Isaiah chapter 52, and I want
to read verse 7. You that have heard me preach
through the years realize, I imagine, that I've preached from this
text several times. And I want to look at it again
this morning. I want to look at it again after
we have lunch together. This is one of my favorite portions
of Scripture. Isaiah chapter 52 and verse 7. How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of Him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth
peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation,
that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth. This is spoken, of
course you realize, Romans chapter 10 and verse 15 concerning the
preachers. The Apostle Paul quotes this
verse and applies it to preachers, to prophets, to apostles, to
evangelists, to teachers, to those who go out proclaiming
the gospel. And you'll notice here there's
two things that's said about this preacher and preaching. First, it's said that his feet
are beautiful. He has beautiful feet. When Israel
was led into captivity, they were there under Nebuchadnezzar
for 70 years and other kings. And then they freed them to go
back home to Israel. Can you imagine what a sight
that was to see those men coming out of captivity, going back
to Israel, going to Jerusalem, Going back to build the temple
and to build the gate and to set up the walls. And as they
went, some upon those mountains proclaiming were free. Freedom. Freedom. And what beautiful people
those people were upon those mountains proclaiming liberty. It was said of Abigail that she
was a woman of good understanding. and of a beautiful countenance.
But I'll tell you better things are said of a preacher. He has
beautiful feet. Beautiful feet. Wherever he goes
proclaiming the gospel, he's a beautiful person, isn't he? He has beautiful feet. But something
else is said here of this preacher that not only does he have beautiful
feet, but he goes upon the mountain. And I think that pertains to
his high calling. What a high calling it is for
God to call a man and put understanding of some verses of scripture and
precious truths and the doctrine of Christ in his heart and send
him out to proclaim it to others. And you know a man can't preach
except he be called. A man has to be sent of God. You sinned yourself, and you
sin yourself, you'll accomplish nothing. But there was a man
sent from God whose name was John, and he came to bear witness
of the light. He wasn't the light, but he was
sent of God to bear witness of the light. That in itself is
a glorious calling, to bear witness of Jesus Christ. What a glorious
calling, that all men through Him might believe. That's a high
calling of God in Christ Jesus. There is no greater calling except
being called to salvation by the Holy Spirit. I know a fellow,
and you know him, that says he's been called to preach, and he
ran for political office. How degraded. How degraded. William Carey, a great preacher,
had a preaching son who was a good preacher. And England offered
him an ambassadorship to go represent England to another country. And
he accepted it. And William Carey and his family
came to the worship service and they were broken hearted. And
Mr. Carey got up and said with tears,
my son has swiveled to become an ambassador. Leaving the ambassador
of Christ and become an ambassador of the earthly king. How humiliating. How swiveling that is. There's
no greater calling. It's said that they go upon the
mountains. What beautiful feet. And He gives
us another reason here why their feet, no doubt, is beautiful.
It's their whole attitude with which they go and what they proclaim. What do they proclaim? Good tidings. That's their whole attitude.
Good tidings. You know what this word, good
tidings, means? It has the same word that you
and I often hear used. Have you ever heard this little
phrase, that person is looking through rose-colored glasses?
That's what it means. It means rosy. Good tidings,
rosy tidings. Someone who sees only good in
something. There is people that no matter
how much evil they see, somebody do, they've always got something
good to say about it. And we always say that person
is looking through rose-colored glasses. This is what that means.
This fellow, he has beautiful feet. The church of God loves
to see him coming because he's got this rosy message. When he
looks at the gospel, he sees nothing bad about it. He sees
nothing wrong in it. All he sees is good. Rose-colored
message. In verse 7, what does he see
in the gospel? Well, look at this. How beautiful
upon the feet, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet
of Him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace." That's
why it's good tidings. He publisheth peace. He sees peace in this Gospel. Peace with God. Christ is our
peace. He hath made peace for us through
the blood of His cross. Made peace with God. Made peace
with the law of God. made peace with death. The law
is not against you, Glenn, and you're not against the law anymore.
Death is not our enemy anymore, and we don't fear death. We're
at peace with death. At the judgment, we don't fear
it anymore. To stand before God and have
peace, that's what the gospel gives us. And not only did Christ
make peace, not only is He our peace, but the Apostle Paul says,
He came and preached peace to you, which were for all. And
Paul said this, let the peace of God rule in your heart. He preaches peace to us. He gives
us His peace in our heart. And then He turns right around
and says, let the peace of God rule in your heart. Don't be
anxious about things. In everything, by prayer and
supplications, let your requests be made known to God. And the
peace of God, the tranquility of God, The quietness of God
shall keep your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus. Peace,
far away in the depths of my spirit tonight, lies a melody
sweeter than psalms. In celestial-like strands, it
unceasingly falls, o'er my soul like an infinite calm. Infinite
calm. What is that? Peace. Peace, wonderful
peace. Where does it come from? Coming
down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit. And that's
why it's so wonderful. It's not a temporary peace. It
doesn't just touch the ascent of our minds, but it touches
our spirits. It soaks our spirit. Sweep over
my spirit forever, I pray, in phantomless billows of love. That's the message of the Gospel.
This is why the preacher has beautiful feet. This is why he
has this rosy outlook. This is why we love to see him
coming. He proclaims the peace of God. Christ is our peace. Who would leave a calling like
that and go off and get into politics? How degraded, how swiveling
that would be. But he adds something else here
that bringeth Good tidings of good. That brings tidings of
something that is good. This man is bringing us tidings
of something that's good. And what is it? That published
us salvation. What kind of salvation does he
publish? Look back over in Isaiah chapter 45. Just right back to
your left. Isaiah chapter 45. And look at
this. Look in chapter 45 and look in
verse 16. Those who are makers of idols
and those who worship idols, in verse 16, they all shall be
ashamed. Those who make them and those
who worship them. They'll be confounded. They'll be confused
because an idol can't help you. It can't save you. It's nothing. They shall be ashamed and confounded,
all of them. They shall go to confusion together
that are makers of idols. But Israel shall be saved in
the Lord with an everlasting salvation." World without end. Israel shall be saved. That's
the salvation he's talking about. Saved with an everlasting salvation. Or to be saved. Ain't it a wonderful
thought just to think about? Saved from sin? Saved from all
of its consequences? Saved from the wrath that's upon
it? Saved from the condemnation of
it? Saved from its final consequences? Misery? If somebody can tell
a poor, miserable sinner how to be saved, from the wrath of
God, isn't that the best good news a person could ever hear?
I'm concerned about being healthy. I want enough money so I won't
have to beg. But all to be saved from the
wrath of God, that's good tidings of good. When a man sins against
divine law, I tell you, a man can do it quickly. A man can sin against divine
law instantly and forget about it just as soon as he does it. But you know what happens when
a man sins against divine law? He sets in motion a chain of
events that if someone does not intervene, He sets in motion
a chain of events that will surely end in eternal misery. He will be arrested. All these
charges will be brought against Him. His guilt will be proved. He will be sentenced and executed. A man cannot sin against divine
law without eventually answering for it. And what is it to answer
to that divine law? The wages of sin is death. And for somebody to intervene
and save us from this divine law, and not only save us from
it, but save us in a way that that law is honored and glorified. And that's what the Lord Jesus
Christ has done. He's not only saved His people,
but He saved them in such a way that God is honored in it. Israel
shall be saved. How can Israel be saved? You
remember who Israel was? He was Jacob. That old worm Jacob. That old deceiver. And all His
people are just like Him. And now the Holy Spirit says,
Israel shall be saved. How can they be saved? In the
Lord. In the Lord Jesus Christ. And not just for time, but for
all eternity. A fellow told me one time, he
said, I don't want a salvation, but I can't lose. I don't want
one I can't lose. Do you? Here's the good news, brothers
and sisters. Israel shall be saved in the
Lord with an everlasting salvation. The gospel is good news. And
if it's not everlasting salvation, it's not good news. And therefore,
that's not the gospel. That's not the gospel. Good news
is this. There's a fountain open for sin,
and it washes away all sin. washes away all iniquity. Here's the good news. There's
a righteousness that is given to a poor sinner that justifies
him. That's the righteousness Abraham
found. What shall we say that Abraham,
our father, has found? If he is justified by works,
he could glory, but not before God. What saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God. And it
was counted to Him for righteousness. A righteousness was given to
Him, and it justified Him. Ain't that good news? That is
good news. You and I cannot establish a
righteousness that will justify us from our sins. But God has
a righteousness that He gives a person, every believer, that
justifies us. Here's good news. There's eternal
life to be gained. There's everlasting happiness
to be had and joy that's unspeakable and full of glory. These are
good things, aren't they? Listen to what Isaiah said. The
ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs. We should sing, brothers and
sisters, if the Lord has saved us. We should come to Zion with
songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. And they shall obtain
joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."
Everlasting joy upon their heads? Boy, here we have our moments
of joy, don't we? Here we're happy for a moment,
maybe an hour, seldom for a day. But there, there, everlasting
happiness, everlasting joy, everlasting life. I want to be happy. Somebody
says, what's happiness got to do with? It's got a lot to do
with. I want to be happy. I want to be happy. And I'm not
usually happy here. Ain't but one place you and I
are happy here, and that's in Christ. That's in the Lord. being saved with an everlasting
salvation. Now, ain't that good news? See
why these preachers are said to have beautiful feet? They've
got this rosy message and rosy outlook. And back over here in
chapter 52, verse 7, look what he says. Look how he
finishes this statement. You know, these are wonderful
statements here. good tidings, peace, good tidings
of good, publishing salvation. That's all well and good enough,
and you can go into that and enlarge upon it. And you can
say, well, that's wonderful. That's wonderful. But can we
proclaim these things with certainty? When we talk about salvation,
can we with certainty say, Israel shall be saved? And with an everlasting
salvation, is there lasting peace? Is the gospel really such positive
news? Then upon what foundation does
it rest? If I'm going out there and proclaiming
such a gospel, I've got to know that it has a good foundation.
that is not built upon the sand. How can I proclaim such good
news? Well, the Holy Spirit says this,
say unto Zion, say to the church, say to the body of Christ, thy
God reigneth. There is its foundation. That's
why the gospel is sure. That's why it's certain. God
reigns. There's two things that makes
the Gospel good news. First, its message. It's the
message of the Gospel. And secondly, this foundation
upon which it rests. And what is it? A sovereign God. A sovereign God. Thy God reigneth. The Gospel is fixed. I want to
deal with three things, two this morning and one this afternoon.
First is this. This is good news to say. God
reigns in creation. You say, Bruce, we've heard that
so often. And we need to hear it again, don't we? Especially
in our day. When you're out traveling on
the road sometime, you listen to the radio, and I'm telling
you, you can hear some strange things. I heard some group of
people talking about they needed to unite everybody together.
Won't you fellas come and help us and send your donations to
us? We've got a cause. And you know what that cause
was. We're going to save the earth. The earth is in danger
of perishing. We're going to save the earth. I thought, man, that's a noble
goal. To save the earth. We're going
to save the air. We're going to save the water.
We're going to save the earth. Now, I can pollute my water. I can pollute my immediate air
if I ain't careful. I can do that. I built a big
fire in my backyard and it filled my house full of smoke and choked
me to death. I can do that. But a man is awful arrogant,
brothers and sisters, to think that he A little peon man whose
breath is in his nostril can uphold and preserve this earth. There's but one that can do that,
and that's the one who created it. He alone sustains it. This universe in its vastness,
in all of its force, all its need, is filled, it's propelled,
and it's supplied, and it's controlled by One. And that's God. Saying to Zion,
Thy God reigneth. Jesus of Nazareth, who made this
world and this universe, He upholds it by the Word of His power. And poor, puny man whose breath
in his nostrils sets himself up, calls himself and his works
by names that belong to God alone." Do you know anybody in this world
that calls himself Holy Father? Do you know anybody that calls
himself Holy Father? He wears a dress. He's not even married. Has no
children as far as we know. And yet he wants to be addressed
as father? He's a sinner like the rest of us? And should come
down and set in the dust with the rest of us? He's a sinner
by birth. He's a sinner by practice. He's
a sinner by choice. And he wants to be called holy? You know anybody like that? Taking
titles to themselves? Michael Jackson died this week,
and I tell you how sad that is. How sad that is. What a mess. What a life wasted. But you remember
about 30 years ago or so, 25 years ago, whatever it was, when
he did that great concert There, I think it was in Detroit, Motown
25, Yesterday, Today, and Forever. That was the title of it. Remember
that? Some of you won't remember that. Yesterday, Today, and Forever. You know anybody that that title
belongs to but Christ? Man gets awful arrogant, doesn't
he? Save the world? Help us to save this earth? There
is but one that upholds this earth, brothers and sisters,
and that's the Lord Himself. Say unto Zion, Thy God reigneth. I heard when I was a kid, people
going around making this statement, you know the Bible says in the
last days you can't tell summer from winter. Did you ever hear
that? It used to scare me to death.
Come in a time when things are going to change and you can't
tell summer from winter. You know what the Lord told us?
while the earth remaineth, there'll be seed time, there'll be harvest,
there'll be cold, there'll be heat, there'll be summer, there'll
be winter, there'll be day, and there'll be night, and it shall
never cease." Now that's a pretty big claim, ain't it? But who
made it? Thy God reigneth. Say unto Zion,
say unto Zion, Don't listen to these rumors. Don't be afraid
of My creation. Respect it. Reverence it. But it's your Father's world.
It's the earth that was created by your Lord and your Savior.
Enjoy it under Him. And remember, there's no boogie
traps in it. Ain't that what the preacher
said? No boogie traps in creation. There's nothing there that's
going to harm you and surprise you. Everything is controlled
by this reigning, ruling, sovereign God. Thy God reigneth. Look back over in Isaiah chapter
40. Look at this. Isaiah chapter
40. I grew up as a kid and sometimes
it scared me to death to be out in the thunderstorm and lightning
and rain and all the twisters that used to come by on the mountain
down there in Tennessee where we lived. And I didn't enjoy
creation very much until the Lord saved me and I began to
realize whose creation it is. Whose son is that rising? And
who makes it to rise? Not some beauty man whose breath
is in his nostril. Who sends rain down from heaven?
Who is it that sends the season? Who is it that makes the flowers
and clothes them? Who is it that feeds the birds?
Our God who reigneth. And when you and I look at creation
in that light, brothers and sisters, we don't have to be afraid of
it. We can enjoy it. Look here in verse 25. To whom then will you liken Me? Or shall I be equal, saith the
Holy One? Lift up your eyes on high, and
behold, who hath created these things? That bringeth out their
hosts by number, He calleth them all by names." I'm telling you,
we can't even number them. He's got them all named. We can't
see the most of them. They've got these telescopes
now and cameras that they can shoot out deep in space, but
they tell us there are so many galaxies that they haven't even
found. And how many stars are in each
galaxy? And our God's got them all named.
Ain't that wonderful? What kind of God is He that names
the stars and numbers them? He's a sovereign God. By the
greatness of His might, He is strong in power, not one felleth. Why does He tell us to observe
creation? Well, look in verse 27. Why saith thou, O Jacob? Why do you speak, O Israel? My
way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from
my God. Have you not known? Have you
not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of
the ends of the earth, He fainteth not? Neither is He weary. There is no searching of His
understanding. He giveth power to the faint
and to them that have no mind. He increaseth strength. Well, when you and I look at
creation, it teaches us of our insignificance. How insignificant we are. And yet to think that this everlasting
Creator, who has need of nothing, who upholds the planets and keeps
them in their courses, would be mindful of insignificant us. Ain't that wonderful? Can you
imagine that? He said, I don't look to these
stars. I don't look to the planets and
these galaxies to glory in them. My hands made all of that. But
to this man will I look. To that man that has a broken
heart and a contract spirit. And he trembles at my word. The Lord Jesus gave His disciples
a commandment to depart over the sea. They got out there right
in the midst of that sea and hit this awful storm. Waves coming
over the side of the ship. They couldn't roll fast enough
to make any progress. And they woken up the Lord Jesus
and said, Master, don't you care that we're going to perish? We're
going to perish out here in this storm. This force is too great. We're just humans. This is the
force of nature that's come against us. And the Lord Jesus rose up
and rebuked the wind and said to the waves, be still. And there
was a calm. What manner of man is this? What
manner of man is this that the winds and the waves obey Him?
You know what manner of man He is? He's a reigning God. Thy God reigneth. Thomas said
it right when he said, My Lord and my God. He's a reigning God. David tells us what kind of Lord
He is. Listen to this in Psalms 89.
The Lord, God of hosts, who is a strong Lord, like unto you,
are to your faithfulness round about you. You rule the regions
of the sea. And when the waves thereof arise,
thou stilleth them." Who is a strong Lord like unto you? What manner
of man is this? He is a strong Lord. He is a
reigning Lord. He turneth the sea into dry land,
and they went through the flood on foot. There did we rejoice
in Him. He ruleth by His power forever. His eyes behold the nations. Let not the rebellious exalt
themselves. How would a rebellious man exalt
himself by thinking he can save the world? Let's save the earth. Poor man. Poor man. You don't
need to try that. You can even save yourself. Better
try that first, hadn't you? Then when you've done that which
is least, try that which is greatest. Save the earth. Say in desire, Thy God reigneth. Aren't you glad God reigns in
creation? I tell you, when you see these
storms coming, catastrophe, natural disasters we call them, God rules
all those things. He rules all those things. I
mean, I see them coming. I hide myself. I hide myself,
but I know who rules in the storm. I know who has his way in the
whirlwind. Thy God reigneth. Secondly is this. He reigns in
providence. And that means he's the superintendent
of this universe. He rules and reigns and controls
all the affairs of this world. Now that's a mystery ain't it?
That's a mystery. You make a statement that God
is the superintendent of this world? He rules in all the affairs
of this world? And you look at this world and
what do we see? We see chaos. We see an absolute
mess. We see sin reigning. We see the
devil reigning. We see people being murdered.
We see rape and robbery and defrauding all over the place. And we have
to ask ourselves this question. How could it be that a just and
holy and merciful God is actually ruling in the affairs of this
world? But if He isn't, who is? That's
a thing we have to ask ourselves. And those who rise up in rebellion
and say, no, that's not right. Well, brothers and sisters, if
that's not right, who is ruling? God help us if He ever lets a
man rule. God have mercy on us if He ever turns us over to devils
and lets them rule, because they hate us. Oh, the greatest blessing
that this world could ever know is God reigns in providence. He reigns in the affairs of this
world. I want you to turn to Daniel.
Turn over to your right. Look over in Daniel chapter 4
and verse 16. Daniel chapter 4 and verse 16.
If you go to Ezekiel, it's the next book over. And look to the
fourth chapter. And look in verse 16. I tell
you, there's been kings and dictators and presidents and governors that's done a lot of harm to
society. Nebuchadnezzar here in this book
had sent his general into Israel, ravaged the place, killed so
many of them, carried the rest into captivity. And if you'd
have been there then, you'd have thought, surely, surely, everything's
out of control. But it wasn't. It wasn't. We
got a president in the White House this morning that probably
most of us don't think too highly of. And maybe you had a vice president
that some of us didn't think too highly of. But you know whether
they're Republican or whether they're Democrat or whether they're
Independent, you know who set them back? You say, well, we
voted them into office. Yes, we did. That's true. That's
true. But we're not the first cause
of their being there. And that's what I'm talking about.
I'm not talking about second causes. I'm not talking about
third causes or fourth causes. I'm talking about who's ruling
this. Who's actually reigning? We're running around doing this
and doing that and trying to accomplish something and bringing
our purposes to pass. But after all, who is it that's
reigning in the affairs of this world? Saying to Zion, Thy God
reigneth. Look what he says in verse 16.
Chapter 4, verse 16. This is what a dream that Nebuchadnezzar
had, and Daniel's interpreting his dream to it. And how he's
going to be driven out from among men and eat grass like an ox,
and his fingernails are going to grow out in the stall. And
here's what it said about him. Here's the message sent to God
from God to this man. Let the king, Nebuchadnezzar,
that great king that reigns over all the world at this time, let
his heart be changed from man's and let a beast's heart be given
to him. And let seven times pass over him. This matter is by the
decree of the watchers and the demand by the word of the holy
ones to the intent. This is why God did this to this
great king. And this is why he wanted us
to know it, to the intent, that the living may know that the
Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men. There it is. There it
is. You say, Bruce, can you explain
that? I can explain it very well. And here's the best way to explain
it. The Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men. We want all these
details, don't we? We want all these details that
we know nothing about, and we can't explain. What about this?
What about that? I have no idea. I just know this,
and you know this. The Most High, the Sovereign,
Triune God rules. He reigns. Where? In heaven? Yes. In the starry heavens? Yes. But in the kingdom of wicked,
cruel men. And look at this, "...and he
giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest
of men." Who are politicians? The basest of men. And to trust
in a politician? To put your confidence in a politician? Oh, he's a base man. And I think sometimes the Lord
sets these silly politicians over the affairs of this world
that you and I may know such base men cannot rule and control
things. And it makes us glad to remember
God is doing it. You set a wise man up. You set
a good man up. You expect him to rule well.
But when you set a base politician You say, boy, things are going
to fall. But they don't. They go right on. Then you begin
to realize somebody else must be in control beside that base
politician. General MacArthur said, politicians were the basest of
men on this earth, and the Democrats were the basest of politicians.
That's getting political. And I don't know if that's so
or not. I just know this. They're all base. Don't put your
confidence in them, brothers and sisters. That's the first thing. He ruleth
in the affairs in Providence. Look in Psalms 105. Psalms 105. Let me show you two
more things, three more things right quickly concerning Providence.
And we'll close. Psalms 105. This is very important,
brothers and sisters. We need to learn this and we
need to remember it. Say in design, thy God reigns.
He reigns in creation. And He'll uphold this. Man can't
do it, but God will in His own time. He's going to destroy this
earth and He's going to make a new one. But until that time,
it's going to stand. Don't forget that. And He rules
in providence even among our politicians and our kings. This
world can do nothing to the church for what God allows them to do.
Look here in Psalms 105, in verse 16. Now, you may feel just a little
bit repulsed by this when I say this, but God is the first cause
of everything, even sin. You feel a little bit repulsed
when you hear that? I do. I do. But He's the first
cause in this sense that He either permits it, and He has to permit
it or it can't happen. He permits it by letting the
devil have his way or letting man have his way. Or He's the first cause in everything
that happens in that He actively works to bring it to happen. But anyway, he's the first call.
You remember when the devil was wanting to tempt Job and kill
him and take his children and his health? He couldn't do a
thing until he went up and asked the Lord. Can I have permission? Can you see him there? Can I
have permission? Why didn't he just go ahead and
do it? Because he's not raining. But when God says, you go ahead
and you touch his body, but you spare his life, that tells us
right there, God was the cause of that, in that sense. How do you and I react when somebody
does something to us? You ever had anybody to betray
you? You ever had anybody to break
your heart and treat you bad? and say mean things and do bad
things to you, if you live long enough, you will. And I tell
you what our reaction should be to it. Not revenge. Not being angry. But say this,
this too is from the Lord. Will they give account of what
they do to you? Well, sure they will. Sure they will. But you and I are talking about
the first cause. When the Lord Jesus Christ was
crucified on the cross, who was the cause of that? Well, you
say, Bruce, those wicked men with their evil hands. Who else
could have been the cause? Well, the Scripture says this,
He was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. God delivered up His own Son
for us. Read the text here. Look at this.
Psalm 105. Verse 16. The writer here is rehearsing
the history of the children of Israel. When Joseph went down
to Egypt and the famine came. Who called for that famine? Verse
16. God called for a famine upon
the land. He break the whole staff of bread. Look at this.
He sent a man before them. Even Joseph. And look at this,
who was sold for his servant. Ain't that strange? Joseph's
brother betrayed him and sold him. That's how he got them there. And that was awful. They betrayed
their own brother and lied to their dad about it. That's wicked,
ain't it? That's evil. And boy, did he
ever rebuke them when he got a chance. Did they ever get chastened
for what they done? But brothers and sisters, who
sent Him down there? Who was ruling in all that mess?
God sent Him. And Joseph said, you meant it
for evil. I know you did. You wicked bunch of brethren.
But God meant it for good. Aren't you glad God reigns, brothers
and sisters? Verse 18, they hurt His feet
and fetters. He was laid in iron until the
time that his word came. The word of the Lord tried him.
The king sent and loosed him, even the rulers of the people,
and let them go free. He made him lord of his house
and ruler of his subjects, divine his princess at his pleasure,
and teach his senators wisdom. Israel also came down to Egypt.
And Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham, and he increased his
people greatly and made them stronger than their enemies."
And look at verse 25, what a mystery it is. He turned their heart
to hate his people. God did that? God did that? Have you ever had anybody to
hate you? What should your reaction be?
God is the first cause of it. God is permitting him to do it. You don't have to be angry at
him who does it then. You don't have to get revenge
against him who hates you. God has permitted it. Do you
remember when David had to flee out of Jerusalem because of Absalom
his son? And he went up, about all his
barefooted, weeping? He was a broken-hearted man.
And here comes this wretched Shimei out, walking along the
hill beside him, and said, Go out, you old bloody man. Well,
if it wasn't enough that poor David was suffering, here's Shimei
cursing the king. And David's heartbroken. One
of David's soldiers says, I'm going over to take off his sorry
head. And David said, Let him alone. Now, here's a mystery. Here's a mystery. Next time somebody
hates you, next time somebody curses you and does you wrong,
here's the mystery. David said, you let him alone.
God has put it in his heart to curse me. Now how can a holy God, how can a
just God, how can a merciful God do that? I can't answer all
that, brothers and sisters. He never tempts anybody to sin.
But He rules in providence in all the affairs of man. What
a mystery that is. But what a cooperative mystery
that is. And you and I need to learn that and remember that. And therefore we won't be so
angry and revengeful against second causes and third causes. One more, look over in Exodus.
Two more passages. Look in Exodus. Here's something
else about providence. Here's the third thing about
providence. Look in Exodus. God rules in the affairs of this
world. Look in Exodus chapter 4. This is a very mysterious thing.
But it's a very confident thing if we'll find out who's behind
it. Exodus chapter 4. There is something that goes
on in our society all the time. You and I experience it all the
time. One baby is born healthy and one is born deformed. One child grows up during his
teenage years and just is hateful and mean and troublesome to his
parents, rebellious. Another child is so submissive
and nice to be around. You have one person that grows
up and their mind is sharp as a tack, as we say. They can read
entire books and retain almost everything they read. Some people
even retain it all. Others can't even read a sentence
and retain it. They're as dumb as a box of rocks,
as Brother Donnie Bell said. Some kids, or death. Some kids can't talk. How are
you and I going to react if one of our kids comes down with some
physical or mental affliction? How are you going to react if
little Jack came down and went blind tomorrow? Can't talk. That little girl
comes here and you can't hardly understand her. It's come upon
her the last couple of years. They can't find out what it is.
She just jabbers. Starts to jab her. Don't she
do it? Can't understand a word she's
saying. It's just broke her dad and mom's heart. How do we look
at things like that? Look what Moses learned of the
Lord. Look in Exodus chapter 4. Moses
said unto the Lord. The Lord had called him to go
deliver his children of Israel. Oh my Lord, I'm not eloquent. Neither heretofore nor since
Thou hast spoken unto thy servant, but I am slow of speech and of
a slow tongue. And the Lord said unto him, Who
hath made man's mouth? Or who maketh the dumb, or the
deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I the Lord?" Forget about second causes a
minute, brothers and sisters. What if you go to the doctor
tomorrow? and you've got cancer, or you've got lupus, and you
know what's coming, how are you going to handle that? Are you
going to live in bitterness, resentfulness the rest of your
life? Or are you going to say this, Thy God reigneth. Even in this, even in this, But
this is going to afflict me. It was good for me that I was
afflicted. When I see the hand of my Father
in heaven in it, it's good for me. And that brings me to my
last point. Look over at Romans chapter 8
and verse 28. Romans chapter 8 and verse 28. One thing you'll notice about
this verse, it begins this way. And. And. Paul had been speaking here in
these former verses about the sufferings of the saints. See
what he says in verse 17 and 18? If children, then heirs,
heirs of God, and join heirs with Christ, if so be that we
suffer with him, that we may be glorified together. I reckon
the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared.
And here in verse 20, he's dealing with a vanity. The creature was
made subject to vanity. That's what this life is. All
is vanity and vexation of spirit. He says in verse 21 through 23,
corruption. The creature's self shall be
delivered from the bondage of corruption. And he goes on here
in verse 26 and says, we don't even know what to pray for. We
don't know what to pray for. The Holy Spirit. Man, we're in
trouble all over, aren't we? Suffering, corruption, vanity,
laboring, trying to pray. And we know that all this suffering,
all this vanity, all this corruption, all our ways that we take, everything
works together for good to those who love God, to those who are
the called according to His purpose. Ain't that a mystery? How could
that possibly be? Only this way. Thy God reigneth. Ain't that good news? I'm telling
you, Scott Richardson said, there is no bad news since I heard
the good news. And this is the good news. Thy
God reigneth in everything, everything, brothers and sisters. He reigneth
in everything. There's not a particle of dust,
there's not a crumb of bread, there's not a worm that wiggles,
there's not a disease or a deathbed or a king or a universe that
works all together to those who love God and are called according
to His purpose. If you've got time, go back and
eat about with us. Then I'm going to come back and
deal with this subject. The doctrines of grace in a positive
light. The doctrines of grace in a positive
light. Nothing negative about the gospel.
It's all positive. Let's pray.