I want you to open your Bibles
to the book of James, chapter 4. James, chapter 4. I want to be
in reading at verse 13, but before I read that, let me remind you
that James, the man whom God the Holy Spirit used to write
this epistle, this general epistle, to God's people has been talking
about true, genuine, saving faith, as opposed to a mere profession
of faith. He's been talking about those
who really, by the power of the Holy Spirit, by the grace of
God in Christ, who really believe in Christ, who believe the gospel,
not just who claim it with a profession of words. but who believe it
and who live it by the power of God's grace in Christ. And
he'd given some evidences of this kind of faith, this kind
of gift of God. That's what faith is. For by
grace are you saved through faith. That's not of yourself. It's
the gift of God. So this is a faith that we don't
have by nature. It's a faith that we don't have
by our own free wills. That's a myth. It's a faith that
God gives. It comes from the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's part of the fruit of the
Spirit, which proceeds forth from the sovereign mercy and
grace of God in Christ and based upon His finished work. Part
of the purchase of Christ in redemption when He purchased
us by His own blood. And so these things of genuine
faith, He gives evidences of this faith. And one of the evidences
of faith that He gives here is humility. Look back at verse
6 of chapter 4. It says, But he giveth more grace. In other words, this is not just
a one-time thing, and it's not just a measured-out thing, but
it's more grace. Where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. Wherefore, he saith, God resisteth
the proud. The proud and the presumptuous
is what he's talking about. But he giveth grace unto the
humble. And again, we know man by nature
is not humble, not before God now. We're not humble until God
the Holy Spirit convinces us of sin and of righteousness and
of judgment, brings us to see who we really are and what we
really deserve in light of God's holiness and God's justice. And
we're a ruined people, depraved sinners who deserve nothing but
damnation and can earn nothing but damnation. whereby he makes
us humble in driving us to Christ for all salvation, for all forgiveness
by his blood, for all justification before God by his righteousness
imputed, accounted to us alone, that we have none of our own.
There's none righteous, no, not one. There's none that doeth
good, no, not one. And so this salvation that God
has and the faith that he gives is an issue of humility. And
that certainly applies to our understanding of salvation, how
God saves a sinner. But it also applies to how we
live our daily lives. Now look at verse 13. He says,
Go to now. Now that's just an old way of
saying listen up. Listen up. Hear what I'm about
to say. You that say, today or tomorrow
we will go into such a city and continue their year and buy and
sell and get gain. All right, making our plans,
thinking about what we're going to do. And then verse 14, he
says, whereas you know not what shall be on tomorrow, you don't
know what tomorrow holds. He's talking about our ignorance
in things of providence. Now we know some things because
God has taught us some things. God has revealed some things
to us, but there are things we don't know. I can't even tell
you what's going to happen in the next five minutes, let alone
tomorrow. Only God knows. And God knows it because he decreed
it. Now, hold on to that thought now. It says you don't know what
shall be on tomorrow. You don't know. He says, for
what is your life? What is the measure of your life?
Read in that Psalm 39, you know, he talks about Our life's like
a hand's breath. That's why. And that's a metaphor,
you know. It's very short. As you get older,
you realize that, how short life really is. He says, what is your
life? Job said our life is like a weaver's
shuttle, just one little shock of that shuttle. He says, for
what is your life? It's even a vapor, like a steam. How long does steam last in the
air? He says, "...that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth
away, here today gone tomorrow." We don't know when the time of
our death is, but we know there is a time. So therefore, now
listen to this, verse 15, "...for that you ought to say..." Now,
you're making your plans. There's nothing wrong with making
plans now. I'll show you that in a moment. There's nothing
wrong with planning for the future. But don't do it presumptuously.
As if you're the captain of your own fate, or the master of your
own destiny, you say. Because what is your life? What
do you really know? You say, I'm going to invest
in the stock market. You don't know what the stock
market is going to do tomorrow. But I know who knows what it's
going to do. God does. So he says, here's
what you ought to say. If the Lord will. Now that's
the title of this message. If the Lord will. There's the
condition. It's not on me, it's on the Lord.
If the Lord will, we shall live. If it's God's will, then I'll
live. And I'll do this or do that.
Verse 16. But now you rejoice in your boastings.
What James is saying here is don't make your plans and plan
for the future as if you're in control. As if you can muster
it all out. As if you know everything. Or
as if you're going to live forever. But you be humbly submitted to
this recognition, this fact. All this will take place if it's
God's will. And if it's not God's will, it
won't take place. And I'll tell you something else
about it. If it's God's will, that's good. If it wasn't His will, it wouldn't
have been good for me. His will is good, it's right, it's the
only way. So he says, but now you rejoice in your boastings,
all such rejoicing is evil. Verse 17, therefore, to him that
knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. Doing
the Lord's will. You know, everybody who claims
to be a Christian, most everyone, will say without reservation
this statement, I just want to do the Lord's will. Or they'll
say, well, I'm just seeking the Lord's will. And they'll do it
through prayer, through circumstances, looking around. Many ask the
question, what is the Lord's will? What is the Lord's will
for my life? You've heard that said a lot.
Now, before I get into this, I want you to know something.
You know, over there, look back at Romans 12 that we read there
at the beginning of the service. This right here is a description
of a believer's life of obedience. And it's not obedience aimed
at salvation because that would be works religion. We're not
saved by our works. We're saved by the work of Christ,
His works. We're not forgiven of our sins
Because of anything we do or anything we say or plan to, we're
forgiven of our sins by the blood of Christ. The scripture says
that's his death. His death brought about the forgiveness
of all my sins, past, present, and future. Imputed sin, original
sin, all my acts of commission and omission in sin. Christ's
blood cleanseth me from all sin. And my right standing before
God is not by my works of righteousness, it's by his righteousness, the
merits of his obedience unto death. And that's summarized
in one phrase here in verse 1, when he says, I beseech you therefore,
and then he says, brethren, by the mercies of God. Now that's
the key phrase there, that's the motivation. In other words,
what I'm going to beg you to do, urge you to do now, is based
upon the fact that God's been merciful to you in Christ. It's
not to earn his mercy. You can't earn mercy. It's not
to earn his grace. You cannot earn grace. Mercy
and grace are free. But God is just, and he must
exact the penalty and payment for sin. So where is his mercy
and his grace to be found? In Christ Jesus, the God-man,
in the mediator, the high priest, the substitute, the Lamb of God.
So your motivation to do what I'm urging you to do, Paul says
here, is the mercies of God. You're not trying to earn your
salvation. All right, he says, now what are you to do? Present
your bodies a living sacrifice. That's your whole person. Holy,
acceptable unto him. That holy means separated. That's
what that means. In other words, you're not to
be conformed to the world, he says in verse 2. Acceptable unto God. How are we acceptable unto God?
In the Beloved, in Christ, Ephesians 1.6. I'm not accepted because
of who I am or what I do. I told somebody last week, I
said, now if I were to get up this morning and preach the best
sermon that I've ever preached in my life this morning, and
I hope that's the case, but if I were to do that, I would be
no more righteous and no more acceptable and no more recommended
unto God than if I preached the worst sermon I ever preached
because my acceptance, my righteousness, My holiness before God is Jesus
Christ and Him crucified and risen again. You see what I'm
saying? So, I'm acceptable to God. And
He said, this is your reasonable service. It's only reasonable
for you to put your whole person in service to God. And the reason
that's so reasonable is because He's been merciful to you. He's
been merciful to you. He's been gracious to you. Thank
Him. Love Him. Believe in Him. Trust
Him. Humble yourself before Him. And then he says in verse 2,
And be not conformed to this world, the world in its religion,
the world in its immorality, the world in any fashion that
opposes Christ and the gospel of God's grace, but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind. Now, your mind has to be renewed.
My mind has to be renewed. And it's not just an intellectual
thing. It's a heart thing. In other words, it's not just
hearing something and saying, oh, that's true, or oh, that's
a good sermon. It's hearing it and applying
it by the power of the Spirit in our lives, believing it, giving
assent to it, and trusting Christ in it. But your mind has to be
renewed. Now, how is your mind renewed?
Well, he says, transformed by the renewing of your mind is
by the Word of God and the power of the Spirit. He's teaching
us right now from His Word about the will of God, if the Lord
will. And so he says, now when you make your plans, go ahead
and make your plans, but understand that it's all subject to God's
sovereign will. God's sovereign will. And here's
what he says, look here, that you may prove, now what I believe
that means is this, it means that you may be a living proof,
testimony. to what is that good and acceptable
and perfect will of God, if the Lord will. In other words, as
recipients of mercy in Christ, as sinners saved by grace in
gratitude and thanksgiving, we're to be in service to God in every
way, our minds, our affections, our will, our whole bodies, our
whole persons, so that we can be living proofs and testimonies
to what's good and acceptable and perfect, the completed will
of God. That's what we're to do. That's
a high calling, isn't it? And you know as well as I do
that we can't do that of our own power. and our own wills. It takes the Spirit of God. That's
why Paul wrote in Galatians chapter 2 when he talked about crucified
with Christ and doing the will of God, he said, but it's not
I that do it, but Christ that liveth in me and through me.
I live by the faith of the Son of God. Christ living through
His people by the power of His Spirit and His Word, doing the
will of God. This passage back in James chapter
4 presents two issues that I believe every believer ought to be somewhat
schooled in. First of all, the issue of God's
will. God's will, the Lord's will, doing the Lord's will. What does that mean? How am I
to look at that? And secondly, it has another issue here, and
it's a tough one. It has to do with the absolute
sovereignty of God. God's absolute sovereignty. Do you believe in the absolute
sovereignty of God? Now, if you don't, you may say,
well, I don't really understand what you're talking about. That's
OK. But if you say you don't believe it, I'm going to tell
you right now you don't believe this book. Because this book teaches the
absolute sovereignty of God. But it also teaches the responsibility
of man. Teaches both. And you may have
dealt with those issues before. And it's not my purpose just
to plunge you headlong into a pool of deep theology this morning. You know, I try to keep these
things simple. In fact, when I finished up this message last
night, I thought, you know, I'll be amazed at myself if I can
finish this in one sermon. So I'm not even going to plan
to do that. But if the Lord wills, we'll do it. Whatever he wills. But, you know, the Bible teaches
both. There are passages of Scripture, verses of Scripture that teach
both side by side, and then all through the Scripture. I'll give
you an example concerning salvation. John chapter 6 and verse 37,
you mark that down, I quote it all the time, where Christ made
this statement concerning, and He was talking to people who
rejected the Gospel. They rejected it. In John chapter
5, he'd been preaching the gospel. Heal a man, preach the gospel.
And they wouldn't come to him. Over in John 10, he deals with
it. But in John 6 and verse 37, he makes this statement. He says,
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. That's it. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out." That's the sovereignty of God in salvation.
He went on in verse 44 to say, No man can come to me except
the Father which hath sent me draw him. And that word draw
is like drag, drag him. And what he's talking about is
like the drag net, like the fish net. And so when he tells his
preachers to go out and preach the gospel to every creature,
he's not talking about throwing in a one-line fishing pole. He's
talking about throwing out the dragnet. What does that mean?
It means preach the gospel, and all that the Father giveth Christ
shall come to him, and him that cometh to him I will in no wise
cast out. Now, that's not saying that there will be sinners who
want to come to Christ, but God won't let them. Oh, no. Man by
nature doesn't want them. But now let me show you the responsibility
of man. Matthew 11, verse 28, Christ
stood in that great day of the feast and he said, Come unto
me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you
rest. And I'm telling you right now, any sinner who wants salvation
God's way will have it. If you want it his way. I was
preaching on TV this morning about that. Here's Abel and here's
Cain. was humbled by God, and he came
bringing the blood of the Lamb, claiming himself to be a helpless,
wretched sinner who deserved damnation, and that his only
hope of salvation was to cast himself upon the mercy of God
and plead the blood of Christ, the promised Messiah. And he
was accepted. But Cain insisted of his own
will to come by his works, and he was rejected. If Cain had
come, The way that Abel came, by the grace of God through Christ,
would have been accepted. And God told him that. If you
do well, you'll be accepted. Doing well. What is that? Bringing
the blood of the Lamb. What is it to do well in the
word of God? It begins with pleading Christ. Coming to Christ. What is the will of God? James
has a simple way of putting it here. He doesn't really get into
a theological discussion of it. He says, all right, you're going
to make your plans. God's given you a mind. You're not stupid. You're not done. You know that
you're to plan for things, make plans for the future. But he
said, when you do that, don't do that as a practical atheist. You know what a practical atheist
is? He's a person who claims to believe in God. But he walks
and acts as if there is no God. And he says, don't do it that
way. Here's the way you're to do it. You ought to say, if the
Lord will, I'll go into that town. I'll get gained. I'll buy
and sell. If the Lord wills, if it's God's
will, it will happen. That's what James is saying.
Somebody asked one time, I think it was Brother Mahan on the phone
one time, said, do you believe whatever will be, will be? And
Brother Mahan said, well, I don't believe whatever will be, won't
be. And somebody says, well, doesn't
that make us fatalist? Well, if you wanted to, it'll
make you a fatalist. But no, it doesn't make you a
fatalist. Somebody said, well, is man a
robot? No, but if he's a child of God, he's controlled and motivated
and guided by the will of God and not his own will. Isn't that
right? That's what a bond slave of Christ
is all about. Would you rather be Satan's slave,
or would you rather be your own slave? Would that satisfy you? Well, it may for a little while,
but what is your life? You say, who's slave do you want
to be? You're going to be somebody's slave. It may be your own will,
which essentially is Satan's slave. But I'm in the hands of
God, and that's where I want to be. How about you? How about
you? Where would you rather be? You
say, well, I'm the captain of my own fate. I'm the master of
my own destiny. Well, go to it, pal. Because
I'm going to tell you where that's going to get you. You're going
to end up in the ditch. Isn't that right? Isn't that
right? You want to be your own guide,
your own master? You want to live by your own
will? You don't know what you're asking
for. You see, that's another thing he says here. He says in
verse 14, whereas you know not what shall be on the mark. You
don't know enough to be your own master. I don't know enough
to be my own master. But I'm in the hands of a sovereign
God who knows everything because he's decreed everything. When
we talk about God's sovereignty and man's responsibility, here's
what we're talking about. We're talking about what God
decrees, God's decrees, and what God directs, God's directives.
I want you to turn to a passage of Scripture. I refer to this
one quite often, and I never have you turn to it, but I want
you to turn to it today. Deuteronomy 29, back in the Old
Testament, Deuteronomy 29, and the last verse of that chapter,
verse 29. I want you to think about this.
Now what's happening here is Moses in this second giving of
the law. That's what Deuteronomy means.
It means the second giving of the law, the first giving when
he came down from Mount Sinai. And remember he threw the tablets
and they broke. But here's the second giving of the law to Israel.
And this is pretty much close to the time where the children
of Israel were going to go over into the land of Canaan, the
promised land. And there's a lot of things that
happened to them that they couldn't understand. And it would kind
of go like this. Well, now, if we're the people
of God, why did this happen to us? If we're the chosen of God,
why did that happen to us? Why did we have to go through
that trial, that trouble? Why did all this happen to us?
And we do that because we have a tendency to forget the blessings
and major on the troubles. Now, that's human, isn't it?
Even believers, you know. Why did that happen to me? When
really, if you get down to it, we ought to be saying, why did
it not happen to me? You know, something bad didn't happen to
me. That's human, you know, and we
have to continually seek God's forgiveness in our consciences
for that as we go to Christ. But he's directing them to obey
the revealed Word of God in spite of everything that's happened,
good and bad. And here's how he concludes it.
Now look at verse 29. Mark this in your Bible. This
is a, this is one of those verses that kind of says it all about
this issue. And he says, verse 29, the secret. And you see things
belong is in italics. It's applied by the translators
and that's okay. This is a good way to put it.
The secret things belong unto the Lord our God. You mean God
has secrets? Yes. And they belong to him.
And He hasn't told anybody. And you know why? They belong
to Him. They don't belong to you. They don't belong to me.
He hasn't let us in on these things. They're secret things
that only God knows. All right? Now, but those things
which are revealed, they're some things God's told us. They belong
unto us. Well, then we're responsible
for what God's revealed to us, not what He's kept from us now.
And he says, and to our children forever that we may do all the
words of this law. Now, remember the law now. The
law of Moses was not a way of salvation by works. There are
some people who call themselves dispensationalists who say, well,
that was God's way of God back then. He saved people by their
works under the law. Oh, no. That law was a schoolmaster
to lead sinners to Christ even back then. Salvation has always
been by grace. And you know what? God has not
kept that secret. He's revealed it. How is a sinner
going to be saved? Is that a secret that only a
few people know? I know some people who think
that, but that's not the case. God's revealed that out. He's
directed sinners to run to Christ for all of salvation. Now, what are you to do? What
am I to do? I'll tell you exactly what you're to do. Run to Christ
for all of salvation. But what about God's secret will? You are responsible and it belongs
to you to follow the revealed things that God has given you.
Now James, hold your finger there, James says that back there in
verse 17. James 4 and verse 17. Listen
to it. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth
it not, to him it is sin. God's revealed some things. He's
told you and me that the only way that a sinner like me can
be saved is through the grace of God in Christ, through His
blood and righteousness alone. Now, what am I to do? What am
I responsible to do? I'm responsible to fall at the
feet of Christ and beg for mercy that I don't deserve. And you know what else he's revealed
about that? He reveals all who do are saved. Now, it might be. No secret about that. But there
are some things that God hasn't revealed. So now, if you're going
to understand... Paul said, now, we're to be walking,
talking, living testimonies, proofs of the will of God. And
he really doesn't specify what the will of God there is in Romans
12 too, but it's mainly having to do with God's directives,
God's revealed will by way of commandment. But we're also to
do just exactly what James is saying back there. in James 4,
that when we make our plans, our daily plans, where we're
going to live, what we're going to do, where we're going to go
to church, all of these things, you say, if the Lord will. Now,
God's revealed some things about where we ought to go to church.
He hasn't kept that secret. I'll tell you exactly where you
ought to be. You ought to be where the Word of God is preached. I've said it before, not where
you're entertained, not where you feel good. They just make me feel so good.
You ought to get out of there. Listen, when I say that, we ought
to feel good about Christ, shouldn't we? We ought to feel good about
who He is and what He did and why He did it and where He is
now. But if they uplift you and entertain you, God's revealed
that now. The church is the pillar and
ground of truth, you see. God's revealed to me who He is
and who I am and who Christ is. That's not a secret. But if you're
going to understand God's will, you have to know these two things.
Number one, there are things God has not revealed to us about
His sovereign will. Those are the secret things.
I don't know what the rest of this day is going to hold. Only
God knows. He's commanded it. He's decreed
it. God didn't look down through a telescope of time and foresee
it, because that would be, you know what that is, that is fatalism.
Because if God had to look down through a telescope of time,
first of all, you've got a God there who's not omniscient, he
has to learn some things, and that's not the God of this book.
Secondly, you've got a God who changes, because why does he
even look down, why does he even want to know what's going to
happen, so that he can react? A reactionary God? You say, well,
preacher, I can't understand all those things about God. Well,
what do I always say? Join the club. Because you're
not going to. He's God and you're you. I told
you about the guy last week who said after 40 years of religious
study, he's come to two things he knows for sure. He said, number
one, there is a God and number two, I ain't him. And that's true. Now, thankfully,
we know more than that because God's revealed it. But there's
some things we don't know. These secret things are God's
decrees. And I'm going to use that word that the religious
world holds in high contempt. It's predestination. Ooh, they
hate that. But you know what? I got news
for you. Webster didn't invent that word, and I didn't either.
That comes directly from the Scriptures. having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children. And we could go on and on. You
say, well, what about this sovereign decree? They never change. Why
would God have to change? If you change, you change either
for the better or for the worse. God can't get any better. He's
God. He's holy. That means He's complete, unique,
perfect in every way. And He certainly can't change
for the worse. Because if he could change for the worse, you
know what he would be? He'd be a creature, a mere creature.
You say, well, I can't wrap my brain around it. I know you can't.
Nobody can. Because we are creatures. We
are changeable. That the Lord says, I am the
Lord, I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. Sinners saved by grace. These
are the secret things. God has decreed what's going
to happen tomorrow. I don't know about that. I'm
going to make some plans about what I'm going to do tomorrow,
but here's how it's going to be, if the Lord wills. I may
not wake up. I may go to sleep tonight and
not wake up tomorrow. I don't know. What is my life?
A hand's breath. That's what James is saying. So we make our
plans. But the second thing you have
to know about God's will is that there are things God has revealed
to us about His will, what He directs us and commands us to
do. That's the revealed things that
belong to us. The secret things don't belong
to us, they belong to God. We're not responsible for those
secret things. We're responsible for what He's
told us. When you're raising your children, you don't tell
them everything, do you? You say, I'm going to give you
an allowance, son. And here's how much I'm going
to give you. And then you go on to open up all your bank accounts
and all your investments and show them to your children and
show them why you're only giving them that amount. Is that what
you do? No, you don't do that. You say, I'm giving you this
amount because this is what I think you need and this is what I'm
going to give you. Now shut up and spend it well. Right? You don't tell them everything.
You don't let him in. And that's the way our father
is for us. He knows the this. The Bible says in Isaiah 46,
he declares the end from the beginning. Now that's a predestinating
God. Now I can declare the beginning
from the end. I can tell you how this morning started, but
I can't tell you how it's going to end up. Because I've got to
live moment by moment. But not God. He's decreed it
all. And His revealed will, His commandments,
His ordinances, His directives given to us, He holds us accountable
and responsible. Now here James is talking about
that. You don't know what your life is on the morrow. You don't
know how short it's going to be, how long it's going to be.
It's a vapor either way. So you ought to say if the Lord
will. But now here's the thing. Here's your responsibility if
you know to do good. And how do you know to do good?
Because God's told you what is good. Not because you just feel
it's good. You see, that was the problem
with man by nature. Everybody does what's right in
their own eyes. If it feels good, do it. No,
no. God has told us in his revealed will by way of commandment what's
good and what's evil. And if you know it's good and
you don't do it, then it's sin, the scripture says. You're held
accountable for that. You're responsible for that.
That's what he's saying. There are times in our own mind
and understanding of these things that these two things seem to
be at odds. God's secret will, God's revealed will, God's decrees,
and man's responsibility. They seem to be at odds. Let
me give you a couple of examples. Turn back to Genesis chapter
50. You know the story of Joseph and his brethren. Most people,
when they think of Joseph and his brethren, they think of the
coat of many colors. And that's pretty much all they
go to. But there's a whole lot more to that story than the coat
of many colors. You remember what Joseph's brethren
did? They were jealous of him. There was wrong done on both
sides. Joseph was kind of lifted up with pride, and his brothers
got jealous of him, so they decided against God's revealed will by
way of commandment to kill their brother. Now, did they know to
do good? Like James is saying, did they
know it was wrong to kill their brother? Well, of course they
did. Do you know it's wrong to kill
somebody? Yes, you do. You know that. That's God's revealed
will by way of commandment. Thou shalt not kill. Old Testament
and New Testament. That's wrong. Well, they didn't
kill him, but they did sell him into slavery. Was that wrong?
Yes, it was. They kidnapped their brother
and sold him to a foreign nation into slavery. They did not love
their brother as themselves, which is God's directive, God's
revealed will by way of command. They sinned. They knew to do
good, and yet they sinned. Now, how did all that work out
with God's secret will? with God's decrees, with God's
predestination, with God's purpose that never changed. How does
that all work out? Well, now let me show you how it all comes
out in the Word of God. Now, the philosophers can get
together, and they can muggle it up, and theologians can do
it, and they can muggle it up. How does God deal with it? And
He deals with it through the very man to whom the most wrong
was done, Joseph. And you know what happened? Joseph
became, you know, he became the second in command of Pharaoh,
and he interpreted Pharaoh's dreams, and they filled the storehouses
of Egypt for the times of famine, and all the land around, even
where Joseph came from, and his father, Jacob, and all the brothers,
they had to come to Egypt to get grain. And when the brothers
came, they saw Joseph there, and they just knew Because they
knew to do well, but they sinned, they did wrong. They just knew
Joseph was going to put it on them. No, he's going to get us. And I'm not going to go through
the whole story here. But listen to what Joseph said.
Look at Genesis 50, look at verse 15. It says, And when Joseph's brethren
saw that their father was dead, Jacob died, They said, Joseph
will peradventure hate us and will certainly requite us all
the evil which we did unto him. He'll deal with us justly. And
so they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did
command before he died, saying, So shall you say unto Joseph,
Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren and
their sin, for they did unto thee evil. And now we pray thee,
forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father, And
Joseph wept when they spake unto him. And his brethren also went
and fell down before his face, and they said, Behold, we be
thy servants." Now listen to this. And Joseph said unto them,
Fear not, for am I in the place of God? Now you know what he's
saying there? He's not asking them a question.
He's making a point. This is a rhetorical question.
Here's what he's saying. He's saying, don't be afraid.
I am where God put me. Wow. And look at the next verse. But as for you, you thought evil
against me. You're accountable. You meant
it for evil, but God meant it unto good to bring to pass as
it is this day to save much people alive. There's God's secret will. Now, Joseph's brethren, when
they sought to kill him, they say, come on, fellas, let's do
the will of God. No, because you see, like James
said, you don't know those things. You don't know what tomorrow
holds. All you know is what God tells you. And he says, thou
shalt not kill. He says, love your brother as
yourself. And they did wrong. They did it for evil. And they're
accountable. They're responsible. They're
to be brought to repentance. But all along, God was in control. I know a lot of these preachers
don't believe that, but I'm telling you, Joseph did. Now, let me
show you another one. Look at Acts chapter 2. Now here,
this one ought to knock you out of your socks. If you haven't
heard it before, most of you have. Now, Joseph said God did
it to save much people alive. You know, in God's secret decree,
working all things after the counsel of his own will, Israel, the people of Israel,
the nation Israel, they did not perish in that famine. They were
spared. They were saved by God's power.
And how did God do it? He overruled the sin of Joseph's
brethren and brought good out of it. Do you believe God can
do that without being the author of evil? I do. And if you don't
believe that, don't ever. Just turn to Romans 8, 28 and
tear that part out of your Bible. For all things work together
for good to them that love God, who are called according to his
purpose. Oh, yes, he can. And he always has. He did it
in the fall. Before there was a fall into
sin, there was a Savior set up, Christ, the Lamb of God, slain
from the foundation of the world, salvation which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began." Look at verse 22 of Acts 2, Peter
preaching at Pentecost. You say, well, now, these are
things that shouldn't be preached. Now, a lot of preachers will
tell you that. Okay, they're true, but you shouldn't
preach that. It'll kill your church. Peter is standing here at Pentecost
preaching to a bunch of lost people. And listen to what he
says in verse 22. You men of Israel, hear these
words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by
miracles and wonders and signs. In other words, he was proven
to be the Messiah. Which God did by him in the midst of you,
as you yourselves also know. Now listen to it, verse 20. Him
being delivered. By the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, and that word foreknowledge means foreordination
of God, you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and
slain. You meant it for evil. I meant
it for evil. God meant it for good. You see
that? And you know what? That's our
salvation, the cross of Christ. which is an ever-living symbol
of man's sin, but is also an ever-living symbol of God's victory
in Christ. Fallen humanity, which was represented
in those who crucified Christ, and we're included in that now,
we're all responsible, we who are saved, it was our sins that
put Him on that cross. They didn't say, now let's take
him and crucify him and do the will of God. No, they meant it,
they wanted to murder him. That's what we wanted to do.
But God, the Bible says in Isaiah 53, I believe it's verse 10,
it pleased the Lord to bruise him. God was doing it all the
time. And God's not the author of evil. He's not a sinner. He
never does anything wrong, but he did it for the salvation of
his people. He overruled our sin to save
us from our sin. And out of that, he made an end
of sin by the blood of his Son and wrought out a righteousness
whereby God could be just and justify the ungodly. Look at
Acts chapter 4. I'll show you one more here.
Verse 26 of Acts chapter 4. 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
to do what now? Well, to kill him. But what does
verse 28 say? For to do whatsoever thy hand
and thy counsel. A counsel is the meeting of the
minds to make these decisions. And God's counsel within himself
determined before to be done. Do you see that? That's God's
secret will. That's God's purpose, predestination. And I know people don't like
it, but there it is. The Bible reveals and proclaims
God as the one who has predestinated all things and who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will. The Bible also reveals
and proclaims God as the one who holds all of us accountable
for the revelation that he's given to us. You see, God is
the sovereign ruler of this universe, working his own purpose and decrees
and his will in all things And it's in him whose dominion is
everlasting dominion, his kingdom is from generation to generation,
and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed in God's eyes
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, none can hinder him or even question him, saying
to him, What doest thou? Daniel chapter 4, verses 34 through
35. Now, God is not the author of
sin, but he rules over all things, even working his good out of
our evil. God is sovereign. Man is responsible. Now, you say, well, I can't always
see how those things fit together. No, you can't. And I can't either. But that's not the issue. The
issue is what's true. Christ said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. I know that so, and him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. The same one who said
that said to us, Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, I'll give you rest. Are you labor and heavy laden?
Are you tired of trying to work your way into God's favor and
salvation by your efforts and your doing good, which is nonexistent
in the eyes of God? Are you tired of religion? Do
you want to just rest at the feet of Christ? Rest in His glory
and His grace and His mercy? Come on. God's not going to turn
you away. He never turns anybody away who
comes to Him pleading the merits of Christ. Amen? Alright.