never created, obviously that, or whether it's angels,
whether it's the stars, the sun, you know, the most elaborate,
majestic creation of this universe exists to serve the ultimate
purpose of the glory of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything
that is created, everything that we see, everything that we know,
everything that is brought about in Providence is brought about
to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ in the redemption and salvation
of His people. And you say, I don't understand
how a leaf falling from a tree, I don't understand that, I don't
understand how a bird, a sparrow hitting the ground, I don't see
how that, that's okay, that's okay. That's okay that we don't
understand it. There's no way we can understand
it. There's no way we can, but we believe it. We believe it. We believe that everything that's
happened, not a car, these cars that are passing by. Somebody
said, well, they're just going to work. No, they're not. No,
they're not. There's a purpose in everything. God has created
everything by or in the Lord Jesus Christ, God in the person
Christ. And it was created for Him, for
His glory, that He might be glorified as the God-man mediator between
God and men. So this universe created by Him,
for Him, it's His property. This is His. All of this is His,
and it's this property that we look at, we see it, behold it,
we can see the heavens, and the scripture says the glory of God
magnifies, displays the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. But
this is all His, and it was created for the express purpose to show
the mercy and compassion of Almighty God in the person of His blessed
Son, to those that the Lord eternally loved. I mean, this is, you know,
all these cities and these countries, these oceans, you think, what
is all that for? It's for Him. Him. Now, that's an amazing revelation,
but the Scriptures declare that it pleased God. through every
act of his providence in creation to display the wonders of his
electing, redeeming, and regenerating love, and that his son might
be honored. Now I'm quite sure that we fail
to perceive how that's being brought about. I guarantee you
we don't have a clue, but we believe it. We believe it, and
it settles our hearts. We just said, the Lord did that. When Joseph, back in the Old
Testament, his brothers were all very jealous of him. His
dad made him a coat of many colors. And they took him and were going
to kill him. And one of the brothers, Judah,
I believe it was, said, no, no, no, let's don't kill him. Hey
look, there's a traveling caravan right there. Let's sell him. Let's give him to them. And here's
Joseph. He doesn't understand. What's
going on? You threw me in a pit. I mean, you're my brothers. I
don't get it. I don't get it. And they get
him and they put him in there and a man named Potiphar. gets
a hold of him. Now he's Potiphar's servant.
And Potiphar's wife, you know, cast her eye on him and desired
him and tried to get him to commit adultery with her. And he said,
no, no, no, no, no. He ran and she lied on him and
threw him in prison. I don't get it. I don't get it.
Why? Why? Providence. Providence. And then it comes up and he works
his way up and God in His good pleasure and timing puts him
second in command right under Pharaoh in Egypt. It makes him the one that you
have to come to to get the corn. Everybody had to come to Joseph.
And you know, look, Joseph, years and years and years later there
was a famine over in the land of his family and his daddy Sent
the brothers, you know, and there was Joseph. They didn't know
who he was. All of this was brought about that God might preserve
His people alive in Egypt. I mean, can you imagine Joseph
thinking, I thought serving the Lord was going to be easier. The Lord, no, He's promised you're
going to have tribulation. And all of these, it's just absolutely
necessary. that everything be brought about
in this world through the circumstances that have been ordered by God
that God might receive the glory. The Lord said in John 17 2, Thou has given him, that is Christ
himself, he's praying to his father in his high priestly prayer,
Thou has given him power over all flesh Well, does that mean
unbelievers too? Yeah. Here again, if they fall
under all flesh, thou has given him power over all flesh, that
he should give eternal life to as many as thou has given him.
Every person, whether they be a vessel of God's elected grace,
or if God's been pleased to leave them to themselves as a reprobate,
all of them are God's servants. They all serve God's purpose,
all of them. And Almighty God is going to
be magnified for His mercy or for His justice. All men, all
women are going to serve God. I can tell you that right now.
They're all power. So aren't we thankful for His
promise to never leave us, never forsake. He said, I'm not going
to leave you. I'm not going to forsake you. And do we not thank
Him afresh that He's given us eternal life? And He said, I
promise you, you're not going to perish. Well, how do I know
if I've got a lot, if I've got a place in that place of mercy? God gives me a heart to believe
it. And gives me a heart that longs
to hear that again. You want to hear the gospel again.
You want to hear more. I want to grow. I want to grow
in the knowledge of Almighty God. Grow in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior. So Mr. Spurgeon made this statement. He said concerning the squabbling
about God's providence. He said we're meddling in his
business. I thought this was a good statement.
We're meddling in his business and neglecting our own. He said,
we're trying to provide the work, and we're forgetting that our
lot is to wait and obey. Be thankful. It would be wise
to be attentive to trust him in his providential dealings. But all but this state of waiting
on the Lord and resting in his good pleasure, that doesn't come
easy. That flies in the face of our
flesh. We've still got an old man that
wants to argue with God and wants to doubt His pleasure. We know that every trial comes
his way. We know He's promised that. You
know, in this life you'll have tribulation. But boy, when they
come, boy, I tell you, I'm the first one to gripe. Somebody
said, well, I just don't know why. Well, that's me. It's only
when we experience his hand of deliverance from the stress of
this world, when we experience it and we behold, we look back,
then we can say, as David, it's good for me that I've been afflicted. I looked that up, afflicted.
Browbeaten. Browbeaten. Browbeaten. Hurt. Ravished. and humbled. It's good for me
that I've been afflicted, that I might learn, that is by experience. It's actually learn means to
be goaded like a cattle prod. You know what a cattle prod is.
You know, to be taught or instructed. It's good for me that I might
learn thy statutes. What do you mean statutes? The
Lord's appointment for me. God's statutes for me is what
He's appointed for me. So the Lord has been pleased
to bring His people about through trials and tribulations, just
like He did Joseph. And He teaches, but let me ask
you this. Shall He who has given us the
bread of heaven Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, who sent His
only begotten Son to come into this world to save His chosen
people from their sins. Will He fail to give me something
to eat tonight? He's given me His Son. Will He
fail to give me something to eat? A sandwich or something? He who has robed His people in
righteousness. Is He going to fail to give me
a shirt to wear? You know, we get all stressed
out. all this stuff. Could he who
has provided a mansion for me in glory, is he going to forget
or fail to give me a shelter in the time of storm in this
life? He said, I'm not going to leave you. So he brings about
the things that come our way because we need them. We need them. It's not that he
does these things out of anger or something. He's not, God's
not angry with his people. God's wrath has been completely
taken away at Calvary. The Lord who saw the Lamb slain,
God's never been angry with his people in wrath. No, he's, you
know, and so Paul has promised, the Spirit of God has promised
through Paul Philippians 4 now, but my God shall supply all your
need, even trials, even trials, according to his riches in glory
by Christ. So in closing, the lot. That is the portion of God's
purpose and pleasure for each of his children according to
his all wise heart of mercy and compassion. The lot. That means
whatever comes, whatever happens, the lot. is cast into the lap. That means it's divinely ordered
and sent according to His timely good pleasure into the life of
each of the vessels of His affection. The lot is cast into the lap,
but the whole disposing thereof, the whole of what is brought
about and accomplished and exposed is of the Lord. It is by Him
and for Him. Now, when our heart is clouded
with anxiety and we pour out our heart unto Him and we cast
all of our care upon Him, may the Spirit of God be pleased
to bring this verse of Scripture to our hearts. I know from mine.
I need to hear this often. Scripture says in Psalm 27.4,
wait on the Lord. Be of good courage. He shall
strengthen thy heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. I pray the Lord bless this to
our hearts for His glory and our good.