If this text does not solidify
the absolute sovereignty of God in all life, all life situation,
all life events, circumstances, I don't know which one would. Proverbs 16 and verse 33, the
last verse. I've looked at this many years.
I don't know if I've ever preached out of it, but it just struck
me. Actually, Spurgeon's base checkbook, I think it was, spurred
this on. The lot. And you remember how
the lot was used in the Old Testament. And even after Judas had betrayed
the Lord, they cast lots to see who next disciple was going to
be, the next apostle. That's what that lot is. It's
in judges in different places where they had to dispute the
70 elders when they would listen to somebody have a complaint.
You know, it would solve all matter of disputes. You cast
the lot. We would say, you know, cast
dice. But that's not what they had. Actually, the word is lot
is a pebble. You know, it's like a pebble.
If you ever go down to Eminence or if you go to Van Buren, there's
different pebbles. You don't need a flat one. You need, you
know, I'm sure that one that was, had corners and could look
different or maybe they marked it. The lot is cast into the
lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Disposing, the whole disposing,
the whole event, the verdict, or cause, that's what that word
means, the whole cause, the whole event, the whole verdict, the
whole verdict thereof is of the Lord. Unless we think this is
some one-off obscure text, we're going to look at some others,
and this is just a few of many that declare our Lord is over
all things, all events. I'll re-read this. I'll re-read
it out of the amplified. It's very good. The lot is cast
into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
10. Matthew chapter 10. And as we'll see as we progress
through this, This thought, this lesson, this message this morning,
this is not just a doctrinal box to check and say, yep, God's
sovereign, that does it. No, this is the help because
we're human, we're flesh and blood, and we need so much comfort
and help and assistance because we're concerned about many things. And that's what the gospel does. If you understand the gospel,
if you learn the gospel, if God teaches you the gospel, The world
doesn't change. It still goes headlong and the
way it thinks it wants to go. But who's over the whole thing? And that gives us tremendous
comfort. Tremendous comfort. Matthew chapter 10, starting
in verse 26. Fear them not, therefore, for
there is nothing covered that shall be revealed and hid that
shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness and
that speak in the light, and what you hear in the ear, that
preach upon the housetops. Fear not them which kill the
body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him
which is able to destroy both the soul and body in hell. Are
not two sparrows, sold for a farthing and one of them shall not fall
on the ground without your father but the very hairs of your head
are all numbered fear ye not therefore you are of more value
than many sparrows the falling of a sparrow and he says there
you know could be sold for a farthing they're not worth Matter of fact,
when we feed the birds, we like to see the cardinals, the blue
jays, the different kind of birds, but sparrows, it's just a sparrow.
Don't even bother to look them up, what kind they are. We've
got at least 15 species of sparrows in this area, but we don't even
bother to look them up anymore. They're just common. Nothing happens. Those birds
don't fly. They don't flap. They don't stop
flapping without the heavenly father's permission or will. Two sparrows sold for a farthing
and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your father,
without his permission. What about the hairs on the human
head? They're counted. The very hairs of all of your
head are all numbered, they're counted. That seems very particularly
extreme, does it not? And to be noted, it's the most
minute detail. Who thinks about hair follicles
or follicles? Exactly. The lot is cast, but
the whole disposing is of the Lord. Ruth, Ruth chapter two. Ruth chapter 2. You know basically
the story of Ruth. There was Ruth that left her
homeland or, you know, the area of Judea and came over to this
area where her people were not. Her husband died, her children's,
her husband's died, and she was left with two widowed daughter-in-laws,
Oprah and Ruth. And she says, I'm going back.
I'm going back to my country. If you want to come, come. Well,
one of them, I'm going to come with you. I want to be with you.
And then she says, but you know, you're not going to be, you're
not going to know anybody, this and that and everything. So it's
like a false professor. Oh, this is a new message. I've
never heard this before. Then they mingle a little bit,
but then when the trial of life comes, they're like, you know
what, I'm going to go back. And we see that happen often.
But Ruth, Ruth Clave. Naomi. She claved. But look at
this in verse, chapter 2, verses, the first three verses, 1, 2,
and 3. And Naomi had a kinsman of her
husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His
name was Boaz. Now we know this is a picture
of Christ. And Ruth, the Moabitess, said to Naomi, She's back in
their country. They don't have much food, anything
going on. She says, let me now go to the
field and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall
find grace. And she said unto her daughter,
go, go, my daughter, go. And Ruth went and came and gleaned
in the field after the reaper. She just went out to the field,
just went out. Didn't know where she was going.
And her hap, there you go, there you go, her hap, her hap. Now that word means event. Her, this situation that's going
on in her life, she's just going and living her life. And her
hap was to light on the part of the field belonging unto Boaz,
who was the kindred of Elimelech. Oh, that's just happenstance,
that's just luck, that's good luck. No, none of these things. The lot is cast in the lap, but
the whole disposing is of the Lord. Such an event was all foreordained
by God in order to meet this believer's need and ultimately
show forth our sovereign God's redemptive glory in buying back
this woman and the property, all showing sovereign, free,
electing grace in a kinsman. All the scriptures point to the
redemptive glory in Christ, and that's what we see here. So even
the smallest events that turn her to this field led to one
thing to another, led to her marriage, and to Naomi's reestablishment
in her homeland. Well, that's just, no, no, that's
the fact that everything is ordered by our Lord. Proverbs 21, back
in Proverbs and verse one, Proverbs 21 and verse one. The King's heart is in the hand
of the Lord. As the rivers of water, He, God,
turns it, whithersoever He will. Now, if the King, and in the
Old Testament, and in Bible times, was mighty, well-powerful, and
wise, if the King's heart is in the hand of the Lord, then
easily so, so to speak, the common man, woman, boy or girl, their
heart is in the Lord's hand. And in ancient times, and I never
thought about it this way, but one of the commentators said
in ancient times, kings were often called gods. Were they
not? And they didn't have to give
an account to anybody. They didn't have to give an account
to anybody, yet they, these ancient kings and presidents in our time,
and monarchs and rulers, they have to give an account to their
maker, the creator of the world, Jehovah God. Why? Because invade
this one country, Don't invade this country. The gospel was
stopped for going to the eastern areas. And the Lord told Paul,
don't go here, go here. And that's why the gospel is
here in this country. I enjoy history. I've enjoyed
World War II, the battle at Midway. It was, you know, it was minutes
away from the U.S. Navy being annihilated, but because
the spotter spotted the Japanese Navy, everything turned. It was
just a matter of why. There we go. And it's not because
this country's great. We're all sinners. No, we would
think, well, we've got prosperity, this and that, and we must be
something. No, no, we're, We're accountable because the
gospel is preached in this country, and I know it's preached in other
countries. You can get a Bible about it in probably about every
home. It's dusty. Nobody looks at it. They're going
to be held accountable. This country has got nothing
on God. Salvation is by grace and grace
alone. If it's by grace, it's no more
works. Time would not allow me to tell and go to all these scriptures
but we could reference them, we could look at Joseph in his
life, everything he went through up and down and he said, no this
is the Lord, the Lord was in this. You meant it for evil but
God meant it for good. What about Queen Esther? You
look at that book, that little book of Esther and see how the
Lord overruled so many things, even in his own people, even
in Mordecai. her mentor, Mordecai. What about
Mephibosheth's care? He couldn't do anything. He couldn't
go anywhere. He was lame on both feet. And yet David found him
out through a covenant, which that's the Bible talks about
covenants, of Jonathan and him that he may show kindness. The
Lord does the same thing with us. He shows kindness based on
the covenant that his son made with him in order to show mercy
on some. What about Isaiah? And if you look at, we will look
at one passage in Isaiah, if you look at like in a chapter
four, if you read or the section of Isaiah 40, all the way to
Isaiah 49, all the Isaiah 40s, just sovereignty, just sovereignty,
foreordination, it's all over the place. What about Daniel? What about Adrach, Meshach, and
Abednego? Well, they were supposed to end
up in the furnace. Why? So God could be glorified.
And there's one and there was three. But even the king said,
it looks like there's four in there. And the one looks like
the son of God. How did he know that? What about Jonah? Jonah, he didn't
want to go preach to Nineveh. He was going to go. He was gonna
go, he'd be taught a lesson, like we often have to be taught
lessons. God's on the throne, God's sovereign. And this verse,
this verse, and I don't know why it was this one in Proverbs,
but this has done more good for me in the last week, just to
stop complaining. You know, stop looking at the
news, stop looking at what's going on in Gaza or what's going
on here or the White House or this or that. It's going to go
on whether I read it or even know about it. But I just, I was just getting
upset about some things. I said, wait a second, the lot,
if the lot is cast into the lap, and it is every day, every day,
business is open, they don't know what's going to happen.
They open their doors, they open, turn the open clothes on, whether
it's Washington D.C., somebody turns the lights on, the halls
are open, whether good or bad is going on there, the whole disposing of is of
the Lord. Why? There may be one sheep that needs
to hear the word. There may be one person that
needs to step back and say, this is crazy. This is lunatic. This
is not good government. This is not right management.
I didn't treat my employee right. There may be one thing. Maybe the shoelace was undone.
I don't know. Cause us to realize, or somebody
to realize, maybe your parents, maybe your child, maybe your
aunts, your uncles, your grandparents, maybe they would hear. There's no such thing as luck,
no such thing as chance. Bad fortune, good fortune. Oh
my, we could go on and on. I could go, but you know as well
as I do this principle of sovereignty and providential supremacy over
every single event in human history. If we want to talk about human
history and people want to ignore it, but they're going to have
to think about it tomorrow. They're going to have to think
about something happened in Jerusalem a long, long time ago. Now whether
you believe in this and that and all, it doesn't matter. The
world's going to and think about it. So that one event, that one
most important event in human history, and is the most important,
I know Muhammad would say it is, and I know Joseph Smith would
say no, and I know the more, you know, they would, no, no,
we know that the most important event, single event in human
history, and I know they changed it now, but it used to be BC
and AD, but now they've got it different, you know, they're
trying to eliminate the reasoning Every event, even the greatest
saga in our history, the life and death and burial and resurrection
of the one we call Jesus of Nazareth was disposed of the Lord. Isaiah 46, Isaiah 46. verses 9 through 11. Isaiah 46 verses 9 through 11,
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,
how could you do that? You can only do that if everything's
been predisposed. and from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, I will
do all my pleasure. It's not about human history,
it's not about human intellect, it's not about human reasoning,
it's about the glory of God and the grace of God and how he's
gonna save his people from their sins. calling a ravenous bird
from the east, the man that executed my counsel from far country,
yea, I have spoken it, I will also do it, bring it to pass,
I have purposed it, I will also do it. The creed's already went
out. What we read, you get a newspaper,
like somebody said, Tim J or somebody, you get a newspaper
to find out what God's doing. That's what he's doing. Whether
we like it or not. Acts chapter two. Acts chapter
two, a little bit more specifically, what we're talking about, the
greatest saga in human history, the life, the birth, the poor
treatment of our Lord Jesus Christ. He did no sin. He did no sin. Matter of fact, the centurion,
when he was standing there after Christ was crucified, he goes,
this man was innocent. And Pilate even said that. but
in order that scripture may be fulfilled. He was to suffer,
bleed, die, and rise again. But here we have it here in Acts
chapter 2, starting in verse 22. You men of Israel, hear these
words. You folks in Jackson, hear these
words. And wherever the gospel's being
preached, 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 you yourselves also know. This thing wasn't done in a corner.
Everybody knows about the story of Bethlehem. Everybody knows
about the three wise men. Everybody knows about the kings.
They're gonna sing about it today. Hosanna in the highest. They're
going to sing all these songs. You yourselves know Him, Christ,
being delivered. Why? How? By the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you 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
be holden of it. And then he goes in and talks
about how David foreordained, talked about, prophesied about
this. So this, this one, this one, whom some people say, well,
he was born in the wrong time. That was, I was really big in
high school and junior high listening to Godspell. You know, that blasphemous
play. But they said, you know, he was
born in a, if you'd have come in a better generation, this
wouldn't have happened. That's man's thought. That's man's words.
This is what happened and how it happened and where it was
to happen. But let me read to you the amplified version of
our passage in Proverbs. The lot is cast into the lap,
but the decision is wholly of the Lord's, dash, even the events
that seem accidental are really ordered by Him. And this, I'm laughing because
it gave me comfort all week. This has got comfort all week. All week. So I go into the second
point. If he disposes the lot, or the
dice, or the pebble, What can we say of our whole life? Seeing what this passage has
said right here, seeing what this passage says, the lot is
cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.
If this is, if he takes notice of the smallest event, if he
takes notice of the sparrows, didn't he say in Matthew that
we're a more valuable, we're more to him than these than sparrows?
So this is what I ask, and I ask that the Lord take this and apply
this to us. Do we have, I ask, do we have
a gracious, reverential calm because of this text? So, you
know, personally, when I was reading the news, even, you know,
quote, conservative news, and I found out that they, you know,
took Donald Trump off the, The ballot in Colorado, oh, I
was aggravated. Oh, I was, and I thought, wait
a second, wait a second. He's just, he's doing what he will.
He's doing what he will. I still think this is one of
the greatest countries in the world, and I want it to be so for Oliver. I want it to be so for my daughter
and son-in-law and for your children. I want this, but he's not, he's
not going to relinquish control Because he's already purposed
it. He can't, he's not like us. He doesn't write history with
an eraser. You know, I got everything I
write in pencil so I can erase it. That's not our God. This
is, everything we need to know is fully canonized. This is it.
Why? Because he disposes it. We should
be calm for this, so I tell you and I tell myself, commit this
book, this verse, to memory. Rehearse it frequently when ill
climate comes, and it comes all the time. Secondly, do we have
anxious thoughts and cares? They fly upon us and they seize
us at times. Yes, fall upon God and his savior
in this verse. Yes, He does control that little
piece of dice so we have assurance of the Holy Scriptures that He
will never leave us nor forsake us. John chapter 14. John chapter
14 and verse 18. John 14, 18. I will not leave
you comfortless. I won't leave you comfortless.
It doesn't mean we're going to get everything we want. We have
all we need in Christ. Flee to Him. Seize the moment. Today may be the day of salvation.
Go to Him. Let us be about the business
of obeying. There's so much in this word.
Well, I need to concentrate on this. No, God says repent. You
just need to repent. And I know He does that in us. Let us be about the business
of obeying and not the business of providing. He has and will
provide all things we need. Has he done so in salvation,
justification, righteousness, sanctification, glorification,
and Romans 8? We're just looking at these last couple of weeks. He has done this. He doesn't
stop in the middle of it and say, now the rest is up to you.
That was the problem with the Galatians. They said, well, I
believe in grace, but I got to do this and do that. And he says,
you foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you? Are you made perfect
in the flesh, but you started in the spirit? No, no, it's Christ
from beginning to end, Alpha to Omega. Look deeply into this
book, the scriptures, and into your own life. Has he ever not
fulfilled any promise to us in Christ our Lord that he said,
has he not, has he never fulfilled? Yes, he's never done so. Thirdly,
have we ever exhausted his wisdom? You need wisdom. There's so many
things that happen. I don't know how to deal with them. Ask the
Lord for wisdom. He says in James, he'll give it to you liberally
and upbraideth not. Has he ever, have we ever exhausted
his wisdom? To us we're, no. Have we ever
emptied him of mercy? He's a God full of mercy and
truth, ready to pardon. Have we ever exhausted or emptied
him of his mercy to us sinners in need of much mercy? No. And
I ask this one, while our glorious intercessor pleads, the Lord
is our intercessor, and he's right now pleading on our behalf,
on the right hand of the Father. Has he ever not been heard or
has he ever stopped from interceding? Can he ever be stopped from being
heard on our behalf? Nope, never. So I close with
this, everybody, all you people, all, everybody, young, old, male, female, doesn't
matter. Psalms, you don't have to turn
there, Psalms 55. Cast your burden upon the Lord,
and he shall sustain thee, and he shall never suffer the righteous
to be moved. Come what may, Our sustenance,
our stability, our rock is Christ and Christ alone. That's all
I've got. Bruce, would you close this?