If you would turn with me to
the book of Romans chapter 11, and when you get turned there,
I want to tell you a little story. Romans chapter 11, and we'll
read starting in verse 25. August the 9th, 1945, in Nagasaki,
Japan, a young 10-year-old girl got up in the morning like she
always did, got dressed to get ready to go to school, and she was sick. She got sick. convinced her mother to let her
go to the doctor instead of going to school that day. Somewhat
seemed like an insignificant thing at the time. Kids get sick
last minute. And she went to the doctor instead
of school. When she was returning home from
the doctor's office, the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, August
9, 1945. And she was the only one out
of all her classmates that lived. Now that is an amazing testimony
to be personal in, of the providence of God. That was my wife's mother. And the providence of God, it's
a mystery. Scripture says it's hidden from
blind, unregenerate, unbelieving people. That's taught plainly
in Scripture, but this mystery is revealed to God's elect by
the Lord Jesus Christ. Through His Word and by His Spirit,
His grace abounds unto us in all wisdom and prudence, Scripture
says. Ephesians 1 says, plainly having
made known unto us the mystery of His will according to His
good pleasure, which He hath purposed in Himself. That's the God of the Bible. His will, according to His good
pleasure, which He hath purposed in Himself. Providence is the government
of the universe by God for the accomplishment of His will. His
will, which He purposed in Himself, is the salvation of chosen sinners
for His glory. Now, two things concerning providence
that God reveals to His sheep. The will of God. The purpose
and pleasure of the triune God is the salvation. of His people,
those He gave to Christ before the foundation of the world. I wonder if my mother-in-law
had gone to school that day. Well, don't wonder enough what
if she hadn't. My wife would have never been
born. And I believe God, by His grace,
has saved her. I believe she was one of God's
sheep before the foundation of the world. God works all things
after the counsel of His own will. Things happen that we may
not see until 63 years later. When the Bible talks about the
will of God, it's talking about the salvation of chosen sinners. This is what the will of God
is. This is what our Lord Himself said. He said, this is the Father's
will. That's pretty plain, isn't it?
Pretty direct. "...which hath sent me." We know
that Christ was sent by His Father. "...that all which He hath given
me I should lose nothing." Hebrews 10 says, "...then said
I, Lo, I come." Christ is speaking in the volume of the book that's
written of Me. You'll hear me say many times,
probably every service, this is a hymn book. It's about hymns.
From Genesis to Revelation. It's a hymn book about the Lord
Jesus Christ. He says, I come in the volume
of the book it is written of me to do thy will, O God. And immediately the Apostle Paul
says, by which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. God's will is to save those that
he chose before the world began. And not a one of them will be
lost. And secondly, providence is God's sovereign and absolute
government of the universe to accomplish His will and to accomplish the salvation
of His sheep. You see, the mystery of providence
is the fact that God absolutely directs all the affairs of the
universe to save His people. Now that's an amazing fact. And
look at what Paul says here in Romans 11 about the mystery of
providence. If you see it, you'll be astounded
by it. No matter how many times I consider
it, read it, meditate on it, I'm astounded by it. I never
get tired of hearing it. He tells us by divine inspiration
that God sent blindness to the Jews, that He might send light
and salvation to the Gentiles, and thus save all His elect,
Jew and Gentile alike. Look at verse 25, For I would
not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery,
lest ye should be wise in your own conceits. that blindness
in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles
be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved
as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the deliverer
and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. God shut up the Jews
in unbelief that he might have mercy upon his elect Gentile
people. That's what verse 32, look, for
God hath concluded them all in unbelief that he might have mercy
upon all. Now that doesn't mean every person
on the earth, that means Jew and Gentile alike. God saves
the people out of every tongue, tribe, and kindred. And the Apostle Paul was completely
overwhelmed with his awe and praise of God Almighty when he
thought of his providence. Look at verse 33. He says, Oh,
the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of
God. And yet I worry and fret as if
something depended upon me. My next breath comes from God
Almighty. I say, I'm going to do this,
I'm going to do that. You better say, if the Lord wills.
He may not. He may not will. And then He says, how unsearchable
are His judgments and His ways past finding out. And what man
or woman on earth have known the mind of the Lord, or who
hath been His counselor, or who hath first given to Him,
and it shall be recompensed unto Him again. For of Him, and through
Him, and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. And
we too, dear friends, are overwhelmed with awe and praise if we understand
the wonder, the magnitude, the grace of God's amazing providence. The very thing that I grumble
about today may be the thing that God uses somewhere down
the road to save somebody. Let's talk about the management
of the world. Who's running this world? You could ask a hundred different
people and probably get a hundred different answers. Who's running
this world? Some think that everything comes
to pass according to some fixed law once called the laws of nature. I've heard that all my life,
the laws of nature. that those who teach such things
are incorrect. They refuse to believe anything
that cannot be explained upon natural grounds. The basis of
what they believe is through a microscope, a test tube, a
telescope. Show me. You're going to have
to show me. I'm going to have to have some proof. I'm going
to have to see some proof. And then secondly, others imagine
that everything comes to pass by chance or mere coincidence. Most people in this world are
great believers in luck. Luck. They think that nothing
is certain, fixed, absolute, but that one thing is just as
likely to happen as something else. He's lucky. He's lucky. Somebody once said, these people
court and seem to admire and ascribe everything to three women
whom they think are rivals to God. And let me clarify that. He said, there's lady luck, there's
misfortune, and there's mother nature. Thirdly, they're cold intellectuals
would have us to believe that everything in the world is ruled
by a cold, impersonal force called fate. Do you know what this Bible teaches? Look at it. Study yourself to
show yourself approved unto God or work with Him, needeth not
to be ashamed. Oh, the Bible teaches us that
the manager, the master, the ruler of the universe is God
Almighty, the Lord Jesus Christ. And I tell you, I'd be a hopeless
and an unhappy man if I believed anything other than the sovereignty
of God. If He's not control over every
square inch of this world, then I'm going to constantly be afraid
that I'm standing on the square foot He's not. And you will too. The only rest to be found in
this whole world is in the fact that God Almighty is not just
involved in the affairs of this world, but that He rules and
He reigns and He controls all things. All things. How many times in Scripture do
we hear those two words? All things. And my comfort is
that all things work together for my good, if I'm one of His. And I pray I am. Oh, all things are worked according
to the purpose of what? His own will. Lord, teach me to bow to Your
will. Teach me not to grumble at Your promise. cause me to
rejoice when things go contrary to what I think they should. I know this, David knew something
about that and he said, Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he
in heaven and in earth and in the seas and all deep places.
He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth, and
He makes lightnings for the rain, and He bringeth the wind out
of His treasuries. Who smote the firstborn of Egypt?
God did. Both of man and beast. Who sent
tokens and wonders into the midst of thee? God did. O Egypt, upon
Pharaoh and upon all his servants, who smoked great nations and
slew mighty kings." It wasn't Genghis Khan. It was God Almighty. And I tell you that somehow,
some way, in the midst of all of it, it was for the saving
of His people. who has measured the waters in
the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with a span, and comprehended
the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in
a scale, and the hills in a balance." God did. God did. Who hath directed the Spirit
of the Lord, or being his counselor, hath taught him. Most people
I hear preach today, Act as though they're teaching
God something. Who's directed the Spirit of
the Lord? Who, being His counselor, taught Him? Nobody. And with
whom took He counsel? And who instructed Him and taught
Him in the path of judgment and taught Him knowledge and showed
to Him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations. You take
the biggest king and the biggest nation in this whole world, And
he and his nation are but a drop of a bucket, accounted as a small
dust on the balance. You know what that's talking
about? You've seen the balance, like the balance of justice.
And, you know, you put something on this side, and he's talking
about the little dust that you can't hardly see that lays on
that, not even worthy of, you know, Setting it up right in
the beginning is just insignificant. It don't matter. That's what
we are. You take up the Isles is a very
little thing. Lebanon, all the trees of Lebanon
are not sufficient to burn. You can take all the beasts in
the world and sacrifice them and they're not sufficient for
a burnt offering to this God. And Isaiah says in chapter 40
verse 17, he said, all nations before Him are as nothing, and
they are counted to Him less than nothing and vanity. But believers insist that this
universe is totally and constantly ruled by God. Our God always
has His way and He always does His will. Everywhere. Every second
of every day. Our God has His way. There are
only two alternatives to this fact. If God's not running the
world, it's either because He doesn't want to or He's not able
to. To say that God does not want
to run the world is to say that He's abandoned the work of His
hands and abandoned His purpose in creating all things. So I
know that's not so. Scripture says, "...in whom we
have also obtained an inheritance being predestinated according
to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel
of His own will." Hebrews 1.3, "...who being the brightness
of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding
all things by the word of His power, When He had by Himself
purged our sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, the
right hand of the Majesty on high. And that seat at the right
hand, that's a symbol of power and might, authority, sovereign. He's ruling this earth. Don't
think for a minute He ain't. Nothing catches Him by surprise. God don't need any backup plans.
I do. I need to make a few backup plans,
but God don't. Colossians 1.17 says, and He
is before all things, and by Him all things consist. To say
that God's not ruling this world is to say that we might as well
just lay down and die. The theme of our constant song
is He is able. He is able. Oh, that's the song of the redeemed
throughout scriptures. He's able to deliver. Ask O Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. Can your God deliver? They said
to the king, it said, if it be so, our God whom we serve is
able to deliver us from this fiery furnace. And they said,
and if he'll deliver us out of thine hand, O king, if it comes
and say unto One day, Daniel, they threw him
in a lion's den. Hungry lions. Purposely didn't
feed him for long periods of time. through Daniel down in
the lion's den. The king was against it. Really,
he loved Daniel. And he comes running that next
day when the time was up to see. And he said, O Daniel, servant
of the living God, is thy God whom thou servest continually
able to deliver thee from the lions? I bet he expected not to hear
an answer. But Daniel said unto the king,
O king, Live forever. My God has sent his angel and
has shut the lion's mouths and they've not hurt me. For as much
as before him innocency was found in me, I'll get it out, and also
before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. God shut the lion's
mouth. Those that walk in pride, he's
able to abase. You ask Nebuchadnezzar. He said,
all those that walk in pride, oh, he's able to obey. He's able
to subdue all things, according to Philippians 3.21. He's able
to change our vile body. Now, that's a God. that it may
be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working
whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself. He's
able to save and to keep all His people by His grace. God's
able. He's able to save them to the
uttermost that come to God by Him, seeing He ever liveth. What? To make intercession for
them. There's somebody in heaven pleading
my case. He said, I died for that wretched,
no good sinner. And he's mine. He's mine. Oh, he's able to save. He's able
to destroy. Oh, James said, there's one lawgiver
who is able to save and to destroy. And who art thou that thou judgest
another? Those who deny God's absolute
sovereign management of the universe destroy the very basis of worship. I can't worship a God who has
no control. I'd be better off with Lady Luck,
Miss Fortune, and Mother Nature. If God does not want to govern
the world, or if He's not able to govern the world, then don't
ever pray again. Prayer is just useless, if that's
so. But we know that's not so. Why,
I pray to a God who's not interested or who's not able to intervene
in earthly affairs. Thank God He intervenes. The management of the universe,
my dear brothers and sisters, is God's work. God's providential rule of the
universe encompasses all, even the little minute things. Intricate details of matter,
time, and history. It covers all the little things. Someone once said, Providence
is God's attention concentrated everywhere. I like that. I like that. No sparrow falls
to the ground. without Him knowing. The flakes of snow were scattered
upon the earth and their foreordained path by our Heavenly Father's
great and gentle hand according to Job 38, verse 22. Even in
the casting of lots, and that was done quite frequently in
our Lord's time, cast lots. You know, I think that's how
Jonah got thrown off the boat, wasn't it? He was unlucky. The casting of lots and the roll
of the dice, God Almighty has His way, absolutely. That's what Proverbs 16 says,
verse 33, the lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing
thereof is of the Lord. And what about the power of providence? I'm about done. The Lord hath
His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds
are the dust of His feet. Are you getting the picture?
The God we worship, the God of the Bible, is in control of everything,
absolutely and always. And our God controls even inanimate
matter. The waters of the Red Sea parted
at His command. The opening of the earth to swallow
up Korah was by his decree. The fiery furnace in Babylon
had no ability to burn his servants, though it consumed all their
enemies. Why? Because God willed it. The
sunshine and the rain are bountifully scattered or withheld according
to the purpose of God. God controls all irrational creatures. The animals of the earth were
brought to Adam to name, and they were brought to Noah to
save by God's decree. I think about that. Can you imagine
being there at that ark, and here they come? Nobody had to
call them. Here come two elephants, male
and female. Here they come, every species.
Who called them? God did. I may change the title of this
message to God did. He used Balaam's ass to speak
in human language when the God Almighty said to him, He said,
speak to Balaam. And that donkey spoke. The flies swarmed over Egypt. Frogs invaded the land like an
army. when the Lord God ordained it
so. The lions in Babylon slept like
lambs when Daniel laid down there with them. A great fish one time was prepared
to swallow up God's servant and carry him directly to where God
had told him to go in the first place. That was his fate. The rooster crowed twice after
Peter denied the Lord three times because the Lord Jesus said that
it would. Isn't that amazing? Minute, intricate, all the affairs
of our life. God controls all things. David said in Psalm 103, the
Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens and his kingdom
ruleth over all. And God controls all things,
all men, both good and bad. Both good and bad. Pharaoh and Israel both did exactly
what God purposed. The Jews, Pilate, the Romans,
they all did exactly what God ordained in the crucifixion and
death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 2.23 tells you that. It
says, Him, Christ, being delivered by what? The determined counsel
and foreknowledge of God. And in the same breath, it says,
ye have taken him by wicked hands, have crucified and slain. You
see, God's sovereign, man is responsible. That's all through
Scripture. If you go to heaven, it's God's
fault. If you go to hell, it's your
fault. The king's heart's in the hand of the Lord, and as
the rivers of water, he turneth it whatsoever way he wants. I'll be honest with you, I'm
just getting to the point where I don't much care about all the
mess that everybody else is all upset about anymore. I'm beginning
to learn a little something. My God rules and reigns all of
it. Oh Shimei, he couldn't even curse
David without God saying to him that he could. The devil himself
operates only by divine permission. That's what he did to Job. Have
you considered my servant Job? He told Peter one day, he said,
Satan desires to sift you as wheat. And he didn't say I wasn't
going to let him. He said, I've prayed that your
faith fail you not. Oh, I have one praying for me
that my faith don't fail me. And you know what? He's the one
I want praying for me, interceding for me. He's my Lord. He's my
God. Alright, the marvel of God's
providence, and I'm finished. The purpose and plan by which
providence operates is God's eternal purpose of grace toward
His own sheep. Romans 8. Now listen, this is
a beautiful truth. There is nothing God will not
do to save His elect. He gave a little Japanese girl
a stomachache one day and saved her life. God did that. There's nothing
God will not sacrifice to save his elect except his own honor.
He that spared not, Romans 8.32, he that spared not his own son,
but what? Delivered him up for us all,
all his people. How shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? I love 1 John 4.10. Herein is
love. I throw that word around a lot
and I do mean it when I say I love to tell somebody I love them.
I do love them best I can. Our love's fickle and incomplete. It's high and low. It's affected
by usually me and how things affect me. I can love you if
you're good to me, and if you're not, I can not love you so much.
Still love you. But herein is love. Not that
we love God, but that He loved us. and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins. Now silly sentimental men talk
about an indiscriminate universal love in God making the love of
God meaningless. Really? If He loves people that
hates Him, that's I don't know. The Bible teaches
us that God's love for His elect is a special, discriminating
love. And do the ones that He loves
take pride and honor? No, they're humbled by it. Because
God shows them their need first. Shows them what they are. Shows
them that if they don't bow, they're going to die. If they
don't come to Him, there's no chance of life at all. God makes
us willing in the day of His power. How? by showing us our
need of Him. Desperately wicked this heart
that beats in me. Deceitful above all things, Scripture
says. Desperately wicked. And I'm going
to offer it to Him. That doesn't even make good sense,
does it? I'm going to offer Him this wicked thing? When I stand before Him one day
in judgment, I'm going to plead the blood of my Savior. Only
thing God accepts. Oh, there's nothing that can
hinder God's purpose of grace. There's nothing under God's dominion
that can harm one of the Lord's chosen. When my day is up, I'm
gone, and I'll be with the Lord. I hope that's not any time soon,
to be honest with you. I kind of like Texas. I caught myself earlier, I'll
leave you with this thought. I left my Bible in the car and
I went to get it. I got all the way almost to the
car and I thought, it's locked and I don't have my keys with
me. I'm going to have to go right back all the way back in there
and get them keys and come back out here again. And you know
what? It was unlocked. And you know what I said before
I could even catch myself? I said, well, at least one thing
went right today. Let me tell you, everything went
right today. Everything went right today.
Just how God intended it to. Eric, would you dismiss us?