Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Proverbs 21. Proverbs 21. I'd like to look at the first
verse. Proverbs 21 1. The scripture declares the king's heart is
in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of water he turneth it
whether so ever he will. Now, without a doubt, this scripture
sets forth that Almighty God is sovereign. God does as he will. Army of heaven, inhabitants of
the earth. No one stays his hand, no one
resists him. God is God. In the days of Solomon,
the king, the natural king, he ruled with delegated authority
and power. He ruled with delegated authority
because all power, all authority is given unto the Son. That He
should give eternal life to as many as the Father has given
Him. So even natural kings weren't
sovereign. They thought they were. Scripture says of Nebuchadnezzar,
Daniel 5.19, whom he would, he slew. Whom he would, he kept
alive. Whom he would, he set up. Whom
he would, he put down. He thought he ruled. Deuteronomy
32.39 says, see now that I, even I am he, and there's no God with
me. I kill. I make alive. I would wound, I heal, neither
is there any that can deliver out of my hand. So as high-minded
as natural kings were and are, they're dependent on Almighty
God who rules and reigns. That's what the scripture says.
Proverbs 8, 15, 16, by me kings reign, princes decree justice
by me, princes rule and nobles, even all the judges of the earth.
Almighty God is in control of everything. He does everything. Now, he may be pleased to give
someone a heart. I'm gonna just read this for
you, Ezra 1. He may be pleased to give an
earthly king a heart, a desire for his honor and glory in the
accomplishment of his will for his people. Now, Ezra won one
in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the
Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. The Lord
stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he made
a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also
in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, The Lord
God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He
hath charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is
in Judah. Who is there among you of all
his people? His God be with him. Let him
go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house
of the Lord God of Israel. He is God, which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in any
place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him
with silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, beside the
freewill offerings of the house of God that's in Jerusalem. God
may move upon Cyrus, and tell Cyrus, this is what you're going
to say, and Cyrus says, this is what I say. Or, the Lord may
allow a Pharaoh to have his heart hardened and
not hearken unto the Lord. Listen to Exodus 7.13, That is,
the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart that he hearkened not unto them
as the Lord had said. What did God do? He let him do
exactly what he wanted to do. You want to be rebellious? You're
going to have just what you want. Be careful what you ask for.
You may get it. God Almighty is God. The King's heart It's in the
hand of the Lord. As the rivers of water, He turneth
it, He directs it, He inclines it, whithersoever He will. A gardener, he might find it
to be a very easy task to take a little riverlet of water. I remember when we were Growing
up, we'd have a garden and my dad would put a water hose at
the end of the row and I'd just watch it just kind of run down
the dirt, you know. I just kept watching it go. If
it kind of got out of the way he wanted, he'd just take his
foot, take his hand, just his finger, just move it like that
and there it goes. That's the way it's going. That's the way
the Lord moves the rivers. That's the way the Lord moves
the heart of King. Almighty God turns the heart,
the mind, the understanding, the thinking, the resolution,
and the determination of everybody, whether so ever He will. He worketh all things, He operates,
He affects everything after the counsel of His will. But found
within that verse of scripture, and there's no doubt about it,
that's the truth. But found within that verse of
Scripture is the glory of Almighty God in the face of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And what is the standard? What
is the rule? What is the question that everybody
must ask whenever you hear any passage of Scripture? What's
the question? Where's the lamb? Where's the
lamb in this passage? I want us to look at this passage
of scripture knowing that it actually means natural kings.
There's no doubt about it. But I want us to consider the
one, the king, the king of kings himself. who ever stood as the
surety of God's people, God's sheep. If we don't see the glory
of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we've missed
it. We've not seen the gospel. The
gospel is concerning Christ Jesus the Lord, His work, His honor,
His glory, His praise. Now I want us to just look for
just a moment. and see Him. The King's heart,
the King of kings, the Lord of lords is in the hand of Jehovah. Now, as being Almighty God, there's
no turning of His heart. As being God, There's no directing. Why? He's immutable. He changes not. He does not change. His mind never changes. Does He have mercy on whomsoever
He will right now? Then He everlastingly determined
to have mercy. Is He purposed to save a sinner
now? Then He eternally purposed to
save a sinner. He's never changed His mind.
So with Him there's no shadow of turning, but as being found
the man. Christ Jesus, the one who according
to God's everlasting covenant of grace, the one who made himself
of no reputation, the one who stood as the faithful surety
and federal head of the sheep, the God-man mediator, we can
truthfully say concerning his heart, which has never changed. Now understand something, his
heart as God never changes, His heart as the God-man never changes. So when was His heart directed? The King's heart is in the hand
of Jehovah. Here it is. According to God's
everlasting covenant of grace, He who stood as the surety, the
mediator, According to God Almighty's will, Jehovah's will, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the King Himself, agreed to the direction, the
will of Jehovah. He bowed as the God-Man Mediator. in holy agreement for God's glory
and the eternal good of God's people. He agreed. His heart
was directed according. And God's heart and direction
was His heart and direction. It's the same heart. The King's
heart, the King's inclination, the King's determination is according
to the power and the will of Almighty God. The Scriptures
are full. It sets forth His deity and His
humanity. And only as we see the Lord according
to His willingness to eternally... Now understand something. The
Lord Jesus Christ never came into this world and had His mind
changed. His direction, His heart was
never changed. It was eternally purposed. that
his heart was directed. You listen to this John 4, 4.
And he must needs go through Samaria. Why? Because there was one of his
sheep there. There was a woman at the well he's going to have
to meet and in absolute obedience according to God's will and God's
purpose before the foundation of the world eternally, everlastingly.
His heart was directed by the everlasting covenant of God's
grace of which He stood and said, I'll answer according to Thy
will. Why was He doing that? Why was
He doing that? Because you and I have got to
live by faith. We must live by faith. And He made Himself of no reputation,
made Himself made of a woman, made under the law to be obedient. And His heart everlastingly moved. And here we see Him in obedience
going and crossing the paths of one everlastingly loved of
God and chosen in Him. Here was God in human flesh. A deity who never
changes. Man who is obedient, submissive
unto his Father. You listen to the words of the
God-man mediator. You listen to his words. My meat,
John 4.34, is to do the will of Him that sent me. and to finish
His work. You and I must walk by faith.
And I'm going to tell you something. We're not going to do it. So
what did He do? He, in absolute agreement to
the Father's will, that we might be holy and without blame before
Him in love. came into this world according
to God's covenant of grace and made Himself answerable. His heart was everlastingly turned
in all that He did on this earth. He did in perfect agreement to
His Father's will, which was His will. But He did it in absolute
Submission. You listen to Galatians 2.16. I'll read this for you. Galatians
2.16. I told you about a little pamphlet
I saw the other day. And it was talking about, it
said this is what we believe. We believe in salvation by faith. It all depends on whose faith
you're talking about. If you're talking about mine
and yours, my friend, we're up a creek. If you think you're
saved because of your faith, that's not what the scripture
says. We're saved by grace through faith. and that not of yourselves. Listen to the faith, whose faith
we're saved by. Galatians 2.16, knowing that
a man is not justified. Now what does that mean, justified? It means the law looks and says
no charge, no infraction, no guilt, justified. knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. The faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. Here's what
we believe. We believe that His faith His
submission, His faithfulness, His obedience is the obedience
that He robes us in. That robe of righteousness. He
must have come into this world in absolute, as a man, in absolute submission to God's
will, God's purpose. God's demands for righteousness.
And obey God. Obey the law. Every jot and tittle
of the law must be fulfilled and honored. He came to fulfill
it, not to put the law away, not to abolish it, but to honor
it. Obey it with men. Our minds That's something that's
done according to God's eternal purpose. That's something that's
done in time. Our minds are changed. We thought
one way and now the Lord directs us another. We thought one time
before salvation, we hated this gospel. Hated it. Despised, despised
the God of this Bible. Somebody said, I never hated
God. Well, then either you're wrong or God's wrong. Because
the carnal mind, the scripture says, is enmity. Has hatred for
God. It's against Him. No, we were
all children of wrath. Wrathful children against God.
Even as others. But God, who's rich in mercy,
turned our heart, gave us a new one. Changed our mind. And now this gospel that we hated,
we love it. God's people that we hated one
time, now we love them because we love the God who's loved them
everlastingly, called them out of darkness. Here was the Lord,
coming in unto His own, and now here He is. the servant of Jehovah. Find him in the garden of Gethsemane.
Listen to his words. Now this is God Almighty. The
king's heart is in the hand of the Lord as the suffering servant. Obediently living for his people
as their federal head. And here's the lamb. The substitute
of the sheep who must endure the undiluted and indescribable
magnitude of divine wrath. Now you listen, you listen to
what God Almighty in human flesh humbling Himself. God humbling
Himself in the form of sinful flesh. and for sin, doing this
for His people. And here's what He says, Oh my
Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless,
not as I will, but as Thou wilt. Now my friend, how deep and mysterious
is the revelation of His submissiveness. to the direction of His Father,
to everlastingly say, My heart, according to Your will, Father,
is turned for obedience. I will answer. Like I said, His
heart was never turned except everlastingly. He's God. He's the Holy. God, man. And to find him praying three
different times, asking the Father the same thing, if there be any
other way. Oh, the weight of bearing the
sin of his people. But I tell you this, that question,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. I tell you what
a blessing that is to God's people. They realized there was no other
way. Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission.
Without Him being made sin and bearing our guilt and putting
it away, just as far as the east is from the west, behind back,
there's no other way. No other way. What if we're sincere? There's no other way. What if
we really do the best we can? There's no other way. What if
we give our heart to Jesus? There's no other way. Without
the shedding of blood. Oh, my Father. These are the
words of perfect faith. Perfect submission. The faith
of Jesus Christ. That robes everyone in this room
today that believes. This is our righteousness before
God. He is imputed to us. He must
submit, because you and I can't, and we won't. You remember, here's
the representative now. He's not standing. He didn't
come into this world as one separated, but he came as our federal head
to obey God. to establish righteousness, the
righteousness of God that is charged to the account. In a
garden, we fell in Adam, and I'll tell you in a garden, righteousness,
salvation was accomplished, recovered. Satan was conquered. Death was
given its blow. Hell in the grave. victoriously
conquered. He from all eternity stood in
submission. I was ever before Him. Our delights were with the sons
of men. And there He was, the submissive
Savior of His people. Jehovah prophetically spoke of
Him In closing, in Isaiah, I'll read this to you, Isaiah 42.
Listen to this. Listen to what the Father says
concerning Him. Behold My servant whom I uphold,
who I support. This is what the Father said
to the Son. You behold My servant, the one I uphold. You say, well,
He's God. Can he uphold himself? As our
federal head, he must be upheld. He must place himself in the
hands of the Father and walk by faith mine elect in whom my
soul delighted. I put my spirit upon him. He
shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry
nor lift up nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. What
does that mean? There's not going to be any resistance
to God's will. That's what he's saying. He's
not going to say, he's going to bow. He's going to bow. He
stood before Pilate. Pilate said, don't you know I've
got power? He said, you don't have any power
except it be given unto you. Who are you? And he said, ask
those that hurt me. He did nothing to defend himself.
Why? Because he bowed. Because the
heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord. Like the rivers
of water. Whithersoever He will, He turneth
it. Last verse, Psalm 22, 9. Listen to the words of the Lord
Himself. Psalm 22, 9-11. But thou art He that took me
out of the womb. That's what the Lord says to
His Father. Thou art He that took me out
of the womb. You delivered me. Thou didst make me hope when
I was upon my mother's breast. What does that mean? My margin
says correctly, You kept me in safety. You delivered me. I was cast upon thee from the
womb thou art my God from my mother's belly. Be not far from
me for trouble is near and there's none to help. You're the only
one. What submission? What obedience? We know from his need to go through
Samaria, to cross the path of a woman at the well, to his submission
to wash his disciples' feet, to silently stand before Pilate,
be ridiculed, have his beard plucked out, to his submission
to go to the cross, to the grave, his meat was to do the will of
Him that sent him. The heart of the King, and if
the King's heart, the King's heart, is in the hand of the
Lord, Where do you think that leaves me and you? May the Lord
bless the words to our heart this morning and cause us to
see this is our righteousness right here. His righteousness
imputed to us. Lord, keep us from looking to
ourselves for anything. For God's glory and our eternal
good. Amen.