God is Sovereign Over Joe Biden

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Welcome to No Compromise Radio Ministry. Michael Lee Avendroth here. Michael Avendroth.

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My first name is spelled M -I -C -H -E -L. So it'd always be the first day of class, you're in fourth grade.

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My last name starts with an A. The teacher says, oh, I'm not very good with pronouncing names.

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So just when I pronounce your name, and just say here or present.

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And then if I spelled it, if I pronounced it wrongly, then just correct me. Michelle Aberoff.

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And then all my buddies, oh, it's Michelle. Anyway, that was back in Nebraska where we had crew cuts.

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And if you put gel in your hair when you were a kid, there was something wrong with you. Putting gel in your hair?

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I guess we didn't really have much gel. Maybe, what's the stuff that dad used to put in his hair?

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It wasn't, was it Brylcreem? Maybe Brylcreem. Is Brylcreem, is that toothpaste?

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I think Brylcreem goes in the hair. I know Grecian formula goes in the hair. And Old Spice goes on the face.

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But anyway, that's that. What are we going to talk about today? Well, first of all, if you'd like to get

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Discovering Colossians, S. Lewis Johnson, adapted by moi, by Michelle, then you can pick it up at Amazon, $17 .99.

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Unless you want to buy them in bulk, then email me, mike at nocompromiseradio .com.

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Exciting. It took a long time to get that done, maybe five years. I was puttering around and then

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I thought, well, you know what? I'm going to get this thing done. It was summer of 2021.

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And then I thought, well, you know, let's just get this thing done. So I worked on it a lot of the summer, come back from California.

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Kim wasn't coming home for a couple of weeks. And I thought, I'll just get this thing done. Hammer, hammer, hammer, hammer at nighttime. I mean, when your wife's not around, what do you do?

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When your wife's around, you go to dance class or you go out to eat or, you know, you, whatever, go play pool.

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And then what? So I was working on Colossians. Then I tested positive for,

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I almost said cocaine for COVID. And I thought, well, I'll just, I'll be at home all day.

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I have to isolate. I will just finish Colossians. So again, working on that, didn't feel too good the first day, taking ivermectin, taking hydroxychloroquine, taking

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D, taking, there were several other things.

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I had a whole box of stuff. Day one, fine. Day two, fine. Day three, fine. Day four, getting worse.

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Day five, getting worse. Day six, getting worse, or worse, or worse. And still breathing fine and all that stuff.

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But then after about two weeks of COVID, I thought,

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I'm not really breathing that well. So they gave me steroids and they gave me Zithromax.

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And then I still had to go into the urgent care. They said, sorry, this is not your last stop, sir.

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And I don't even think I got to say goodbye to Kim and off I went to the hospital. Not one of the better hospitals in town, but they take you to the closest one.

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See, I didn't know that. So if you're ever super sick and you go to urgent care, go to care by a good hospital.

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But God is sovereign. Kept me alive anyway, 16 days later. And now

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I just have to deal with things like my voice and coughing. And I've been riding the bike. I rode 20 miles the other day at 17 .2

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miles per hour, which is really good for me at my age and even with my lungs. So I could complain, but I don't want to.

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Now it's just this sinus thing. It's I've got these inflamed sinuses. I did the allergy test, no allergies.

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She looked with a scope, no polyps or anything like that. So I'm sorry.

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You have to hear my nasally voice, but at least there are no more reruns and we're back on the radio. I know,

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I know. Spencer did a good job on reruns for the summer, but there's nothing like almost live.

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I know I'm dumb, dumb and dumber. My name is no, my sign is no.

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Anyway, that's what I say now to like false teaching. My name is no, I don't even know who was saying that just in my brain.

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I'd like to tell you a little bit about the sovereignty of God. You're going to like it too. Not because I'm saying it, but because God is sovereign and you're going to be encouraged by the sovereignty of God.

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Remember Luke chapter two. In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

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This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria and all went out to be registered each to his own town.

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And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called

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Bethlehem because he was in the house of the house in line, our lineage of David to be registered with Mary, his betrothed who was with child.

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While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no place for him in the inn.

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When you first read that, you say to yourself, okay, we read that at Christmas, maybe not really that exciting, but you know,

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I have to tip my hat because it's in the Bible and I know it's good for me and profitable. And I don't want to say anything bad about God's word.

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And so what in the world are we reading? Why is it here? It's remember Luke in chapter one, verses one to four tells us how he writes detailed orderly fashion, historical, et cetera.

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And then why? So that you might be certain about the things you've heard that is about Jesus so that you could have certainty.

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And I want you to know that this passage screams sovereignty.

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It screams sovereignty so much that you could be certain this is all happening in real time, in real space.

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And there's a God who's orchestrating all this. Now, if you remember, you remember that Jesus is the

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Messiah, but there's background to the Messiah. Let me read you Micah five, two, but as for you,

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Bethlehem, Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah from you, one will go forth for me to be ruler in Israel.

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His goings forth are from long ago from the days of eternity.

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And most every one of you know that the Messiah has to be born in Bethlehem. The Messiah has to be born and Bethlehem.

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Now Jesus is supposed to be the Messiah. If we put ourselves back in Luke one world, angel,

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Gabriel appears, et cetera. You see John, the Baptist and Jesus, the announcements, the birth, the office of the birth, et cetera.

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Well, Nazareth isn't Bethlehem. And it's not one of these regions that could include it or something like that.

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If you've been to Israel, and I hope you have, if not, you can plan on going in a couple of years, if you'd like.

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If the world still exists then, and I still exist, you can even go without me, by the way, if I don't exist. You notice that Nazareth and Bethlehem, if you can find

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Jerusalem on a map and you go north, you're going to see Nazareth. And if you go south, you're going to see

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Bethlehem. I mean, generally speaking, and they're about 60 to 70 miles apart.

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We're not talking like this is a region or a suburb or a subset or something like that, 100, 120

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K apart. Well, I don't know how far along Mary is.

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My guess is, along with most scholars, third trimester, she's showing.

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And you can just imagine what the talk of the town is regarding all that. Oh yeah, angel told me that I'm just conceived by the spirit of God.

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I'm still a virgin, by the way, as my stomach is sticking out. That aside, how do you get

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Joseph and Mary down to Bethlehem? Well, we could have the angel just say, you better get down there and go right now.

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Well, it's going to be a long trip. If I'm that pregnant, we'll go. Okay. Well, I'm your bond servant.

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Mary said, I'll do whatever. That could be one way. You could have another way where you could just transport them, right?

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Like an axe, where they're fill up in as a toss and transportation.

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I mean, transportation like Star Trek beamed over, snatched away, planted 10 miles away.

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Matter of fact, if I can find that passage, that might be fun to look at because whenever my charismatic friends tell me that God today, the same as he did in the past, i .e.

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healings are for today, tongues are for today, signs and wonders are for today. I always want to know when they're going to do the beam me up Scotty stuff, right?

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Because if God's still doing things the same way, well, can't he beam me up and move me someplace else?

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I mean, that's going to cut back on a lot of my jet blue miles. I guess

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I was wrong when I said Acts chapter 10. Now I'm looking at...

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Oh, there I found it, Acts chapter 8. And the eunuch said to Philip about whom

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I ask you, does the prophet say this about himself or someone else? After the

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Isaiah 53 passage was talked about, Philip opened his mouth and beginning with the scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus.

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And as they were going along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, see, here's water. What prevents me from being baptized?

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And he commanded the chariot to stop. And they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.

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And when they came up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord carried Philip away and the eunuch saw him no more.

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And he went on his way rejoicing, but Philip found himself at Azotahs. And as he passed through, he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

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Isn't that amazing? The spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, up, up and away, off to Azotahs.

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I believe that's 10 miles away. I'm curious to know what it said here in the

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ESV study notes. Okay. Rebuilt, Herod, tense relations.

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Huh. Well, it doesn't give me anything. I want to have something better than that.

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It just says Philip was snatched up and carried away. That's where we get the word rapture, by the way, is used here.

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Memory serves. Carried away much like Elijah was. So I don't know if there's any, he's in a chariot.

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I don't know if it's, I don't think it's, I don't know if it's beamed up like Star Trek stuff.

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I'm not exactly sure. Star Trek, not track. Well, back to the point at hand at No Compromise Radio, the sovereignty of God.

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Luke wants you to see the sovereignty of God. God wants you to see the sovereignty of God. Sproul used to say his favorite doctrine was the sovereignty of God.

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And if you were God, it'd be your favorite doctrine too. I know.

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I know. All that God is, is, you know, all that is of God is God. I get all that.

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God's simple. I understand. Aseity. I get it. I'm just talking. This is a radio show.

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That's all this is. This is a radio show. I can't believe I just mentioned Star Trek. Well, there you have it.

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I think Scott, I think Spock was bullied by Kirk there on more than one occasion.

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God used Caesar Augustus to get

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Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem.

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So Jesus, the Messiah is born. Fulfilling Micah chapter five, verse two.

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If that doesn't thrill you, if that doesn't interest you, if that doesn't make you think the most powerful people in the world do what

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God wants them to do are essentially pawns. They think they're the Kings, but they're the pawns.

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They think they're the Queens, but they're the pawns. If that doesn't help you, that doesn't encourage you, if that doesn't comfort you,

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I don't know what to tell you. Here we have the grand nephew of Julius Caesar, a man named

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Caesar Augustus, like King Revered, the August King. It wasn't his real name, but that's what they called him.

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And he does the piece of Rome, Pax Romana. He does all kinds of things militarily, but there's someone who's more sovereign than this

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King, because the King's hearts are in the Lord's hand and he, the Lord turns those King's hearts, whichever way he wishes.

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And if you have a governor, if you have a senator or two, right?

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If you live in America, if you live in another country, just whoever your leaders are, the president's heart is in the hands of his, of God.

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And you say, well, the president doesn't really make any decisions anymore because he can't.

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Okay. The advisors. Okay. The Obama administration is now controlling

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Biden. I mean, whatever you want to say, I want you to know that God is sovereign.

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And this prophecy is fulfilled through these sinful people, like Caesar Augustus, through Quirinius, the governor of Syria.

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And Jesus is actually born in Bethlehem because this is what

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God had decreed. How awesome is that? I wonder if Caesar Augustus thought,

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I'm going to make sure that'll happen. I want to make sure that the King of Kings is going to be born. No, no idea.

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Like setting the world of salvation in motion, Caesar Augustus.

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I mean, God uses Cyrus. Does he not? I mean, God used Pontius Pilate, right?

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Jesus had to die. One man wrote, God knows how God knows how to get you where you need to be.

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He used the pagan ruler of the world to move Joseph and Mary. So see, even that to encourage, how does

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God, I mean, this has, I know this is going to be talking about me now, but I'm just thinking about my own life because I want you to think about your own life.

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How did I meet my wife? Where did God have to move me from Nebraska to Anaheim, to Newport beach, to Huntington beach, to Brentwood.

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And there I meet my wife. How did, how did God move me to get me to be the pastor of Bethlehem Bible church?

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It was meant to be that I was the pastor, at least I'm the pastor for the last 26 years.

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How did he do that? How did he move me here? Because he controlled all these things.

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And so he knows how to get you to where you need to be. And by the way, if you're a young person and you want to marry someone, but you can't find anyone because there's no godly people in your age group or your church or this, that, and the other, do you think

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God knows what to do? Do you think he knows how to get you to find your wife that's ordained for you to marry or your husband?

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Do you think he knows that? Do you think God is mighty enough to figure it all out? Wise enough to figure it all out?

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The answer is, of course, divine plans through even wicked pagan rulers who think they're the savior of the world.

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God is omniscient. He's omnipotent and he always accomplishes his purposes. And his purpose is called a decree.

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And even see this here in the King, the King had a decree, but there's a decree behind a decree. One man named

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Boyce said, not, not James Montgomery, but B -O -Y -C -E, I think a Baptist. In the creation, preservation, and government of the world,

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God must have had a plan. And that plan must have been just wise and holy, tending both to his own glory and the happiness of his creatures.

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God is sovereign over you. God is sovereign over your government. It would be total insanity for God to create something and have no plan for it.

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Creation without purpose sounds more like some Frankenstein monster than God of the Bible. And so far from being some deist,

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God, the God who's revealed in scripture, controls, rules with purpose.

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God is a hands -on ruler in a positive way, a micromanager of every atom of the universe.

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Does that encourage you? I hope it does. The decree of God. Did you know all of history could be put under one singular decree or purpose?

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And that's even to me more shocking, more surprising, the singular decree of God, the grammatical number of God's decree.

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The Bible proclaims that the divine King has one and only one decree. Did you know in God's mind, his supreme mind, there's no plan

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Bs. There's no if thens, there's no what ifs, there's no flow chart of God tracing human history that contains lines and arrows pointing in lots of crazy different directions.

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More than that, God certainly does not have a plan that is in need of an eraser so he can make changes to his edict when something unexpected happens.

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We don't use this really much anymore, but remember whiteout. If you're writing something or typing something and you make a mistake and you can cover over the ink with white stuff that dries, he doesn't need any whiteout.

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If God were playing chess, strategizing against human history, would you ever have him hear check or checkmate?

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If you travel on the sea, if you travel off to the moon, you climb Mount Everest, you come up with contingency plans if you're smart.

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Unexpected emergencies. Not so with God. God's decree is fixed, eternal, unchanging, and singular.

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Therefore, nothing can arise that God does not ordain or know. God's plan cannot get better because it's already the wisest it could be, and it stems from a perfect God who has a perfect mind.

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When was the last time you made plans at work or for a vacation then changed them due to some unseen circumstance?

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As winds are prone to change velocity and direction, so too our plans are prone to be amended, altered, and modified.

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However, God's plan is singular, and it is immutable, and it is faultless, and it is ideal.

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That should give you rest. God is in the heavens, and he does whatever he pleases.

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Dabney said of the unity of God's mind when it comes to decree, it is one act of the divine mind, not many.

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I mean, we talk about decision -making process, working through plans. That's the opposite of the infinite plan of God.

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God doesn't have a decision -making process. That's why we say even with the covenant of redemption between the

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Father and the Son and the Spirit there as witness, we always call it an eternal covenant because we don't want to have it that they're debating or talking or working something out or time elapses.

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Eternal covenant. That's why we say that because there's one decree.

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God doesn't have to process or sort or evaluate one singular decree.

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I'll give you another example here in Scripture, Ephesians 3, 11. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose, singular, which he carried out in Christ Jesus our

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Lord. My purpose will be established and I'll accomplish all my good pleasure,

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Isaiah 46 .10. I have to amend my plans because there are outside forces at work that are uncontrollable.

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Human and divine planning are different. Dabney writes, as his natural knowledge is all immediate and contemporaneous, not successive like ours, and his comprehension of it is always complete, his purpose founded thereon must be singular, all comprehensive and simultaneous act.

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Can you wrap your mind around that? I mean, I think it's wonderfully, wondrously mind -blowing.

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For I know that the Lord is great and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, he does in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the deep,

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Psalm 135. It's obvious that God's in charge in Luke 2. It's obvious that God's in charge with Joseph in Genesis 37 -50.

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It's not so obvious in my life or your life at times. And so we need to remember that God never changes and that their

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God is our God and that our God is doing what was going on in the background of Joseph's life and in the life of Mary and Joseph.

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And it's the wisest plan, by the way. This was the best. Why didn't an angel say, move down to Bethlehem?

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Well, this was the wise plan. And if you think about kings and all their power that they have, how many kings have miscalculated or acted rashly or reacted pridefully to a myriad of situations and circumstances?

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Kings have sin, their own sin, original sin, and they don't always act like they should. So they act sinfully.

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They act unwisely. They have to have counselors and wise men to help facilitate their decision -making.

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I can't see every issue. We have to have plurality of elders, et cetera. But God needs no external knowledge or revelation because with him are wisdom and might, and to him belong counsel and understanding,

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Job 12. God is all -knowing, he's all -wise, and therefore his decree is all -knowing and all -wise.

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It's a holy purpose and plan. God knows more than what will happen in the future. He knows what will happen in the future because he planned it.

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And since he knows everything, it would be an utter impossibility for him to concoct a set of circumstances or to fail to bring forth his promises or will.

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God's wisdom propels God to create a plan and to bring it to completion. You say,

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Mike, it sounds like you're reading. It sounds like a pretty good book you're reading. Well, thank you very much.

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That is from The Sovereignty and Supremacy of King Jesus. So, I had a section in there, a chapter on decree, and I thought, you know, that is such good truth.

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Wisdom is the power to see and the inclination to choose the best and highest goal together with the surest means of attaining it,

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J .I. Packer. To quote scripture Isaiah 40, Do you not know? Have you not heard?

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The everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.

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How unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable his ways, Romans 11. To the only wise God through Jesus Christ be glory forever and ever.

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Amen. Romans 16. God knows the best and he knows the best outcomes and the means to achieve what he wants as the master builder.

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And by the way, it won't be frustrated. It won't be incomplete. He's not incapable of working.

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God accordingly is not like men. Men conduct experiments, but God carries out a plan.

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William Hendrickson. Job 42. I know you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

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Isaiah 14. Surely just as I have intended it, God said it has happened. And just as I have planned it, so it will stand.

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I think that's a great truth. Caesar Augustus, Quirinius.

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Obviously God was controlling all the facts, all the details, all the things, and your God is controlling you.

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You say, I can't see it. Well, I know. I understand. It's a great little poem by Mona Fetter.

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I didn't say Boba Fett. Lord of glory, eternal king, let us to him our worship bring.

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Righteous and pure are his decrees. Sorry. It shouldn't be decree. Standing sure for eternity for not can ever stay his hand.

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He will complete his purpose planned. His decrees are all sure and true.

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Sorry. Decree by grace imparted unto you that you may know the upward way that leads to God's eternal day.

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That's a good truth there. So next time you hear Luke 2, 1 to 7 read at Christmas time, Quirinius, Quirinius, Quistus, Quisp, Quisp cereal.

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I throw that in for people my age so they understand. Then you say, I see the sovereignty of God and how he does whatever he wants through Caesar Augustus, through Quirinius, through Joe Biden, through anyone else.