The Lord Rules Over All

Q: What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty?

The Bible teaches that God's sovereignty means He rules over all creation and does as He pleases. Scripture affirms the absolute sovereignty of God, as stated in Psalm 103:19, which declares, 'The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all.' This is not a passive ruling; God actively governs every situation according to His will and purpose. In Psalm 135:6, we read, 'Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He in heaven and in earth.' God exercises His authority with absolute power, and nothing can thwart His plans. His sovereignty provides comfort and assurance to believers, as they understand that all events, even trials, are under His divine control and purpose.

Q: How do we know that God has the authority to rule?

God's authority to rule is grounded in His role as Creator of all things. God's claim to authority is rooted in His creation of the world. In Psalm 24:1-2, we are reminded, 'The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.' Since He created everything, He inherently possesses the right to govern it. Additionally, Revelation 4:11 affirms that God is worthy of glory because He created all things for His pleasure. This foundational truth establishes God's unquestionable authority to rule over creation, reinforcing the idea that He can act in any manner He deems fit, as He is the ultimate sovereign.

Q: Why is God's power important for Christians?

God's power is essential because it assures believers that He can accomplish His will in their lives. The omnipotence of God is a cornerstone of Christian faith. It assures us that He is able to fulfill His promises and purposes in our lives. As stated in Jeremiah 32:27, God asks, 'Is anything too hard for me?' This rhetorical question serves to remind us of God's limitless ability to act. His power ensures that He can achieve what He has decreed, even in the midst of human opposition or evil. For Christians, this assurance provides hope and encouragement, as we recognize that our circumstances are under His control and that He can bring good out of even the most challenging situations. Thus, knowing God’s power encourages us to trust Him fully in our daily lives.

Q: What does it mean that God has a purpose in His rule?

God's purpose in ruling over all assures us that His plans will ultimately prevail. God's sovereignty is characterized not only by His authority and power but also by His divine purpose. Isaiah 46:10 says, 'I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done.' This indicates that God has a specific plan for creation and for each individual within it. His purpose is deliberate and aligns with His will, ensuring that all things work together for His glory and the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). Understanding that God has a purpose for His rule allows believers to find peace amid life’s uncertainties, trusting that He is guiding events toward His ultimate design.

Let me read my text for you.
It's taken from the book of Psalms, Psalm 103, verse 19. Here it
is. The Lord God hath prepared his
throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. Exclamation point. The Lord God
hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules
over all. Now, I've prepared this message
for several reasons. The first reason is this. The
true nature and character and name of the eternal Almighty
God is not preached today. It's just not preached. We're
hearing today about an impotent God, a powerless God, a God who
wills to and is not able, a God who wants to and can't, a God
who's dependent on the mind and will of the creature. We're not
hearing about the God of power and sovereignty. We're hearing
about a weak God, an impotent God, a defeated God, And then
secondly, I've prepared this message secondly because I realize
there's no way, no way for men and women to know the true God
if his name and character and nature is not preached. We may
go through the motions, we may have our little church services
and play the game, but there's no way to worship God if men
do not know God. There's no way to glorify God
unless we hear and see His true majesty and His true glory. Now, that's so. Now, you can
play the game and you can play church, but you're not going
to know God, worship God, or glorify God unless you know the
living God, unless you hear His name proclaimed. And then thirdly,
and this is awesome and fearful, The living God will not own or
bless. He's not going to own or bless
any prophet who does not preach his true nature and character
and name. He's not going to own or bless
any people or any preaching which does not truly glorify his name
and acknowledge him as he is. Let God be God. That's what the scripture says.
Read the text again. The Lord hath prepared his throne
in the heavens, and his kingdom rules, rules over all. And nothing is clearer or plainer
in the Scriptures than that fact, the Lord rules over all. That's
the title of this message, the Lord rules over all. His throne's
in the heavens, his reign and rule reaches everywhere. Listen
to the Scriptures. Psalm 135, verse 6. Our God is
in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He pleased. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did He, in heaven, in earth, in the seas, and in all deep
places. That's our God. David, where's
your God? He's in the heavens. What's He like? He hath done
whatsoever He pleased. Psalm 93.1. The Lord reigneth. The Lord is clothed with majesty. I Chronicles 29, listen, Thine,
O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and
the victory, and the majesty. For all that is in heaven and
all that is in earth is Thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord,
and Thou art exalted above all. The Lord ruleth over all. Now,
when we say the Lord rules, When we say the Lord rules and reigns
over all, there are three things that are necessary in order to
reign and to rule. This is true wherever, but especially
true in reference to God. If one reigns, if one rules over
all, then there are three things that are necessary. First, he
must have authority or the right to rule. Secondly, he must have
power. or the strength to rule. If he
doesn't have the strength and the power to do what he will,
then he can't rule. And thirdly, he must have a purpose. He must have the will to reign.
He's got to have a will. Now look at these three things
in the light of our text. Our text says, the Lord God ruleth
over all. Does he have that right, that
authority? Does he? He asked that question,
can I not do with my own what I will? In Psalm 24 verse 1 and 2, listen,
the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and
they that dwell therein. For he founded it upon the seas,
he established it, it's his. Psalm 89, 11, the heavens are
thine, O Lord, the earth is thine. the world and the fullness thereof,
for thou hast made them." God has the right to rule. He made
all things. Revelation 4.11, listen, "...thou
art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, honor, and power, for
thou hast created all things, and for your pleasure they are
and were created." Our Lord Jesus Christ said to his disciples
in Matthew 28, he said, now you go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature because all authority, all authority
is given unto me in heaven and earth, all authority. He has
the right. He created all things. He made all things. And I tell
you this, he died that he might be Lord of the dead and the living. purchase that right, not only
by creation, but by death, authority. All right, what's the second
thing I said? If one rules, if one reigns, first, he's got to
have the right to reign. And I'm saying God Almighty has
the right to reign, to do His will, what He will, with whom
He will, when He will, because He made all things. He created
all this. Secondly, the power. The second
thing necessary to ruling is power. God has the right to rule. Does he have the power to rule?
Well, he asked Saber this, is anything too hard for God? Is anything too hard for God? God took Jeremiah to the potter's
house. He said, look, And Jeremiah watched
the potter as he put the clay on the wheel and began to work.
And God said to him, I'm the potter, you're the clay. I will
make of the same lump a vessel under honor and a vessel under
dishonor. I'm the potter, the clay belongs
to me. The potter had power over the
clay, all power. You see, our God is omnipotent.
He said, I've spoken it, I'll bring it to pass. Our God is
omnipresent. David said, if I ascend into
heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in the grave,
thou art there. If I go to the uttermost parts
of the sea, thou art there. Even the darkness is light about
me. God's omnipresent. God's omniscient. All things are naked and open
before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. He said, my arm's
not short that I can't save. I hear these preachers telling
people, wants to save you and he can't. My arm's not too short
that I can't save. My ear's not heavy that I can't
hear. A sovereign rule requires authority. God has it. He has the right
to rule. It belongs to him. Secondly,
a sovereign rule requires power. He has the strength. He has the
power. And a sovereign rule requires
purpose. The will to reign. Does God have
a purpose? Does God have a will? Listen
to the scriptures. They said, David, where's your
God? He said, Our God's in the heavens.
He hath done whatsoever He purposed. Whatsoever He pleased. Isaiah
46 verse 9. Listen. I'm the Lord. There's
none else. I declare the end from the beginning. And from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, I will
do all my pleasure. I have spoken it, I'll bring
it to pass. I've purposed it, I'll do it. Oh, my friends, how many times
does he say in the book of Ephesians, he worketh all things after the
counsel of his own hand. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will. The Lord reigns and rules over
all. He has that right. He made it. He made it. Secondly, He has
the power. He's able. And thirdly, He has
a purpose. Now let me show you some things
here. First of all, God rules in heaven and earth. He says
this in Isaiah 66. Heaven is my throne, the earth
is my footstool. In Daniel 4.35, King Nebuchadnezzar
said this, When my senses, my mind, returned to me, I saw that
the Most High God ruleth, reigneth in the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth. And he doeth according to his
will, and giveth it to whom he will. And none can stay his hand,
or say unto him, What doest thou? God reigns in the heavens and
the earth. And the inhabitants of the earth
are all reputed as nothing. Now, he not only rules in heaven
and earth, but he rules over every, listen to this, every
part of heaven and earth. When you think of heaven, what
do you think of? When you think of heaven, what
do you think of? Well, first you think of sun, moon, stars, and
planets. And that's what David said, listen,
when I consider the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars,
the things thou hast made, what is man that thou art mindful
of him? When you think of heaven, what
do you think of? You think of angels. Well, the scripture says,
he saith to the angels, let all the angels of God worship Christ. And the angels of God, are they
not ministering spirits? They minister to those who are
the heirs of salvation. They're sent by God. What do
you think of when you think of heaven? You think of the seraphims
and cherubim. Well, Isaiah said, when I saw
the Lord, I saw the seraphims flying about his throne, crying,
holy, holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts. When you think of heaven,
what do you think of? Principalities, powers, rulers. Well, the scripture says in Colossians
1, all of those things were made by him, principalities, powers,
rulers of the darkness. They're all made by Him and for
Him and by Him they exist. When you think of earth, what
do you think of? Well, you think of kingdoms. You think of nations. You think of America and England
and Russia and China and Japan and all these continents and
nations. Well, it says the heart of the
king is in the hands of the Lord and he turneth it whithersoever
he will. He said to Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
for this purpose I raised you up, that I might show my power
in you. In 2 Chronicles 20, O Lord our
God, art thou not God in heaven? And do you not rule over the
kingdoms of the heathen? And in thy hand is there not
power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? God
seats kings and unseats kings. God sets the boundaries of nations,
and God rules over the kingdoms, even of the heathen. When you
think of earth, what do you think of? Well, you think of lands
and seas. You think of fish and fire. You
think of rain and snow. You think of lightning and thunder.
Have you ever read Job 38 and 39 and 40? How that God shows
Job how that in all these things he reigns. He said, Job, have
you entered into the the treasures of the snow? Have you entered
it? Can you say to the lightning,
come and it'll come and go and it'll come? Do you speak in the
thunder? Do you teach the little bird to fly south in the winter?
Do you teach the beast how to care for their young? Do you
teach them how to build a nest? Do you feed the fowls up there?
When our Lord stood on this earth, He stilled the ocean by saying,
Peace be still. He rules. Our Lord spoke to the
fish and to fill the nets of the disciples. Our Lord was commanded
to pay taxes, and He sent one of His disciples down to catch
a fish, and in that fish's mouth was a coin. When you think of
earth, you think of land and seas and fish and fowl and animals,
and you think of lightning and thunder and snow and rain and
hail and all these things. They're all under the absolute
total control of my God. And he rules not only over the
great, but now think of this, in heaven, stars, moon, and sun,
principalities, powers, rulers, on earth, kingdoms, and nations,
animals, and fowl, and fish, and lightning, and thunder, and
all these great things, but he rules over the small things.
You remember how the ravens fed Elijah? That's right, the ravens
brought food to God's prophet. in the day of famine. And our
Lord said, not a sparrow, what's a sparrow worth? Not much, but
not a sparrow falls to the ground without your father. And you
know what he said? The hairs of your head are numbered. God knows the number of the hairs
in your head and your eyebrows. And God clothes the lilies of
the field. God rules over the great and
the small. And one day God prophesied that
King Ahab would die. King Ahab's gonna die, God said.
Well, King Ahab was in his chariot and King Ahab was surrounded
by his army. And King Ahab was out there on
the battlefield and no one could get near him. But off over here
somewhere, a soldier, you read about this in I Kings 22, a soldier
took a bow and an arrow and just drew it back as far as he could
draw it and let it go. The scripture says, at a venture,
I shot an arrow into the air. It fell to earth. I knew not
where, but God knew where. There was one place in King Ahab's
armor, where that arrow could enter and kill him. And that's
where it went. My God reigns, my God rules,
even over the dust of the air, and the rocks on the ground,
and the arrows that are shot at adventure. That's right. He rules over all. One day Paul
stood on the deck of a ship, and that ship was being tossed
and driven by the storm. And those ancient mariners, those
men who knew the seas, they wanted to jump overboard. They wanted
to get away from that ship because they knew it was going to be
dashed to pieces. And Paul said, stay on the ship. Stay on the
ship. Yes, it will be destroyed, but
not a person, not one life will be lost. God told me that, and
I believe God. And you know, my God, so particularly,
so particularly cared for each life on that ship that that ship
was demolished and every one of those sailors swam to shore. God rules not only over creation,
but God rules in such a way, my friends, that even the wrath
of men and the evil of men. Now think about this. Even the
wrath of man and the evil of man will accomplish God's purpose. That's right. Everybody's going
to serve his purpose. You are and I am. Moses did. God raised Moses up to lead the
children of Israel out of Egypt. But God said to Pharaoh, I raised
you up too. I raised you up to block them.
I raised you up to hinder them. I raised you up to cause trouble.
I raised you up to glorify my justice. I raised you up to bury
you in the sea for my glory. Even the evil of Pharaoh's heart
accomplished the purpose of God. Psalm 76 says that. Surely the
wrath of man shall praise the Lord. The wrath of man shall
praise the Lord. And the remainder of wrath he'll
restrain. You see, Joseph's brethren, Everything
they did to him, they meant it for evil. They wanted to destroy
him. But God meant it for good, and
God used their evil. He used their wrath. He used
their wickedness to accomplish his purpose. His will shall be
done. Pharaoh, he had all the Hebrews'
babies killed. Did you remember that? Remember
reading about how he killed all the Hebrews' babies? And in doing
so, he brought Moses right into his house. If he hadn't been
killing the Hebrew babies, Moses never would have been put in
that basket, and Pharaoh's daughter never would have found him, and
she never would have brought him home with her. But the anger of that
king was so great, he killed all the babies, and in doing
so, he brought Moses right into his house. That's where God wanted
him. I'd rather be used for God's
glory than His justice. Augustus Caesar taxed the world. He sent out a decree that all
the world should be taxed, and in doing so, he brought Mary
and Joseph to Bethlehem, where God said Christ would be born. Those who crucified Christ Jesus
did what they wanted to do, their wicked hearts wanted to do, but
in doing what their wicked hearts wanted to do, God said they did
what I determined before to be God rules, God reigns. Let God be God. Oh, the awesome,
fearful, majestic, infinite, almighty, omnipotent power of
my God. None can stay His hand. God rules over His sheep. Yes,
all that my Father giveth me, they'll come to me. Him that
cometh to me, I'll in no wise cast out. I came down from heaven,
Christ said, not to do my will or your will. I came to do the
will of Him that sent me. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that of all which He had given me, I'll lose nothing,
but I'll raise it up at the last day." You see, God knows His
sheep. The Lord knoweth them that are His. Our Lord said,
other sheep I have which are not of this foal, them also I
must bring, and they'll hear my voice, and there'll be one
foal and there'll be one shepherd. You see, God knows His sheep.
I know my sheep. I call them by name. Now, He
said to a bunch of people in Matthew 7, the judgment, I never
knew you. I never knew you, but I know
my sheep. You see, He's known them from the womb. He rules
in their conception. He rules in their formation,
either male or female. He said, I will return and Sarah
shall have a son. He rules in their formation.
He rules in their births. He said to Jeremiah, before I
formed you in the belly, I knew thee. Before you came forth from
your mother's womb, I sanctified you and ordained you to be a
prophet to the nations. You didn't slip up on me, God
said. Paul said, God separated me from my mother's womb and
called me by his grace. God rules over the conception,
the formation, the birth of his sons and sheep. He rules over
their state and condition. Listen, the Lord maketh rich,
the Lord maketh poor. The Lord lifteth up, the Lord
bringeth down. The Lord killeth, the Lord maketh
alive. I the Lord create light, I create
darkness. I create good and I create evil.
Who maketh thee to differ? What hast thou that thou didst
not receive? A man can receive nothing except be given him from
above. And God quickens his sheep. And
He calls His sheep. And they're willing in the day
of His power. And there's no, listen to me, no heart so closed
that He can't open it. I know that's so. I know that's
so. There's no heart so hard He can't
break it. It'll take God to save a sheep.
It'll take God to find a sheep. It'll take God to save a sinner.
But God's able, because He rules over all. There's no heart so
frozen He can't melt it. There's no will so rebellious
he can't turn it. He'll never save me, somebody
might say. He will if he sets his love on you. But I'll never
come. You will if he calls you. He broke down the walls of Jericho.
He rules the heart. He rules the will. The Lord God
rules over all. He opens and nobody shuts. He
shuts and nobody will open. He can make his chief enemy his
beloved friend. He can make his greatest enemy
willingly run to do his will and be glad to do it. He rules
the tongue and he can turn cursing into praise and blasphemy into
preaching. He can save a thief or a Pharisee. He can save whom he will. And
I'll tell you this, when his people die, He rules and presides
over their burial. He said, precious in the sight
of the Lord is the death of his saints. He takes their souls to glory,
and one day he'll raise them from the grave. Because you see,
the Lord rules over all, even over death. You don't have any
power over death. No one else does, but he does. He does. He said, I am the way,
the truth, and the life, because I live, you live. He rules sovereignly. My God reigns. Where's your God?
I'll tell you where my God is. He's in the heaven. And He's
not that weak, impotent, frustrated, defeated, peanut God that I hear
preached today. He rules over all, over all. He reigns sovereignly, none can
stay his hand, none equal to him. He rules irresistibly. He
rules wisely. Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? The songwriter put it this way, King of kings, let
us adore thee. High on thy exalted throne, fall
ye sinners, fall before him and his righteous reign on. All the glory All the glory be
to God and God alone. That's my message. That's my
message, preaching the God of the Bible. Now, if you want this
message on a cassette tape, the Lord rules over all. I'd love
for you to hear it again. I'd love for you to play it for
your friends and neighbors and relatives. And another one on
the other side entitled, True Believers Never Quit. two messages,
and I'll send them to you almost by return mail. You just send
two dollars. That's what it cost us to get
them ready to send you. We'll mail them to you. The Lord
rules. Yes, He does, over all. And true believers never quit.
Well, till we meet again, may God bless you.

The Lord Rules Over All

What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty?

How do we know that God has the authority to rule?

Why is God's power important for Christians?

What does it mean that God has a purpose in His rule?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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The Lord Rules Over All

What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty?

How do we know that God has the authority to rule?

Why is God's power important for Christians?

What does it mean that God has a purpose in His rule?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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