Would you turn back to James
chapter four. Verse 15. For that you ought to say. If the Lord will. We shall live. And do this. Or that. I've entitled this message, Loving
God's Sovereignty. I could have entitled it God's
Sovereignty, but I think this is a better title, Loving God's
Sovereignty. First, what is meant by God's
sovereignty? The word sovereign is not found
in the scripture, yet the doctrine of it is found on every page
of the scriptures. God's sovereignty is simply God
being God. God's sovereignty means His will
is always done. Whatever is taking place It's
God's will being done. He doeth according to his will. This is Daniel chapter 4 verses
34 and 35. He doeth according to his will
in the armies of heaven. In heaven you know what's being
done? His will all the time. and among the inhabitants of
the earth, here on earth. You know what's being done all
the time? His will. And none can stay his
hand. None can prevent his will from
being accomplished. And none can say unto him, what
doest thou? Give an account for what you
are doing. God has a specific will. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will. And He has the power to make
His will come to pass. Yes, He has a will and He has
the power to make sure it always comes to pass. He said, have
I purposed it and shall I not do it? And He has the right to
make his will come to pass. Can I not do what I will with
mine own? He giveth no account of his matters.
He doesn't answer to me or you. He's got a will. He's got the
power to make his will always come to pass. He's got the right
to make His will come to pass, and He always does make His will
come to pass. The psalmist said in Psalm 135
verse 6, Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He. In heaven, in earth, in the seas,
and in all deep places. Now that's what the sovereignty
of God means. God's will is always done. Now, listen to this scripture. Revelation 4, 11 says, Thou hast
created all things, and for thy pleasure, and that word pleasure
is the same word that translated will, for thy will. They are,
are, and were created. I mean the supremacy of God's
will. Everything that happens, He is
in control. Do you know He's in control of
the thoughts that are going through your mind right now? Every thought you have, he's
in control of. Now, you're doing what you want
to do, I realize that, but he's in sovereign control over all
the three actions, even the thoughts of men. That's how supreme his
will is. Somebody says, I don't believe
that. Well, he's in control of that too. He has absolute sovereign
control. Now, the only alternative to
this is atheism. A God less than absolutely sovereign
is a figment of man's imagination. People who preach a God or believe
a God who is less than absolutely sovereign, they're worshipping
an idol. He's not real. He's non-existent. The only alternative to an absolutely
sovereign God who controls everybody and everything and you can't
take it too far is atheism. And what a blind leap of faith
you have to take to be an atheist. You want to talk about blind
faith. It's a whole lot easier to believe that God is sovereign.
than it is to believe that there is no God and there's nothing
but chance and happenstance and things just take place. Now,
when James said in verse 15, for you ought to say, if the
Lord will, we shall live and do this or that, this is an acknowledgement
of God's sovereignty. If the Lord will, I'm going to
do this tomorrow. I'm planning on coming in here
tomorrow and studying. Well, I'll do it. if the Lord
wills. You're planning, perhaps, on
going out of town tomorrow. Well, you'll do it if the Lord
wills. It's all up to Him. Everything is under His sovereign
control, and we acknowledge that. Now saying, people saying, well,
God willing, I'll do this. Some people use this as kind
of a religious formula. If I say this, that makes it
okay. God willing, I'll do this. Now, sometimes Paul said, God
willing, I'll do this. Or if the Lord will, I'll do
this. There's other times he didn't say that, but he was always
aware of it. It was always in his thinking.
He knew that God was in absolute control. And look what he says
in verse 16. But now you rejoice in your boastings.
All such rejoicing is evil." Now, what he's referring to is
what was said in verses 13 and 14. Let's go back there. Go to now, and like I said, that
means come on now. We've all said that. Somebody
says something outlandish and we say, come on. You really believe
that? You really believe something
that outlandish? That's what James is saying. Go to now, you
that say, Today or tomorrow, we will go into such a city and
continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain. Now what that is, is a failure
to acknowledge God's sovereignty. This is what we're going to do. Maybe, maybe not. It's up to the Lord. You might
not even be alive tomorrow. You might find out you have some
kind of terminal illness tomorrow. Your life might be completely
turned upside down tomorrow. You don't know what's going to
happen, and there's nothing wrong with making plans. We've got
to make plans. You've got to plan out your day
for tomorrow. But there's an acknowledgment of God's sovereign
will. If the Lord will, we will do
this, or we will do that. Now look what he says about this
failure to acknowledge God's sovereignty. Look what he says
in verse 16, but now you rejoice in your boastings. When you say,
I'm going to do this, or I'm going to do that, it's bragging,
it's boasting. It is completely forgetting God. But now you rejoice in your boastings.
All such rejoicing is evil. Therefore, verse 17, to him that
knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him is sin. Now that's
one of the biblical definitions of sin. The sin of omission. To know what you're supposed
to do and not do it, that's sin. But he's speaking specifically
of knowing that you ought to acknowledge God's sovereign will
in all things. And to not do it, is sin. Now this statement of verse 13,
go to now ye that say, today or tomorrow we will go into such
and such a city and continue their year and buy and sell and
get gain. That's not an innocent statement. That's a willful statement. That's
not an innocent statement. As a matter of fact, the verb,
you that say, notice it says, go to now you that say, that
is actually a participle, a little grammar lesson. If you can remember
what a participle is, a participle acts both as a verb and an adjective. This is what you do. This describes
what you are. This man, this woman who says
this, this is the bent of their life. This is what they do. We
make these plans and we're going to carry them through. This is
what they are. They're people who do not have
God in all their thoughts. There's no acknowledgement of
God. The psalmist said in Psalm 10 for the wicked through the
pride of his countenance will not seek God. God is not in all
of his thoughts. Now, for a believer, God is in
all their thoughts. That doesn't mean you're always
thinking about God. I mean, we'd like to, wouldn't we? We'd like
to have Him in all of our thoughts, day and night. But sometimes
you lay down your head at night and think, I didn't even think
about the Lord all day today. And what a horrible thing it is when
you do that, and you realize that, and you're sorry. You've
been running around like a chicken with your head cut off. But God's
in all your thoughts. You know He's in control. You
know he's God and beside him is none else. You know that whatever
happens, he's in control of. In that sense, he is in all the
thoughts of the believer. Think of what's being said. Go
to, now you can say today or tomorrow. We will go into such
and such a city and we'll continue there a year. We're going to
live there a whole year. And this is what we're going
to do. We're going to buy and sell and get game. And all these
things are going to be accomplished. And we're excited about this. We're going to go and do this.
I love what James says in verse 14, whereas
you know not what shall be tomorrow. The wise man said in Proverbs
27 1, boast not thyself of tomorrow, for you know not what a day may
bring forth. Who knows what tomorrow may bring
forth? One of us may die. One of us
may become very ill. One of us may have things introduced
into our lives that we had no idea they were coming. Boast
not yourself of tomorrow. You don't know what a day will
bring forth. Now, as I said, there's nothing
wrong with making plans for tomorrow or for the future. We should.
But failing to acknowledge God's will is arrogant presumption. Now, look what James goes on
to say in verse 14. What is your life? It's a good question. What is
your life? Yours is filled with self-importance.
I love to think about this. If the Lord doesn't tarry, and
I die a hundred years after I'm dead, nobody will remember I
even existed. Nobody will know my name. Somebody
says, aren't you going to leave a legacy? No. No, I'm not. Nobody will even remember that
I even existed. What is your life? It's a vapor. A vapor. You know every morning I turn
on a hot shower and I see the vapor come up and I feel the
vapor and I look at it and And when my shower's over, if I go
back in there a half an hour later, there's no evidence that
it was even there. It's gone. What is your life? It's even a vapor that appears
for a little while, and after that, it is gone. David said, you've made my days
as a handbreadth. That's the distance between my
thumb and my little finger. You've made my days as a hand
breath. My ages is nothing before you
thee. And he went on to say in verse
5 of Psalm 39 after making that statement, Verily, every man,
everybody in this room and everybody outside of this room, every man
at his best state is altogether vanity. Do you believe that? We're all going to die soon,
and after that, eternity. Moses said, teach us to number
our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. Now here's what you ought to
say, James says in verse 15. For that you ought to say, if
the Lord will. I mean, this ought to be in my
thinking. If the Lord will, I'll pick up this glass of water.
Now, I might not always cognitively think that, but I should. I won't
make a move without the Lord's will. If the Lord will, we will
do this or that. This is an acknowledgement of
the absolute sovereignty of God. Now, if you believe in the sovereignty
of God, let me tell you something you don't believe. You don't
believe in the free will of man. The free will of man For one
thing, there's no such thing. Your will is controlled by your
nature. If people really had a free will, they could freely
do anything. I'm going to decide not to get
sick. I'm not going to give in. I'm
not going to let myself get sick. If I'm overweight, I'm going
to lose my weight. I'm not going to have any problems
with it because I'm a will to do it. Or if I want to get bigger,
I can do it. The whole thing of free will
is ludicrous. Your will is controlled by your nature. There's no such
thing as a free will. If you have an evil nature, your
will is controlled by that evil nature. If you have a holy nature,
your will is controlled by that holy nature. God has this holy
nature. There's no such thing as free
will. And to maintain that man has a free will is to deny that
God has a sovereign will. You can't believe both. If you
believe in free will, you're a rebel against God's sovereign
will. Verse 16, but now you rejoice
in your boastings, your empty talk, an empty and impious presumption
which trusts in the stability of earthly things. Now you rejoice
in your boastings. All such rejoicing is what? It's evil. That's strong language. All such rejoicing. There's only
one thing a believer can rejoice in. Paul said, God forbid that
I should glory or rejoice, same word, save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that's who I have confidence
in. That's what I have confidence
in, the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I don't know what's
going to happen tomorrow. I can make my plans, and I know
God's will will be done, but I do know this. I can totally
rejoice in what Christ accomplished on Calvary's tree without any
hesitation. Verse 17, therefore, what is
said here comes from what was previously said. Therefore, you
ought to say, therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and
doeth it not, to him it is sin. Now if the Lord will, oh I would
to God that that was in my thinking all the time. if the Lord will. Nothing is ever done but the
will of God. And in this sense, everything
that is, everything that was, and everything that shall be
is the will of God being done. God is absolutely sovereign in
directing the affairs of the universe. And His will includes
everything. It includes the evil actions
of men. It includes the good actions of men. It includes the
indifferent actions of men. It includes the sparrow falling
down on the ground on the other side of the world that me and
you will never know anything about. It includes the hairs
of your head being numbered. It includes all things. God is
sovereign. This is awful that I do this.
Well, maybe it's not awful. I don't know if it is or not.
You tell me. It's awful that when my ball team is praying,
I ask the Lord to let them win. I do. And somebody says, do you
think God cares about a ball game? I don't know, but I know
he's in control of who wins and who doesn't. I do know that.
It's not a thing of indifference because he controls everything.
Now, I'm not promoting praying for a ball team. I mean, I'm
ashamed of myself, really, when I do something like that. I think
you're so shallow and stupid. But that being said, who wins a ball game and everything
else is all up to the Lord's will. His will is absolutely
sovereign and supreme. Now, I'm sitting here wondering
what Glenn's going to say to me after this passage. You shouldn't
have said that. Maybe I shouldn't, but the point is, the point is,
God is sovereign over everything. He's sovereign over who's saved.
He's sovereign in passing by people. Whatever He does, He's
sovereign in. And I love that. It's not just
a doctrine. It's not just logical. Because
I love Him. Whatever He does is right, just,
holy and true. His will is a holy will. His
will is a righteous will. His will is a good will. It's
His will. I love what the Lord did. The
Lord said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
You have hid these things. from the wise and prudent, and
revealed them unto babes, even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight." Now listen to me. If it seems good in God's
sight, it's good in my sight. Whatever he does, we're plumb
happy with. In everything give thanks, for
this is the will of God and Christ Jesus concerning you. Now, I'm
not talking about believing in the doctrine of God's sovereignty
because it's logical. It's the only thing that makes
sense. It's what the Bible teaches and anything else, the only option
is atheism. So, I'm not asking you if you
believe it because I believe you do. I'm asking you, do you
love this? Do you love the God who is sovereign? Not simply do you love the doctrine
of the sovereignty of God, but do you love the God who is sovereign
so that you're actually happy and rejoice that He controls
everything. You see, whatever is done is
God doing it. The problems you're having right
now, it's God doing it. The good things that are happening
in your life, it's God doing it. The mundane things that you
don't even think about, It's God doing it. He said in Isaiah
45 7, I form the light, I create the darkness, I make peace, I
create evil, I the Lord do all these things. And I'm not going
to apologize for that. I'm glad he does. I'm glad he's
in absolute control. Now, the will of the Lord, he
acts voluntarily. He's never compelled to do something.
He only does stuff that he wants to do. He acts voluntarily. His will is eternal. That means
whatever it is now, it always has been. And whatever it is
now, it always will be. The will of God is as old as
God himself. It's eternal. God's will is immutable. It's sovereign. It never changes. It's unconditional. That means
there's no conditions that need to be met before God's will can
take place. If He wills it, it's done! His
will is effectual. His will is holy. His will is
wise. It's that good and acceptable
and perfect will of God. Now God says, and we sang this
in one of the songs we sang, either that or we read it in
one of the notes of the scripture, in Psalm 89, God says, there's
none like me. There's none like him. There's
no one to even compare him to. And if you say God's like this,
you're bringing God down. If you say God's like this person
or God's like that person, all that is is idolatry. That's bringing
God down to human level. There's no one like God. There's
none like me, he said. Now there was a time when there was nothing but God. No stars, no universe, no me
or you, no angels. There was nothing but God in
the Trinity of His sacred persons, God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. And you know, God didn't need
to create. He wasn't lonely. He was perfectly
happy and content in Himself. Christ said, I was daily before
Him, rejoicing always before Him. But God willed to create
the universe. And we know from the scripture
that this God who created the universe has always had a purpose. We read in Ephesians 3, 9 of
the eternal purpose that he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. That's why we know that all things
work together for good. To them who love God, to them
who are called according to his purpose. That's why we know that
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. And this God who purposes everything,
I like thinking about this, He knows everything. He's never
been informed of anything. He's omniscient and He foreknows
His people. He's absolutely supreme and His
sovereignty is simply the outworking of His supremacy. The fact that
there's none like Him, He's in absolute control, He's God. God's sovereignty is God's will
being done. God's sovereignty is God being
God. Now, does that make you happy? Do you love God being God? You know, some people gnash their
teeth at it. As a matter of fact, everybody that's not a lover
of God gnashes their teeth at it. They would rather the control
be in their hands. But all of God's people Love
the absolute sovereignty of God. I love what Eli said when Samuel
said, God's going to kill your two sons. He said, it's the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. Now, I say again, I'm not asking
you if you believe in the sovereignty of God, or if you acknowledge
the sovereignty of God, or if you believe the Bible teaches
the sovereignty of God. Do you love the God who is sovereign? Now, we believe in what is called
sovereign grace. Let me give you a scripture that
I believe tells what that means more than any other scripture.
Turn with me to Romans chapter 5. Now, like I said, the word sovereign
is not found in Scripture, but it's taught on every page. The
word trinity is not found in the Scripture, but it's taught
in the opening verses. Let us make man in our own image. I look here in Romans chapter
5, verse 20. Now, remember in the word sovereign,
you have the word reign. Sovreign. Moreover, the law entered,
Romans 520, that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound, that as sin hath reigned unto death. Now let's stop right there for
a moment. How much willpower do you have
to prevent death? I will not die. I will not succumb
to death. How empty are those words? How vain are those words? You
don't have any choice. You will die. And if the Lord doesn't come
back first, you will die and there's absolutely nothing you
can do to prevent it. You know you're powerless before
death. When death comes calling, when
your name is called, you're going to die. That time has already
been appointed, it's already been ordained, and it's going
to happen no matter what you do. That's been everybody's experience. In the same manner that a sin
hath reigned unto death, In the same manner, even so, might grace
reign. How much power do you have to
stop the grace of God? Absolutely none. If God determines
to give you His grace, there's nothing you can do to stop it.
Somebody says, I'm going to resist it. You can't. His grace is irresistible,
it's invincible, and He's going to have everybody that He intends
to give it to. That's sovereign grace. And this
happens, what's He say? Grace reigns through righteousness. It's a righteous grace. It's
a grace that makes me righteous. It's a grace that causes me to
have the very righteousness of Jesus Christ so that I actually
merit God's favor. That's the kind of grace this
is. It's a grace that comes through righteousness. The righteousness
of Christ. God being just and making a way
to justify the ungodly. It's a righteous grace. And it
is a grace that gives eternal life. The life of God in the soul through
our Lord Jesus Christ. That is sovereign grace. In eternity past, all that was done was His will. That makes sense, doesn't it?
There wasn't anything else that could happen. All there was was
Him. And even then, he was the lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. I wish I could enter
into this statement the way I'd like to enter into it. But beloved,
the cross wasn't for the fall. The fall was for the cross. Now you think about that. The
cross wasn't God's response. to the fall. The fall was for
the excellency and glory of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ,
God's manifestation of Himself. Election is simply God's will
being done. It's not of Him that willeth,
nor of Him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. He said to Moses, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. And whom he will, he hardens. He said to 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. Election is his will being done. Redemption. by the witch will. We are sanctified once for all
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. His redeeming
work on the cross was His will being done. Remember when the
Lord prayed, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless
not my will, but thine be done. The redeeming work of Christ
on the cross in behalf of the elect when he accomplished their
salvation was nothing less than the will of God being done. He
said, I came down from heaven not to do my own will. Oh, people
thought when he said, I came down from heaven. Picture that
in your mind. What if I said to you, I came down from heaven? You'd
say, you're crazy. Well, I'm sure they were saying that to
him as well. But he said, I came down from heaven not to do my
own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the
Father's will which has sent me, that of all which he hath
given me, I should lose nothing. but raise it up again at the
last day and this is the will of him that sent me that everyone
that seeth the Son you see that he's all in salvation and believeth
on him will have everlasting life and I'll raise him up at
the last day when we talk about regeneration why James put it
this way in James 1 18 of his own will begat he us through
the word of truth now that's how supreme his will is of his
own will begat his." I love that scripture in John 5 21, as the
father raises the dead and quickens them, even so the son quickens,
gives life to whom he will. He's absolutely all over everything. He's sovereign over men. He's
sovereign over believers. He's sovereign over unbelievers.
He's sovereign over demons. He's sovereign over angels. He's
sovereign over events. He's sovereign over the free
actions of men. He's sovereign over the wicked
actions of men. He is in control of everything. And if you give me something
that He's not in control of, I'm scared to death. But thank
God He reigns. reigneth, let the earth rejoice. The Lord reigneth, let the heathen
tremble. We love his sovereignty. I think of what Joseph said to
his brothers after they wronged him so horribly. He said, you meant it for evil. But God meant it for good. Now this is our sovereign God. And truly, whether we say it
audibly or not, sometimes it's probably best not to audibly
say it because you can sound so pious around people. Sometimes
it's a good time to say it, but at all times we ought to be thinking
it. If the Lord will, we'll do this or that. Place this in our hearts. Let's
pray together. Lord, how thankful we are. For your will. And Lord, cause
our will. To be nothing but thine will.
And Lord, we are taught to pray, Thy will be done. Lord, there
are things we want. There are loved ones that we
want to see you save. There are dear, dear loved ones
that are sick that we want to see you heal. Lord. Thy will be done. Lord, make it that the joy of
our hearts. Thy will. be done. Lord, teach
us to trust your will that it's always best. Lord, deliver us
from looking at things from a worldly, fleshly manner, and
cause us to know that this is your world, and you're in control,
and you're our Father. and we're your children through
thy blessed son, our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus. And Lord, we
say from our heart, oh Lord, let thy will be done. We ask
that you would deliver us from our will, take our will and make
it thy will by your sovereign grace. Lord, you've said in your
word, it's of you that makes us to will and to do thy good
pleasure. Oh Lord, Make us willing for
nothing but Your will by Your grace. In Christ's name we pray.
Amen. We got Matt?