things about it tonight. God's
sovereignty. God's sovereignty. You know, it's said here in Psalm
103 and verse 19, the Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rooteth over all. His kingdom ruling over
all. He's got His throne in heaven,
and He rules over all. You know, very few people meditate
on God and His greatness. And this is something you can't
help doing if you know Him. You think of His greatness, you
think of His glory and His majesty. And when you get to the place
when you're meditating on him, thinking of him, and what he
does for you and what he does in this world, sometimes it just
overwhelms you. And that's when you have pure,
pure worship. When you just get to the end
of what you can think about God, and you say, Oh God, you're just
God, and you just worship. But I want to show the need,
the need for God to govern this world. It's necessary that God
govern this world. It's necessary that God rules
in this world. It's necessary. And if you take
the opposite view, that God doesn't rule in this world, it's not
necessary for Him to rule in this world, and that He just
fixed certain laws and laws of nature, and then walked off and
let them alone, and let these laws govern the world, then you
know what you've got? You've got We're at the whim
of nature. We're at the whims of the element.
You know, if it starts raining, we don't know if God's going
to ever make it stop or not. We don't know what's going to
happen because those two seasons are just exactly alike. And so
when you have this controlled by the elements, the wind, the
rain, they're governed by inconsistent laws of nature, then we don't
never know what's going to happen from one day to the next. Instead
of saying, the Lord sent that, the Lord does that, the Lord
sends the rain, then we're left to the elements themselves, and
we don't ever know what's going to happen. We can't say, well,
this is the Lord's hand in this. We're just left to the laws of
nature. You deny that God is governing, you deny that He's upholding
all things by the word of His power, and you know what you
lose? All sense of peace and security. I mean, you lose it quick. I
didn't. If I didn't believe that God was upholding all things
by the word of His power, all sense of peace and security would
be gone. Would be gone. And there's a
lot of people that don't believe that. A lot of people that don't
believe that. They don't believe that God's
governing His world. They think that it's just the laws of nature,
that we're just beasts here, just passing through, and that
we're subject to the laws of nature, subject to the elements,
subject to the things that happen in this world. And I know that
it's necessary that God govern the human race. Now, you take
the opposite of that. What would happen if God did
not govern the human race? If He just walked off and left
man, to his own devices, left him to his own will, left him
to his own will and his own devices, and was without any coercion
from him. And he didn't set the bounds
of anybody. And he just let man just do anything,
whatever his imagination allowed. Do you know what the world would
be like just in a short time? Everybody in this world would
end up being just like a world full of devils. The strongest
would defeat the weakest, and men would just go into gross
materialism and atheism, and men would just absolutely come
down to a horrible, horrible... Can you imagine God just walking
off and leaving the world? You want to know what it's like?
You read Romans 1, 21 through 32, and then you'll see exactly
what this world would be like without God. What would it be
like without God? If you couldn't get out of your
house, you couldn't go on a job, you know, if he took away all
law and all restraint, the world would descend into chaos and
anarchy, and men would just, you know, you see these people
riding and the police have to control them. The whole world
would be like that. So I'm grateful that God is sovereign. Because if He's not, that means
man is sovereign. Because man can do as he pleases,
and he would be the architect of his own destiny. Well, I certainly
don't want to do that, because I did that for a few years, and
you know where it ended me up, don't you? But, oh, beloved, I tell you,
beloved, I tell you why. Oh, it would be absolutely horrible. So you see why it's necessary
that God take the government of the human race upon His own
shoulders and restrain men and control men and control the affairs
of men? Because if He didn't, what would
He do? You and I know in our own nature
now. Would you want God to turn you loose to yourself? Would you want God to let you
go? Would you want Him to let you go back to what you were
before He done anything for you? Would you even want that to happen?
Imagine what would happen had He never done anything for anybody. You know how men were before
the flood? God looked down and said, The wickedness of man's
imagination is only evil continually. Only evil continually. Everybody! Everybody! So you imagine a place
where everybody was let go. But to the believer, the child
of faith, he has no problem in perceiving and thanking God that
he governs this world, that he ruleth his kingdom, ruleth over
his dominion, is from everlasting to everlasting. even among the
chaos and confusion that's in this world right now. We see
God's hand controlling and shaping the affairs of men, even in everyday
life. You take this, our own nation.
Look at the changes that's taken place in our own nation in the
last few years. And if that was just left, if
God's not doing that, then who is? If God's not raising up kings
and God's not meeting the needs of this nation, who is? And look at the progress. Sometimes
we make progress, and I'll say this about every progress that's
made. God made airplanes so he'd get
his preachers somewhere. Everybody else gets to go on.
God made computers so the preachers could research things on the
Internet and do things and type up messages and have Bible verses
on their computer and use it for the glory of God. Put sermons
on there. Just last month, they downloaded
2,363 messages just to mine. That just blows my mind. 2,363
people downloaded this. And I couldn't tell you how many
people I hear from. Send money to help pay for it.
Now that's... God, do you know why He done
that? Not so people could get on there and get in all kinds
of meanness. So that His people could use it for His glory. To
get the gospel out. To put the word on the internet.
So you know why He created drugs? So His people wouldn't have to
suffer. That's why He makes good drugs.
I mean, it would be awful to be under surgery and not have
a good drug to help you. He's done that, but the world
gets to enjoy all of it. And when we sit down to eat bread,
it may be that a man who hates God, he'll raise that corn, raise
that wheat, but I'll tell you what, God used that man to feed
His people. That's what I'm saying. God governs
the affairs of this world. You take farmers and their crops,
they carry that to themselves. They go out and plow and put
them out in the ground. But who in the world is going to cause
the rain to come? Who's going to cause the sunshine to come?
Who's going to cause the seed to germinate? This sounds ridiculous,
but you take the post office. What if everyone went to the
post office the same day to mail everything they was going to
mail? Why don't they all go on the
same day? Why don't everybody go to the grocery store on the
same day? You know why? Because God directs the affairs
of man. It's that simple. It's just that
simple. And why don't they? Because God's
controlling and overruling everybody by His power. And I want to show
you the need. If I can, I thought it would take too long tonight.
I want to show you the need for God to rule over His world. And
that's a fact that He rules. He actually rules. And His government
extends and is exercised over all things and all creatures.
And I'll show you that. Everybody knows what an inanimate
matter is. It's a tree, It's a bush, it's
a river, it's a, you know. And let me tell you something,
God governs even inanimate matter. Let me show you why I'm talking.
Look in Genesis chapter 1. Let me show you why I'm talking
about it. Genesis chapter 1. All things perform His will and
fulfill His decree. Oh, I find such assurance in
this. I find such comfort in these things. Look what it said
in Genesis 1.3. And God said, let there be light,
and there was light. Light don't have life, but it
does when God said there should be. And then look down in verse
9. And God said, let the waters
under the heavens be gathered together unto one place. and
let the dry land appear. And it was so. He said, put all
the waters over here. Put the ocean over there. Put
the sea over here. Put the Mediterranean over there.
Put the Indian Ocean over there. Put the Pacific on the west.
Put the Atlantic on the east. And he said, and call some dry
land to come up between them. Hey. Look down verse 11. God
said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed,
and the fruit yielding fruit, after his kind, whose seed is
in itself upon the earth. And it was so. That was when
the first apple tree, the first pear tree, the first peach tree,
the first onion, greens, you know, first tomatoes,
all the things. That's what it was. God said,
let every seed be in itself. And from those first things,
everything else is coming. So you see, God spake, and it was done. He
commanded, and we stood fast. For sixteen hundred years, it
says the earth was watered by a mist. It had never rained. But when sin had reached its
peak, God said, I looked down, saw the evil of man, his heart
is on the evil continually. And God told Noah, He said, Noah,
prepare you an ark. He said, it's going to rain.
It hadn't done rain in 1600 years. But when God said, let it rain,
it rained for 40 days and 40 nights and there was nobody left.
But those people that was in that ark. And the only reason
God didn't destroy them was because God gave them grace. And the
only reason God ain't destroyed this world right today is because
He's got some folks in the ark. And when the last soul gets in
that ark, this world is a-going jazzy. And oh beloved God, God's
absolute sovereignty controls inanimate matter. And we see
it in the plagues in Egypt. Look at Exodus 9. You know all
the flags that he sent in Egypt? Oh, I'll tell you. In Exodus
chapter 9, look, let me show you this. When he sent those
flags in Egypt, look what it said here in Exodus
9, verse 13. At his word, light was turned
into darkness, the river into blood, and hell fell. Look what
it said here in verse 13. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and
say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let
my people go, that they may serve me. For I will at this time send
all my flags upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon
thy people, that thou mayest, that thou is none like me in
all the earth. For now I will stretch out my
hand, that I may smite thee, and thy people with pestilence,
and thou shalt be cut off from their earth." He said, I'm going
to do this. I'm going to stretch out my hand and do that. And,
beloved, as you talk about plague after plague after plague after
plague, after rise, frogs, the river turned into blood, hell
come down from heaven and when it got on the ground it turned
into lightning. As in the last plague that God
used, you know what it was? In Exodus 10, you can look at
it yourself, but He caused a darkness that could be felt. A darkness
that could be felt. They said the darkness was so
dark they felt it. So God turned out the light on
a whole nation for one reason, to save His people. And though
so, you beloved, He controlled that, and then by God's decree,
But he saw Solomon Gamar, and he told Abraham, he said, Abraham,
he said, I'm going to destroy that wicked people down there.
He said, they're so wicked. Man was man, woman was woman. He said, I despise them, I abhor
them, and I'm going to go down there and get Lot, and I'm going
to bring him out of there. And then he said, I'm going to
cause fire and brimstone to fall on him. And you know what it
was like before the fire in Brimstone? That's why I said, I'm going
to go over here to this well-watered plain. This place is the best
place in the world to live. Abraham, you go where you want
to. I want this well water." He pitched his tent toward Sodom,
over there where the land was good, and the grass was good,
and the cattle would grow, and life would be good, and all the,
everything he needed was there. Well, everything he needed was
there, but sin overcoming. And not one of his children,
not one of them, would follow him out of there. And God had
to drag him out. And he says, when it's done,
God said, I am brimstone. And he turned that Sodom and
Gomorrah and the cities of the plain into nothing but ashes. And right now, that's the same
place where the Dead Sea is. Ain't no life can grow there.
Oh, listen. One thing, that's why I say,
bless His holy name. I love to think about Him ruling
and reigning and governing this world. I like to read those things.
I was telling somebody the other night, Brother Henry, he loves
that old movie, The Ten Commandments, called it, had to be it. Moses,
you know, it blew me. He loved that movie. Oh, and
old Moses said, listen, you know, the hell for me, but I love to
hear him tell us what God's going to do. And I tell you, I love
it, because listen, this is true. And oh, I've been loving it.
At his word, at his word, the Red Sea parted, and the people
walked through on dry land. And then the Egyptian army took
out after him. He grounded them and destroyed
them. And oh, Corn, his bunch stood up and told Moses. He says,
Moses, we're as holy as you are. We've got as much right to say
what we want to say and do what we say. You're not no better
than us. And God, just so you know, we can make our own decisions. We've got the right to tell these
people what to do. And oh, you know what God did? He opened
up the earth. and took Cora and Dothan and
his whole bunch right down to hell, as old Martin said, without
giving them a chance to pack a suitcase. And all by his word,
the earth opened up. Nebuchadnezzar heated that furnace
seven times hotter than it had ever been heated. And those people
that threw them in there killed them just like that. Three Hebrew
children didn't even get their clothes scorched. God rules, God rules and God
takes care. And all beloved, we see God's
complete control over the elements when He became flesh to show
you that Christ was God manifested in the flesh. He out in the sea
and a great big storm come up and our Lord was laying asleep.
Now we know God does not sleep. He neither slumbers. But men
sleep, and Christ was a man, and He was tired. But they took
and woke Him up and said, Master, carry us down, not that we perish.
And our Lord got up and He rebuked the wind and rebuked the storm,
and the sea was calm. And they said, what manner of
man is this that even the wind and the sea obey? Now man, he
gets tired of sleep, but man can't control the elements, but
God can. God can. And dog 11, he walked
on the sea. One night they was going across
and there come the Lord Jesus. The Lord, is this you? Let me
come to you. Come on. He's walking by a fig
tree one day. He wanted something to eat. There
wasn't no figs on it. He cursed that fig tree. They
came back by the next day. They looked at the fig tree and
said, that thing's dead. He said, of course it is. I cursed
it. If you don't got no fruit, you
ain't no use to me. I'll destroy you. And, oh, beloved,
at His touch, disease slaves, just like that. Oh, He's absolutely,
absolutely sovereign. And the sun and the stars, they
even perform God's sovereign pleasure. You know, He calls
the sun to go backwards ten degrees. You know that? Let me show you
that. Look over here in 2 Kings, Chapter
20. I'll tell you something. This is probably
why we have an extra, every four years, we have an extra day.
In 2 Kings 20. You know, it's a... You imagine if God let the sun
move out of orbit just a hair, just a hair, one way or another,
to move it towards us, we'd burn up just a degree. Moves it away
from us just a degree and we'd freeze to death. So he keeps
it just right. And Isaiah said, Hezekiah, look
in verse 8. God told him he's going to live.
And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign, 2 Kings
28, that the Lord will heal me, and I go up unto the house of
the Lord the third day? Isaiah said, This sign shalt
thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he
hath spoken. Shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go
back ten degrees? And Hezekiah answered, it's a
light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees, but to let
it return backward ten degrees, now that would take a miracle.
So Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord and he brought the shadow
of ten degrees backward. He caused the sun to go back
ten degrees. Oh my. That's why we gave you a day
ever for you. And the star, let me show you
what I'm talking about. The son of the stars does his will. The
star, look at him. You know how our Lord got those
wise men and those shepherds to find where the Lord Jesus
Christ was born? He put a special star in the
sky. That star never appeared before, and it ain't appeared
since. And they followed that star. They followed that star
right across the sky. where Christ was born. They went
in there and they found Him. Stars gone. Just one time. One star. One star. And oh, look
over here in Psalm 147. Oh, who's a God like unto our
God? Who's a God like unto our God? You know, we Little Riley, you know, thunder
will go boom, boom, boom. She'll just come running and
grab a hold of you. And we'll say, that's just God talking.
That's just God talking. That's just God's voice. First
time she said it, I said, is He mad? No, He's not mad. But oh, I said, you know, it's
His voice thundering. The lightning is His arrows. The clouds are
the dust of His feet. When you look at these clouds
tonight, today, they're just rolling here and there. He's
just shaking the dust off His feet. Figurative language, but
that just goes to show us how glorious and how mighty and how
powerful and how majestic and how the universe is in Him. He's not in the universe. The
universe is in Him. Look what it says here in Psalm
147, verse 15. He give us snow like wool. Oh, you look out on the big snow
in the morning, ain't nobody ever been over, just look like
wool and all, just white wool and all. He scatters the hoarfrost
like the ashes. You know when you just get a
scattered frost? That's what he's talking about. He just got
a scattered frost out there, scatters it like that. He casts
forth his eyes like, eyes like marshals that hang down the pieces.
Who can stand before his cold when he sends it? He sends out
His Word, and then what happens? He melts them. He calls the wind
to blow and the waters to flow. Oh, my. Oh, the weather, the
elements are under God's sovereign control. It's God who withholds
the rain, and it's God who gives the rain when He wills and where
He wills, as He wills and on whom He wills. I tell you, you
can look at this at your own leisure, but in Amos chapter
4, it talks about that. They started complaining, you
know, said, now, it's raining over there in town. It's raining
over there in town, and they ain't got no garden, and they
don't need it. And here I've got a fine garden, and I've got
thick trees and vine trees, and I've got vines to raise, and
then it's not raining here. Why do they need rain over there?
And we need rain out here, and it's not raining here. Have you ever thought that? You
go to town and it just pours down and rain, and you get up
back to your house and grab a little of your garden, and it's settled. But I'll tell you one thing,
is it that settled at your house? And the weather forecast, oh, and I'll tell you, God governs
all this earth, fire, water, hail, snow, stormy winds, angry
seas. They all perform the word of
His power. They all fulfill His sovereign
will. And so let's help us, God help us not to murmur against
Him over the weather. And then let me tell you quickly,
let me hurry on. God's not only that, but He governs
animals. Look in Genesis 2.19. God governs
animals. You know what He did? When He
tells an animal to do something, they do it. In Genesis 2.19. And look what he says, And out
of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and
every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam. Now look what
it says. He formed them out of the dust.
That's why they all go back to the dust, whether it's a bird
or whether it's an animal. And he said he brought them to
Adam to see what he would call them. And Adam called every living
creature after him. He gave names to the cattle,
to the fowl, to every beast of the field. But God brought them
to Adam. They done what God said. You
go to Adam. Brought them to Adam and said, Adam, you name them.
You name them. Huh? And even after the fall,
do you know what it'd be like if God didn't control animals?
What they would do to us? What would a big old bull do
to you? if God didn't make him fear you? What would cattle do
to you if God didn't make them fear you? What would a dog do
to you if God didn't make him fear you? What would a cat do
to you if God didn't make him fear you? Oh my! And if they didn't do
the will of their Creator, and oh, when you look at the plagues,
all the plagues that God used down in Egypt, You'll see right
then and there that he controls even animals. He brought forth
frogs, and they entered into the palace, into the beds, into
the ovens, the kneading troughs. The cattle were stricken with
lice. Locusts came and ate up all the food. The library was
fled by the ravens. But you know what? The ravens
didn't eat the food themselves. They carried it to him and laid
it down there for him to eat. Because God said, now that's
not food for you, that's for my servant Elijah. So they didn't
need it, they just took it and laid it down in Elijah. And I'll
tell you what, there was a prophet, Balaam. He was going to go prophesy,
and God done told him not to do it. But because he was in
it for the money, he was in it for the money. And God kept to
old Balaam, I kept to him, go tell him again and I'll give
you this, go tell him again and I'll give you that much, go tell
him again and I'll give you this much. God done told him, said, now
don't you go back there, I said, you're not going to curse him,
I'm going to bless him. And old Balaam started back there
again and he had his donkey with him, his ass with him, and that
ass turned around and spoke to him and said, you fool, don't
you see that angel standing there with that sword, fixing to kill
you and me both, he said, he forbade the madness of the prophet.
God can make a dumbass talk. That's what he said. One fellow
wouldn't use that word, but that's what it says in the scripture.
And the scriptures tells us that he forbade the madness of the
prophet. There was a bunch of kids one time, God said, don't
you do my prophets no harm. Don't you mock my prophets. Don't
you do that. And Elijah was a bald-headed
man. And they come out there one time,
a whole bunch of kids come out and start making fun of him.
Ridiculing him. Two she-bears. God said, He said,
two she-bears. And destroyed them. Because that's
poor men in these prophets. And he told Jezebel, he said,
Jezebel, you want to kill Elijah, you want to kill all the prophets?
He said, you know what? This time tomorrow, the dogs are going
to lick the blood off the ground. who you are, and there won't
be nothing left but your hands. That day, the next day, dogs
walked up there and started licking her blood, just like God said. She thought, I'm going to kill
Elijah. God said, dog's going to lick your blood. And all beloved,
Daniel was put in the lion's den. Used him for a pillow to
lay down on. Jonah was put in the whale's
belly. And God brought him up out of it. Fish, these animals,
the lions and the fish, they all done God's will. And God
told Peter, Christ told Peter, go over there and catch that
fish. And he caught that fish. And
a coin come out of that fish's mouth. They didn't do that. So
he could go pay his taxes. And he told Simon Peter, he says,
before you deny me three times, the rooster's going to crow.
And the third time he denied him, that rooster crowed. Why
didn't that rooster crow before that? Because Christ said, you'll
deny me three times, and then the rooster will crow. And when
he heard that rooster crow, he went out and wept bitterly. I
mean, God governs the animals. And then, beloved, let me hurry
on here. God governs men. And this is a difficult subject.
It's a difficult subject because of all the way we see men act. But it's a fact. Now, you've
got two alternatives, and we've got to decide which one we're
going to use. Either God's governed, or He
is governed. Either God rules, or He is ruled. Either God has His way, or men
have theirs. There's no middle ground. No
middle ground. Is man so unruly? Is man such
a rebel? Is man so uncontrollable that
he's beyond God's control? Has sin so alienated the sinner
that he's outside God's jurisdiction? Does man have such a free will
and rights that God must leave him entirely free? Is man such
an outlaw, such a rebel, that God's unable to fulfill His purpose
through him? And when I say that, I don't
mean that God can merely overrule the actions of men, or that He
just is going to bring them to judgment for the rebellion, about
everybody believes that, but I mean that every action of the
most wicked and lawless creature is entirely beneath God's control. I mean, you're going to have
to, you know, it's just like the fellow said, who burnt that
building, who burnt that, you know, God burnt that jute joint
down last night, and I sure am glad when the church house burnt
down, they said the devil burnt it down. If it's a meanness, God got him,
and if he destroys meanness, or if goods are destroyed, then
the devil does it. But is not God over both? Huh? Oh. And he does it with men unknown
to themselves, carrying out God's secret decrees. Judas is a perfect
illustration of that. I mean, God raised him up. for one reason, to betray the
Lord Jesus Christ and sell him for thirty pieces of silver.
That's the only reason he was brought into existence. The only
reason Thabel was brought into existence, for God to show him
that I rule among the most high. And, oh, beloved, we can't philosophize
here. We can't use carnal reasoning.
We have to stick strictly to the Scriptures. If it's not according
to the law of the testimony, let's leave it alone. You see,
Paul stood on Mars Hill and stood amongst all these philosophers.
That place where men come to hear and tell some new thing.
And you know what he said? He said, the unknown God. He
said, I see that all, so I'm going to tell you who He's like.
And he said, you know what he said about Him? He said, it's
in Him that we live and move and have our being. We can't
exist without Him. We live, We move. We have actions. We come, we
go, we get up, we get down, we think, we move, we act, and react. And we move. And we have our
being. Where do we get it from? God
does that. God does that. And, oh beloved, He addressed
that to an heathen audience. And let me show you something
over here in Daniel. Look at Daniel. Just go to your right
through Ezekiel, and then right after Ezekiel you'll have Daniel.
Look in Daniel chapter 5, verse 23. Oh, I love the fact that God
worships, that God is holy, and God is righteous, and God rules,
and God reigns. And I'll tell you something,
beloved, when men do some horrible, wicked, wicked acts, and they
do, they kill a lot of people, a lot of people, Two things that
we see. First of all, that God leaves
men to themselves and what they'll do. And man's depravity. Man's
utter and absolute depravity. And God's going to let man, left
to himself, show what he'll do. And what he'll do is he'll absolutely
destroy anything in his path. Look here in Daniel 5.23. God's speaking to Belshazzar
there in verse 22. And thou his son, O Belshazzar,
he reminded of what he did to his father Nebuchadnezzar. Hast
thou not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all these
things, like what I done to my father? I took him down, and
I put him out to eat grass like a beast for seven years. But
he says, you didn't humble yourself, you lifted up yourself. Now listen
to this. Against the Lord of heaven, You lifted up yourself
against the Lord of heaven, and they brought the vessels of this
house before thee, and you and your lords, your wives, your
concubines, had drunk wine in them. And listen to this, you
praise the gods of silver, and of gold, and of brass, and iron,
and wood, and stone, which don't see, don't hear, don't know,
and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose all thy
ways hast thou not glorified. I said, oh, God said, in whose
hand is bread? In your ways? He said, you didn't
glorify me. You didn't glorify me. And God
wrote on the wall and said, you're weighed in a balance and you're
found wanting. In Dove 11, let me show you a couple of things
real quick in Proverbs 16. Look over here in Proverbs. Proverbs,
right before the Psalms here. Proverbs 16. It's all about God
controlling men. I'll tell you what, I've seen
some men start to do some horrible things and God stopped them in
their tracks. Look what he said here in Proverbs
16 and 1. The preparations of the heart
in man and the answer of the tongue
is from the Lord. Man wants to cuss God. If he
wants to praise Him, you praise Him. But that tongue, God gave
it. The answer comes from Him. Look
what He said down in verse 9. A man's heart devises his way,
but the Lord directs his steps. I'm going to go here, and I'm
going to do that, and I'm going to get into this, and I'm going
to get into that. God said, you go ahead. He said, this is the way
you're going to go. You're going to go here, you're going to go
there, you're going to do this. Look at Proverbs 19.21. There are many devices in a man's
heart. Oh, my, we know that from our
own experience. Nevertheless, The counsel of
the Lord, the will of the Lord, that's what's going to stand.
That's what's going to stand. Huh? Can this mean anything less
than no matter what a man plans or desires, the will of his Creator
is going to be done? Can it mean anything less than
that? It's like the rich fool. He'd filled his bars full, tore
them down, built some big ones, filled them plump full, said,
boy, I've got it made now. And about that time, the Lord
said, you fool, this night your soul is acquired. You look in Proverbs 21. The king's heart is in the hands
of the Lord, as the rivers of water he turneth it whithersoever
he will. Makes it clear that all men are
governed by God, controlled by Almighty God. And I tell you,
we can't put no limitations on these declarations of Scripture.
Job said this, that he is in one mind who can turn him in
what his soul desires, even that he doeth. Even that he doeth. Look there at Proverbs 21.30.
Let me show you that real quick. I'll be about done here in a
minute. Proverbs 21.30. There is no wisdom, nor understanding,
nor counsel against the Lord. Oh, beloved, it's impossible
to bring to nothing the purpose and will of God. The scriptures
plainly teach us that God governs the actions of men, whether they're
evil or good. He let Nimrod build a tower of
battle and then sent down confusion on God called Abraham along,
yet all of his folks went with him, and his father died before
he was ever settled in Canaan. The inheritance was promised
to Jacob, and no Isaac or Esau, either one, couldn't keep him
from getting that promise. And Esau said, I'm going to get
Jacob if it's the last thing I ever do. And when they first
met, you know what God did? He tended his heart and he fell
on Jacob's neck and just wept like a baby. They refused to let Israel go,
and what happened to him? God destroyed him. Baalik hired
Balaam to curse Israel, and when he got there, God made him bless
them. Haman and Esther made a gallows for Mordecai and said, well,
I'm going to kill that Jew, I'm going to hang him by the neck,
and oh, I'm really sorry. And then he was hung on his own
gallows. Jonah resisted the will of God,
the revealed will of God, and yet God brought him to the place
where he said, Oh, I'm ready to go, and I'm ready to preach
now. The heathen said, Oh, listen, you're not going to raise, we're
going to cast off your bands. We're going to cast off you.
And God says, You ain't going to do nothing. I'm still going
to set my king on my high and holy hill. And beloved, you've
noticed God's sovereignty in dealing with men. Moses, with
slow speech, And Aaron wasn't. But Moses was God's spokesman.
Couldn't speak bird-playing. Moses was also loved of God. But because of one hasty word,
he wasn't allowed to enter into Canaan. Elijah sat down and said,
Oh, God let me die. I'm the only one left. And you
ain't got nobody else. They tore down all your altars.
And God just mildly rebuked him. And you know what he did? He
took him to heaven in the fire of charity. He never even died. You know, the Philistines took
the Ark of the Covenant, and God let them have it, and didn't
touch them. Never done anything about it.
Uzzah. Touched the Ark, and God killed
him. And our Lord said this. He said, I'll tell you something.
He said, if the works that I do are done here in Capernaum, had
been done in Solomon and Gomorrah, they'd have repented. If the works of Tyre and Sidon
would have repented, it would have seen what I've done. And
yet, beloved, God sovereignly lets them go. And I'll tell you
something, devils even obey the Lord Jesus Christ. You find that
out all through the scriptures. Angels do His will. Angels went
and turned Simon Peter loose. He's going to send his angels
to gather his elect. He sent a lying spirit to the
prophets to prophesy to Saul. He let a woman, a spirit, come
up out of the ground, out of this woman, and this surprised
her, just to warn Saul of all his wickedness. God, there was
a legion of devils, and they couldn't do anything until Christ
said, you can go. He said, oh, let us go into these
halls. He said, go. And they went. They couldn't do anything until
he said. And even Satan himself, when he came to To get Job, Christ
said, God said, you can't do nothing. But He said, you go
this far. He can't do anything. You couldn't
touch Him. And I tell you, beloved, our
God rules over His vast universe, over everything that's in it,
over the sea, the sun, the stars, the moon, the trees, the fruit,
the rivers. The beast, the fields, man, angel,
Satan, and none, nothing, let me tell you something, nothing
comes to pass but what He eternally purposed. Now, you're talking
about a foundation for your faith. You're talking about a resting
place for your mind. You're talking about an anchor
for your soul. It ain't blind faith, and it
ain't destiny. It's a God who decrees and declares
and governs all things. And I'll get in my car and go
home here in a little while, and if I get home, that'll be
fine. If I don't, it's God's will be done, and it will be
done. And I ain't closing my eyes and
going through life saying, well, I just see what I, it's like
the fellow, you know, stepped on a banana peel. I'm glad that's
over. That's not, that's not the way
it is. That's not the way we're talking.