May this evening, if you will,
to Psalm 139. I said Psalm 139, I mean Psalm 135. Psalm 135 and verse
6. My subject this evening is the sovereignty of our God. The text here declares, whatsoever
the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven and in earth, in the
seas, and in all deep places. Now, the subject of God's sovereignty
is so basic, so crucial, so fundamental in understanding the word of
God, in understanding all things spiritual. that there is really
no beginning of understanding. There is really no spiritual
knowledge until we have some grasp of the fact that God Almighty
is absolutely sovereign. You can only trust one who is
absolutely sovereign. You can only confide in one,
really absolutely confide in one who is totally sovereign.
You cannot cast your care, really cast your care, upon anyone who
is not absolutely sovereign. So in this passage of Scripture,
the psalmist David calls for us to trust, to worship, and
to give praise to God Almighty because of His sovereignty. We can and should trust our God
and trust Him implicitly, simply because He is totally sovereign. Nothing is more delightful to
our hearts as God's children than the fact of His sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances,
in the most severe troubles, in our times of greatest heavy
trial, believers take comfort and rejoice in the fact that
God Almighty is in absolute control. It is our God who sends all our
afflictions. overrules all our afflictions
and uses all our afflictions for our good and for His glory. Every believer rejoices in God's
sovereignty. And yet, in this day of religious
foolishness, darkness, corruption, and just utter nonsense, there's
no truth that we need to more earnestly contend for and more
constantly set before men than that of God's total sovereignty,
His total dominion, in and over all his creation. God's sovereignty
in all the works of his hands, in all the doings of time, in
all the events of time is demonstrated and clearly set before us in
the scriptures. We rejoice to hear him say, is
it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? That's
a declaration of sovereignty. We all like ourselves to have
possession and dominion over what belongs to us. We get upset
when the government comes along and says, you've got to do this
with your property, you've got to do that with your property.
We say, wait, this is mine. I'll do with my own what I will.
And yet men object when we declare that's God's assertion. He says
it's lawful for me to do with mine own what I will. And He
declares to us that we're His. We are and everything else is
His. That means it's right for God
to do with you and me and with everything under the sun exactly
as He will. Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever He hath pleased. We rejoice in God's
sovereignty, but there is nothing that is more despised by worldlings,
nothing that is more contemptible in the eyes of religionists in
this world, than the fact of God's sovereignty. Many women
today in the religious world in which we live are happy enough
to have God in his workshop creating all things and giving the sun
and the moon and the stars their names. They're happy enough to
have God everywhere except on his throne. They want him in
the hospital so they can turn to him in time of trouble. They
want him in the hospital to heal their bodies. They want him in
the funeral parlor to comfort them in time of sorrow. But God
upon the throne. The unregenerate man will not
have. The natural man simply looks
upon God sitting on his throne as the most contemptible thing
in his own mind. Men prefer anything to God's
sovereignty. And that man who dares to preach
it, who dares to declare that it is God's right to do what
he will with his own, will be hissed at, despised, and cursed
by this religious generation. I got a little inspiration as
I was working preparing the message today, I received a letter from
a fellow who was more than a little upset over some things he had
read I'd written concerning God's sovereignty. He wrote to me and
he said, are you suggesting then, that since we disagree on this
subject, that I can't be saved? And I wrote him back very briefly,
no, not because we disagree, but because you don't believe
God. You just don't believe God, and any man who denies God's
sovereignty flat does not know God. The scriptures are abundantly
clear. The God of this age no more resembles
the God of the Bible than a flickering candle resembles the brilliant
noonday sun. God Almighty is totally sovereign. A God who is not sovereign is
as much a contradiction as a God who is not holy, eternal, or
immutable. One who is not sovereign is no
God at all. I recognize the seriousness of
that, but it needs to be understood. If a man worships a God, or pretends
to worship a God, who is not sovereign, His religion is idolatry. He's nothing but a pagan. He
would be just as well off to worship a statue of Mary, a totem
pole, a spider, an ant, or a cockroach, for that matter. The God that
he worships has no resemblance to God. Martin Luther, in one
of his letters to Erasmus, Erasmus was a scholar in his day, but
an Arminian. Luther wrote to him, and he said,
your thoughts of God are too human. No doubt that offended
the scholarly Erasmus, but it needs to be said. It exposed
the heart of his false religion. And I lay this charge against
the preachers of our day and the religion of our day. The
thoughts of God in the minds of men this day, the thoughts
of God that I hear expressed by the mouths of preachers, the
thoughts of God that I hear men speak when they talk about God
are just too human. They made God to be far less
than he is. God's charge against Israel in
Psalm 50 was just this, he said, thou thoughtest that I was altogether
such an one as thyself. And that's the indictment I lay
against the religious world of our day. Men today think that
God is as we are, and he's nothing like we are. Men today think
that God is somehow just a super human being, a super man, a man
with far greater strength than other men, a man with far greater
wisdom than other men, a God with far greater compassion than
others, but certainly not one who is absolutely over all. And I'm telling you, God Almighty
is absolutely over all. They talk about God's omnipotence,
but they imagine that his omnipotence is such an idle fiction that
Satan thwarts the power of God. They think that if God has a
plan at all, then his plan must be like the plans that we make,
subject to constant change. They tell us that whatever power
God does possess, it cannot be such power as interferes with
the mighty will of man, lest it makes man to be just a machine
or a robot. Men would rather have God, a
robot in their pocket, than have man as a robot on God's hand.
Men would far rather give sovereignty to man, than give sovereignty
to God. And we're here to declare that
God Almighty is Himself sovereign, and we're subject to His will,
He is not subject to our will. Men talk about God's grace. as
though somehow it is nothing more than a helpless sentiment,
a compassion, a feeling of pity on God's part for man. To speak
of the invincible power of God the Holy Spirit as He calls sinners
to Christ as being nothing more than an influence, nothing more
than a than a beck and a call so that God stands before men
and pleads with men to please let him do something for them.
Whereas the scriptures declare that God's power and grace is
the invincible, irresistible power of his sovereign spirit.
The God of this generation is absolutely contemptible. The God of modern religion is
nothing but an idol, the invention of men, the figment of man's
imagination. The pagans in the dark ages 500
years ago, and in other parts of the world, just used to fiddle
about a god out of wood, and they'd overlay it with gold or
with silver, and they'd put beads and precious stones on it, and
they'd say, this is our god! The pagans today, in 20th century
America, sitting in church pews, have fiddled out a god from the
dark forest of their depraved minds, and they make that god
to be what they want him to be, and say, this is our god. Several years ago, I don't even
know whether he's still on TV or not, but some of y'all remember
Rex Humbart. He used to be up in Ohio. One day he was on TV and he was
preaching and he said, he said, God has no eyes but your eyes. And God has no hands but your
hands. And God has no mouth but your
mouth. And God has no feet but your feet. Suggesting to men
that God Almighty is totally helpless to do his work without
you. Now I'm making that up. That's
exactly what the man said. That's exactly what he said.
Such a notion of God is blasphemous and idolatrous. In reality, the
religionists of our day are atheists. They're atheists. They're not
just Armenians, that's a compliment. Not just Pelagians, that's a
compliment. They're out and out atheists. For there is absolutely
no possible alternative between a God who is absolutely sovereign
and no God at all. There's just no alternative.
If there is a God in heaven, He's sovereign over everything.
And if He's not sovereign, He's not God. That's as plain as I
can put it. A God whose will can be resisted,
whose purpose can be frustrated, whose power can be thwarted,
whose grace can be nullified, a God whose work can be overturned,
has no title to deity, and is rather the object of contempt
than of worship and of faith. And when I say that God is sovereign
then, I'm simply declaring that God is God. That's all we're
saying. God is God. That means he's sovereign. He
ruled! He's the Most High, Lord of Heaven
and Earth, over all, blessed forever. He's subject to none. He's influenced by none. He's
an absolute, independent, and sovereign over all His creatures.
He does as He pleases, only as He pleases, and always as He
pleases. None can thwart Him. None can
resist Him. None can change Him. None can
stop Him. None can hinder Him. None can
even pause Him as He progresses in His work. David declares,
our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. And our God declares, my counsel
shall stand. I will do all my pleasure. Daniel said, he doeth according
to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth. And nobody can stay his hand or say unto him, what
doest thou? Nobody's going to slap God on
the wrist and say, now what are you doing? What are you doing?
God Almighty is over us. He's not under us. He's not subject
to us. We're subject to Him. Divine
sovereignty means that God sits upon the throne of universal
dominion always over all things, having His will. He rules all
things, governs all things, moves all things, and disposes of all
things after the counsel of His own will. Now frequently, people
come along and say, well now, you folks teaching God's sovereignty,
you all talk about sovereignty all the time, but this is just
a minor point. This is something that you have
to really search in scriptures to find. Nothing could be further
from the truth. Divine sovereignty, literally,
literally, I challenge you, I challenge you as you go through the Scriptures
and read your daily readings, if you find a page in Scripture,
if you find one page in Scripture where you don't see God's sovereignty,
bring it to me, I'll show you. It is literally taught on every
page of Holy Scripture. Divine sovereignty is not something
hidden away and tucked away back here that we talk about in the
closet. This is something to be proclaimed from the housetop.
This is what God reveals about himself. Now obviously when I
talk about God's sovereignty, and I looked over my notes today
as I was preparing this message, and I've got a lot of messages
on sovereignty. The difficulty is trying to find out what to
say and what to not say. Or to just cut it off and say
we'll come back to this another time. Tonight I want to show
you five areas where God's sovereignty is distinctly and clearly revealed. I'm bringing this message and
the one next week the Lord willing in conjunction with what we looked
at last week on divine predestination. So let's begin there. God's sovereignty
is irrefutably revealed in His eternal purpose of grace in predestination,
in the predestination of all things that come to pass. People
ask me, does the Bible teach predestination? Of course it
does. It's so plain that you can't
read the book and not see it. Any preacher who attempts to
deny that the Bible teaches predestination is either a babbling idiot, totally
ignorant of the Word of God, or he's just an out-and-out liar.
There's no in-between ground. God chose some men and women
in eternity to be the objects of His saving grace, and He predestinated
those elect ones to be conformed to the image of His Son. That's
what we saw last week in Romans chapter 8. Look at it again for
a moment if you will. Romans 8 verse 28. This text of Scripture most frequently
quoted. I suppose Romans 8, 28, next
to John 3, 16, is quoted more often, at least in part, than
any other passage of scripture to be found in the Old and New
Testament, probably even more than the 23rd Psalm. Every time
a religious person faces some difficulty, they say something
like, we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, and quote a portion of this 28th verse of Romans
8. But this 28th verse of Romans 8 is utterly meaningless. It is
nothing but a piece of religious superstition unless you understand
it in the context of divine sovereignty. Most people use religion, as
I told you a few weeks ago, like a rabbit's foot. When they got
trouble, they pull out the rabbit's foot and they quote Romans 8.28,
rub that thing a little bit. But they don't understand who
God is. And they don't understand how it is that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to His purpose. Look in verse 28.9 now. We know
that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to His purpose, and this is His
purpose, for whom He did foreknow. He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of His Son, that He, His Son, might
be the firstborn, the preeminent, chief one among many brethren.
Before the world began then, God sovereignly determined that
He would save some. He determined who he would save
and he determined how he would save them. He determined to save
them by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy
Ghost as a result of the redeeming work of his dear son and by the
power of his resurrection when the Lord Jesus comes again in
the last day. And the Lord God determined exactly
when he would save them too. He spoke of the time when he
would save them as being the time of love. In the fullness
of time, he sends forth his Son to redeem us, and in the fullness
of time, he sends his Spirit to those whom he has adopted
from eternity, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Having determined these things, he infallibly secured his eternal
purpose. He said, I'm going to save Don
Fortner. I'm going to save Don Fortner
at this given time in history. I'm going to save Don Fortner
according to my sovereign purpose of grace through the blood of
Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit, and in resurrection glory.
And then he predestinated everything, everything, everything to bring
to pass his purpose of grace toward Don Fortner. Everything. So that all of history moves
toward the accomplishment of that purpose of grace toward
this sinful man, but not just this sinful man, toward the whole
host of God's elect. Yes, God predestined from eternity
everything that comes to pass. He predestined everything that
comes to pass in time to secure the salvation of his elect. This
is what Ephesians chapter 1 is all about. Particularly in verse
11, the apostle says, God works, we were predestinated according
to the purpose of God who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will. All things are of God. All things. Oh, I love it. All things are of God. Spurgeon
said years ago, eternal election marked the house into which God's
saving grace must come. Eternal predestination marked
the path upon which grace must come to that house. And sovereign
providence led grace down the path to that house at the appointed
time of love. You remember in John chapter
4? Turn back there if you will for a moment. John the fourth
chapter, our Lord Jesus we're told in
verse four, he must needs go through Samaria. Now come, Samaria
was around about way to get to where he was going. Why must
he needs go through Samaria? Because there was a woman at
Samaria who would come out just as he comes to Jacob's well.
And there that Samaritan woman would meet the Savior who had
come through Samaria on that occasion at that hour because
the time of love had come for her. And she came there to meet
a man who told her all things that she is and all things that
she's ever done, that man who makes himself known to her as
Savior and Lord, Christ the Lord. Why did he go through Samaria?
Because the chosen sinner whom he had come to save was now come
to the place where mercy must be given to her at the appointed
time of love. And that's exactly how he does
everything. Everything. Everything. Sovereignly manipulates
even the thoughts of men and the actions of men universally
so that at the appointed time of mercy the chosen redeemed
sinner experiences free grace in the pardon of sin. He must
needs go through Samaria. Now turn to Revelation chapter
4 for a moment and look at this second thing. No one can reasonably deny the
revelation of God's sovereignty in his marvelous work of creation. The book of God opens like this,
In the beginning, God. I'd like to spend a long time
preaching on that. In the beginning, God. The beginning
of everything is God. The beginning of everything is
God. God created the heaven and the
earth. The earth was without form and
void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit
of God moved upon the waters. Now God created the heavens and
the earth. How come? Look in Revelation
chapter four, verse 11. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive
glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things,
get it now, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Nothing moved God to create except
his own sovereign will. What could move him when there
was nothing but him? Truly the heavens declare the
glory of God. God created the heavens and the
earth. And he created this heavens and
earth in which we presently live. He created this universe in which
we now live. for the purpose of this creation
being a stage upon which he would work out the marvelous drama
of redemption according to his purpose of grace. You mean, pastor,
the reason God created the world was to save sinners? That's what
I said. That's what this book teaches.
When David thought of it, in the 8th Psalm, if you want to
turn, I'll read the Psalm to you. David said, O Lord, our
Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth, who has set
Thy glory above the heavens! Out of the mouth of babes and
sucklings hast Thou ordained strength, because of Thine enemies,
that Thou mightest kill the enemy and the avenger. When I consider
the heavens, Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon
and the stars, which Thou hast ordained, what is man? And yet what is man that thou
art mindful of him? Now notice, not mindful of the
sun, the moon, the stars. Not mindful of the earth or the
deep places of the earth, but mindful of man. What is man that
thou art mindful of him? Of all things in God's creation,
God made the earth because he's mindful of man. And the Son of
Man that thou visitest him. For thou hast made him a little
lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor.
Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands. Thou hast put all things under
his feet. Not only did God create the heavens
and the earth, To work out His purpose of grace for us in this
creation. But God created the angelic host. God created the angelic host. That's all of them now. Listen.
That's all of them. To be ministering spirits to
those who shall be the heirs of salvation. That's what Paul
says in Hebrews 1.14. They are ministering spirits
sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation,
so that the angels of God, all the angels of God, James Lynn
Norman and I were talking about this the other night. I don't
know much about angels. I don't pretend to know a whole
lot about them. When we go through this series of studies in Bible doctrine,
you're not going to hear me talking much about angels because I don't
know much about them, but I know this. Whatever they are, whatever their
nature, whatever their number, whatever their capabilities,
the angels of God are sent forth by God to minister to, to care
for and protect those who are the chosen objects of salvation
to bring them at last to glory. This is what that means. This
is exactly what that means. The angels of God attended the
birth of Rex Bartlett and they watched over him through all
the days of his rebellion and godliness, disobedience, and
protected him when he flirted with hell. And the angels of God brought
him safely to the appointed place of mercy. And the angels of God
continue to watch over and protect him. And when he leaves this
world, they'll carry him into paradise. That's what angels
are for. God created the sun, the moon,
and the stars for the benefit of man. Bob read it in Ecclesiastes
a little bit ago. The benefit comes to all men
alike on this earth, but it comes to the reprobate, the unbelieving,
the unregenerate, not for their sake, but because they live here
with us. So that the sun, the moon, the
stars, the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike. God
created the plants and animals, all of them, to provide food,
comfort, and pleasure for man. And then at last God created
man in his own image and after his own likeness that he might
show forth the glory of his grace in man. He shows the glory of
his power and wisdom as God in the heavens. Just look and seek
God's power. Look out over the earth and seek
God's power. The glory of his wisdom and power. None but God could do this. But
he created man in whom he would show forth the glory of his grace
and salvation. He created man in the image of
his own dear son so that Adam was created in the image of Him
who is the image of the invisible God. Adam was created to be a
substitute. Adam was created to be a representative
man. God always deals with men only
by means of representative man. God dealt with us in our father
Adam in the garden. And God deals with us in our
father, our representative man, Jesus Christ the second Adam,
the last Adam, by whom we've been raised from the dead. Adam
was created in a condition of conditional holiness, and he
was permitted to fall. Somebody said, well, do you believe
God predestinated that? Of course I do. He predestinated
everything. Did God cause Adam to fall? No,
he didn't. Adam did exactly what he willfully
wanted to do. Sin entering into his heart,
in pride he said, I will take over now. But he didn't take
God by surprise. He didn't throw a kink in God's
plan. God said to him when he created
him, in the day you eat thereof, you'll surely die. Adam fell
so that God might show forth the glory of his grace in saving
sinners from ruins and fall such as Adam had created by his sin,
by his corruption, by his disobedience. Thirdly, we see the sovereignty
of God. in all the works of his daily providence. Turn to Revelation chapter 5. Revelation chapter 5. And we'll look at it in a little
more detail in weeks to come, but providence, if you want to
make a note of it, this is what it is. is the unfolding of God's
purpose. In predestination, God purposed
everything that comes to pass. In providence, he brings to pass
what he predestinated in eternity. Here in Revelation chapter 5
and verse 1, John says, I saw in the right hand of him that
sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside sealed
with seven seals. The book is the book of God's
purpose, predestination, in all things written within and on
the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel
proclaiming with a loud voice. Who's worthy to open the book
and to loose the seals thereof? That is, who's able to look on
this book and open it up and show us what God purposed? And
no man in heaven nor in earth, neither under the earth, was
able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much,
because no man was found worthy to open the book, neither to
look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not.
Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed to open
the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld,
and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in
the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb, as it had been slain,
having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits
of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came to look at
it, and took the book. By what? He wrote the book. By right, for he's the mediator
between God and man. He came and took the book out
of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when
he had taken the book, the four beasts and the four elders fell
down before the Lamb, having every one of them hearts and
golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of the saints.
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book
and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain and hast
redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue
and people and nation, and hast made us unto our God kings and
priests, and we shall reign on the earth. Now I'll skip over
a few chapters to chapter 10. And I saw another mighty angel,
same thing you saw in chapter 5. Came down from heaven clothed
with a cloud and a rainbow, a covenant was upon his head. And his face
was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire. And
he had in his hand a little book open. And he set his right foot
upon the sea, the nations of the world, and his left foot
upon the earth, the nation of Israel, so that Jew and Gentile
alike are ruled by him. And with his right foot on the
sea and his left foot on the earth and the book open, he unfolds
the pages and fulfills God's purpose. that Lamb is Christ
the Lord. The book, the book of God's predestination
and purpose. So the Lord Jesus Christ today
on the throne of glory as the Lamb's slave rules everything
in time according to God's purpose. Every day, every stroke fulfilling
something written in the book. That's the purpose of God. God's
sovereign rule of providence extends to everything. And this is where people have
difficulty. They want to say God rules in
the clouds, and they want to say God rules in the whirlwind,
and God rules in the tornado, and God rules in the hurricane,
God rules in the storms. But to say that God rules somewhere,
you've got to acknowledge that God rules everywhere. There's just nothing in between.
Some folks say, well, we, we recognize God's sovereignty in
certain spheres. Oh no! Either he's sovereign
or he's not sovereign. Either he rules everything or
he rules nothing. The scriptures declare that everything
is ruled by his sovereign providence. So that inanimate matter, irrational
creatures, All things in this world perform their maker's bidding
at his pleasure. On one occasion, the Lord God
had brought the children of Israel out of Egypt to the raging waters
of the Red Sea. And they looked behind them and
those armies were closing in fast. And they were terrified. Moses said, Lord, what am I supposed
to do? And God said to Moses, stick your rod in the water and
watch the waters part. And Moses said to Israel, stand
still and see the salvation of the Lord. And he laid his rod
in those waters. And the water, you saw this water
running around here. That's nothing. We're talking
about the Red Sea. The water, Bob, stood up without
a dam, as though God had built a dam right across the sea. It's
right there. I'm not talking about, I'm not
talking about he just kind of pushed it aside in this little
waterway through. They walked through like they were walking
on asphalt. There wasn't even any mud on
their chariot wheels. And when they crossed over the sea, they
turned around and looked back on Pharaoh's army who were pursuing
them right through the sea and the walls fell on the army and
drowned them. Why? Because God said, I raised
Pharaoh up. to dump his carcass right there.
So everybody in the world know I'm God. Does God rule everywhere? All things? One day there was
some men, followers of Korah, and they said to Moses, you take
too much on yourself. You and Aaron, you the prophet,
Aaron the priest, don't you know we're all holy? Moses said, stand
aside, we'll see who's holy. We'll see who's been set apart
for this work by God. And God opened up the earth and
swallowed Korah, Dathan, and Abiram and all their thousands
into hell at once. One day in Joshua chapter 10,
God spoke and parked the sun right in the sky. Now that's a biological impossibility. The sun doesn't move. I know,
but it appears to. And God stopped it from appearing
to. He just parked over there. He put him in park right now.
Well, that's possible. Go a step further. He caused
it to go back by 10 degrees on a half sundial. Put that thing
in park and backed it up 10 degrees. Well, how can you believe that?
I believe God, do you? I believe God. There's no difficulty. The difficulty is for a man to
believe God. And no man will except God gives
him faith. But my soul to believe God, no
trouble for him but to stand in part, no trouble for him to
reverse it. God sent some of his creatures
to feed one of his prophets in 1 Kings chapter 17. You remember? Elijah was over there, sulking. And God sends a creature to feed
him. Now I can understand. I could
understand if he had sent a dove to carry some meat to Elijah.
I could understand if he had sent some animal to carry some
meat over there to Elijah. But God sent a raven to carry
meat to Elijah. Sent a raven to take that which
would never by nature cross the raven's mind, but takes meat
and gives it to his prophet every day according to his need. And
we sat around and fret and wonder what God's going to do for us. I was sitting in the house Friday,
Saturday night, I told some of y'all Sunday, told some men earlier
this evening, My desk started jumping around a little bit,
and frankly, I thought the house was going to blow down. I thought it was going to blow
down, so I walked downstairs where Shelby was and waited for
a minute and said, it's going to blow down. And it didn't blow
down, so I looked outside and said, the church would have blown
down. But didn't they get a sweat? My soul, God rules in the world. Well, God has his way, his path
in the storm. He controls everything. He who
sends a raven to feed his prophet, he'll take care of me and he'll
take care of you. The Lord God on one occasion
in his wisdom cast one of his prophets into a lion's den. But
there wasn't any trouble. He shut the mouths of the lions.
He cast some of his servants into a burning and fiery furnace.
But he walked with them in the fiery furnace and it changed
the nature of the fire so they didn't even smell like smoke
when they came out. That's God. He's sovereign over
everything. God's rule of providence extends
even to the thoughts and wills and actions and words even of
the most wicked men. Abimelech was a pagan king. He sat down and fetched Sarah
and was fixing to take her to bed. And God stopped him. God stopped him. Well, God won't
interfere with man's will. I believe he did that time. I
believe he did that time. Abimelech was a king who had
no regard for God. But God stopped him in his lust. We read in the scriptures of
the Canaanites. The Canaanites fought Israel. They're still
fighting. Fought Israel all throughout their history over their land.
But God commanded Israel to go up to Jerusalem to worship at
Jerusalem three times every year on appointed feast days. And
you know what he promised them? You can read it for yourself
in Exodus 34. He said, The nations shall not desire
thy land when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord. So he says, as you come to worship
me, you don't have to worry about anything. I'll take care of that.
I'll take care of that. The king's heart is in the hands
of the Lord. As rivers of water, he turneth
it whithersoever he will. It doesn't matter whether the
king's a democrat or republican, he turns the same way. His heart's
in the hands of the Lord. Shemai comes out to cuss David.
Second Samuel 16, you read, man, he called him everything under
the sun. I mean, he called him every name under the sun. And
Abijah said, let me go over and take his head off his shoulders.
And David said, leave him alone. He said to Abishah, And to all
his servants, behold, my son which hath come forth of my bowel
seeketh my life. How much more now may this Benjamite
do it? Let him alone, and let him cuss.
For the Lord hath bidden him. It may be the Lord will look
on mine affliction, and the Lord will requite me good for his
cussing this day. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee. and the remainder of wrath wilt
thou restrain." The object of God's providence, the object
of God in everything he does is threefold. First and foremost,
it is the glory of his name. That's God's object. He's making
himself an everlasting and a glorious name. Secondly, the object of
God in everything he does is the salvation of his elect. Everything. Everything. It is the spiritual
and eternal good of his chosen. I don't understand most of what
goes on around me. I can't begin to even think about
fathoming what God's doing. But this I know. He's making
himself an everlasting and a glorious name. He's saving his people. And he's doing us good. He's doing us good. Children of God, here's a resting
place for our troubled hearts. Neither Satan nor the demons
of hell, nor men, nor sickness, nor war, nor pestilence, nor
famine, nor disease, nor whirlwind, nor hurricane, nor tornado is
beyond the reach of God's sovereign throne. The very hairs of your
head are all numbered. Therefore, trust in the Lord. My times are in thy hands. Father, I won't compare. Fourthly, God's indisputable
sovereignty is conspicuously revealed in the salvation of
sinners by his grace. Turn to Romans chapter 9 for
just a moment. Romans chapter 9. Now you can, if you're of a mind
to do so, read all the various commentators and theologians
and imaginary theologians say about Romans chapter 9, they
say, well this is talking about Israel, talking about the nation
of Israel. This is what God says he's talking about. He said,
Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated. And he explains himself
this way, verse 11. For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand. The purpose of God
according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that
calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. Verse 16, So thee, it is not
of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. Now here are six stubborn facts
revealed in the scripture about God's saving grace. I'm not going
to preach on them, I'll just give them to you. They're just
facts. They're just facts. God chose
to save some, but not all. He loved Jacob, hated Esau. What
does it say? What does it say? I'll have mercy
on whom I will have mercy. I'll have compassion. With whom
I will have compassion. God gave his son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, to die for some, not for all. The Lord Jesus said
plainly, I lay down my life for the sheep. And he spoke plainly
to those who were not his sheep. The Lord God sends his gospel
to some, but not all. God would not allow Paul and
Barnabas to go to one place He sent him to another place. The
Lord Jesus withdrew himself from one place, went to another, and
hid the gospel from some and revealed it to others. God gives his spirit to some,
but not all. Some of you sitting here tonight
hear the gospel. The word of God takes hold of your heart,
ministers to your soul. Others hear the same message,
and nothing happens. Nothing. God gives his spirit
to some, not to all. God calls his son to hear his
voice. But not all. And God saves some who seek him.
But not all. You mean, Percher, it's possible
for folks to seek the Lord and not find him? Oh, yeah. Seek
for him with all your heart, you'll find him. There are a
lot of folks who've come to him lots of ways who didn't find
him. The woman with an issue of blood, he received her. But the rich young ruler walked
away to hell. Ten lepers came to the Savior,
and ten lepers experienced His healing power, but only one experienced
His grace. The other nine went on their
way without any knowledge of His grace. There were two who
came into the temple, a Pharisee and a publican. The publican
went down to his house justified. The Pharisee went down to his
house condemned. You see, the fact is salvation is of the Lord.
Altogether of the Lord. He planned it, He purchased it,
He performs it, He perfects it, and He'll have the praise of
it. It's His doing. Altogether His doing. One last
thing. Turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter
12. God's sovereignty is conspicuously
revealed in His Church. In the various spiritual gifts
He bestows upon His people. Verse 28, God had sent some in the church,
first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers. After that,
miracles, or men gifted to work miracles. Then gifts of healings,
helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles,
are all prophets, are all teachers, are all workers of miracles?
No. God gives one this gift and one another. Now the fact is
God sees to it that his church has everything she needs to carry
out the work he has for her to do throughout the ages of time. That which is true of his church
universally is true of his church locally, how we've experienced
it in this place. God sees to it that everything
needed to do what he's given us to do He supplies us with
everything. We need missionaries. We need
Bill, Walter, Cody on the foreign fields. We need them. But we need pastors too. And
God raises up both. We need preachers. His church
needs preachers. Being gifted to preach the word. Needs deacons too. Men not gifted
to teach or preach, but men gifted to care for things, willing to
do so. We need faithful witnesses, men and women who will confess
Christ, confess Him before men, and bear witness to Him. But
we need some folks perhaps who can't witness so well. shy and backward, but who pray? Oh, we need some of them. We need workers, we need folks
to work, and we need givers, folks to give, to give of their
means, see to it things are taken care of. We need some folks to
do great things, and we need some folks to do small things. Let us each covet earnestly the
best gift. Paul describes it in 1 Corinthians
13. It's called love one for another. And if we covet earnestly
this gift, we will serve God and his people faithfully with
what he puts in our hands and gives us the opportunity and
the ability to do. Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Believe Him confidently. Walk with Him in peace. Serve
Him cheerfully. Submit to Him faithfully. And honor Him supremely. Turn to Psalm 121. Psalm 121. One of you men read this recently
in one of our readings. Let's just read this together.
This will be a good conclusion and a good benediction. I will lift up mine eyes unto
the hills, from which cometh my help. My help cometh from
the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy
foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber
nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord
is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee
by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee
from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The
Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this
time forth and even forevermore. Amen. God bless you. You're dismissed.