Go with me if you would now to
Mark chapter seven. Mark chapter seven. I have something tonight that
I very much want to remind us of. I want to remind myself of
this. I want to remind you of this.
We are going to look at one statement. This is in the midst of a story
here in Mark chapter seven, but we're not gonna look at a story.
We're gonna look at one statement. And if we can really get ahold
of this, it will make sense of the lives that we are living
on this earth. It'll bring an understanding
to us of Why we are where we are in life. Why the things that have happened
to us have happened to us. And why the things that have
not happened to us have not happened to us. How many times have we
wondered, why has this particular thing happened? Why has this
happened? Or why hasn't that happened? I believed that that would have
happened by now. Why has that not happened? Why am I in the state that I'm
in? Why am I in the condition that
I'm in? Why is that? There are things that we want
to see happen. And there are things that we
don't want to see happen. And as they all go the way they
go, life is going the way that life is going. As everything
goes the way that it goes. And as our lives unfold and live
out the way that they live out. If we can remember this right
here, if we can remember this and really understand this, it
will make sense of it all. There are six words in the middle
of Mark chapter seven, verse 37. And they say this. He hath done all things well. He hath done all things well. Our Lord does all things well. All things, there are things
that we pray for and the Lord gives them to us. And you have
experienced that we've asked the Lord for things and he's
given it to us. And there are things that we
pray for and the Lord doesn't give them to us. And what we
need to realize in both cases is it's well. When the Lord does not give us
what we're asking for, it's just as well as when He does. He does all things well. All things. Now let me emphasize
each point of that to us, all right? He, whatever it is, Whatever
it is, He is the one who has done it. Whatever it is, He hath done, past tense, it's already
done. Everything is already done. I
want us to really enter into that. Everything is already done. Known unto God were all His works
from the beginning. In the mind and will of God,
they are done. There are things that still need
to be carried out. They still need to be carried
out. They still need to come to pass, but they're done. I wish I could get a hold of
this so badly. I wish I could get a hold of
this so desperately. He hath done. Lord's not waiting to do anything.
He hath done all things. No matter how great or how small. No matter how significant or
insignificant. No matter what it is that is
affecting us, He hath done all things well. That means beautifully,
rightly, excellently, honorably, well, for the purpose of bringing
good to His people. Well, He's done all things well
in the only way that good could be brought to His people. All
things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to His purpose. All things. Now
let me bring a few truths to us regarding this fact that our
Lord has done all things well. And I want to remind us of these
things for our comfort and for our understanding of why things
are going the way that they are at any given moment in time. It's always right now. This is
why things are going the way they are right now. Always. All
right. At any given moment in time. Let's realize these things concerning
All things, all things in life. All right. The first one is in
2 Corinthians chapter 4. Turn with me over to 2 Corinthians
chapter 4. 2 Corinthians 4. Verse 15 says, For all things are for your sakes
that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many
redound to the glory of God. All things are for your sakes. Who is he talking to? Whose sakes? He's talking about every soul
who was chosen by God the Father. To be redeemed by God the Son.
To be called by God the Spirit. He's talking about God's particular
people. Every sinner who has been saved
in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, don't turn to these. But Proverbs 16 verse four says
the Lord hath made all things for himself. All right. The Lord hath made
all things for himself. Colossians one verse 16 says
all things were created by him and for him. all things are for him all things
are for him but for every soul that is in him and that's who He's talking to
every soul who has been made to be a joint heir with Christ. A joint heir. You just think
about a joint heir with Jesus Christ because of his gift to
us. He said, he said, and this is
just amazing. What's his is ours. Everything that's his. is ours. Because the Father gave Christ
to us, that's the foundation of it all. Because the Father
gave Christ to us, how shall He not with Him also freely give
us all things? If He spared not His own Son,
He'll spare nothing else. So that's who this Word of Promise
is to. Every soul saved by the grace of God Almighty, every
soul in Christ joined together with Christ in Him and because
of Him, know this, in Him and because of Him, know this, all
things are for your sakes. All things. for your sake, for
the sake of your good, it's for you. Why is all this happening? It's for you. Everything that's happening,
all these things, it's for you. And if God be for you, nothing
and nobody can be against you. Now, I know that it seems like
everything is against us. And in this fleshly world of
sin that we're living in, it seems that way because everything
is against us. Everything is against us. But
if God is for us and in Christ he is, nothing can prevail against
us. Everything is against us, but
nothing can prevail against us. Nothing and no one can overrule
or overturn what our Lord has done for us. And that's the second
thing that I want us to get a hold of, all right? The first one
is this, in regard to the fact that He
has done all things well. All right, here's the first one.
Everything that our Lord has done is for us. And the second
thing is, no one's will or decision can stop the well-doing that
He has done. Nothing can undo or stop the
well-doing that He has purposed for us. Turn with me, if you
would, to Daniel chapter 4. Daniel chapter 4. After Ezekiel,
Daniel chapter 4. I love this. I love this book,
but I love this chapter and I love this verse so much. So very much. Daniel chapter 4. This is our God. This is just
glorious. Daniel 4, verse 35. Daniel 4,
verse 35, it says, and all the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? When it comes to everything that
is taking place in your life. And I'm talking about the hard
things. I'm talking about the hard things.
Yes. The good things, the easy things,
the happy things. Yes. But I'm also talking about the
trying things and the discouraging things and the sad things. When it comes to everything that
is taking place in your life, the Lord, our God is doing it and no one is messing it up for
him. No one can stop what he's doing
or even question Him about it. No one, none of the inhabitants
of the earth, no one's personal will. I had something happen
and I'm not going to tell you about it, but I'll just tell
you that this came from me telling myself this. This message came
from me having to preach this to myself. There was something
that I was just desperately, desperately concerned about,
worried about, thinking about, hoping for, such on and so forth. And it spoke peace to my heart
when I realized that other man doesn't have the say in the matter. And there's no problems. Everything's
fine. I'm just telling you. Nobody else's will, nobody else's
decision is going to stop or overturn
the good that our Lord has purposed for us in whatever the situation
is. No one is going to mess it up. Nobody is going to mess it
up. Nobody. The things that we worry
over are the things that we can't control. And that's what I was
worried over. And I'm not worried about it
anymore. Thank the Lord. Hopefully, we'll find out when
I walk out of here, but for right now, I'm not worried about it.
But honestly, we worry the most over the things that we cannot
control, the things that are decisions someone else will make,
not decisions that we will make. That's what we worry the most
over. And this is what we think. This is what I think. I hope that they go along with
God's good will in this. Is that not silly? That's what
goes through my brain sometimes. I hope that they go along with
what's good for us and best for us. Don't worry, they will. They will. all the inhabitants
of the earth, including the kings of the earth. Even the king's
heart is in his hand. And just like the rivers of water,
he is going to turn it wherever he wants to turn it, wherever
he wants to turn it. If one of the inhabitants of
this earth does not go along with the decision in his action
and whatever he decides to do if he doesn't go along with the
way that you are wanting it to go. That's not that person going
against God's will. That's God's will for that person
and for you and for me. So let's understand this. Let's
really get a hold of this. Everything that happens is the goodwill and well-doing
of God for His people. He has done all things well.
All things work together for good to them that love God. He
only does well. That's all He does is well. And
no one on this earth can stop or hinder the goodwill and well-doing
of God for His people. Nobody. Alright, here's the third
thing I want us to understand. Turn with me to Isaiah 46. Back toward Genesis a few books. Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46, let's begin reading
in verse 9. It says, remember the former
things of old, for I am God and there is none else. I am God
and there is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning. and from ancient times the things
that are not yet done saying." How glorious is that? You know,
to think that from times past, the Lord declared, this is what
they're gonna do to the Messiah. This is how he's coming in, this
is what they're gonna say to him, this is what they're gonna
do to him. This is declaring the things that have not yet
even come to pass, okay? Verse 10, declaring the end from
the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not
yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand and I will do all
my pleasure. Verse 11 says, calling a ravenous
bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far
country, yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it, I will also do it. Let's understand this
concerning everything that He has done on this earth. All of
it is calculated down to the finest detail. All of it, all
of it. He is controlling all of it down
to the finest, smallest detail. Even where a bird in his own
little mind That bird is looking around, even where a bird flies,
where he, in his mind, decides he's going to fly. The king's heart is being controlled
by the Lord, and the bird in the sky is being controlled by
the Lord. Matthew 10 says God has to give permission before
a sparrow can fall to the ground. It goes on to say he has to give
permission before one of the hairs of your head can fall to
the ground because he has them all numbered. Every minute detail of your life
is calculated, ordered, purposed. Let's remember that sincerely,
all right? Let's remember that the next
time we get in our car in a hurry and we get halfway out of our
subdivision and realize we forgot our cell phone back at the house
and we have to turn around and go back and get it. That was
calculated. That was predetermined to keep
us from something that would not have been well for us. That was the whole purpose of
it. The next time the fast food place takes too long, you get
frustrated like I do. What in the world is taking them
so long? Purpose and calculation. The next time you miss your turn
and you have to go another way, that was calculated to ensure
wellness for you. Wellness. The next time you get
sick or endure a trial, a pain, a
suffering, a hardship, just remember that sickness was calculated
to ensure wellness for you. Eternal wellness, eternal wellness. All things are for your sakes. No one can stop or hinder the
things that are for you because God is the one doing it. And
He's doing it down to the finest detail in your life. Every minute
detail. All right, now here's the last
thing I want us to understand and remember concerning everything
that the Lord is doing regarding us. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
six. I truly do love this. Matthew
chapter six, verses seven and eight, they
say, but when you pray, use not vain
repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they shall
be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto
them, for your father knoweth what things you have need of
before you ask him. If something does not go the
way you wanted it to go, and you become down on yourself because
you think you did not inform him well enough, You think you did not tell him
well enough what your need was. James said, you have not because
you ask not. We are told to ask the Lord for
things. We're told to say please. We're
told to say thank you. We are to ask our Lord for things.
But if you're sad and disheartened because something didn't go the
way you wanted it to go, and you're afraid it's because you
didn't inform him well enough, do you ever have things that
are just so critical to you? You're worried that you have
to pray hard enough or often enough as though it's
this thing's up to you. Um, you know, if you're worried,
you're negligent in informing him. Don't worry. He knows. He knows in spite of our negligence. Is this an excuse for negligence?
No. But in spite of our negligence, nothing will slip by Him. Nothing. He knows what things we have
need of before we ever even ask Him the first time. We read there in Romans 8, the
Spirit, we don't know what things we should pray for as we ought.
The Spirit's praying for us with groanings that could never be
uttered. He knows. He knows our frame. He knows our frame. He pities
us. He knows us in mercy. He knows
us in love. He knows exactly where we are
and exactly what we need before we ever even ask Him. Look right here in Matthew 6
at verse 31. Matthew 6 verse 31 says, Take no thought, saying, what
shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we
be clothed? For after all these things do
the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knoweth that you have
need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you. Just look to Christ. and trust
Christ, knowing and believing in your heart that He has done
all things well. I'm telling you from experience,
there is rest in that. There is rest in that. He has
done all things well, from creation to salvation, to glorification,
from eternity to eternity. He, for His chosen people, has
done all things well, so well. Believe it, rest in it, take
comfort in it. Take comfort in it. The end of
everything for a child of God will be well, beautiful, right,
excellent, honorable, well. It's going to be well. All right,
let's all stand together.