In these uncertain times in which
we live, there is a great need to understand
and have it settled clearly in our minds and hearts with a strong
conviction of who's really in charge. Who's really in charge. Several weeks ago now, when this
coronavirus thing interrupted our being able to assemble inside. I prepared a list of thoughts
and scriptures, and I asked our faithful church secretary, Sister
Heatherly, to send it out to you to read, to study, and to
look up the scriptures, and I'm sure some of you did. It was
entitled, All Things, and I listed 20 things. So I wish to speak
about just two or three of those this morning. The little two-word phrase, all
things, is found many times in the Bible. Most folk think that
God's in charge of some things, but we're talking about all things. A lot of folks would rather them
be right and God be wrong. And if that be the case this
morning, you will take offense at this. But I assert to you,
God is right in all things, all the time. And for any who would
fall out with me over these statements, they're biblical statements.
It's God you'd fall out with, not me. It's His Word, not mine. So in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, beginning in verse 17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. Now a lot of religious-minded
people, fed by mistaken preachers and teachers, read into this
what it's not saying. They read into it that if you've
been saved, you've quit everything bad and started everything good. The old is gone and you're into
the new. You do everything right now and
nothing wrong. Granted, that should be our goal,
but the subject here is not conduct, but rather it's doctrine, which
most people have no interest in. What Paul is saying is that
salvation is in Christ. Get this phrase. Therefore if
a man be in Christ, and salvation is by a new covenant, between
the Father and the Son, not like the old covenant between God
and men. According to the old covenant,
the Old Testament, it's the same word, covenant and testament.
According to the old, the law, a man had to be perfect, sinless,
to be saved. Nobody was. Nobody was ever saved
by keeping the law. The law was not given in the
Old Testament as a remedy. It was given as a reminder that
we need a remedy. Christ is that remedy. The New
Covenant, which means New Testament, salvation is not on the basis
of fallen man's obedience. my obedience, your obedience,
but it's on the basis of Christ's obedience. He did for us what
we could not do for ourselves. And if you can't believe that
Christ did for you what God required of you, then you're still struggling
under the old covenant to try and make the grade. Well, I got
news for you, you'll never make it. When Paul says your old things
are passed away, he's saying we don't approach God in that
old covenant anymore. We don't come through a human
priest of the tribe of Levi. We don't offer animal sacrifices. But all things are become new.
We are accepted of God in Christ, in His Son. Ephesians 1, 6, we're
made accepted in the Beloved. Not made acceptable, where He
did His part and then you do yours. No, we're made accepted
in the Beloved. Christ did it all. So, that's
the first all thing. All things are become new. Our acceptance is in Christ.
And all the religious garbage that you hear, which men say
will get God's attention for you, apart from Christ, is just
that. Garbage. Garbage. Christ lived
sinless. He died, was buried, and rose
again and ascended back into glory. Not as a private individual.
He didn't even have to come here as a private individual. But
He did all that as a representative person. All whom were chosen
in Him before the foundation of the world were represented
in all He did. We lived sinless in Him. We died
with Him. We were buried with Him. We rose
and ascended with Him. were accepted in Him and seated
with Him in the heavenlies. All things are become new in
Christ. The next verse, verse 18, and
all things are of God. And that's my subject. All things
are of God. This is God's Word, not mine,
not yours. It's God's Word. Maybe we could
just say that together. All things are of God. Say it out loud. All things are
of God. Now some of you are asking just
how far can we take that statement? You can take it just as far as
you can, far as your mind can imagine. Things passed. Things present, things future. All things are of God. That's
what it says. Things pleasant, things unpleasant. Things precious and things painful. All things are of God. When you've
considered all that has ever been in this world, and all that
is in this world, And all that shall be in this world, I assure
you that somewhere in the eons of eternity past, for reasons
known only to God, He ordered it. All things are of God. Now some of you are not with
me yet, because there are some bad things happening in this
world. Just hold on, just hold on. Most folk believe there's
a lot happens in this world that God never meant to happen. If
that were the case, He's not much of a God. But I just read and repeated
over and over, all things are of God. If you look inside of a clock
or open the back of a pocket watch, you'll see wheels turning
clockwise. And on the edge of that wheel
will be little teeth, and they'll catch teeth in another wheel
and turn it counterclockwise. Well, which one's right? They're
both right. Which one's necessary? They're
both necessary. This machine, God's creation,
this earth and all that's in it, it's way too big for us. But all the wheels that we think
are turning the right direction are of God. And all the wheels
we think are turning the wrong direction are of God. All things are of God. And all
the wheels are necessary for His eternal purpose, to His eternal
glory. Now His glory includes His holy
justice. That sin run its course and damn
millions. That's as just as it can possibly
be. The wages of sin is death. That's not unjust. And all God
has to do to leave all of us to the effects of sin in us. If He just leaves us to ourselves
and to sin in us, we'll everyone run headlong into hell with no
thought of God and wouldn't have it any other way. He's the one
who takes the initiative. He's the one who interrupts our
sin-cursed lifestyle. Now, that He chose not to save everybody is not
my business, but that He saved me, that's my business. The Bible teaches election, sanctification,
predestination, regeneration, glorification, that all belongs
to Him. All things are of God. Verse 18 continues, Who hath
reconciled us, believers, to Himself by Christ Jesus. It's His doing. Now let me go
to one more, Romans 11, 36. God's glory is the big issue. A lot of people never realize
that. They think God's willing to do everything, including give
up being God just for you. No, no. Everything is working
to His eternal glory. He'll be glorified in all whom
He's chosen to save. That'll be with Him for eternity.
And He is glorified in the just wages of sin. in all who perish
forever. His glory is first. It's the
big issue. Romans 11.36 says, For of Him,
and through Him, and to Him, that is to His glory, are all
things. All things? All things. To whom be glory forever, Amen. Of Him, He's the source. Through
Him, He's the channel. And to Him, He's the end. All
things. The great old songwriter, William
Cooper, who wrote that beautiful hymn, There is a Fountain, filled
with blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins, He also wrote this hymn,
God Moves in a Mysterious Way. I know some good religious folks
and how for 50 years that would say, oh no, it's not mysterious
to me. And they can tell you what all
God's in and what all God's not in, what's of God and what's
of the devil. And they'll as good as say, I've
got it all figured out. No, no, we haven't. We haven't. God moves in a mysterious way
his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the
sea and rides upon the storm. Do you know anybody else that
big? No, you don't. The next line, ye fearful saints,
With any of those here today, you fearful saints, fresh courage
take. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy and shall break with blessing on your head. You say, well, I sure don't see
any mercy or any blessing in my predicament. That's right,
you don't. Many people ask me, in their
hour of deepest sorrow, why did God let this happen? Why did
God let it happen to me? Well, I don't have the answer.
But I know this. God does good for his children. And this present evil world is
not our home, of that I am sure. You see, he's not working to
make us what we want to be. That's the way a lot of people
tell it. He's working to make us what
he's predestined us to be. Like his son. Like his son. If he did everything, I won't. The way I won't. I'd never be
conformed to the image of His Son. But that's exactly what
we're predestinated to. Romans 8, 29, For whom He did
foreknow, not what, but whom. He predestinated people, His
children. For whom He did foreknow, He
also did predestinate. That means predetermined the
destination. He also did predestinate to what? To be conformed to the image
of His Son. That He, His Son, might be the
firstborn among many brethren. Bless His holy name. Cowper continued
in that hymn, Judge not the Lord by feeble sense. That's about
all we've got is feeble sense. Don't think you're smart enough
to declare that he's ever wrong about anything. Judge not the
Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace. Don't take
it on yourself to judge the Lord, whether He's done right. He has,
and does, and will. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust Him for His grace. Behind a frowning providence, when you think God's mad at you,
behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face. He's looking way on up the road. You and I can't even see tomorrow. Next line of the old hymn, blind
unbelief is sure to err and scan his work in vain. We look at some of what God does.
and say, wow, this is not worth anything. This is vain. That ought not been. I could
have done without that. Blind unbelief is sure to err
and scan his work in vain. But God is His own interpreter. You mean men are wrong to tell
us God said this but He meant that? He said such and such but He
meant the other? Yes, they're wrong. God meant
what He said and all He said just like He said it. The problem is only the Holy
Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost, who wrote it can interpret it. People have told me many, many
times, well, I just don't understand the Bible. The Bible is not to
be understood. It has to be revealed by the
author of it. God is His own interpreter, and
He will make it plain. And unless He does, and until
He does, make it plain in your heart. Here's your future. You'll prefer a religion that
puts God at your mercy instead of you at His. That's what's being preached
all over this country this morning. God wants you. He needs you. He's begging you. Please give
Him a chance. In other words, you're bigger
than He is. He's helpless without your permission. That's not right. All things are of God. Saul of
Tarsus, go read it, Acts chapter 9. Saul of Tarsus was on the
road to Damascus and decided to make a decision for Jesus.
Is that what the Bible says? No. No. Saul said, there was
one bigger than I, overtook me in the way. and overwhelmed me. And I called Him, Lord. And I've been calling Him, Lord,
ever since. And I asked Him, Lord, what would
You have me to do? He changed my life. Not when I asked Him to, but
He said later in Galatians 1.15, when it pleased God to reveal
His Son in me. That's when He did it. That's
when things get done. Psalm 110, verse 3, Thy people,
the people the Father gave to the Son from eternity, Thy people
shall be willing in the day of Thy power. That's the only time
anybody is willing. I can't talk you into turning
to Jesus. No. You're determined to go to
hell unless He steps in. Now that's a fact. The only time
anyone is willing is when the author of this book, the Holy
Ghost, in conviction, convicts of sin and arrests your soul. Otherwise, you'll perish in your
sins and wouldn't have it any other way. He's God in all. All things are of God. Unless he does that, some of
you will fall out with me and go join some crowd that praises
each other rather than God. But all things are of God. You
say now, are you saying everybody that don't believe like you do
is going to hell? Leave me out of it. I'm saying
everybody that don't believe God is going to hell. This is
His Word. It's in Him that we live and
move and have our being. You don't need to do business
with a church. You don't need to do business with a preacher.
You don't need to get religious and try to turn over a new leaf.
Fiddle on that. You need to crawl off somewhere
and do business with God. For of Him and through Him and
to Him are how many things? All things, to whom be glory
forever. The prophet Jonah, I'll say our
brother Jonah, twin brother at that. You didn't
know you had a twin, did you? Oh yeah, Jonah, your twin brother. He thought like you think. He
ran like you run. He told God no like you do. He's
full of stubborn pride like you are. Yep, he's your twin brother
alright. But he finally confessed. He
was finally brought to confess. Not by his own free will, but
because he was locked up. He was whipped And he finally
confessed in Jonah 2.9, salvation is of the Lord. It finally registered with him
that before I came forth from my mother's womb, from until
the moment I take my last breath, God has been active in saving
me. You ought to think about that. From the mother's womb to the
last breath. He's been active saving me, not
just when I was running toward Him, but while I was running
from Him. All that seemingly drove me from
God was of God. Don't give the devil any credit.
And all that drew me to God was of God. All things are of God. And then this sick generation
of fleshly religion, grinning like a mule eating sawbriars,
says, I'm glad I decided to accept Jesus. Anything you decided will
put you in hell. Salvation is of the Lord. It's not just from the Lord.
Everybody knows that. It's of the Lord. And all things
are of God. This is so comforting to my heart
this morning. I don't know what tomorrow holds.
You don't either. But I'll tell you one thing.
I'll sleep tonight unless something changes. I'm not worried about
it. All things are of God. Our God never slumbers nor sleeps. Therefore I can. He is ever moving
toward the fulfillment of His eternal purpose. He's right on
schedule. There's no little peons like
you and I or any otherbody else in this world that's messing
Him up. It's like the big rottweiler
trotting down the sidewalk. And the little chihuahua inside
the fence. Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep.
Like he's gonna eat that big dog up. When that big dog could
bite him in two with one bite. We're like the little chihuahua.
Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. Here's how it is. Oh, God's so
proud of me. How it is. Hey. Didn't affect the Rottweiler
at all. He just keeps on trucking down the street. He don't even
give that little chihuahua the time of day. If you think you're
messing God up, you've got another thought coming. If you think
you're interrupting God, you've got another thought coming. If
you think God's at your mercy and begging you to turn around,
you've got another thought coming. He wants you turned around. He'll
do it. He'll do it. All things are of God. It's like
the human heart that beats continuously whether we're asleep or awake.
Even without our consciousness, it pumps blood through this body,
and it does it faithfully. So our God, even in our unconsciousness,
whether we're asleep or awake, He works tirelessly into bringing
this thing into our lives, and this thing out of our lives,
and every pleasant thing, and every painful thing, All things
are of God. He knows what He's doing. I don't
know what He's doing. I don't know half the time what
I'm doing. But He does. Now in conclusion, let me tell
you, to put it like this, to tell it from God's side, no wind
can blow wrong or too strong. No event is early or late or
a mistake from God's side. No result is disastrous in the
lives of His children. Nothing can befall us but prosperity. That's God's side. Every stone that pounds us and
falls to the ground It but paves the path to eternal glory. That's God's side. Thou art all fair, my love. Thou
art all fair. There is no spot in thee. Satan says, but what about your
sin? What about his sin? What about
her sin? God says, what sin are you talking about? It's gone. My son bore it on the cross. That's God's side of the story.
I'm telling you, everything is running on His schedule, exactly
as He decreed and designed. Nothing is out of His control. A lot of things out of my control,
nothing out of His control. Now, that's God's Word. That's God's Word. Don't just
believe me, believe Him. Let me give you some scriptures
that says what I've been saying. Isaiah 46, 9 and 10, 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. All the history of this world,
including your little part, was in the mind and purpose of God
before He ever hung the stars. Psalm 115, verse 3, But our God
is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. Not just what you led him, but
whatsoever he hath pleased. That's God's Word on the matter.
Deuteronomy 32, 39, See now that I, even I, am he, and there is
no God with me. I kill, and I make alive. Wow! This is our God talking. I kill, and I make alive. I wound, and I heal. Neither
is there any that can deliver out of my hand. All things are
of God. Isaiah 14, 27, For the LORD of
hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it, cancel it? His hand is stretched out, and
who shall turn it back? Daniel 4.35, 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? All things are of God. Isaiah
45, 5-7, says this, I am the Lord and
there is none else. There is no God beside me. I girded thee, though thou hast
not known me, that they may know from the rising of the sun and
from the west that there is none beside me. I am the Lord and
there is none else. I form the light and create darkness. He does that in your life. I make peace and create evil. He does that in your life. I
the Lord do all these things. All things are of God. The prophet Amos chapter 3 and
verse 6, Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not
be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city,
and the Lord hath not done it? Ephesians 1.11 It is the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. All things are
of God. You say, but preacher, What about
what happened to me? That awful thing that happened
to me ought not have happened to anybody. Oh! Your problem
is in thinking you deserved better. You didn't. You didn't. If you're
God's child, get this now, if you're God's child, His mercy
is in giving you whatever it takes to crush you and conform
you to the image of his son first john three two beloved
now are we the sons of god right now and it does not yet appear
what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we
shall be like him god's gonna see to it god's gonna see to
it Say, oh, I'm trying to live Christ-like. Well, your religious
efforts is not doing much good at it. He'll look nothing like
you act. But hey, how's he doing it? He's
doing it through circumstances, through heartbreakings, heart-crushings,
pains, pleasant, precious. He's all things, all things. He's in all the sunshine and
all the storms. Nahum 1 3, the Lord hath his
way in the whirlwind and in the storm. That means the whirlwind
and the storm in your life. When things get so bad, you decide
it'd be better to forget God and make it on your own. Many
a fool has taken that road. Don't run from the Lord, run
to Him. Even the worthless vine, even
the poison oak vine that some of you are starting to avoid
right now, it can't stand on its own. It
clings to the mighty oak to survive and to thrive. Cling, cleave
to the Lord. In Acts chapter 11, Barnabas
at Antioch, he exhorted the people, believers, that with purpose
of heart they should cleave unto the Lord. And that's my exhortation
to you today. The answer is not in Washington.
The answer is not anywhere in this world. It's above this world. My exhortation to you today,
whatever comes and goes in your life, with purpose of heart,
that is, purpose it in your heart to cleave unto the Lord. Why? Because all things are of
Him. He's always in the know. He's
always in control. He's always right. He always wins. All things are
of God.