Seeking the Lord's help once
again to grant me the words to speak to you this evening, I'd
like you to turn with me to the chapters that we read together,
Proverbs chapter 16, and the text you'll find in verse 33.
The lot is cast into the lap, but
the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Everyone I should think knows
that tomorrow is the general election where the citizens of
this country that are registered to vote are able to have that
opportunity to choose who they seem fit to rule the country. Not every country has this privilege,
some sit under dictatorship, some are so corrupt that any
form of voting can be rigged. We would believe that the way
in which things are done here in this land is as good as possibly
it could get and we would hope that people will go out to vote
and that the one whom the Lord chooses will rule over us. We will in one way be casting
lots. We will take our voting card
and we will go and we'll put it into the ballot box and then
at the end of the day all of those votes over the whole country
will be counted up and the leaders will be announced. The people
are able to vote but the outcome will be God's. God is able to
change people's hearts. He is able to orchestrate things
to bring about his own purposes. He is able to bring a leadership
that will bring our country further into a decline. He is able to
bring us rulers that are as a result of our sin, as rulers that as
a judgment upon a nation. But he's also able to change
things. and to hear the cries of his
people and that godly men and women might be able to be raised
up and placed in high places to lead us. Throughout the Old Testament
we read of decisions made by casting lots and in this this
proverb in Proverbs 16 it speaks about the way in which the Lord
sort of overrides the things that men do. to bring about his
own purposes. Verse 1 says the preparations
of the heart in man and an answer of a tongue is from the Lord. Commit thy works unto the Lord
and thy thoughts shall be established. In verse 9 it says, a man's heart
devises his way or plots his way but the Lord directs his
steps. And so there are decisions that
people make believing them to be their own decision and yet
the Lord is able to overrule and to guide and direct and to
orchestrate the things that happen in this world. In the Old Testament
there were, I think, over 700 accounts of people casting lots
and making decisions based by the rolling of a stone or the
rolling of a dice or the pulling of a stick or some other way
in which they made decisions. today's world. We talk about
having the short straw where someone holds the straws in their
hand and one is cut short and the straws are passed around
and whoever picks the short straw is the one that is going to do
something, the one that has been chosen. And so through the Old
Testament there were ways in which they determined the will
of God by casting lots. So it says the lot is cast into
the lap. And I did read that they would
wear, you know, and you see the pictures of the Old Testament
people with their long gowns and there was folded over like
a flap that they could put all the lots in or the stones in
and then one would be pulled and the decision would be made. And so they used lots to determine
the will of God, to decide which way they were going to go, what
they were going to do, who they were going to choose, what was
even right or wrong. In Proverbs 18 and verse 18 it
says the lot causes contentions to cease and perteth between the mighty. So casting of the lots was a
way in which a decision could be made without arguing. In my
family, as you can imagine, with many children, there can be quite
a lot of arguments. And one way in which they have
got around arguing that who would sit in the front of the van or
who is going to do this or who is going to do that, who's going
to wipe the table, who's going to sweep the floor is rock, paper,
scissors. And it's a form of casting lots. Whichever one loses, the argument
finishes. Whoever wins the rock, paper,
scissors, whoever casts the lot, the argument is over. There's
no going back. And so that's a way in which
they themselves have worked out Mum and dad don't like us arguing.
A way in which we can stop this is to cast the lot and the argument
cease. And it's right with scripture.
The casting of lot causes contentions or arguments to cease. And if
we are willing to accept the outcome then it's true. The casting of lots will cause
arguments to cease. In the first book of Samuel You'll remember that Saul went
to battle with the Philistines and he said that nobody was to
eat anything. They were to fast as they fought.
And as they fought, they got hungrier and hungrier. And Jonathan,
as they were walking through the forest, they found some honey
dripping from a tree. And the other soldiers didn't
want to eat anything, but Jonathan put his staff into the honey
and He ate some and he was strengthened. And as they came back, Saul wanted
to go after the Philistines. And so he wanted to get the complete
victory and to eradicate them. And so he asked the Lord as to
what to do. First Samuel, verse 14, verse
36. And Saul said, let us go down
after the Philistines by night and spoil them until the morning
light. Let us not leave a man of them.
And they said, do whatever seemeth good to thee. Then said the priests,
let us draw near hither to God. So the priests then directed,
let's go to the Lord in prayer. Let's ask the Lord for guidance
and direction. And Saul asked counsel of God,
Shall I go down after the Philistines? Wilt thou deliver them into the
hand of Israel? But he answered him, Not that
day. And Saul said, Draw ye near hither,
O the chief of the people, and know and see wherein this sin
hath been this day. For as the Lord liveth which
saveth Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely
die. But there was not a man among
all the people that answered him. Then said he unto all Israel,
Be ye on my side, and I and Jonathan, my son, will be on the other
side.' And all the people said unto Saul, Do what seemeth good
unto thee. Therefore Saul said unto the
Lord God of Israel, Give a perfect lot. And Saul and Jonathan were
taken, but the people escaped. And Saul said, Cast lots between
me and Jonathan, my son. And Jonathan was taken. And so we see that Saul saw that
the Lord's ear had been closed to prayer and he perceived that
there had been some sin. And so he asks for guidance.
He asks for a perfect lot. Lord, guide us in the right direction
that we may see exactly what has taken place, what has grieved
you, what has upset you that you have hid your, you've closed
your ear to us. And so they cast a lot. He wanted
to know what was wrong. They wanted to know what had
upset the Lord and he thought the best way to determine this
is to cast lots and the lot fell on Jonathan his son. We know that the people intervened
on behalf of Jonathan and his life was spared but the point
is they cast lots And the Lord honoured that casting of Lot
and the sin was revealed. If you think of Jonah, when Jonah
was in the boat and the storm was raging and the other sailors
were in fear of their lives, they believed that the boat was
going to sink and they wanted to know who was the problem.
Who is it in this boat that is causing God to be so angry? They cried unto their own gods
and nothing happened. And they come and they find Jonah
and they say to Jonah, you come and cry unto your God. And they decided to cast lots. Jonah chapter one. So the shipmaster came, verse
6, unto him and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper,
arise? Call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon
us that we perish not. And they said, every one, unto
his fellow, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose
cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots and the lot
fell on Jonah. And so they use the same way
that Saul used to find the problem. the casting of the lots, the
lot exposed. It was Jonathan and now the lot
exposed at its Jonah. All of these things have come
upon all of these other people because Jonah was running away
from the Lord and it was exposed because of the casting of a lot. rolling of a dice, something
very insignificant and yet when the people had a mind for that
way then God revealed great things by using the casting of a lot. The whole outcome is of the Lord. The lot is cast into the lap
and the whole disposing thereof is the Lord. Imagine how Jonah
felt as the lots were cast. He knew within his own heart
that he was the problem. He knew that he was running away
from God and that all of this storm was because of his sin. And as the lots were cast I wonder
if he thought This is going to expose me. This is going to show
that it's me that is causing all of these problems. And the
lot was cast. And the outcome exposed the sin
of Jonah. In the New Testament, we don't
really read much about lots. the 12th disciple after Judas
had hung himself, the 12th disciple Matthias was chosen by lot in
Acts chapter 1. Verse 24 and it says, And they
prayed and said, Thou Lord which knows the hearts of all men,
show which of these two thou hast chosen. And so first of
all like Saul and Jonathan they committed it to the Lord reveal
this to us it's something that we don't know and we want to
know and we don't want to do our own thing we want to do your
will and your will only and so they come to God in prayer asking
God make it known to us through the working out of the casting
of these lots. And he that he may take part
of this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression
fell that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth
their lots and the lot fell upon Matthias and he was numbered
with the 11 apostles. I think this may be something
like we do at the church meeting or even what we hope to do tomorrow
at the election. It is making a decision. There was these two men, Justice
and Matthias, and they were to be decided which one is going
to be the apostle. And so maybe there was two places
where you could put your token or your lot. and whoever had
the most was the one that was chosen. And it was a way in which
to determine and to work out the will of God after prayer. They prayerfully considered what
the Lord wanted them to do, who the Lord had chosen. They gave
forth their lots, they cast their lots and the outcome was the
outcome which the Lord had chosen. There was one other case which
is the fulfilment of a prophecy with the Lord Jesus Christ. After
the Lord Jesus Christ had been betrayed and had been placed
before Pilate and the false accusers had lied about him and then he
had been sentenced to be crucified. As the Jews rejected the Lord
Jesus Christ, crucify him, crucify him, they said, and then they
nailed him to the cross. As they took him to be crucified,
they had stripped him of his outer garments. And in Matthew 27 and verse 35
it says, And they crucified him and parted his garments, casting
lots that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets.
They parted my garments among them and upon my vesture did
they cast lots. And so even at the foot of the
cross the soldiers were there casting lots so that who would
have that woven coat of the Lord Jesus Christ and so it was a
way for them to make a decision without arguing that the casting
of the lot, the one that won was the one that was going to
claim the coat of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in doing so, the
scripture tells us they were fulfilling a prophecy that was
prophesied in the book of Psalms regarding the casting of the
lots for the clothing of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so throughout
the scripture, it is spoken about, especially in the Old Testament,
as a way to work out the will of God, to make a decision, to
expose sin, to know what is right and what is wrong. In some of
the Levitical laws you read that if someone had been caught in
adultery or committed adultery there were ways in which they
were to cast lots to work out whether they were guilty or not
guilty. so tomorrow as we go to the polls
to cast lots to choose who we deem best suitable for the work
of leading this land we are to go there prayerfully and carefully
considering what we are doing but knowing that the ultimate
outcome will be the will of God, the whole decision will be God's
will. Whether we like it or whether
we don't like it is for us to look on and see how the Lord
is going to lead this land of ours. Are we going to continue
heading downward into sin with a liberal government or are we
going to somehow be restored in a miraculous way by those
who might have a change of heart and go after the ways of godliness. also encourages us here that
God is in the finer details of our lives. A lot we could say
or a rolling of the dice is something quite insignificant If you're
playing Monopoly or you're playing another game you roll the dice
and it's just something it's insignificant. But God is even
in that very small detail of our lives right down to the rolling
of a dice. We would believe that there is
no such thing as luck. that things don't just happen
without there being a greater cause for them to happen. Things do not take place outside
of the knowledge and will of Almighty God. And so there is
no such thing as luck, that things just randomly take place when
things are in almost free fall. There's no such thing as chance,
that things happen by just circumstances falling into place. We would
believe that God is sovereign over all things right down to
the rolling of a dice when we are playing a game that he is
right there orchestrating and ordering all of those things. He is in control of the election
tomorrow and he's even in control when children play in the garden
and he is intimately acquainted with every aspect of especially
the lives of his dear people. Something as small as the lot
being cast into the lap, the whole outcome of that is right
down to God in the book of Nahum. In chapter one It tells us there
that God is in the great things that take place in the world.
The Burden of Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nahum, God is
jealous and the Lord takes revenge, the Lord revenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance
on his enemies, his adversaries and he reserves wrath for his
enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and
in great power and will not at all acquit the wicked. Lord has
his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds
are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea and maketh
it dry, he dries up all the rivers, basin, languishes, and carmel,
and the flowers of Laban languish, the mountains quake at him, and
the hills melt and the earth is burned at his presence yea
the world and all that dwell therein who can stand before
his indignation who can abide in the fierceness of his anger. His fury is poured out like fire
and the rocks are thrown down by him. The Lord is good, a stronghold
in the day of trouble, and he knoweth them that trust in him. And so the great events that
take place in the world, the hurricanes and the storms and
the droughts and the and the drying up of rivers and
the earthquakes and the wildfires and pestilences, they are all
as a result of the fall of sin but ultimately under the control
of Almighty God. And so as we listen to the news
and as we see in Sri Lanka there is that great hurricane that
is coming there, coming ashore and the destruction that that
brings. And although it is very sad to
see the destruction and the sadness that all of these things do bring
about but ultimately God is in control of all of those things. The lot. then is cast into the
lap but the whole disposing thereof is of God. And so what we see around about
us, taking place around about us is Not things that are just
random and lucky or unlucky or just events that take place by
chance without any oversight. Everything is overseen by the
creator and the sustainer of heaven and earth. which is Jehovah,
God or the Lord Jesus Christ. Even in verse 9 it tells us a
man's heart devises or thinks about his way or plans his way
but the Lord directs his steps. You think of Jonah as he decided
to run away from God to make his escape from the will of God. His heart thought that out, his
heart decided I'm going this way but God ultimately directed
his steps and brought him to the place where he would have
him to be and caused the fish to swallow him and then to bring
him back to fulfil the ultimate will of his to preach in Nineveh. And often we make decisions in
life and we devise our way and sometimes we forget to say God
willing we're going to do this and God willing we're going to
do that and we think well this is what I'm going to do. And
we start making our plans and we start going ahead and then
we notice that the Lord begins to shut doors, to bring about
a stop to our plans and to bend us round to do his will. And so we think about, but God
directs his steps. If we think of this in a logical
way it could bring us to a mindset of being fatalistic. Well if
God is in control of everything and even if I roll a dice he
knows what number it's going to land on even if I drive at
200 miles an hour on the motorway God knows that if I'm going to
live or going to die and so you could think of it would bring
about a fatalistic attitude God's sovereign rule over all things
should not bring about a fatalistic attitude. We've been given knowledge,
we've been given wisdom, we've been given understanding, we
know what is dangerous, we know what God's will is for us as
it is written here in the Word of God and we know what is sensible. You might say, well, you know,
if God has determined that tomorrow I'm going to do this or going
to do that, then there's nothing I can do. And if it all goes
wrong, then it's not even my fault. It's God's fault because
he's in control of everything. And some might even go as far
as to say, well, and I've heard it actually, it's God's, God
did it. It's God's fault that All of
these things have happened because it's nothing to do with me because
God is in control of everything and nothing that I can do can
have any effect because God is moving me to do certain things. With the casting of these lots they cast them to work out the
will of God. They wanted to know what God's
will was. They were not fatalistic. Saul didn't just spin around
and say the first person I point at that's going to be the one
who's done wrong. The apostles didn't just throw
some stones up in the air and the one it lands on that is going
to be the person. No it was a prayerful consideration
to know and to do the will of God and as Saul put it the perfect
lot They wanted to know the perfect lot. And as believers, that's
what we want to know. What is the will of God? What is the perfect will of God
in our lives? We don't want a fatalistic attitude. We want to know that God is in
control of everything and that I am walking in accordance with
his will, not outside of his will. but seeking to please him
by walking in his will through the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the casting of the lot
wasn't fatalistic, it was almost an act of faith and then acting
on the outcome. They cast the lot. They prayed. They cast the lot. And then they
acted on the outcome of what had taken place. They said this
is God's will. And they acted. They obeyed what
God's will was. They wanted the perfect lot. The lot was cast. And they said
there is the will of God for us. And today We don't really hear of people
casting lots, physical lots. There was one preacher that I
read about a long time ago, his name was Billy Bray. And he was
a coal miner in Cornwall. And he was a simple man, yet
he got saved. He was a drunkard. and the Lord
saved him and he became a preacher. And he felt that God wanted him
to build a chapel. I think it was in something called
Three Corners. I think the chapel is still there
today. Three Corners Chapel. And he began to dig and the foundations
and to clear the plot all by himself and no one would help
him. And so he went If I remember
rightly, he went to meet some other members of a church and
they decided to cast lots. And the lot would be that if
it wasn't God's will, they wouldn't help. But if it was God's will,
then they would help. And they cast the lots and the
lot came that it was God's will. And so they said, OK, we'll meet
you there tomorrow. Billy got there and nobody else
turned up. They didn't honour the lot casting. And he's the only person that
I've read about who casts the lots. As we are in Old Testament
times we have a greater revelation of the will of God found in the
Word of God. Every believer is indwelt by
the Holy Spirit of God and is able to be prompted and our souls
can be convicted and burdened about taking steps and we also
have prayer. As I thought about this casting
lots or prayer is almost like casting lots. We lay our concerns
at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ and we seek to determine
his will for us. You see one fundamental truth in the life of a true spirit
indwelt Christian is that they have lost sight of themselves
and they want to know what is the will of God and as you see
in the Old Testament the casting of the lots it was to determine
what is the will of God. when the Apostle Paul was converted
he said, what do you want me to do? What will thou have me
to do? That's what he wanted to know
and that is the echo of every Christian heart. What do you
want me to do? How do you want me to to live
today? Where do you want me to go today? How do I make this decision? How do I make this choice? I
don't want to do it from my own knowledge or insight. I want
to be directed wholly and completely by thy Holy Spirit. And so today we have the whole counsel of God
we're able to know the revealed will of God what God wants us
to do and we can use God's word to make decisions based on the
scriptures and by prayer and meditation on the word of God. In Psalm 37 It tells us there in verse 5
or verse 4 it says, Trust in the Lord and do good. Verse 4,
delight thyself in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires
of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord. Trust also in
him and he shall bring it to pass. And so the commit is to
is to almost fall upon the Lord to commit everything that you
have unto God and he will bring it to pass. It is committing
it to the Lord in prayer. If you have a decision that you
have to make, it's not to go, as it were, blindfolded, but
to lay it before God, to commit it to the Lord in prayer. Even
if you have to make decisions very quickly, like Nehemiah says,
I prayed unto the Lord, my God. It was a quick prayer. Lord,
help me. Lord, show me. Lord, guide me. Or even, hang on a minute. Let
me just go aside for a little while. I want to just think about
this. I want to pray about this and
to commit this to the Lord. Then to come back and to make
that decision. To look at how the Lord is leading
us. as individuals. Although believers
are on the narrow way that leads to life yet he leads his people
in different ways and as we walk our lives by faith we look at
certain situations and certain movings of the Lord's hand in
providence to guide us and direct us. He sometimes hedges up the
pathway. He puts almost barriers at the
side of you so you have no other option but to keep going forwards. Sometimes he opens a door a little
bit and you try it and it closes. Sometimes he opens an unsuspected
door and you're left to walk through it. Sometimes he closes
doors. Sometimes he tells you to come
back a little bit. But that is the Christian life.
It is to walk carefully treading the road carefully, looking for
the Lord's hand, guiding us and directing us. As we read, the
Lord is my shepherd and he leads and he directs his people and
he puts his rod to gather them from going astray. And so the lot of the believer
is to cast their lot into the lap of the Lord knowing that
he is going to work all the things out even to the most finest details
of our lives. And so we look at different things
for direction. He shuts doors. He opens doors. He hedges the way. Sometimes
we're left to walk in the darkness. We don't know really where we
are going but we just have to keep walking by faith. The Lord
is silent but we have to keep going until we hear his voice again. And sometimes providence shows
us like it did with Jonathan and Saul, like it did with Jonah,
there's some sin in your life. something that has offended me,
there's something that has grieved my Holy Spirit and I'm revealing
it to you through the providential circumstances of life and I want
you to come to a knowledge of that sin and to turn away from
that sin and to expose that sin And so we are guided and directed
by his spirit as we walk through this world. And so as tomorrow
the Lord will we go to the elections. The lot will be cast but the
whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. And as we go then to
do our voting That's something we are to keep in mind, not to
be afraid of what the outcome will be. Maybe we can be concerned,
but we can't be afraid. How the Lord is going to work
all of these things out, His will will ultimately be revealed
on the following day when all of the votes are counted up,
we will know. This is what the Lord has done.
And we will either know that we are going to continue in a
downward spiral with a liberal government which embraces sin,
or there's going to be a change. Ultimately we will know whether
God is continuing to favour this land of ours or has he truly
like in Romans 1 given us over to a reprobate mind when there
is no knowledge of good and people are just on a downward freefall
slope into sin. And so we are to go prayerfully
seeking God's will but submissively to his will. to be angry at the
outcome knowing that he is in control of all things. And so the lot is cast into the
lap but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. May the Lord
add his blessing. Amen. Let's sing our final hymn, number
483. 483. Yes, I shall soon be landed on
yonder shores of bliss. There, with my powers expanded,
shall dwell where Jesus is. Hymn number 483, tune 583. ? Around the shows of grace ? ?
The wayward ones expended ? ? Shall dwell where Jesus sits ? ? It's
time to be seated with Jesus ? ? I first behold him fitting ?
? As his repose may come ? ? Behold the Son appearing ? ? Thine shall
forever reign ? and if we could obey. I soon shall reach the harbor,
to which I speak my way. Chelsea's travel I may know, His eyes can best you see. Keep me a holy lover, for I confide
in Thee. All that in Jordan's swelling
I may be of taste, King of kings and sovereign ruler
of the skies, we bow before thee again, thanking thee for thy
word and the encouragement that it gives to us that there is
nothing that is out of control. We pray, Lord, that we might
be guided tomorrow to know and to do thy will We pray Lord that
thou look with mercy upon this land of ours and do hear the
prayers of thy people who sigh and cry for the abominations
that are done in this land of ours and we ask that thou deal
with us not in anger but look with favour upon us and cause
Lord thy spirit to be outpoured upon this land of ours and that
there may be a great gathering in to the sheepfold of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Do, Lord, have mercy, we pray,
and help us. Now may the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, with the fellowship
and the communion of the Holy Spirit, do rest and abide with
us each now and for evermore. Amen.