May it please God to bless us
together this evening as we consider his word. Let us turn to the
book of the Proverbs, chapter 16 and verse 33. The last verse in the 16th chapter
of the book of the Proverbs. The lot is cast into the lap,
but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. We don't hear very much today
about casting lots. It was something which was done,
of course, in the days of the Word of God, both in the Old
and in the New Testament. And this statement here, the
lot is cast into the lap. It could be cast into an urn.
It's just a statement of something that these lots were cast into.
The great thrust really of this word isn't upon the first part
of speaking about these lots being cast. The thrust is really
on the last part. But the whole disposing thereof
is of the Lord. Because we know when those lots
were cast, for instance, in the days of Jonah, you remember they
cast lots to see who the problem was with that great storm. And
we know that the lot fell to Jonah. And we see that the Lord
was in control of every lot that was cast. And so the truth here
is that the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. And this word
disposing really means arranging the order. So we can think of
it in this way. Everything in this world is ordered
The disposal of it is ordered by the Lord. It's arranged by
the Lord. Nothing, therefore, comes by
chance. We might think with taking lots
that, well, this is luck and chance. And people, no doubt
in the world, think just that. But the truth is God is in charge
of all these things. And the whole disposing thereof
is of the Lord. Bless God, it is so. And as we
think of that, surely we should ponder it with regard to our
own individual lives. To realize that everything has
been arranged in order in each of our lives, and of course in
everything which occurs in this vast world. If it were not so,
just think of that for a moment, if it wasn't arranged in order,
there would be chaos. Chaos in the world. Nothing would
be restrained. We sometimes forget that Almighty
God restrains people, restrains worldly people from doing terrible
things. Sometimes he allows terrible
things to happen. But the only reason why everyone
is not committing terrible acts is because God restrains. And so let us realize the greatness
of God the mercy of God to the world in which we live. Amazing,
isn't it? I think that God orders everything
and restrains people and it's all arranged, nothing is out
of place and the Lord knows the end from the beginning. The end from the beginning in
our lives, every single detail. But the whole disposing or the
whole arranging thereof is of the Lord." Well, let's come back
then to our own individual lives. To think that the actual day
that you and I were born onto the earth wasn't just some haphazard
arrangement. It wasn't something that just
happened by chance. It was ordained by God. You weren't
born a thousand years ago. No, you were born in the very
year that God determined. and the very month, and the very
day, and the very hour, and the very second. It was all arranged
by Almighty God. And so that we have some perspective
of Almighty God, to realise that that was arranged in eternity
past. Everything was preordained. Nothing was made up as the world
goes along. Some people like to think of
a little God who does that, He makes it up day by day. But no,
our God, He knows everything. He has arranged everything. And
so therefore He has arranged the day of our birth, the day
of our natural birth, which of course we weren't aware of. And
then He arranges the day of our spiritual birth. the whole disposing thereof is
of the Lord. Again, the very time when that
occurred, or that time when it is to occur, is known by God. We may not always know the precise
time in our lives when that occurred, but nonetheless it was arranged,
it was known by God, it wasn't something which just happened,
it was ordained, And again, for confirmation of that, we realize
the Lord Jesus tells us, you have not chosen me, we have no
ability to do so, but I have chosen you and ordained you that
you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should
remain. It was ordered by Almighty God
the day of our conversion. the day of our new birth. Now what a blessing therefore
if you and I can look back perhaps to a particular time, perhaps
to a particular time or nonetheless to perhaps a period when we suddenly
realised there had come a change into our lives. A change and
maybe that change was like this, that God suddenly brought about
a concern about our spiritual state and a desire to pray to
God. And that prayer then was no longer
perhaps a formal prayer. Perhaps some of us as children
were brought up to pray. Perhaps we said our prayers,
well that's good and right and proper. What a blessing when
God gives us prayer. And that situation really means
that God indicts, that means God puts the prayer into our
heart to pray unto him. And that prayer is a real prayer,
a true prayer. But the whole disposing thereof
is of the Lord. It wasn't just a chance occasion. It wasn't something we might
think, oh well, perhaps I'll start praying today. It may be
that some people may find that and feel that, but you know it's
the Spirit of God which has caused them to come to that view and
be blessed with that concern to pray unto God. It's usually
the first sign of life in the soul. is to pray unto God. Look at the Apostle Paul's life.
When on that Damascus road, what did he do? He prayed unto God. What would thou have me to do?
Light has shone into his heart. He realised he stood before a
holy God. The Lord spoke to him. The Lord
convicted him. And the Lord pointed to him the
need to pray. Well, the whole disposing, the
whole ordering, the whole arranging of our life is of the Lord. Now it's a great blessing it
is. And you may ask me, well why is that so? It is so because
if it is of the Lord, then the Lord must receive praise and
honour and glory because of it. We were born without any ability
to save ourselves, we were impotent, we had no strength to save ourselves,
no ability to give ourselves spiritual life. What a favour
then to know that we have a God who has ordered in our little
life our conversion, has ordered the time when we would start
praying to Almighty God and to realise that that God who has
begun a good work in us will continue it until the day of
Jesus Christ. The Lord doesn't start and stop
his work. The Lord's work goes on. And God's work goes on because
The Lord himself, our Saviour, in order for that work to commence,
the Lord gave his life so that we might have life. And as the
Lord has given his life so that we might have life, then there
cannot be any falling away from that life. Otherwise the Lord
would have died in vain and he would have suffered in vain.
The Lord did not suffer in vain. The Lord suffered to redeem his
people from their sins. The whole disposing thereof is
of the Lord. There's not just a part of it. Everything is ordered, every
detail, the smallest detail, and it's a great blessing to
know the favour and mercy of Almighty God upon us. The Apostle Paul very clearly
knew the calling of God in his own life, and he tells us when
he wrote to the Church of Rome some of the details, not of his
own life, but of that which refers to the Church of God, when he
says, I say the truth in Christ, I lie not My conscience also
bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost." Now, God's work produces
in our heart the evidence of that work. And the evidence is
between your soul and God, my soul and God. No one else can
actually see, observe, understand or feel the reality of God's
work in the soul. It's that very personal revelation
between our souls and our God. And it is that witness by the
Holy Ghost, very condescending, isn't it, of Almighty God, to
come and to speak to our hearts. This witness of the Holy Ghost
within, where it's a necessary evidence My friends, without
it there is no evidence. And it's good if you and I are
able to search our innermost heart to discern whether there
is this whole ordering within by the Spirit of God. Therefore
it is of the Lord. These are not things of no consequence. They are of vital consequence. that we have the evidence that
we are possessors, that we do have the witness of the Holy
Ghost within our heart. And the Apostle tells us with
regard to his brethren, the Jews, they weren't believing, you see,
most of them were unbelievers. And he tells us how he felt. I have great heaviness and continual
sorrow in my heart, For I could with wish that myself were accursed
from Christ, for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the
flesh who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption,
and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and
the service of God, and the promises, who are the fathers, and of whom
is concern in the flesh, Christ came, who is over all. God bless
forevermore. Amen. You see, they had the wonderful
favor and the wonderful privilege of hearing the truth of God first. And it's a very solemn consideration. We need to ponder it in our own
hearts that all of us here have had the wonderful privilege,
like these Jews of old, of hearing the truth of God. But my friends,
if it hasn't entered into our hearts, it's of no value. It's of no value. If it just sticks in your head,
It doesn't filter down to the heart. It's of no value. A head knowledge will never get
us to glory. It's the evidence of the witness
of the Holy Ghost within that Almighty God has ordered our
conversion. And it wasn't a chance ordering.
It was a divine decree from before the foundation of the world. And so the apostle tells us,
neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all
children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is,
they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the
children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for
the seed. And of course, we know that We
have the case of the children of Isaac and the situation which
we're told, not only this, but when Rebekah also conceived by
one even by her father Isaac, for the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand not of works, but
of him that calleth. It's God's prerogative. It's
all of his grace. But the whole disposing, the
whole ordering, the whole arranging of your life and my life, naturally
and spiritually, is from and by Almighty God. And so, Rebecca
was told, the elder shall serve the younger. As it is written,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hate it. Now that's a
very solemn statement and many people disagree with it. Many
people are angry about it. Why? Because they want to acknowledge
that God is a sovereign. God is the king. God has a perfect
right to deal with his people, to order his people as he sees
fit. Sometimes we just need to stop
and And think of these things. You see, we were all born shapen
in iniquity, sinful and shapen in iniquity. We were all dead
in trespasses and in sins. And we all deserved to inherit
eternal damnation. That's right, isn't it? Because
of our sin, remember, the soul that sinneth it shall die, That's
a solemn statement of the Word of God. And all of us have sinned. None of us can say, I haven't
sinned. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. And so we all stand on level
ground as guilty sinners deserving eternal damnation. We have no
right to say that we have any good in us. There's nothing that
deserves our salvation. We are all unworthy of the least
favour from God. Is that true? Do you acknowledge
that? Now if you do, and if we do,
we will bow down before God, acknowledging that he is righteous
and we are unrighteous. That he is holy and that we are
unholy. And so then in that situation,
Realising that we have no right to demand anything, we cannot
then disagree if God should choose one and leave another in accordance
with his perfect prerogative. He has a perfect right. He has
a sovereign right. You see, naturally, if there
was an army of men before a king, And the king wanted certain of
those soldiers to serve him, perhaps in a special way. And if he were to say, well,
you come here and you come there, there wouldn't be any argument,
would there? Because the king had a perfect right. Because
they were all his subjects, they were all his soldiers, and therefore
he was able to choose which one he wanted to. Well, in a far
greater way, our God has a perfect right to choose who he wants
to, and to leave others by the side. That's why we read this
solemn statement. It is an important statement.
People don't like it. The world hates it. They reject
God. They say, well, he's not fair.
He's not a fair God. Therefore, we don't accept there
is a God. It's one of the prime arguments of the atheists. Let
us remember we are before a holy God and what an amazing blessing
if we can understand what the Apostle Paul felt in his heart.
The Lord had called him. The Lord had spoken to his heart
and how important it is that God speaks to you and me. And
you know, I believe there will be that real concern. Those who seek shall find. And
our great concern will be to know that we are amongst those
for whom Christ has died. And what will that mean? Well,
it will mean real prayer. And that real prayer will come
from your heart. There's a change. It won't come
from the head. It won't be a formal prayer. It'll be a real prayer.
And it may be a very, very short prayer. But it'll be a real prayer. And that will be God be merciful
to a mere sinner. My friends, if you and I have
prayed that prayer from our heart, it's because Almighty God has
ordered it. It's because of this Word. But
the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. The Lord was disposed
to give you a spirit of prayer in simple words. We didn't need
to learn it, did we? We didn't need to get up and
learn a long prayer to impress God. You and I would never impress
God by our long prayers. But you see, God gives prayer.
We term it, God indicts prayer. He puts it into our heart to
pray. And he gives us the words to pray. Sometimes they may not
seem to be very clever words. They may seem to be very simple
words. Perhaps we don't seem to formulate a prayer very well.
The truth is that God, he marks a sigh. If you sigh to God, the
essence being, God be merciful to me a sinner, he marks that
sigh. Well, then we read and Paul tells
us, what shall we say then? He anticipates the question.
having stated that Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated,
he anticipates the question. What shall we then say? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. It's ordered by Almighty God.
So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that showeth mercy. Now the result is, if God shows
you and me his mercy and he calls us by that Sacred and blessed
call to convince us of our condition and to lead us to the Savior
that call comes and emanates from Almighty God and that will
produce a spirit of true thankfulness and praise unto our God and tremendous
relief That we haven't been left as it were on the rubbish heap
which we deserve to be but God has come to us and and use the
language of the Apostle, he's quickened us into life. He's
made us alive. They're wonderful words, aren't
they? And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and
in sins. Yes, we all were there in time
past. You know that beautiful first
few words in that second chapter of the Ephesians? And just so
I quote them correctly, I'll read them. And you hath he quickened,
who were dead trespasses and sins, wherein in time past ye
walked according to the course of this world." Well, do you
say tonight, yes that was me. That was me. I walked according
to the course of this world. It means you and I were worldly
minded. We wanted to walk in accordance
with the things of this world. according to the prince of the
power of the air, the old devil, the spirit that worketh in the
children of disobedience, among whom also we all, without exception,
had our conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were
by nature the children of wrath, even as others." The apostle
here is speaking, you see. to the church of the Ephesians
and the faithful in Christ Jesus. He incorporates the whole living
church of God. And then he comes and he tells
us, but God, there are many but gods in the word of God, or at
least 20 anyway. But God, who is rich in mercy. And you and I will stand amazed
at God ordering these things. who is rich in mercy for his
great love wherewith he loved us. And it must have been great
love, mustn't it? Which caused the Lord Jesus,
almighty God, nothing less, almighty God, the ruler of the universe,
should condescend because of his great love toward his people
to come into this sinful world. and to endure 33 years of evil all around him. Remember
he'd been in glory from eternity and now he'd come down into this
sin-cursed world and he was willing to live those 33 years and to
suffer so greatly at the end of his life because of his great
love. Well, with him, wherewith he
loved us. Amazing, wonderful love, isn't
it? And sometimes we may think, we look into our hearts and we
see such evil there still. How could the Lord God love such
a wretch as me? Such an unworthy person, such
a sinful person, such a vile person. Oh, the love of Christ,
to sinners. So he tells us, even when we
were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace are ye are saved. This spells it out, doesn't it?
You know what grace is? The free unmerited favour of
God. You and I never deserved this
grace. What a wonderful blessing if
we have been partakers of it. The Apostle knew what it was.
He was able to tell us in these simple words, by grace ye are
saved. And because of that, he says,
and hath raised us up together. It's a union with Christ. No separation. Once in him, in
him forever. and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, he might
show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus. the kindness of God the Father
in electing us, the kindness of God the Spirit in revealing
the Saviour to us, the greatness and blessedness of the Saviour
in coming into this sinful world to save unworthy people like
you and me. Well, he goes on, that familiar
verse, for by grace are ye saved through faith and not of yourselves.
It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And how true that is, because
the apostle goes on and speaks about this wonderful favour.
And he says, when he wrote to the Romans, so then, it is not
of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, But of God that
showeth mercy, for the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for
this same purpose, have I raised thee up that I might show my
power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth. It's a solemn thing, isn't it?
To think that God might raise us up to show his power, but
not in a saving way. Pharaoh was never saved, he was
lost. He died in the Red Sea. My friends, what a blessing it
is if we received his mercy. And so he says, therefore, hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. Oh, my friends, let our heart
be hardened. Let us not reject God. Let us
not be amongst those who say, I will not have this man to reign
over me. I'm going to please myself, I'm
going to live my life as I want to. Oh, what a blessing to bow
down, bow our knee before Almighty God as our King, the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy and whom he will, he hardeneth. Now say then
unto me, why doth he find yet fault? For who hath resisted
his will? Neighbour, O man, who art thou
that replyest against God? Again, you see, atheistical man
thinks he can argue with God. He thinks God is his equal and
he's bold enough to say such wrong and wicked things. But
you see, where there is grace in the heart, we bow down and
we say, thy will be done. Thy will be done, nevertheless
not my will, but thine be done, the word of the Saviour. His
people will be followers of a despised and crucified man. They will
understand and measure the blessedness of that pathway. Neighbour, O
man, who art thou? Reply us against God. Shall the
thing formed say to him that formed it, why hast thou made
me thus? And then he goes and tells us
the illustration, familiar to us, no doubt, in other parts
of the Bible, about the potter. We understand what a potter is,
don't we? A potter takes a lump of clay and makes a pot. And
he shapes it as he will. He pleases himself. Whatever
pot he wants to make, he makes. And the clay can't say, hold
on a minute, I'm not prepared for this. The potter does what
he wants to do. He makes a pot as he desires. And so the Lord tells us, hath
not the pot of power over the clay of the same lump to make
one vessel unto honour and another unto dishonour? Well, we agree
that, wouldn't we? Of course, that's obvious. And so then he
says, he uses the analogy to direct us to the sovereignty
of God. What if God, willing to show his wrath and to make
his power known, Endured with much long-suffering, the vessels
of wrath fitted to destruction, that he might make known the
riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had afore prepared
unto glory. Even us, whom he hath called,
not only the Jews only, but also the Gentiles." And you, my friends,
you, we, we today are Gentiles. What a mercy then to know that
God has stretched out his hand and called us and brought us
to hear his voice. Well, you know whether that's
true or not. And it is absolutely vital. It doesn't matter what else you
possess in the world. You can possess the whole world
and lose your own soul. What would it profit a man? gain
the whole world and lose his own soul. They're very striking
words, they're very powerful words and it's a very great illustration,
but it's so relevant to each one of us. If we gain the whole
world and lost our soul, we'll be eternally lost in endless
damnation. Oh my friends, no relief, no
recovery, eternally lost. What a blessing then, if the
Lord has given us his grace. And so the apostle goes on, I
will call them my people which were not my people, and her beloved
which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass that
in the place where it was said unto them, ye are not my people,
there shall they be called the children of the living God. Well, what a blessing if you
and I, my friends, know in our hearts this evidence of the work
of God, the grace of God. But the whole disposing thereof
is of the Lord. The whole ordering of our life
is of the Lord. And bless God, it is so, of course,
in our spiritual life. It's also true in our natural
life. And that's a comfort, isn't it?
To know that the Lord has ordained the way for us. That doesn't
mean to say we just sit down and fold our arms and say, well,
of course, everything's going to work out, so I just can sit
down and God will bless me if He will or He won't bless me
if He won't. The Word of God tells us He will be inquired
of by the Israel of God to do these things. My friends, we
are to pray to God. And we are perhaps to labour
in prayer to God. that he will bless us and that
he will do us good, spiritually and naturally, that he will appear
for us and provide for us. There are those many difficulties
which arise in our lives. We are to pray unto Almighty
God. That's the avenue, that's the
way that God has ordained, that communication between our souls
and God, prayer. Prayer was appointed to convey
blessings God designs to give. Yes, it's the great way of communication
between our souls and our God. Now, in this way of communication,
the whole arranging is that you and I come to God through the
merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. A lost sinner cannot come to
God, Almighty God, as a holy God. We can only come through
the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that was portrayed so clearly,
really throughout the Word of God, and especially, of course,
in the ceremonial law, when there was that occasion when the high
priest was permitted to go into the holy place once a year on
that great day of atonement, to atone for the sins of the
people and not without blood. There was that slain animal,
the blood taken and sprinkled on the mercy seat. Of course
the high priest had to seek that mercy for himself first with
a sprinkling of blood, but then the people and that set before
us that the way into the holiest place was only through the shedding
of blood and only by the high priest. Now that was very symbolic
of heaven itself and the Lord Jesus Christ who has entered
into glory not without blood. He shed his blood, he made their
way, he's entered into glory and there he is in glory now,
interceding for his people. So the great blessing is that
you and I can pray unto God and we come through that great mediator,
the Lord Jesus Christ between God and man. My friends, it's
the only way. If there'd been no Saviour, there'd
been no death upon Calvary's cross, no shedding of blood,
there would be no glorious High Priest, there would be no access
unto the Father. But today, through the grace
of God, we're able to approach unto the Majesty on High. Oh, it's a miracle, isn't it?
To think that we, sinful wretches of the earth, can pray unto the
Holy God through the merits of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's explained to us in the Hebrews as a new and living way. It's eternally living. In the
Old Testament they slayed the animals and the high priest could
only go once a year on that Day of Atonement. But my friends,
what a blessing there is. The door of His mercy stands
open all day and night for the poor and the needy, that knock
by the way. And you see, it's all ordered. It's all arranged by Almighty
God that you and I, as unworthy sinners, can approach under the
majesty on high for the Saviour, because of what He has done. This, you see, makes the Gospel
so glorious and so precious to those who have received the newness
of life, those who have been blessed in their souls. They
can rejoice now that they can pray to God, sinful as they are. Because Christ has died. You
see, the old devil would say, you can't pray, you're too bad.
We can tell him, Christ has died. Yea, rather, he's risen again.
A conqueror over sin, death, and hell in the grave. He's made
a way. And by his grace and by his mercy,
what a favor to be able to come boldly under that throne of grace. Unworthy as we are, we can come
boldly unto our God, praying He will look upon us. He will
bless us. He will do us good. He will enrich
us in our spiritual life. He will help us day by day in
all the things that we have to attend to in our life. Oh, can
we not say, how good is the God we adore? Oh, my friends, do
you and I today adore this God? This God who has done this, but
the whole disposing, the whole ordering, the whole arranging
of our little life, is of the Lord." What a comfort. Nothing
surprises God. We have surprises, don't we,
sometimes in our lives. Nothing surprises God. It's all
arranged. It's all ordained from before
time began. In eternity past, you and I,
my little minds, can't absorb the great truth of these things.
But oh, what a blessing if He's given you and me living faith. He's given us living faith to
believe the truth of the Word of God, and to rest in the promises
of God, which are indeed sure and certain. Just like this Word
is here, as he tells us, the lot is cast into the lap, but
the whole disposal thereof is of the Lord. There is no doubt
about it. There is no doubt about it. And
my friends, I pray that all of us may have God's grace to receive
this great and glorious truth to understand that everything
is ordained by God in our lives. Our life's minutest circumstance
is subject to his eye. You know, we're told the hairs
of our head are all numbered. Every single one. You can't believe
that naturally, can you? But faith does. Faith believes
in the greatness of God. I was looking yesterday, looking
down, I was sitting on a seat, looking at the grass, and all
those little bits of grass. Realised the Lord knows which
one's planted, which one's growing. Impossible for man to contemplate
the greatness of our God. Now, it's a wonderful blessing
to know we have such a great God, but also, my friends, a
solemn reality that you and I stand before this great God, who looks
into our hearts, He knows what's there. I know what a favour it
is if you and I are able to keep short accounts with our God,
to confess our sins, our shortcomings, and pray that He'll be gracious
to us and go before us and help us to hold on our way and to
pray unto Him in a time when He may be found. Oh, bless God
then for such a God. for a great God, for an almighty
God. As we thought on Friday about
the Apostle Paul when he was in Athens, and he saw there that
notice to the unknown God, those people were ignorantly worshipping.
Oh, my friends today, may we worship the true God. And may
that God be the God that you and I know, not because of any
ability in ourselves, but because of his free and sovereign grace. Yes, sovereign grace, my friends. Our sin abounding. The hymn writer
speaks very well, doesn't he? And sums it up in that hymn 766, And he tells us this. Sovereign
grace, o'er sin abounding, Ransomed souls, the tidings swell. Tis a deed that knows no sounding,
On its breadth or length can tell, On its glories let my soul
forever dwell. Yes, it's a great truth, sovereign
grace, what from Christ that soul can sever, bound by everlasting
bands, once in him, in him forever. Thus the eternal covenant stands.
None shall pluck thee from the strength of Israel's hands, heirs
of God, joint heirs for Jesus, Long ere time the race began,
to his name eternal praises. Oh, what wonders love has done,
one with Jesus, by eternal union one, on such love, my soul, personal,
my soul, still ponder, love so great, so rich, so free, say,
whilst lost in holy wonder. Why, oh God, such love to me,
Hallelujah. Grace shall reign eternally. Amen.