I'm not going to go into anything
new if you would turn with me to Daniel 4. Daniel 4. Daniel 4 and verses 34 and 35. Verse 34, Daniel 4. And at the
end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes into heaven,
and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most
High, and I praised and honored him that liveth forever, whose
dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation
to generation. And all the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as nothing, And he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth. And none can stay his hand or
say unto him, what doest thou? We read here of a God that does
according to his will. That means God does what he wants
to do. What God is doing is not separate from His creation, that
is, His flora and fauna, animals, mankind. Man does what he wants
to do. He does not do it outside of
God's control, but man does what he wants to do. It says here
about God, it says, His dominion. That word means sovereignty.
His dominance, His control, His authority, it says, is ever lasting
The word forever lasting here means out of time So his control
is a control that was before time was and shall continue when
time is no more It also includes time though because it goes on
to tell us here using a different phrase It says his kingdom is
from generation to generation So his control extends into time
as well It goes on from one time to another
time without end because it is also everlasting. We are told here that the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed or regarded as nothing. When it comes to
the sovereignty of God, man is nothing. Man is not part of that
sovereignty as far as having any kind of rule or say over
what is done. God does not consider man in
making his decisions. Man does not cause God to do
this or to do that. What does it say? He, that is
God, doeth his works, or he works. He creates and he does what he
is pleased to do or create. In so doing, there's nothing
to be considered other than what his will is. He does this in
the army of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. No one or no thing
is going to slow him down, so to speak. Man will not even cause
God to pause by asking him, what is he doing? Now, this world
may even speak of a sovereign God, but they do not teach a
sovereign God. Matthew 15, 8, and it's already
been said this morning, this people draweth nigh unto me with
their mouth and honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is
far from me. If the God you teach or the God
you believe is less than what I've described from this text,
then you do not believe the God of Scripture. We've just read
that there are no bounds for the sovereignty of God. They
may give lip service to a God that is sovereign, but then they
say things like this, God wants to save you if you will just
let Him. What we just read, is there anything
there that sounds like man is letting God do it all, do anything
at all? But even we as believers, we
behave ourselves at times as if God is not sovereign over
all things. I thought about what I was going
to go through when it comes to the sovereignty of God. We have said before that man
is okay with God being sovereign over everything other than salvation. I would say this world does not
or is not okay with God being sovereign over anything. But
those who are his by his gracious work come to know and to love
God who is sovereign over all things and for sure sovereign
over salvation. So I want to talk about God,
the sovereign of salvation. And I submit to you that if God
is not sovereign over salvation, he's not sovereign at all. But
the scripture is clear. He is sovereign over it all.
And I want to begin with a quote by E.W. Pink. Here's what he
says. Quote. To argue that God is trying
his best to save all mankind, but that the majority of men
will not let him save them, is to insist that the will of the
creator is impotent, and the will of the creature is omnipotent."
End quote. It's sad to see how the majority
of the people in this world care nothing of the sovereign of all
things. They're not necessarily mean
people. Some of the people are very nice. They are helpful and
giving as it concerns mankind, at least it would seem. But to
hear them speak, they do just as Pink says, they speak of an
infinite God who is subject to his creation. Their God cannot
do anything unless they let him. By this, they show their hatred
for the God of Scripture. Now, I say from Scripture that
God is sovereign over salvation, and in showing that He is sovereign
over salvation, we see He is sovereign over all things. First
of all, the whole reason we have this ball of dirt and these bodies
of dust is because God is sovereign over salvation. He did all of
this because He wanted to save some people. What is any of His
creation going to add to Him? Everything we see, including
each other, God created. So if he created all things,
how's the creation going to add to him? We wonder sometimes why
certain things affect us. I mean, even what we eat, some
of the things we do, we wonder why things affect us in certain
ways. But God does not wonder. He knows
exactly why things work the way they do. because He's the cause
of it all. I know the response of man when
you say something like that. They will say, you make God the
author of sin. You know what I say to that?
Tell God that. Because you know what He tells
us in Isaiah 46, 9 and 10? He says, remember the former
things of old, for I am God and there is none else. I am God
and there is none like me. declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times, the things that are not yet done saying
my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. That's some pretty tough talking.
But it says declaring the end from the beginning. How can he
do that? I mean, there are a lot of things
that happen from beginning to end, right? He can declare it
because he is sovereign over all. I have to respond to my
message or speak in such a manner as if I'm talking to hostile
witnesses. And I know most people here believe
what I'm saying is true from scripture. But there's a lot
of people out there that might hear this. I have to be sure
that they know what I'm saying and I'm clear. God is sovereign
over all things and especially salvation. It is the whole reason
why we are here. Our puny minds cannot even fathom,
we cannot even understand that before all of this was created
by him, there was nothing but God. I mean, we can't even say
it right because we're first all creatures of time. So we
have to say things like before this or that. But God says it
like this, John 8, 58. Jesus said unto them, verily,
verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. God does not talk like we talk.
God does not think like we think. And God does not do as we do.
There is none like unto him. But when we read in Scripture
where it says, for he shall save his people from their sins, we
know from Scripture that this was purposed from eternity. This salvation is not a response
from God as something happening that he did not expect or he
could not control. It's the whole purpose for creation
to save a people for his name, to give honor and glory to himself. It does not take a lot of reading
and study to see this. It takes revelation by God to
believe it, but it's not something we have to pull out of deep theological
thought. In the garden, God said to Adam,
in the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die. He did not
say if you eat thereof, but in the day you eat it. The fact
that Adam fell tells me that Had God stopped right there with
his purpose, then salvation would not have been so sure at all.
Even if Adam had posterity before he fell, Adam's state was not
secure. It was not God's purpose that
it be so. What God has done has put us
in so much more a secure position that there are no worries. But
God, whose foolishness is wiser than men, Is God foolish? No. But if he was, it would be
wiser than men. 1 Corinthians 1.25 says, because
the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of
God is stronger than men. But men and women want to let
God save them. We have men and women throughout
this scripture who come to Jesus Christ begging for mercy. Hope and praying that he will
show it to them, knowing he does not have to. But men and women
in this world want to let God do something for them. It's blasphemy
to think or believe that man can let God do anything. He is
a sovereign God who is in control of all things. It behooves us
to pray that he wills to save us, else we will not be saved. We see even in our text passage
that God brought down and lifted up, not just one man. He took
down and lifted up entire kingdoms, Daniel 4 verses 30 through 33. 30 through 33. The king spake and said, is not
this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the
might of my power and for the honor of my majesty? While the
word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven,
saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken, the kingdom
is departed from thee, and they shall drive thee from men, and
thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall
make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over
thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom
of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled
upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from men, and did eat
grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till
his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like
birds' claws. But then we read in verse 36,
go down to verse 36. This is after he comes to his
senses, so to speak. At the same time, my reason returned
unto me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and brightness
returned unto me, and my counselors and my Lord sought unto me, and
I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added
unto me." See how he affected everybody else, all these other
men in the kingdom? God is the first cause of all
things. We read in scripture a lot of
time, you will read the phrase, and it came to pass. It does
not say, and then next this happened. No, because as we read, he has
declared the end from the beginning, so that means he controls everything
in the middle. But there's something else we
have in scripture to show this. We can see this specifically
in scripture that God is in control and wrote it down in scripture
beforehand. Turn with me to Isaiah 44, Isaiah
44. And. Starting with the last person
in 44. 28 of 44. I know I'm starting in kind of
a middle of thought here, but verse 28 of 44, that saith of
Cyrus, he is my shepherd and shall perform all my pleasure,
even saying to Jerusalem, thou shalt be built into the temple
thy foundation shall be laid. Thus saith the Lord to his anointed,
to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before
him, and I will loose the loins of kings to open before him the
two-leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut. I will go
before thee, and make the crooked places straight. I will break
in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of
iron. And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden
riches of secret places. that thou mayest know that I,
the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. They say this was about 150 years
before Cyrus reigned as king. Then in Ezra, we read of King
Cyrus doing the very things prophesied of him. I know some may say,
well, he could have just said, no, I'm not doing that. No, he
could not. Because the God of Scripture
has declared the end from the beginning. He is in absolute
sovereign control, and as Scott Richardson has said, that's like
saying water's wet three times. What does the Scripture tell
us in Proverbs 21.1? The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord.
As the rivers of water, he turneth it whithersoever he will. And
as has been said before, he does this with a king's heart, how
much more so with a worm such as me. John 18, 37, we read,
Pilate therefore said unto him, art thou a king then? Jesus answered,
thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for
this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto
the truth. Everyone that is of the truth, heareth my voice.
Jesus Christ's whole purpose to come into the world was to
save sinners. All of creation was created for
him and by him, and they are held together by him. It was
told in Genesis that he would bruise the head of the serpent,
that he would crush the head of the serpent. Everything that
has taken place back then up until now was purposed by God. If it was not in his sovereign
control, then things would have spiraled out of control. There's
no doubt about that. But the scriptures declare unto
us that Jesus Christ is the Lamb slain before the foundation of
the world. First Peter 1.20, we read, who
verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world,
but was manifest in these last times for you. Man cannot resist
God. We've already read it. He cannot
because the weakness of God is stronger than man. Scripture
is plain, John 5, 21. For as the father raises up the
dead and quickeneth them, even so the son quickeneth whom lets
him. Is that what it says? No, it
says whom he will. Jesus Christ saves who He is
inclined to save. He saves who He wants to save,
who He chooses to save. In fact, He has written their
names down already because He has declared the end from the
beginning. It has nothing to do with whom He chooses does. It is purely based on what God
wants and not wants, for that matter, and not what I want. Men and women All men and women,
including us by nature, do not desire or seek after God. This is manifested by men and
women saying they have sovereign control of choosing God. But
God tells us there is none that seeketh after me. So who are
you going to believe? Man who says he can let God do
this or do that? Or God who says I have the power
and the right to choose whom I will, and my counsel shall
stand. All we can do is plead to such
a sovereign God to show His mercy. Men and women do not fear God. It is not in their nature to
do so. But people nowadays, they come to their God chewing and
popping their bubble gum because their God has to have them let
Him do things. But the God of Scripture is in
the heavens and He has done whatsoever has pleased Him. What does Christ
tell us about whom we should fear? Luke 12, five. But I will forewarn you, and
this is Christ speaking, but I will forewarn you whom ye shall
fear. Fear him which after he hath
killed hath power to cast in the hell. Yea, I say unto you,
fear him. I can tell you though, those
to whom he purposed to do all this, and to those whom he has
opened their hearts, ears, and eyes find great comfort in the
sovereignty of God. God being absolutely, totally
sovereign, then that means that whatever he has promised will
be carried out. Some in this world think that
God is in a struggle with Satan. This is simply not true. We know
this is not so from the beginning. He told that old serpent that
he would bruise his head. But we all know the account of
Job, and if you can turn over there with me to Job 1 if you
want. It's very familiar, but I'm gonna read it. Job 1 and verses 6. Job 1, 6 through 12. Now there was a day when the
sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came
also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord,
and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking
up and down in it. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like
him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth
God, and askew of evil? Then Satan answered the Lord
and said, Doth Job fear God, for not? Has not thou made an
hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he
hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of
his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But
put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he
will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Behold, all that he hath is in thy power. only upon himself
put not forth thine hand, so Satan went forth from the presence
of the Lord. Satan could not, and Satan knew
he could not do anything unless God allowed him to do it. He
could touch nothing of Job's, not his family, not his house,
not his livestock, not his servants, not his wife, Nothing could Satan
touch unless God permitted Satan to do so. We see here that God
did allow Satan to do this, but he could not touch Job himself.
He basically destroyed everything that Job had, including his sons
and his daughters. But read on in chapter 2, verses
1 through 6. Again, there was a day when the
sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came
also among them to present himself before the Lord. And the Lord
said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered
the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and
from walking up and down in it. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like
him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth
God and is skew of evil? And still he holdeth fast his
integrity, although thou moost me against him, to destroy him
without cause. And Satan answered the Lord and
said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give
for his life. But put forth thine hand now,
and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy
face. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine
hand, but save his life. You can see how it's said here,
things are said here. Satan is the one God gave the
authority and power to do all these things. But yet, the way
it says it is, if God is doing it, because it is. which he was
in that sense that he gave Satan the authority and power to do
what he did. God controls all things. Why
does God do such things as we read there in Job? For our good. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose and no one else. We see even in our text that
God does all these miraculous things and this all for the experience
of his people to try their faith, that faith given by God. What
about Peter? Satan, just as with Job, could
not have touched Peter without God giving him the go-ahead.
Christ told Peter, Satan has desired thee to sift thee as
wheat. God told Satan he could do it, because Christ said to
him next, I have prayed for you that your faith fail not. And
it did not. Old Peter denied him for sure,
and he did so the exact amount of times God allowed for it to
happen, but not one more. God taught Peter that he is absolutely
sovereign over all things and in total control of all things.
But you know what? Peter loved him the more for
it. Peter had a glimpse of what he could do without Christ. He
knew who Christ was and what Christ could do for him. With
Nebuchadnezzar, God controlled numbers of men to do what they
did and took him out in the wilderness as a wild beast for a time. And when God was done, he brought
it all back to him. When we read in the scripture
that Christ Jesus came to save his people from their sins, you
can count on it. He did it. He's not waiting for
someone to let Him have His way. No, the only thing that is to
happen for those whom He has chosen in Jesus Christ is for
Him, Jesus Christ, to woo them unto Himself. This is done first
by giving them a schoolmaster to teach them they have nowhere
to turn, to please the justice of God. Then he gives them faith
so that they can see that Christ have both satisfied justice and
showed mercy by his one action on that tree. There is no mercy
apart from justice. There might be justice without
mercy, but it does not work the other way. There has to be justice
before mercy can be shown. This God did by sending his only
begotten son to die on that tree. All this was done in His sovereign
control. He controlled everything that
happened from the beginning even until now. But it's even further
than that. He has controlled and shall ever
control all things because He has declared the end from the
beginning. We see this in Acts 2 verses 22 through 24. Acts
2. Acts 2 verses 22 through 24. And this is Peter talking to
some folks here. Acts 2, verses 22. Ye men of Israel, hear these
words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which
God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know. Him, being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain, whom God hath raised up, having
loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should
beholden of it." Men do what they want. God does
what He wants. Both of these things are in God's
absolute sovereign control. They can murder the Lord of glory
while at the same time God fulfills his work of showing mercy through
justice in his only begotten son. While men do what they want
in sinning against the sovereign God in murdering him, both are
true at the same time. We do what we want to do and
what we want to do is to rebel against God. Do you see how God
can be in control of all things? And yet it is man that sins and
not God. But what a comfort to God's people
knowing that our God is in total absolute control, that even wicked
men sin against Him, He can still carry out His very purpose in
the midst of it all. Scripture says that even the
wrath of man shall praise Him. Scripture is plain. God tells
us in his word, plain words that are easily understood, yet men
and women cannot bow down to them, believe his words, and
hold to his word, unless he is pleased to reveal himself to
them in the scripture. Proverbs 16, four, we read, the
Lord hath made all things for himself, yea, even the wicked
for the day of evil. Is that not plain? It may be
a hard saying, but it is as plain as plain can be. May it be that
he is willing to show mercy on men and women. We are sinners
against God. May it be he has shown mercy
to us because we need it. We have not done that which is
right in the sight of God in and of ourselves. I pray in his
sovereign right that he has chosen me and placed me in his son.
Thereby I can be comforted in the midst of evil. I can be comforted
in that he controls all things and shall keep me until that
day when salvation will finally and ultimately be revealed. Amen. Dear old God, thank you
once again for allowing us to be here. We need mercy, dear Lord. We
don't deserve it, dear Lord, but we are thankful to you that
you are a merciful God. All of these things we ask in
Christ's name, amen.