I was just thinking about the
fact that we are here to worship our holy God. I was just wondering, now why
do I stand down there and then come stand up here? And why did we just have a service
and then why did we start singing songs as though we were about
to start having a service? And why did I have Chris read?
Why are we doing all this? Why this formality? There's just
a few of us here this morning. And I think whenever it's a few,
it's comfortable. I think it's really comfortable.
But why are we doing all this? And here's the answer. We're
here to worship our God. That's the answer. We're here
to worship our God. We just had a Bible study on
God's right to choose, right? His right to choose one and not
another. And the reason he has this right
is because he is sovereign. That's the reason. He's sovereign. And what that word means is this.
He is God. He is God. We're here to worship God. We're
just saying, and bow to him ye must. Why? Because he's God. I mean, he really is God. He can do and He will do whatever
He wants to do. Now look at Psalm 135 verse 6
is going to be the text this morning. It says, Whatsoever
the Lord pleased, that did He in heaven and in earth, in the
seas and all deep places. Whatever the Lord pleased, that's
what he did. Now, what that means is, is he
is not standing anywhere waiting on anybody to do anything. That's what it means. or let
him do anything. He's not waiting on anybody to
let him do anything. He's not standing at anybody's
heart door. He does not do that. Our Lord
does not stand at people's hearts door. When he purposes to come to a
heart, come to a heart's door, what he does is he walks up to
that door and then he knocks that door down and he marches
in And He says, Mine. That's what He does. Sovereign. He is sovereign. Go with me over
to Isaiah chapter 43. The whole world needs to see this.
Isaiah 43 verse 11 says, I have declared and have saved,
and I have showed when there was no strange God among you.
Therefore, you are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God. Yea, before the day was, I am
he, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. I will
work, and who shall let it? That means who is going to stop
me? Who's going to stop my purpose and my will? Look at Isaiah 45
verse 5. He said, I am the Lord and there
is none else. There is no God beside me. That means you and I are not
sovereign. We're not sovereign. We can't
do whatever we will to do, whatever we purpose to do. People say
me and Jesus have a good thing going. And this says that's not
true. It's just not true. People say
God helps those who help themselves. And this says that's not true. Just a minute ago we read in
Ephesians 1, He said you hath he quickened who were dead. Dead. Look right here in Isaiah 45
verse 5. It says, I am the Lord and there
is none else. There is no God beside me. I
girded thee, though thou hast not known me. Not known me. Who gets all the glory in that?
God does. God does. Turn with me over to
Daniel chapter 4. Right after Ezekiel. Daniel chapter
4. Daniel 4 verse 35 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? Now, you know I didn't make that
up. I did not make that up. That is not my opinion. Well,
that's just your opinion about God. No, it's not. That's God's
sovereign word. Turn five books towards the New
Testament. Go with me to Jonah chapter 1. Jonah chapter 1. Verse 14 says, Wherefore they
cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech Thee, O Lord, we beseech
Thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon
us innocent blood. For Thou, O Lord, hast done as
it pleased Thee. As it pleased Thee. That's the
point I'm trying to make. as it pleased thee." God is going
to do whatever it has pleased Him to do. Alright, go with me
to one more. Go to Ephesians 1 again. Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians 1 verse 11 says, "...in
whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. Can we not see in his word that
God is sovereign? There are so many arguments about
who God is and what God is like and what God wants to do. It's
all over Facebook. And people are saying, you know,
God wants to do this, and God said this, but He didn't. This
is what God says about you, but He didn't. But can we not see
in His Word, in His own Word, that God is sovereign? He's sovereign. That there's
only one will and purpose, That's going to be done, and it's God's
will and purpose. That's the only one. Now based
on that, I do have wonderful news. This is a happy message,
okay? This is a very happy message.
I've got good news. With that as a foundation, now
that we know that God is sovereign, and He's going to do whatever
He wants to do, I want to show you what He wants
to do. Okay? I want to show you what
He wants to do. Our text said in Psalm 135 verse
6, Whatsoever the Lord pleased, whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did He in heaven and in earth in the seas and all deep
places. Knowing that our God truly is
sovereign is what gives us comfort and peace. You know that? It's what gives us comfort and
peace, knowing that our God is sovereign. Because He said in
His Word what it has pleased Him to do. And it is really amazing
what it has pleased Him to do. It's truly amazing. And if there
was any doubt in my mind, if I had any doubt that he was not
able to do what he said he could do and what he said he would
do, then I would have no comfort in this life. I'd have no comfort
in this world. I'd have no comfort for eternity. None. None, if there was any
doubt. But because He's sovereign, because
we continually see that He's sovereign, my heart can rest
in the fact that if He said it, He will do it. He will do it. Verse 6 says, Whatsoever the
Lord pleased, that did He in heaven and in earth, in the seas,
and all deep places. Alright, what did it please the
Lord to do? He's told us in His Word five things. He said five
things that it pleased Him to do. Here's the first one. We're
just going to go through these five, and then we'll be done. Here's the first one. Go with
me to 1 Samuel chapter 12. Back towards Genesis. 1 Samuel
chapter 12. 1 Samuel 12 verse 22 says, For
the LORD will not forsake His people for His great name's sake,
because it hath pleased the LORD to make you His people. That's the first thing it pleased
Him to do. This is His own will. This is His own mind. This is
His own purpose from eternity. To think about the mind and the
will and the purpose of God. What He wanted to do. It pleased the Lord to make you
His people. Isn't that amazing? Look at verse 20 right here in
1 Samuel 12. Samuel said unto the people,
Fear not, you have done all this wickedness. We're all sinners,
right? I told you I was going to say,
Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. The amazing thing is that he
loved Jacob. We're all sinners. But our God is sovereign and
he chose to love some people. What I want to know is, am I
one of them? Am I one of them? In that Bible study, we said
He has a right to choose one or the other. Now, here's what
I want to know. Am I one of them? Whoever He chooses, He chooses
to put faith in that sinner to believe His Word. Whoever He
chooses. He confirms to them that He's
sovereign. We hear it, we see it, we read
it, and He causes us to say, I believe that. I believe He's
sovereign. He chooses whom He will. He confirms
to that person, I really am a sinner. When we hear about our sin, the
first thing that we think is, I'm not that bad. Now that stated
it pretty badly. And I will admit, I did some
things the other day that I'm ashamed of, but I'm not that
bad. But if God chooses a sinner,
what he's going to do is he's going to confirm to that sinner,
I really am that bad. I really am a sinner. He confirms
to that person, I'm unworthy to be one of his people. He would
be right in not choosing me. You know that? He would be right
to not choose me. And he confirms in them that
there's only one way. to become one of His people.
And it's not through works, it's not through good deeds, it's
not through morality, it's only through the blood of Christ.
That's it. The blood of Christ. And if God has put that belief
in you, and if He's put that belief in me, then it has pleased
the Lord to make us His people. It's pleased the Lord. Alright,
now if we're sinners, and if sinners cannot be in His presence,
how did He make us His people? Here's the second thing that
it's pleased the Lord to do. Turn with me to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53, look at verse 10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief when
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. He shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. How were outcast sinners made
to be sons of God? It pleased the Lord to bruise
him." I think that's a great wonder that that is what
God chose to do. That's what it pleased Him to
do. That is what He wanted to do. Verse 6, All we like sheep
have gone astray, we've turned every one to his own way, and
the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. all that God gave Him, all that
God the Father chose to give Him. John chapter 6 verse 37
says this, you don't have to turn, you can just listen. John
6 verse 37, it says, All that the Father giveth me shall come
to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. All that the Father chose to
make His people, He's going to send them to Christ. Every single
one of them. He brought them to Christ and
he transferred their sin to his own son and then he killed his
own son. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. That's amazing. Here's the third one. Go with
me to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 17 says,
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not
with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made
of none effect. I hope that the Lord God is so
merciful to me in this congregation that He causes me to never forget
that as long as He would have me to stand in His pulpit. And the reason is because the
longer we go, the more we want to be intrigued, the more we
want the wisdom of words. Wow. Right. Look at it again. Christ sent me not to baptize,
but to preach the gospel. He sent me to preach the gospel,
not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be
made of none effect. Yes, we've heard that. Yes, we've
heard that. I know Isaiah 53. I've been going
there for years. I know that. You got anything
else? Verse 18, it says, For the preaching
of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. It's just too simple. It's just too simple. It's too
irrelevant. You know, that's not relevant
to today. What about everything today?
It's unnecessary. The preaching of the cross is
to them that perish foolishness, but unto us. which are saved,
it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For
after that in the wisdom of God, The world by wisdom knew not
God, it pleased God. Here's what it pleased him to
do. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching, what men believe
is foolishness, to save them that believe. That's what it
pleased God to do. Now, are you saying that God
can't save a person any other way? No. Not saying that at all. What I'm saying is, God said
He won't save a person any other way. Any other way than through
hearing the gospel preached. That's what He said. I'm just
declaring what He said. Verse 21 says, After that, in
the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. It
pleased God to bring a person to His gospel, and it pleased
God to sit that person down. It pleased God to give that person
ears to hear, and it pleased God to give that person a faith
to believe, a heart to believe. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the Word of God. This is what James said. James
1 verse 18, it says, Of His own will, He's sovereign. Begat he us, he saved us, with
the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of
his creature. All right, now here's number four. Go with me
to Galatians chapter one. Galatians 1, look at verse 15. But when it pleased God, who
separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace
to. When it pleased God to. reveal His Son in me. It pleased God to reveal His
Son in me. First, it pleased God to reveal
me in His Son. And you know what that means.
That's the preaching of the cross. When God the Son was hanging
on that cross, And when God the Father looked at God the Son,
you know what He saw? Me. He saw my sin hanging there.
He saw Gabe Stoniker hanging there. He revealed me in His
Son. And He bruised His Son for that.
But in doing that, true substitution took place. And because He revealed
me in His Son, and because I died in His Son, it pleased God to
reveal His Son in me. Christ liveth in me. As He is,
so am I. And I've been conformed to His
image. When God the Father looks at
me, you know what He sees? He sees Christ. He revealed His
Son In me? And we know not what we shall
be, but we know when He shall appear, we're going to look just
like Him. Look just like Him. Here's number 5. Go with me to
Colossians chapter 1. Colossians 1 verse 19. It says, For it pleased the Father
that in Him, that's in Christ, should all fullness dwell. All fullness. The fullness of
what? Just name something. Just name
something. Salvation. Every bit of it is
in Christ. The fullness of salvation is
in Christ. Righteousness. Righteousness
is what makes us acceptable to God. Worthy for heaven. Every bit of that is in Christ. Every bit of it. Sanctification,
I'm a sinner, I need to be cleaned, I need to be washed, set apart
for holy use. Justification means everything
I've done is justified. That's right. Redemption, every
bit of that is in Christ. Joy and happiness. and peace, and rest, and hope,
and love, and forgiveness. Every bit of that is in Christ.
Every bit of it. Look at chapter 2, Colossians
2 verse 9. It says, For in Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. What does that mean? It means God. God. Who is God? Where is God? The fullness of God? It's in
Christ. Christ is God. It pleased God
to make us complete in Him. And if it pleased God to make
us that, you know what? We're going to be that. We're
going to be complete in Him. And the reason is because He's
sovereign. The reason is because He's sovereign. Whatever it pleased
Him to do, that's what He's done. Whatever it pleased Him to do
in heaven, whatever it pleased Him to do on earth, whatever
it pleased Him to do in Christ, whatever it pleased Him to do
in me, it's going to be done. It's because He's sovereign.
Alright, let's stand together.