I appreciate the opportunity
to speak before you again today. Today, we're getting kind of
a double-barrel shotgun approach. This morning, Brother Bill spoke
on original sin, human depravity, and my topic for this afternoon
is the sovereignty of God and the promise of Christ to build
His church. As I studied this week to put
this together, to put a message together, I realized this was
probably going to take two parts to complete the task. So today
I'm focusing on the sovereignty of God. My scriptures today I'd
like to read up front and then as I speak, please keep these
in mind and we may or may not go back to them. The first scripture
I'd like to read is Psalm 115 verse 3, Our God is in the heavens,
He does all that He pleases. The second is Psalm 135 verses
5 and 6, For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord
is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, He
does in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. Isaiah
14, verse 24, the Lord of hosts has sworn, as I have planned,
so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand. Isaiah 14 again, verse 26 through
27, this is the purpose that is purposed concerning the whole
earth, and this is the hand that is stretched over all the nations,
for the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will unknow it? His hand
is stretched out, and who will turn it back?" Isaiah 46, verse
11, I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass. I have purposed,
and I will do it. Now, I will read from Matthew
chapter 16, verses 13 through 18. And when Jesus came into
the district of Caesarea Philippi, He asked his disciples, who do
the people say that the Son of Man is? And they said, some say
John the Baptist, others say Elijah, others Jeremiah or one
of the prophets. He said to them, but who do you
say I am? Simon Peter replied, you are
the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered him,
blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed
this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you,
you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. In Daniel chapter
7, verses 13 and 14, we see from the vision that Daniel was given,
I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man, and he came to the ancient
of days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away in his kingdom, one that
shall not be destroyed. The last verse I'll read this
morning is from Matthew chapter 28, verses 16 through 20. And the eleven disciples went
to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.
And when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. And Jesus
came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Therefore, Go and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all
that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always
to the end of the age." At the first reading, first hearing
of these passages today, they may seem disjointed and unrelated. It is my hope that as we go through
this, today and then also in a sermon that will follow in
the weeks to come, that they will be tied together and we
can see the unity of these passages. The topic again is the sovereignty
of God and the promise of Christ to build His church. For the
past 50 years, we have witnessed a decline in the churches across
the United States and across Europe. We've seen a degradation
in public and private morals and conduct. In our lifetime
we have seen what seems to be the unraveling of the church
rather than the building up of the church. A decay in the body
of Christ rather than a strengthening in the body of Christ. All of
this appears to be the very opposite of the promise of Christ to build
His church. It would seem to a casual observer
that the gates of hell are prevailing. If we look at the circumstances
locally, nationally, worldwide, we can begin to lose heart. We
can become discouraged. To counter the world, we must
get above and beyond the world. We must focus first and foremost
on God. To gain this proper perspective,
we must see God for who He is, not for who we think He is. The Bible, as God's revealed
Word, tells us about the person of God. Today, as the basis,
the foundation for understanding the promise of Christ to build
His church, I would like to look at the overriding characteristic
of God and that is His sovereignty. That above anything else that
we can say about God, He is sovereign. He is the absolute ruler of all
things. This is the foundation of all
that the Bible teaches. This is the foundation of all
that the Bible teaches. All of it is linked to God's
sovereignty in one way or another. Looking at Christ's promise to
build His church even to such a point that the gates of hell
will not prevail against it, the sovereignty of God is the
foundation, the bedrock of this promise. Because God is sovereign,
This will happen. This will happen. It's not a
question. Christ will build His church. The gates of hell will
not prevail against it. Now all churches, all believers
will say that God is sovereign. No Christian would deny openly
that God is sovereign. It is the teaching of the Scripture.
The question comes in is what do we mean when we say that God
is sovereign? And how does that sovereignty
manifest itself? And this is where the opinions
are so varied. Now what you as a believer think
about the sovereignty of God will direct your understanding
of the Scripture, it will direct your understanding of events
in the world, it will direct your expectations in life, and
it will direct your expectations in the promises of God. We don't necessarily think about
that. We don't sit down when we're
confronted with something and say, now how does the sovereignty
of God tie into this? But it's a current that runs
through all of our thoughts. What we think about God, whether
we speak it or not, directs our understanding. What I'd like
to do now at this point is to look at kind of a point-counterpoint
view of the sovereignty of God. And as I state one thing or the
other, you can see how views within Christianity today fall
within that range. The first view, let's talk about
that God is sovereign, meaning that God is the absolute ruler. of all things. Number one, we assume then, if
God is absolute ruler, that He reigns over His creation. He rules His creation. Number
two, we believe then that God's Word is true. If the king utters
an edict, it is true. It is the law. With that, we
believe then that God's Word is without error, that it is
timeless, and that it is not subject to the changing views
or opinions of mankind. Thirdly, we would believe then
that God, or man rather, man serves God. Tied in with that, and fourthly,
is that man is in submission to God. That God's will predominates. Man's will is secondary. Fifthly,
we would believe that God deals with man accordingly. Now in the flesh and in the days
to come. We would believe that God rewards
what he considers to be good behavior, we believe that God
disciplines those who are out of good behavior, and we believe
that God punishes bad behavior. And then, sixly, we would believe
that God deals with man ultimately on the judgment day. Now, sort of at the other end
of the spectrum on viewpoints of God, we have what is kind
of contemporary Christian thinking, and that is that God has yielded
His sovereignty. We will say that He is sovereign,
but we will say that He is somewhat set aside for this time period. That He doesn't necessarily reign
over His creation right now. He's not ruling completely His
creation. We've heard this preached from
pulpits, maybe not as directly as that, but if you'll think
about the words that is spoken and how they apply, that is what
we've heard preached. Then beyond that, there's another
viewpoint and that is that God is not sovereign. That somehow
God is not sovereign and that the world that man is subject
to randomness or circumstance. Now that's an extreme position
and really not much within the Christian viewpoint. Second to
all that, as the second point under the sovereignty position
is that God's Word is true and absolute, the second position
under this yielded sovereignty type of position is that God's
Word may not be absolute. There may be error in the Bible. Parts of it may be outdated. And parts of it just don't apply
anymore because mankind has grown beyond these things. A third point built into this,
and you can see this, one thing kind of leads to another, but
the third point is that in some way, God serves man. God serves man. Built on that
is the fourth point that God is in some way in submission
to man, that God responds to man. A fifth point that you'll
hear preached is that God deals not physically with men now,
but only spiritually. The sixth point is that God may
or may not deal with man ultimately on the judgment day. You have
the universalist position that ultimately all people are saved
and no one will be punished. And then you have some that just
kind of say that when it's over, it's over. There's no judgment. Our judgment is here in this
life. Now with those two points set
before us, I think we can see from the preaching that we've
heard, from the preaching we've seen on the TV, from preaching
we may have even sat under, that there is this continuum between
the two points of contemporary Christian thought. And I would
speculate, I would put before you that the majority of modern
Christian thought leads toward or leans to the position that
God has yielded His sovereignty. I will tell you, this is wrong. This is absolutely wrong. The modern position, whether
we will state it or not, the modern position makes man the
sovereign. God is subject to the whims of
men under this position. Now no Christian would stand
in the pulpit and say that. They wouldn't stand before you
on a Sunday morning and say, man is sovereign. But as we listen to their words,
and as we think through the application of their words, that is indeed
what they are saying. That God is subject to man. As many preach God today, He
is a responder to men's wishes and whims. God does not or cannot
interfere in the affairs of men except to give them gifts that
they want. A great sum of preaching today
reduces God to a kindly old benefactor. Not all that important, but a
giver of good gifts as we want them. In essence, we reduce God
to a character. He is that crazy old uncle at
the family Christmas party. He walks in and we all kind of
snicker, but he gives everybody a present. That is not the picture
of God presented in the Bible. And that is certainly not the
picture that we should hold in our minds and our hearts when
we think of God. Let's consider the God that is
presented in the Bible. First point, God is ever-present. Before there was a creation,
before there was a world, Before there was man, there is God. He is above and beyond time. God is past, present, and future. God is ever-present. Secondly, God is all-powerful
and all-creative. God made the universe and all
that is in it from nothing. Nothing. We are bound by the
flesh, by weak fleshly minds, and we can't consider, can't
think, can't hold to nothing. But God created all that we know
from nothing. He is all-powerful and all-creative. Thirdly, God is life-giving. God gives physical life to this
world. He gives physical life to all
the creatures in this world. He gives physical life to us. He sustains our physical lives. And God gives spiritual life
to His people. God is life-giving. We, in and
of ourselves, this flesh has no life. None. I live, I breathe because God
gives life. Now these considerations of God
are obvious and really uncontested. To say these things boldly from
the pulpit does not offend. Now we will talk about some areas
within the umbrella of God's sovereignty that do begin to
offend. Because mankind in the flesh,
natural man, will not accept the sovereignty of God. And now,
with the next points, we begin to see why. The fourth point
being that man, as a created being, is obligated to God. He made us. He gave us life. We are obligated to God. God has ordered mankind to know
Him and to follow His ways. We in the flesh don't like anybody
telling us what to do. But God, as sovereign, tells
us what to do. Fifthly, and following immediately
on the last point, is that God made rules for man to live by. Those rules are binding on men,
and they do not change. They do not change. God is timeless,
and so are His rules. As I stated just a moment ago,
we don't like anybody telling us what to do. And God has clearly
stated His rules for our lives. We don't like them, We don't
want to live by them and we will do everything we can to set them
aside. God's rules are timeless and
while we as people may change perspective, God never does.
His rules are timeless and binding on us. Sixth, God is active in
the affairs of the world. People will accept that generally.
but not in specific. God is active in the affairs
of the world whether we perceive them as good affairs or bad affairs. If something good happens somewhere
in the world, even the vilest non-believer that we can think
of, whoever that may be, will stand up and thunder loudly,
Oh, God has done a good thing over here. We'll accept that. Something terrible happens. Even
Christian preachers run fast the other way, shouting, God
did not do this! God did not do this! I'll give
you an example. I'll give you an example. The tsunami that hit Indonesia
a couple some odd years ago. How many preachers did you all
hear on the radio and on the TV? that boldly, loudly, strongly
proclaimed that that was an occasion of bad weather, it was not God. God would not do such a thing
as that. I heard countless preachers,
prominent preachers, people who have national media attention
standing up and saying, no, God had no hand in this whatsoever.
Tell Noah and his family that God wouldn't do such as that.
God is actively involved in the affairs of the world. And that
is whether we perceive those affairs as good or bad. There
is not a thing that happens in this world that God is not involved
in. Let's get specific with that
even more so. God is actively involved in the
lives of men. both believers and unbelievers
in the lives of the wicked and the good. And he is involved
in all the affairs of individual men, whether we perceive them
as good or bad. Now, I temper this by saying
that God has a purpose in this. And as Christians, we understand
that God works all things together for good to those who love him
and are called according to his purpose. So something we would
perceive as a bad event in our life is working to make us more
into the image of Jesus Christ. God has a good purpose for us
as His people. But God is not distant, removed,
or remote from the affairs of our lives. He is actively involved
in everything that happens to us. He is sovereign. With the last two points, let
me state something When you start talking like that and saying
that God is involved in all these things, whether we perceive them
as good or bad people, the hair on the back of their neck stands
up. I will tell you this, that God
as sovereign and we as created beings, finite beings with limited
sight and limited mind, God is not obligated to us to act in
a certain way. He does not have to do what we
expect him to do. And secondly, he owes us no explanation. He owes us no explanation for
his actions. That makes us angry. I think
about my kids follow me around, walking through the house saying,
Daddy, why? Why? Why? Why? Because I said so. Because I
said so. As a parent, I don't owe my infant
child an explanation. And as sovereign of the entire
universe, ruler of all, creator of all, God owes me no explanation. Now sometimes God is kind to
us and will give us an explanation. But he's not obligated to do
so. Now here's the real rub in point eight. The will of man,
the thoughts of man, the desires and intentions of man are secondary
to the will of God. God can do and does whatever
He wants without consideration of our will. God does it because
it pleases Him. He is not obligated to us to
take counsel from us. He is not obligated to give us
explanation. This irritates us. I think of Paul in Romans where
he addresses the objections to the sovereignty of God in election. And the ultimate answer that
Paul gives is, who are you to question God? You're a created being. Who are
you to question God? That's not an answer we in the
flesh can take. But it's the truth. The ninth point, the will and
the purpose of God will be done in the world. God will, without
question, accomplish His purpose. It is not a question whether
God will accomplish His purpose. It is a fact that He will. And
to do so, He will use good men and bad men. He will use believers
and unbelievers. At times we look and we see things
going crazy all around us and we cannot understand in our minds
and our hearts how God can be moving in this situation. But
take the assurance of the Word of God, the Scripture, that God
is moving within the worst of human circumstances and they
are going His way, whether we understand it or not. A tenth point, and I add this
tenth point, because of the strong influence of the charismatic
movement. And I say this boldly and loudly
for all to hear, that God is in no way subordinate or in submission
to Satan. You listen to some of these preachers
on TV and God is over here in the corner with a blanket up
over His head saying, oh my gosh, Satan's got me on the run. No. Satan is a created being and
Satan can only go as far as God will allow him. Satan is not
sovereign. God is sovereign. And God is
and always will be above Satan and in control of Satan. Again,
I state this because of the influence of the charismatic movement,
which has really gone to seed on this whole Satan issue. As I put out these points, I
stated, I think, strongly the case for the sovereignty of God
and understand that these are not the beliefs of most churches,
at least in this country now. When you start talking this strongly
about the sovereignty of God, they throw their hands up and
they'll say things like, You're some kind of fundamentalist extremist. You're a hyper-Calvinist. You've
departed so far from the gospel. You don't care about sinners
and salvation." He said, none of that. But people do not really want
a sovereign God. Most preach that God has yielded
His sovereignty, at least for the church age. If you press
them, they will admit that God acted strongly and sovereignly
in the Old Testament. But with Jesus and the coming
of the Gospel age, God has become more passive. He's a gentle and
kindly God now. They will say that God doesn't
necessarily deal with people harshly in the flesh in this
day and age. If He does deal with them, He'll
deal with them spiritually, quietly and spiritually. And if He does
intervene in their fleshly lives, He will do so to reward them
for good behavior, but not to punish them for bad behavior. Some within the charismatic movement
have gone to the extreme on this whole anti-sovereignty issue,
and they have preached that with the fall of man in the garden,
that God actually turned the deed title to the earth over
to Satan. That Satan is in possession of
the earth, that it is his, and that God doesn't have a legal
right to intervene in the world. That sounds idiotic to me. I wouldn't believe that anybody
could preach that except that I've seen it on the blasphemy
network, TBN. I've heard preachers on that
channel say that. And now to accomplish His work
in the world, God must come in through the back door and kind
of capture us by stealth to bring us into the kingdom. That's nonsense. That is nonsense. And that is
not the biblical picture of our God in Christ. It is not. Now why is all of this important? There's a certain amount of things
when you start talking about them, people say, now, you know,
you're going out on this and you're making a big point about
this, That's not what it's all about. That's a sideline issue.
And really, we should just love Jesus. The reason it's important is
because God has stated His intentions for the world and for His people. And if God is not sovereign,
If God is not able to make His will known and to accomplish
His will, then we have no hope at all. We have a God then who
has the best of intentions for us, but absolutely no way to
accomplish anything for us. And I will tell you that is no
God at all. that is no God at all. As I said
earlier, your view, your personal view of the sovereignty of God
will affect your understanding of the Scripture, how you read
the Scripture, what you take from the Scripture. It will affect
your understanding of the promises of God and how they can and will
be accomplished in your lives. Are the promises of God just
hopeful thoughts with a possible fulfillment in the sweet by-and-by? Or are they an ever-present reality
in our lives today, something that we can count on, something
that we can hold to, and something that we can gain real hope from? If God is sovereign, we have
hope. If God has yielded His sovereignty,
or if He has no sovereignty at all, we have no hope. If He's
sovereign, we have hope. Because He said it, He will do
it. A view of a sovereign God drove Abraham from pagan belief
to biblical belief in the one true God and led him to a promised
land and a promised son. A view of a sovereign God brought
Israel out of Egypt, led them through the wilderness and into
a land of milk and honey. A view of a sovereign God led
Israel to expect a Messiah. A view of a sovereign God built
the early church and led the church to grow and spread amidst
bloody persecutions. A view of a sovereign God led
to the Christianization of Europe, Russia, most of the Western Hemisphere,
and many of the islands of the Pacific. A view of a sovereign God led
to the Protestant Reformation. A view of a sovereign God led
to the formation of our country. All of these that I have mentioned
recognize that God stated a purpose for His people and He was able
to bring His purpose to pass. Whenever and wherever the gospel
of God Almighty is preached, there is change, real change
in men and real change in society. Jesus Christ promised, I will
build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against
it. This promise is secured by His
very self. Secured by Christ Himself. It is guaranteed by His sovereign
power to act. Twice in the book of Revelation,
the Apostle John was given vision of Jesus Christ and the spread
of the Gospel by seeing a picture of a victorious king riding a
white horse, going forward and conquering everything before
him. God is sovereign. He has stated
that He will build the church. The church of Jesus Christ, our
Savior. and that the gates of hell will
not prevail against it. Today, go home and watch the
news. The Middle East is crumbling.
That whole part of the world is in riots and rebellion, violence
in the streets. starting to break out in Europe.
We've got situations now in Wisconsin and Ohio that have the potential
to blow up into riots in the streets as well. As I said earlier,
it appears that the gates of hell are prevailing. Brothers
and sisters, rest assured they're not. I can't explain to you today
necessarily how God is acting in these things. But I know He
is. Our God is sovereign. He is purposed. He will bring it to pass. It
is my hope that today we will consider these things, and as
God's people, we will take a fresh view on the sovereignty of God,
that we will meditate on it today and in the days to come, and
it should comfort our hearts to know that God is in control,
that God is sovereign. There is nothing happening today
that is catching him by surprise. There is nothing happening today
that is beyond his reach. There is nothing happening today
that is not beyond his power. That should comfort our hearts.
May we see Jesus Christ in our minds and our hearts as that
conquering king on the white horse. ever advancing, never
retreating, conquering all that is before Him. And may we know
in our hearts, as we've seen if we'll review history, that
wherever the gospel is preached without compromise, sinners are
saved and civilizations, societies
change for the better. Christ said on this rock, I will
build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it. I pray that we hear that with
our ears. We meditate on that with our
minds and we take it into our hearts. God is sovereign. Jesus Christ has been given the
kingdom and he is reigning and ruling even now.