Acts chapter 15 verse 18 says, known unto God
are all his works from the beginning of the world. Everything that
he was ever going to do was purposed from eternity. Every single thing. Everything that is carried out
today was purposed from eternity. Something happens. It happens
all the time. All right. Something happens.
A hurricane starts heading toward our coast. And this is what we
say. This is what we say. Oh, I hope
God steps in. You know, God is able to do something
about this. He's able. I believe he's able. Here it
comes. And I hope and pray that God will step in and take care
of this. Do something about this. I'll
bring it closer to home. A loved one finds out that he
has cancer. And we say, oh, I hope God steps
in and does something about this. You know, he's able. He can if
he wants to. He can step into this situation
and he can take care of it. But do you know it doesn't work
like that? That's not how it works, that's not how things
happen. From before the foundation of
the world God decreed everything that would happen, every hurricane
that would form including Katrina, including Matthew, every cancer
cell that would form, every single one of them. Everything that
happens is according to His decree and will. This is what He said,
I kill, I make alive, I wound, I heal, I the Lord do all these
things. Every single one of them. God
decreed the situation. God decreed who would be involved
in the situation. God decreed the outcome of the
situation. Well, then why are we always
worrying? I don't know. Why are we always worrying? We're
so worried and we're so worried. Did God start it? Oh, yeah. Is
he in total control of it? Absolutely. Is it going to be
good? Yes. But I'm just still so torn
up about it. I'm talking about myself. Known
unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world. His
will is an eternal will. Now, this is important. Sin does
not proceed from Him. In everything that happens, sin
is involved. Sinful things, everything, I
said everything. And sinful things happen all
the time, horrible things. Sin does not proceed from Him,
but it can only happen according to His permissive will. It can only happen if He allows
it to happen. And somehow, and I can't explain
it, but I'll just declare it, somehow, Everything, even that,
accomplishes his good pleasure. Somehow, he said, you meant it
for evil, God meant it for good. And our illustration of that
is Job. Satan had to present himself
before God and God said, have you considered Job? And he said,
yeah, but I can't touch him unless you let me. And he said, you
can touch all that he has, but you can't touch him. And that's
our proof. All things work together for
good. All things. The end of Job. God
did let him touch him. You know what the end of Job
was? Twice as much as it was when he started. All good. All good. Now the second thing
about his will is it's all wise. Go with me to Psalm 104. Psalm 104 verse 24 says, Oh Lord,
how manifold are thy works. In wisdom thou hast thou made
them all. The earth is full of thy riches. We write history as it happens. All right, we record it. We come
to know things the way they are as they come to be, as they come
to pass, not God. There is a song that we sing
and it says, oh the love that drew salvation's plan. Now plan is not a good word.
That word is not in the Bible. It's his purpose. But considering
that like an architect drawing a plan, all right? Before anything
happens in the construction of a building, an architect draws
a plan. Isn't that right? Before you
ever start digging footers, how do you know where to put them?
Right? Before you ever start digging
footers, the architect knows exactly what the roof line is
going to look like. An architect does not go out
to a job site and they're building a building and he brings him
a big old piece of paper and he starts watching what all the
builders are doing. And they're all out there, you
know, operating according to their own free will. They're
all their own free agents and they're just all building this
building however they each see fit to do it. And as they do
it, he's drawing a plan according to what they're doing. And somebody
comes up to the architect and says, what's the end result going
to be? And he says, well, I don't know. I don't know, but maybe
if I'll step in there and help them a little bit, maybe it'll
turn out all right. That's not how it works. That's what men
believe about God, though. That's exactly what they believe
about God. It's absolutely crazy. It's crazy. See that to be totally fine for
God's ways, but not man's ways. Man wouldn't dream of doing something
like that. Now he's trying. He is trying. He's working. Why don't you just step back
and give him a little room? He has a wonderful plan for your
life. You're going to mess it up. Hopefully everything is going
to turn out alright. God said, this is what he said, before
I formed you in the belly, I knew you. I knew everything about
you. Look with me at Psalm 139. Psalm 139 verse 1 says, O Lord,
thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down sitting
and mine uprising. Thou understandest my thought
afar off, before I ever even think it. Thou compassest my
path and my lying down and art acquainted with all my ways.
For there's not a word in my tongue but lo, O Lord, thou knowest
it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and
before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me. It is high I cannot attain to
it." I just can't even fathom everything that you know. Verse
12, he says, "'Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee, but the
night shineth as the day. The darkness and the light are
both alike to thee. For thou hast possessed my reins,
thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee, for
I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works,
and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid
from thee when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought
in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance,
yet being unperfect, and in thy book all my members were written,
which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of
them." Everything about me was written in your book before any
of them were fashioned in the womb. Every single thing. There is nothing about anything
that he does not know. Nothing. He knows everything
about everything and the reason is because He decreed it all.
His purpose, His will is all wise. Romans 11 says, Oh the
depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God.
It's eternal and it's all wise. Now here's the third thing. His
will is free. It's free. God has a free will. Our Lord said in Isaiah 40, who
hath directed the spirit of the Lord? Or being his counselor
hath taught him? Who has caused him to do the
things that he does? Who caused him to do that? He
said in Isaiah 43, I will work and who shall let it? Who is
going to stop me? Who will stop me? Man cannot
say that. He cannot say that. Even though
man thinks he has a free will, and we talk about, you know,
what church do you attend? Well, I attend a free will church.
Outside of God's sovereignty, it's all free will, no matter
what religion it is, no matter what denomination it is. It's
all free will, and man believes he has a free will. He thinks
he's doing what he wants to do. I know what's in my heart. I'm
doing exactly what I want to do. He's not though. He's not. Man is always doing
what God wants him to do. Always. Always. Even though his own desire is
a particular way, he's still doing God's will. All right,
now I want to show you that this is just, this is the best. Go to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2 verse 22. Peter said, You men of Israel,
hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which
God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know. Him being delivered By the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain. You did exactly what you wanted
to do, didn't you? They all wanted to cry, we hate
him. Crucify him. Everything you did, he said,
was determined in the counsel and will of God before the world
began. Every single thing. Look at Acts
chapter 4. Acts chapter 4 verse 26. This
is a prayer. They're praying to the Lord.
They said, the kings of the earth stood up and the rulers were
gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ.
For of a truth against thy holy child, Jesus, whom thou hast
anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and
the people of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever
thy hand and thy counsel determined to be done. That's exactly what
they all did. Herod and Pilate and all of them,
they all came together and did exactly what you determined to
be done. Isn't that wonderful? God's will is done at all times. At all times. He is the only
one whose will is completely free. hindered by nothing. Nothing stops it. Nothing changes
it. And that leads us into the last
thing, this fourth thing. It's absolute. It's absolute. It is going to happen no matter
what. It's going to happen no matter
what. Look with me at Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46 verse 5 says, To whom
will you liken me, and make me equal, and compare me that we
may be like? They lavish gold out of the bag,
and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith, and he
maketh it a god. They fall down, yea, they worship. They bear him upon the shoulder,
they carry him and set him in his place, and he standeth, from
his place shall he not remove. He can't walk anywhere. Yea,
one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer nor save him out
of his trouble. Remember this and show yourselves
men. Bring it again to mind, O ye
transgressors. 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, my
counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. Calling a ravenous bird from
the east. What he's saying is I tell a
bird where to go. Calling a ravenous bird from
the east. The man that executeth my counsel from a far country.
I'm controlling every man all over the world. Calling 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. Nothing can stop God's will.
Nothing. Now I'm going to close with this.
Go with me over to 1 Kings 22. I'm going to tell you what's
going on in this chapter here. about two kings. One of them
was named Ahab. He was the king of Israel. And
one of them was named Jehoshaphat. He was the king of Judah. And
these two kings got together and decided they were going to
go to war with Syria. So they asked their prophets,
and Ahab was not a good king, he was a terrible king. And they
asked their prophets, is the Lord going to go with us and
give us the battle? And all their prophets, their
false prophets, their hirelings, they all said, oh yes. You're
the man. It's all going to be okay. And
Jehoshaphat asked Ahab, he said, are there any other prophets
that we need to ask before we go? And he said, well, there's
one. His name is Micaiah. But he said,
I hate him. He never has anything good to
say to me. Never. And Jehoshaphat said,
well, I think we ought to ask him anyway. So he sent a servant
to go get him. So this servant comes to Micaiah
and he said, you've been summonsed by the king. They want to know
if the Lord is going to be with them in battle. And he said,
I just want you to know that all the other prophets are telling
them that it's going to be okay. And we want you to say the exact
same thing. And he said, I'm telling you the truth. I will
say exactly what God tells me to say, whatever that is. So
he comes before him and he told Ahab he saw a vision. And he
told Ahab the vision and he said, God says you're going to die.
You're going to go into battle and you're going to die in this
battle. And so when Ahab heard that, he said, I'm not, that's
not going to happen. So he told Jehoshaphat, here
they both kings, he said, you wear your kingly robes because
nothing has been commanded of God against you. I'm going to
disguise myself as a soldier. All right. And so they did. Well, the king of Syria started
into the battle and the king of Syria told 32 men, the battle's
going on, but he set aside 32 men and he said, you don't fight
with anybody but the king. You kill the king. All right,
now you can picture these young men, you know, they get them
at 18 years old and they're ready to go and they're, you know,
So they see a king in robes and they go after him and they're
ready to kill this man. And as soon as they get to him,
they turn him around and realize this is not Ahab. All right,
now look with me at 1 Kings 22 verse 33. And it came to pass
when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the
king of Israel. that they turned back from pursuing
him. They didn't kill this man. It
was not Ahab. They had direct orders, only
go after Ahab. Verse 34, and a certain man,
one of those 32, drew a bow at a venture. Now what it is, is
he was a young soldier who wanted his kill. He was eager to get
his kill. And he was ready to do it, and
when he saw it wasn't him, he got frustrated. He got mad, and
he pulled the arrow out, and he went, All right, verse 34, and a certain
man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between
the joints of the harness. Wherefore, he said unto the driver
of his chariot, turn thy hand and carry me out of the host
for I'm wounded. And the battle increased that
day and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians
and died at even and the blood ran out of the wound into the
midst of the chariot. Ahab thought, okay, I'm going
to fool God. If that's what God says is going to happen, I know
what they're going to do. They're going to go after the king. I'm going to
take care of that. That's just not possible. God
set a decree, and this man, he had no idea what he was shooting
at. He shot at a venture, and that arrow stuck him right between
the joints of his harness. Is it not comforting? How could
we have any peace? How could we have any assurance?
How could we have any amount of comfort if we did not know
and believe and were sure that all of God's decrees, all of
His will and His purpose is eternal? Absolutely eternal. It's wise. The best possible scenario is
going to come from it. It's free. Nothing will allow
it. Nothing influences him. And it's
absolute. It's going to happen. It's all
going to happen. Thank God for his perfect will. Thank God. OK, you're dismissed.