It is not that I did choose thee,
Lord, for, Lord, that could not be. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nider. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Niemert. I've entitled this message, His
Reign and Our Will. His Reign and Our Will. In Luke chapter 19, beginning
in verse 11, and as they heard these things, he added and spake
a parable because he was nigh to Jerusalem. And because they
thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. And
he said, therefore, and this is prophetic. He's really talking
about himself and how it will be. And he said, therefore, a
certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself
a kingdom and to return. And our Lord is referring to
his resurrection. His ascension, His going back
to heaven, and His return. The Lord will come again. Verse 13, And he called his ten
servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them,
Occupy, game by trading, till I come. Now this is his message
to the professing church. While I'm gone, occupy. till I come. Verse 14, But his
citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying,
We will not have this man to reign over us. Now this was the will or the
desire of his citizens. We will not. We have no desire
for this man to reign over us. Now the word reign is the verb
form of the word king. It means literally to be king,
to rule. If you reign, That means your
will is being done. His reign is his sovereignty. And this is what men dislike,
his sovereignty. We will not have this man to
be sovereign, to rule as a king over us. Now, let's talk about
what the sovereignty of Christ means. The Lord is sovereign. That means he has a will. He
has a purpose. He has an intention. There is such a thing as the
will of God. But unlike us, he has the power
to make his will come to pass because he is omnipotent. Now,
I have a will, but I can't make my will come to pass. He can. Because He is omnipotent. He has the power to make His
will come to pass. And He always does make His will
come to pass. There is never a time when He
does not cause His will to come to pass. Everything that happens,
He is behind because He's sovereign. Psalm 115, verse 3 says, Our
God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He pleased. Daniel said, he doeth according
to his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth, and none can say his hand or say unto him, what
doest thou? Does someone say, well, I just
can't believe that. I can't believe that he's the first cause behind
everything. Well, that's part of his sovereign will. You are
serving His sovereign purpose. Proverbs 16, 1 says, the preparations
of the heart of man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
Even your disbelief, He is in control of, and He's going to
use that for His glory and to the praise of the glory of His
justice. The scripture says the Lord hath
made all things for Himself, yea, even the wicked for the
day of evil. Now, what is the natural man's
response to His sovereignty? or his sovereign will. Now, this
is what comes from the heart. We will not have this man to
reign over us. We have no king but Caesar. Now, what is your will regarding
his reign? Now, to reign means to be king. And their response was, we'll
not have this man to be king over us. But the fact of the
matter is, he is the king. He's the king whether you and
I like it or not. He's the king of kings and he's
the Lord of lords. God said concerning the Lord
Jesus Christ, yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of
Zion. I've heard preachers say, make
him the Lord of your life. You can't do that. God has made
this same Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. He was not put into office as
king by me or you. You know, over in John chapter
6, after some fellows saw the miracles he worked and how he
fed the thousands, they said, let's make him king. And they
sought to take him by force to make him a king. And he refused
their coronation. You see, he already was king. No man makes him king. He is king. He is he who was
born king of the Jews. And when he was crucified, do
you know what the accusation written against him was? Jesus
of Nazareth, the king of the Jews. How kingly he was in his
life. He exercised complete dominion
over all things. How kingly He was in His death. Why, death couldn't take Him
until He gave it permission. How kingly He was in His resurrection
as He raised Himself from the dead. how kingly He was in His
ascension, what power He demonstrated when, as the Scripture says,
lift up your heads, ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting
doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is the King
of glory? The Lord of hosts, mighty in
battle. He is the King of glory. And, beloved, as I speak right
now, He sits on a throne as the King of kings. and the Lord of
Lords ruling and reigning, and it is as a king that he shall
return." Now, where do you and I fall in here? What do you think
about his reign? What is your will regarding his
reign? Are you happy and glad? Do you rejoice that he reigns? Or are you like these people
who say, we will not have this man reign over us? Now, whatever our will is regarding
this, it doesn't alter the fact, as Psalm 93, 1 says, the Lord
reigneth. Ewan never says the Lord reigned. No, because he's still reigning.
His reign is never over. Moses said, the Lord shall reign
forever and forever. We read regarding the Lord Jesus
in Hebrews 13, 8, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and
forever, and his reign, his rule, his control, his sovereignty
is the same yesterday, today and forever. Now, there is in
the believer's heart some understanding and some love of his reign. Before Nebuchadnezzar was changed
into a beast, he was told why God was doing this, to the intent
that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom
of men. Now, everything that's going
on in this earth, I don't care if it's in the Middle East, I
don't care if it's in Africa, Asia, Australia, wherever it
is, what's taking place, whatever natural disasters there are,
whatever political upheaval there is, whatever good happens, He's
in control of it. He reigns in all things. He reigns, and this is what the
living may know, to the intent that the living may know the
Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever
he will. Now let me give you some scriptures
regarding His reign. In Psalm 97-1 we read, The Lord
reigneth. That's just a fact. You know
what it says next? Let the earth rejoice. You see, if the Lord doesn't
reign, Think of the alternative. That means either the devil's
reigning, men are reigning, or blind fate and chance and luck
is what brings everything to pass. There's nothing to rejoice
in in anything like that. Only fear and dread. But this
One who reigns, the Lord reigneth. Let the earth rejoice. Now listen
to me regarding His reign. You and I don't have any control
in this. We can't manipulate Him. We can't get Him to respond
to us. But that's okay, because this
One who reigns is good. He's essentially good. And whatever
He does is right. And with Him reigning, we have
reason to rejoice. He's just. He's omnipotent, all-powerful,
omnipresent. everywhere at once, all wise,
and what a reason we have to rejoice in His reign. Oh, thank Him for this. The Lord
reigneth. The Lord's the first cause behind
everything. Therefore, let the earth rejoice. Now, I'd like to read a passage
of Scripture from 1 Chronicles 29, verse 12. We read, Both riches
and honor come of thee, and thou reignest over all, and in thy
hand is power and might, and in thine hand it is to make great
and to give strength." Now, because the Lord reigns, and He does,
He reigns, because He reigns, it's in His power to make somebody
like me or you great. And I don't mean great in the
worldly sense. What men consider greatness is
nothing. That which is highly esteemed
among men, the Scripture says, is an abomination in the sight
of God. But because the Lord reigns,
He can make a man truly great, justified, no guilt, sanctified,
holy, perfectly conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's great. And He gives
strength. He gives strength to do that
which we could not do. He gives strength to believe.
He gives strength to repent. He gives strength to love. He
gives strength to persevere in the faith because He reigns.
He can make one great. He does make every believer,
everybody that Christ died for, He makes them great. And He gives
them strength to do what they could not do unless He gave them
that strength. And this is all because He reigns. Because He reigns, there's something
called grace, sovereign grace that He is pleased to bestow. Psalm 99.1 says, The Lord reigneth. Let the people tremble. Now,
we read where the Lord reigns and we're to rejoice. We read
because of the Lord reigns, He can make great and give strength.
But here it says, because the Lord reigns, let the people tremble. Tremble in fear. Now, what is this thing of being
afraid of God or the fear of God? It's a good thing. The fear
of God is the beginning of wisdom. We read of those who have no
fear of God, they're unbelievers. The Lord reigneth, let the people
tremble. Now, what is this all about?
You will only worship. A sovereign. One that you cannot
control. One that you cannot manipulate.
One that you cannot make Him respond to your wishes. You'll
only worship a sovereign. Not one who you can get Him to
do what you want Him to do. You won't worship that God. You
see, that God's a little God. That God's in your back pocket.
You know, people who believe in free will, they believe that
their will actually is sovereign over God's will. They worship
a little God, a pygmy God. not the God of the Bible, you
will only worship a God in whose hands you are, and He can do
with you whatever He's pleased to do. That's the only God you'll
worship. If you can manipulate Him, if
you can control Him, you won't worship that God. Really, you
control that God, that God you're a puppet. Oh, but a God that
you can't control. A God that's absolutely reigning
on the throne, whose will must be done. And whatever He does
is right. And your salvation, your eternal
destiny is up to Him. It's not in your hands. It's
in His hands. That God, You will worship. You will fear. Any other God
is a non-existent God, not the God of the Bible. Now, the Lord
reigneth. He's in control. Let the people
tremble. Now, listen to this next one.
This is found in Psalm 9610. It says, Say ye among the heathen,
the Lord reigneth. Now, the heathen are those who
do not believe. This is the message that the unbeliever needs to
hear. The Lord reigneth. The Lord exercises absolute sovereignty. This is what the unbeliever needs
to hear. Say ye to the heathen, that God
that you don't believe, you're in His hands. He is absolutely
sovereign. He controls everything and everyone. And this Sovereign God is the
only Savior. Say ye to the heathen that men
are dead in sins, totally dependent upon this Sovereign God to save
them. Say ye to the heathen that this
Sovereign God sovereignly elected a people to be saved before time
began. That's who will be saved. Say
ye to the heathen that the Sovereign Son has covenanted to save all
the Father gave Him, and when He said it is finished, their
salvation was completed. Say ye to the heathen that the
Sovereign Spirit blows where He wills and gives life to whom
He will, and that His grace is irresistible and invincible,
and that's why these people persevere. This is what the heathen need
to hear. This is what the unbeliever needs
to hear, that God Now, I think it's ridiculous the way people
try to bring this kind of truth in the back door. We've got to
bring it in slowly, kind of get people interested and then teach
them this gradually. No, no, no, that's foolishness. Say to the heathen, God reigneth. He is in control. That's precisely
what the heathen need to hear. And the reason we're in such
a mess that we are in this country is because of the false God who's
been preached all these years. And look where it's got us. Look
at the state of this place. Oh, no. Say to the heathen, the
Lord reigneth. This is what the heathen needs
to hear, but this is also what the church needs to hear. This
is what the believer needs to hear. This is what Zion needs
to hear. Listen to Isaiah 52, verse 7.
How beautiful. upon the mountains are the feet
of him that bringeth good tidings." This is good news that publishes
peace. There is no peace apart from
this message that brings good tidings of good, that publishes
salvation. There's no salvation apart from
this message, that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth. Now, actually, this verse was
the inspiration to this message. It doesn't simply say, say to
Zion, God reigns, but say to Zion, the church, every believer,
thy God reigneth. You see, this God who is sovereign
is the God of Jacob, is the God of every believer. He says, I'll
be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. This is the
God of whom it said, if God be for us, who can be against us? This is the God, thy God, that
reigns. Oh, I need His reign. I need
him to reign in me. And every believer rejoices in
his reign. Say unto Zion, Thy God reigneth. This is good news to the believer
that God reigns. You know, actually, this is going
to be the subject of heaven. I want to read a passage of scripture
to you from Revelation chapter 19. Beginning in verse 6, we
read, And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude,
and as the voice of many waters, as the voice of mighty thundering,
saying, Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad, and rejoice,
and give honor to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come,
and His wife hath made herself ready. This is the one who is
Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and this is the song of the choir
in heaven. The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Now I ask again, where do you
and I fall in here? What do you think of His reign? What do you think? of the fact
that He controls everything, that He controls you? What do
you think of the fact that you have no control and He has all
control? What are your thoughts regarding
His reign? Do we say As those citizens who
hated him, we will not have this man to reign over us. Well, you
may not desire it, but you have no choice. He does reign. And you can say we will not have
this man to reign over us, but your will will not be done. He
does reign. And you're in His hands, and
He can do with you whatever He's pleased to do. He can save you,
or He can pass you by and let you drop into hell. And whatever
He does is right. Now, what is your response to
this? Now, if you believe what I'm
saying, you know what you'll do? You'll sue for mercy. If you
believe you have absolutely no control, that you can't manipulate
Him, that you can't get Him to do anything, that you're in His
hands, and whatever He does with you is right, if you really believe
that, there's only one thing you'll do. You'll sue for mercy. Nothing else to do. Lord, have
mercy on me. I'm in Your hands. Have mercy
on me. Now, if you reject this, Later
on in this parable, in the 27th verse of Luke chapter 19, But
those mine enemies, that would not that I should reign over
them, bring them hither and slay them before me. But you know,
there are some who want Him to reign over them. Where do you
fit in here? Would you say, Lord, we will? This is our desire. This is our
wish. This is the desire of our heart
for Him to reign over us. Now, this thing of believing,
believing the gospel, has to do with the heart. Now, what
does it mean to believe with the heart, to believe in His
reign from the heart? Well, the heart means the understanding.
It means the affections. It means the will. Now, first
of all, I understand that I need for Him to reign over me. I need His reign. You see, I know that if He doesn't
reign in grace toward me, I won't be saved. I know that He's got
to give me life as an act of His will. Just say, live, and
I live, because if He doesn't, I won't live. He's got to overcome
my wicked will and make me willing in the day of His power. He's
got to give me, He's got to sovereignly say, believe and then I'll believe
and repent and I'll repent. He's got to reign in me. If He
doesn't reign, I can't be saved. Therefore, I understand that
I need His sovereign grace. Oh, how desperately I need His
sovereign grace. I have some understanding of
that. But not only Do I have an understanding of His sovereign
grace? in my heart. I love His reign. Remember, the heart has to do
with the affections. I love Him reigning. I love His reign over the world.
I love His reign over demons. I love His reign over the creation. I love His reign over angels.
I love His reign over men. I am so happy that He reigns
because I love Him. I love Him and I love the fact
that He reigns. And I love His reign in me because
I love the fact that His reign secures salvation. If He doesn't
reign, I won't be saved. But He can sovereignly say to
me, live, and I live. I love that. I love His reign. Not only do I have some understanding
of my need of His reign, Not only do I love His reign, remember,
with the heart man believeth, the heart also has something
to do with the will. Now, my will, my wish, my desire
is for Him to reign. And if somebody said, here, it's
all handed over to you, I'd give it back to Him. My will is that
he reigns. I don't want to have anything
but this if I'm given my will. My will is, not my will, but
thine be done. Just as our Lord prayed in the
garden, not my will, but thine be done. I pray, Lord, not my
will, but thine be done. I desire his reign. While this one crowd cries out,
we will not have this man to reign over us. Here is the cry
of every elect sinner, everyone who has been saved by his reigning
grace. Oh, we will, we wish, we love
his reign over us. That is our desire. You see, Psalm 110.3 says, thy
people shall be willing in the day of thy power." Now, here's
one of the most mysterious things, one of the most glorious, awesome
things about His power. He's got the power to make me
willing. Now, if you make somebody willing,
it doesn't seem like they're willing. It seems like you're
just making them do what you want them to do. But that's not
what the Lord does. He actually makes His people
willing in the day of His power. He said to that man in John chapter
5, Wilt thou be made whole? And when He says that to me,
I say, Yes, Lord. I want You to make me whole. Now, we have this message on
cassette tape, on CD, on DVD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. And our morning worship service
begins at 10.30 this morning, 6 this evening. We'd love to
have you come out and hear the gospel of God's free and sovereign
grace. This is Todd Diver praying that
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's our prayer.
Amen. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at todsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.