Proverbs 16 1 the preparations
of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord the preparations of the heart
that is the the thoughts of the heart the the organizing of thought
in the heart Man and the answer of the tongue Is from the Lord Now anyone who's read the Word
of God or heard and or heard it preached Knows at least in their head
I believe that everything can be said truly to be from the
Lord in the sense that he is the first cause of everything.
In the beginning, God. In the beginning, God. There was only God in the beginning
of time. The only time anything began
was when God created time. And think about that, God created
time. How can there not be time? We
can't even comprehend that, can we? How can something happen
unless it happens either before or after something else? That'll
blow your little mind and mine too. Just thinking about that. But God said, there's gonna be
a beginning. And at that time, the first second
that ever ticked off, God. course God because there
wasn't anybody else how can something happen without
God if there is only God and here's the thing when time
began it didn't change eternity it's not that it We talk about
how can anything happen without being before or after something
else? I mean, that doesn't even compute in our brain. And yet
when God created time, that didn't change. It doesn't mean that
it wasn't that way anymore. Eternity is altogether separate
from time. It's not a limitless expanse
of time, it's apart from time. What happens in time is in consequence
of eternity, but God inhabiteth eternity and we inhabit time,
at least for now. They are two separate realms.
But there was a time before time, if that can be even understood
when there was just God. So think of the text in that
sense. Of course these things are from the Lord. Everything
is from the Lord. Everything ultimately is of the
Lord. If you trace cause and effect,
things happen because of other things, not only in sequence,
but they happen because of other things. And you trace those causes
and effects in any string of events, no matter how long. There
may be a string of events, causes and effects that stretch out
over days, some over months, some over years. We can think
of things like that. Some over centuries and millennia. There are still things that happen
that are ultimately consequence of things that happened thousands
of years ago. Things in time. But all of it
can be traced back to that one event in the beginning God created. If that doesn't happen, then
none of this other stuff happens. Everything that happened after
that and all of its consequences would not have happened, and
he did it knowing all that would happen. after that. All of it. All of it. But there's more to this than
that. We know from the scriptures that God doesn't just make a
clock and wind it up and let it run. He runs it too. It don't run on its own. He made
everything and he runs everything. Second by second, moment by moment. Everything that he made animate
and inanimate, he perfectly, sovereignly, and absolutely controls. He didn't just know about it,
he caused it. He brought it to pass. He hath
declared the end from the beginning. You know how he does that? Because
he determined the end from the beginning. There is no end or
beginning without him. Now I won't quote a lot of scripture
here about how he controls the weather. Even, what manner of
man is this that the winds and the seas obey his will? He controls the birds. He said,
I'll call a ravenous bird from the east to feed my prophet if
that's what I want to do. If he's hungry and I want to
feed him, I'll call a bird to feed him. I guess I am going
to quote the scriptures, but we won't turn there. You know
this. in defeating the council of Ahithophel. In the book of 1 Samuel, there
were many moving parts to that circumstance, including the thoughts
and intents of the hearts of men that God had to manipulate. And the scriptures say he did
all of that because it was his purpose to defeat the council
of Ahithophel. And so he did it. He said, I've
spoken it, shall I not do it? I've purposed it, shall I not
bring it to pass? He's God. People talk about him
as though he wasn't, but he is. But we know that we don't even
have to see those circumstances. God said it outright, didn't
he? The hearts of the king. Listen to Proverbs 21 one, the
king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. the rivers of water
he turneth it with us whoever he will and we see that truth
played out in the stories of scripture the king's heart you
know a king he thinks he has a lot of power and he does in
the affairs of men nobody more so nobody in this world more
powerful than a king in his realm He thinks he controls a lot than
me, but God controls the king and He controls everything that
that king thinks he controls Are you a king no then quit talking
about your free will because it don't exist Are you a king
yes, then quit talking about your free will because it don't
exist and The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. And
he turneth it whithersoever he will. There's just one free will
in this universe and it ain't yours. It's not mine either. Now this is the complaint against
that, of course, that comes from sinful man. Here's the thing.
formed, saying to him that formed it, why have you made me the
way you made me? That's his business, isn't it? Does not the potter
have power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel
under honor and another under dishonor? But listen to how that
argument begins. Romans 9, 19, thou wilt say unto
me then, and Paul had just been talking about how that God raised
Pharaoh up for the purpose of showing his wrath. and his power. So Paul said, then you're gonna
say to me, because I've heard it before, I have too. I've heard it before and I'm
gonna hear it again. Why does God yet find fault then?
Why does he find fault with me? If what you say is true, who
has resisted his will? If God does everything according
to his will, then how can he blame me for things that I do? And you know how Paul answered
that. In effect, Paul said this, you don't get to ask that question. Who are you that replies against
God? Who do you think you are? You
don't get to ask that. Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it? Why have you done thing? You
don't get to ask that. You see, he's the reason you're
able to ask anything, and you don't get to ask that. Now think about this, what happened
with Pharaoh. God sent Moses to Pharaoh saying,
let my people go. It wasn't complicated, it never
is. What God says is never complicated. Unfathomable. Deeper than the deepest ocean.
But it ain't hard to understand. The gospel not hard to understand
It ain't hard. It's just simple. Isn't it? God's
God and you're not and you need him you need Christ God's holy
and you're wretched and vile and sinful and God sent his son
the Lord Jesus Christ into this world to save sinners and he
did He did it by his precious blood
and his spotless righteousness and Think about this. In a sense,
Pharaoh was defying God's will. I think we can all agree with
that. God said, let my people go. What did Pharaoh say? I will
not let your people go. I'd say that's defying God's
will, wouldn't you? God's revealed will was let my
people go. Let me ask you something. Did
Pharaoh really have any power to defy God's will? Come on now. Let me ask you another
question. Did he let his people go? He did. God said let him go,
and he let him go. But here's the thing. God raised
Pharaoh up and manipulated Pharaoh to let his people go the way
God wanted them let go. Think about that for a second.
Why did God want them let go that way? Because it's the gospel. It's the picture of the salvation
of sinners and sinners aren't saved by the will of man. They're
saved by the grace of God because of the blood of his son, the
Passover lamb. That's why he said you kill that
lamb and you put the blood on the door. Pharaoh's going to
let you go now. It's not of the will of man. but of God that showeth mercy.
That's why he let them go the way God wanted him to let them
go. It's the gospel story, the salvation
of sinners. Not by the will of man or the
authority of man. That's why Pharaoh didn't just
let him go in the beginning. Because God He's declaring the
gospel of his son, and he used Pharaoh to do it. May he use
us in a completely different way to do the same, because I
tell you what, that's what God's doing. He's glorifying his son
in everything and everybody. That's why he controls the very
thoughts and intents of the heart and the tongue, the answer, the
things that people say. And he doesn't say by the will
or authority of men, but by his own power through the blood of
his lamb. That's what we see in Pharaoh,
in that whole story, in Pharaoh, in Egypt, in Moses, and the lamb,
the blood. God controls everything that
he controls. That's everything and everybody
to that same end to glorify and Set forth his son in the saving
of his elect by his precious sin cleansing blood That's what
he showed in Pharaoh and Moses and the Passover lamb, and that's
what he's doing this morning And when his last sheep is saved
by the preaching of this gospel and the sovereign grace of God
God's gonna still be doing the same thing throughout all eternity The same message the same truth
that saves his elect now will be the subject of their eternal
song Praise adoration and glory forever forever That's all God's
doing This Bible I'll say it again
It doesn't say a lot of things. It says the same thing a lot
of times, and in a lot of ways. Listen to Romans 11, 33. Oh,
the depth, this is Paul talking about the purpose of God. If
you read chapter 11, the whole chapter, it talks about his elect
over and over again, the very thing that religion denies even
exists, that God chooses a people. It says it over and over, his
elect, that means chosen. And that's what Paul's talking
about in Romans chapter 11, how that God chose his people and
how he worked everything out for the salvation of those elect,
both Jew and Gentile. And then he says this, oh, the
depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God,
how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out.
For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his
counselor, or who hath first given to him? And it shall be
recompensed unto him again. For of him, and through him,
and to him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. Yes, his purposes are unsearchable. The depth of the riches of his
glory are unfathomable. But I know what he's revealed.
by his grace concerning his son. And it's not hard to, a child
can understand it up here. Now God's got to give you faith
to believe. But it's not complicated, is it? It's really not. So not
only can you nor I even marshal a thought in our head without
God, nor say a word, those are gifts from him. I know people
that can't do that. You know why? God. He gives and he takes away. That's what Job said when God
took everything from him. Can you say that? The Lord hath
given and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of
the Lord. But not only can you not even
do that without God, but everything that is thought and said will
ultimately glorify him in the saving of his elect. And you
might well say, I'll take Paul's place here and say what you probably
might say to that. Somebody's gonna say this to
it, I guarantee you they are. You might say, well, I don't
see how a reprobate, a horrible evil person saying some horrible
thing can glorify God. No, you don't. I wouldn't neither without his
grace, but think about it. Think about it. When Pharaoh
said, I will not let these people go, Can you think of a more wretched,
sinful thing to say when God says, let him go? You know, that's
the very definition of sin. That's what happened in the garden.
God revealed his will and said, here's how it's gonna be. And
Adam said, I will. That's what Pharaoh did. God said, let him go. He said,
I will not. It doesn't matter whether you're saying I will
or I will not, if it's contrary to what God says, that's what
sin is. And you say that in here before you say it here. Sin's
a heart problem now. But listen, that's the very,
what more evil thing could he say than that? Our will is in
direct opposition to what God said. That's what sin is. And
don't you see how that was for the glory of the Lord in the
gospel of his son? If Pharaoh just decides to let
them go, there's no gospel. He's not gonna do that because
the natural mind is enmity against God. You say, well, we can choose
good or evil. Read the Bible. Are you kidding
me? Are you kidding me? You think you'd have done better
than Adam or anybody ever has without the grace of God? He
came unto his own and they received him not. You just need another shot to
do the right thing? Is that what salvation is to you? Listen to
me this morning. You have never done the right
thing. You're not doing the right thing. And you're not ever gonna
do the right thing. There is in us, Paul said, no
good thing. None. There's none that doeth
good. No, not one. In case that wasn't
clear, no, not one. Not you, not your mama, not anybody. That's why we need a savior. But do you see how him defying
God, that was for God's glory. All of it is. Sinners are not saved by what
man decides, nor is God glorified in what man decides. God is glorified
and sinners are saved by Christ and Him crucified. A person and what he did for
sinners. That's what it's all about. And
that's why God controls everything. You, everybody else and everything. Because he's gonna glorify his
son. You're not, not without him. But he is, and he works
everything for the good of his sheep. How in the world does
he do that? He's God, that's how. He's God. Even the bad stuff, what we call
bad stuff, it's good. For his people. We know that
everything works together for good to them that love God, to
them who are thee called according to his purpose. That's who loves
God. We love him because he first
loved us. And God still to this day has
mercy on sinners when he sees the blood. That's how it happens
by the blood of his lamb now. it's never going to happen any
other way it's always been the Lord Jesus Christ if you ever
realize if you ever think if you ever perceive if you ever
believe God concerning his son if you ever marshal an intelligent
thought about God and the things of God in the gospel of his son
and confess him with your mouth that's from the Lord that's what
our text is saying That's what it's saying. That's from the Lord. It is God
that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. You're not even going to want
to do anything, much less do it without God. And may God have mercy on everybody
here. That's what we need. We need
his mercy. Salvations of the Lord. And so what do we say? We say what Simon did. Lord,
save us. We don't say I've decided to follow you. No. Lord, save us. Have mercy, Lord,
if you will. You can make me clean. It's not
going to happen by my will. You will you can make me clean. That's what that leper said and
he said I would May God have mercy on us all
and may he get glory and all that we think And all that we
say and in all that we do Hey