Our God Does Whatever He Pleases - [Psalms 115]

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well it is always good to sing scripture i was reminded uh... that that was the passage that george muller preach from as he gave his wife's funeral that god was good that god was good in giving her to him giving her to him for such a long time and giving her to him only to be taking her back because she was a dear christian lady he is good his love endures forever will deal moody some of you know the story was a evangelistic preacher and he regularly preach the gospel in large camp meetings large revival meetings and back in those days there's all kinds of hecklers and the people that disagree with him and shout things back and the final night of one campaign an usher handed him a note and he thought it was going to be an announcement so he he quieted the large audience and opened up the little piece of paper and it said one word and one word only it said fool cindy you know this don't you but he was a pretty sharp guy and he said this is most unusual i have just been handed a message which consists of but one word the word fool i repeat this is most unusual i've often heard of those who have written letters and forgotten to sign their names some are laughing a little later than others but this is the first time i've ever heard of anyone who signed his name and forgot to write the letter and then he changed his sermon and preached on the text the fool has said in his heart there's no but i think there's a another more subtle type of atheism and it's an atheism that manifests itself by believing things about god that aren't true specifically things about god's sovereignty that aren't true how sovereign is god when you think about god and even the the root word in sovereign reign how sovereign how much does god reign does he reign over the big things and not the small things does he reign over the rain and not eternity how sovereign is god is he sovereign over every atom in the universe is he sovereign over lyme disease cancer molecules calvin said ignorance of sovereignty is the ultimate of all miseries yet it's the highest blessedness if you understand today we're gonna talk about the sovereignty of god over everything uh...
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i read this week that sixty one percent of churches are attended by females ladies that means thirty nine percent are men ever ask yourself the question why is that here's one of the reasons why i think that's true is because so often now churches talk about personal relationships with jesus and that's coming from a very feminine kind of aspect where ladies want personal relationships and yet if you talk to men you know how you get them to follow somebody you talk about the lordship of christ jesus he's king he's savior he's lord and that when jesus says follow me you'll get men to follow him it's kind of like when you go to churches and everything's blue lights and loud music and jesus is my boyfriend stuff no wonder men don't go to those churches okay real men but i'll tell you something that will strike in the hearts of both men and women is the utter naked sovereignty of god over all things it's difficult because it's going to be pride crushing but the most difficult doctrine is the one that will help you in the times when things are the most difficult and we're gonna look at today six realms of god's sovereignty designed to help you trust in him and yield to him and be refreshed in him that you might praise him i have two sermons ready one on the holy spirit one on the sovereignty of god i have two icons to push i push sovereignty so you're ready turn your bibles to psalm 103 as we're beginning to look at this whole idea of the sovereignty of god it is hard for us in our churches because we are pride driven we are in america individualism is king don't tell me what my rights are we tell britain we serve no sovereign here that was the slogan of the american war of independence we don't like someone who's in charge of everything and we come up with code words like fortune and chance and fate and serendipity but what does the bible say and that's our goal i know that's your dear goal christian because you're here and you want to learn from the bible what does the bible say psalm 103 verse nineteen the lord has established his throne in the heavens and his sovereignty rules over all isn't that amazing the sovereignty of god rules over all move forward to psalm 115 and you'll see the same kind of language remember these are songs these are our psalms you sing about this you have joy when it comes to this you're thinking god is a sovereign god used to sing that song when i was younger my god is an awesome god this god he's a sovereign god he has eternal purposes he does all his good pleasure isaiah forty -six he does everything after the counsel of his will ephesians chapter one he does everything for his own glory he fordeans everything that comes to pass and look at how the psalmist writes it in prose but our god is in the heavens psalm 115 verse three he does whatever he pleases this is one of those sermons where you're gonna think you know i can't do this this kind of sermon anymore believe in this kind of well my god would never do that well my god's a god of love well my god it doesn't matter what your what your brain manufactures as god this is the god with whom we have to do and whom we have to believe in and trust and submit to paul ends said defining sovereignty with reference to god it means that god is the supreme ruler and authority that he ordains whatever comes to pass and that his divine purpose is always accomplished tozer said god's sovereignty requires that he be absolutely free which means that he must be free to do whatever he wills to do anywhere at any time to carry out his eternal purpose in every detail without interference where he is less than free he must be less than sovereign so you know what's coming if god is free and sovereign to do everything that he wants to that means we're less than free and less than sovereign you begin to read the bible and these are some of the words that come at you as you read about god's sovereignty lord lord of hosts most high king sovereign almighty thrown appointed established reign dominion rule decree ordain command predestined for ordain authority and control one thing you won't find in scripture you won't find scripture saying god's sovereign but it's all or nothing and the scriptures teach it's all he's sovereign over everything
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I mean what would the other option be instead of god controlling the world a world uncontrolled spiraling around with no order no guidance the godness of god is rule even the name god implies dominion authority power turn to Daniel chapter 4 please let me just show you one of the best sets of verses to summarize
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God's ultimate rule and I like this because it's from a king so now a king describes
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God's king ship kings are are totally in control back in those days no wonder when the scriptures say that God turns the king's heart whatsoever way he wishes if you can do it to a king he can do it to anyone or everyone or no one
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Daniel chapter for here's what the king said about the capital
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K King of Kings verse 34 but at the end of that period
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I Nebuchadnezzar raise my eyes toward heaven and my reason return to me and I bless the
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Most High and praised and honored him who lives forever for his dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom endures from generation to generation all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing but he does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and no one can ward off his hand our say to him what have you done that is amazing and as a powerful positive side to the sovereignty of God but that is going to imply the negative side as it were when
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Isaiah says this is the plan devised against the whole earth and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations the
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Lord of Hosts has planned it and who can frustrate it and as for a stretched out hand who can turn it back the
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Bible teaches emphatically that God is sovereign over everything and let's look at these six all -encompassing realms of God's total sovereign control so that you might praise him and think there's nobody like this
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God you think that you can't make up such a God and that you might I some of you
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I think are going through that book that everyone should read sometime trusting God by Jerry Bridges and the subtitle is even when what life hurts because this is the balm that will help you sleep at night this is when you get the phone call there's been an accident something's wrong you ought to be thinking
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I don't know all the details but I know I can talk myself underneath this
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God who's good he's kind I see it in the personal work of Christ Jesus and I know he's sovereign over everything and I simply have to trust in him number one the first area where God is having total dominion and sovereign control is over all his creation trust this
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God because he's in control of all creation you might ask yourself the question well why are there deserts on the planet why is there more water then land why are there not 25
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Mount Everest turn to Psalm 135 please and I want you to see that God has even called the moon and the stars and the
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Sun servants can you imagine I don't know what you call them I was standing in New Zealand looking up and I did not see the
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North Star I saw the Southern Cross fascinating did not see Big Dippers and all these kind of things and Orion's Belt you're seeing things from the
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South and I see the Southern Cross and when I see stars I think man that's fascinating when
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God sees stars what does he say those are my servants he's sovereign over them Psalm 135 verse 6 and 7 whatever
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Yahweh that's his personal name are we translated Lord pleases he does in heaven and in earth think about it for a second
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I can't even be sovereign over what goes on in my own house my own life the 495 excuse me 495 close when
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I'm here 25 years old I'll get it right you say 495 or the 49 495
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I know do you say the pike or pike see uh -uh
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I don't buy any of that Psalm 135 verse 6 and 7 whatever the
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Lord pleases he does in heaven and in earth in the seas and all the deeps he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth who makes lightnings for the rain who brings forth the wind from his treasuries that's how sovereign
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God is he's sovereign over creation go back to Psalm 119 while we're in the Psalms can you imagine
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God telling the moon and the Sun and the stars to do what they're told you go there you stay here you come here almost like a man training a dog what fascinating obedience these galaxies instantly respond to the precise commands of God Psalm 119 90 your faithfulness continues throughout all generations you establish the earth and it stands they stand this day according to your ordinances for all things are your servants and this even comes up in the way we talk about rain now
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I was trying to ride my bicycle yesterday and it kept raining and even the way I see it it was raining you know in scripture instead of having the the theme it rained typically you'll hear this instead
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Genesis 2 the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth Deuteronomy 11 he will give rain for your land in its season
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Deuteronomy 28 the Lord will open for you his good storehouse the heavens to give rain to your land even they're taking any kind of chance out
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I mean I have about four weather apps trying to figure out is it gonna rain is it gonna snow do we cancel service what do we do in the winter time etc etc there's no chances of rain for God because he's controlling the hydrological cycle
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I think rain is more than moisture condensing in the sky and then precipitating from the sky it is that but every drop of rain falls exactly where God planned it to drop one reformer said it is certain that not one drop of rain falls without God's sure command now when
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I think about this it makes me trust in this powerful God but here's what it also makes me do something that my grandma taught me to do
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I don't want to do and that is complain about the weather because that's God's weather and when
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God sends rain he sends ice he sends cold that's God's weather and so remember all complaining's wrong and all complaining against God's weather certainly isn't righteous it's best to praise the king for the weather whatever it might be fault finding against the king of the weather look at Psalm 107 since we're in the
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Psalms still Psalm 107 showing how God controls things that we can't control like wind like the sea like the
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Sun this unpredictable see this untetherable Sun who controls such things
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God is in control of all this the scriptures teach us Psalm 107 verse 25 these verses here should lend you to think about the
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Lord Jesus and how he can still the storm on the Sea of Galilee for he spoke and raised up a stormy wind which lifted up the waves of the sea verse 25 now in verse 29 he caused the storm to be still only
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God does that so that the waves of the sea were hushed I mean can you imagine
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Joshua it says the Sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation avenge themselves of their enemies now you show a
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God like this and you preach a God like this there will be more than 39 percent of the people who were men because this is a
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God that men and women and children are glad to follow no wonder when Jesus said follow me he meant it the omnipotent
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God by the way if he's sovereign over all these created things I have a question for you are you a created thing the answer has to be yes that means he's sovereign over you deep down you know you're a created being you know it's true
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Lorraine Bettner writes this every thinking person readily sees that some sovereignty rules his life he was not asked whether or not he would have existence nor when where are what he would be born whether in the 20th century are before the flood whether white or black whether in America or China it has been recognized by Christians in all ages that God is the creator and ruler of the universe and since this is true you ought to say
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God I praise you and I trust you it is Revelation 4 that says worthy are you
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O Lord our God to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and because of your will they existed and were created
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God is sovereign over all creation you ought to trust in him number two God is sovereign over all history the second all -encompassing realm of God's sovereignty is history not just creation but history again designed for you to trust in him and praise him and I'm talking about God I'm certainly talking about the triune
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God God the Father God the Son and God the Spirit we have we have the essence of God and then we have three persons and so I'm not saying these things only apply to the father or the son or the spirit
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I'm saying this is one God and he is sovereign God the
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Father is sovereign God the Son is sovereign and God the Spirit he is sovereign God is king over all history why don't you turn with me to the book of Acts please typically at our church we are verse by verse to the book of Hebrews were probably 70 messages into the book of Hebrews I'll be going to California for some vacation later today and so I wanted you to hear these words ring from my mouth today
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God is sovereign we'll get to the book of Hebrews another day unless Revelation 22 the
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Lord comes back that would solve many problems and I believe he is gonna come back because he's sovereign and he keeps his word he's sovereign over creation and all history he rules in every time and in every place every speck of dust every world leader
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Daniel knew it and now Paul knows it too Acts 1726
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Paul's preaching and he says and he made from one man every nation of mankind by the way there's only one race the human race there's your verse to live on the face of the earth having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation this is the
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God that Daniel says who changes times and epics who removes kings and establishes kings he gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to the men of understanding no wonder
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Paul can write in Romans chapter 13 that government authorities are existing because of God established by God in God's universe what ifs and if onlys are actually not really and never a doubt trusting in this
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King Jerry Bridges writes in that book I referenced earlier comfort confidence in the sovereignty of God in all that affects us is crucial to our trusting him if there's a single event in all of the universe that can occur outside of God's sovereign control then we cannot trust him his love may be infinite but if his power is limited and his purpose can be thwarted we cannot trust him you may entrust to me your most valuable possessions
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I may love you and my aim to honor your trust may be sincere but if I do not have the power or ability to guard your valuables you cannot truly entrust them to me
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God is sovereign over all of history and whether that's good history or bad history no wonder he Job said to his wife you speak as a foolish woman speaks shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept what adversity in all this
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Job did not sin with his lips he's sovereign over creation he's sovereign over all history but what about the tiny details what about the the the micro details macro maybe we get kind of deistically what about micro let's learn now that God number three is king over every specific tiny detail turn to Matthew chapter 10 please and let's look at the
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Lord Jesus as I talk about the sovereignty of God there's something in me that wants to make sure we we see this transcendent attribute properly through the lens of the
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Lord Jesus Job understood that God was sovereign he just didn't know if God was good or not he didn't know if God was kind or not he didn't know if God loved him or not and of course we know as we see the text of scripture and we see
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Jesus the incarnate God and Savior we know that God is not just sovereign but he he loves sinners he wants their best we think about agape we think about Jesus giving his life a ransom for many we keep think about Jesus who seeks and save that was what was lost what about these tiny details what about little atoms what about little molecules are they just kinda like fervorously out there
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Matthew 1029 Jesus said now
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I want you to think about small, minute, insignificant are not two sparrows sold for a cent and yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father but the very hairs of your head are all numbered can you imagine every hair numbered no wonder
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Proverbs 16 says the lot is cast into the lap but it's every decision is from the
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Lord luck is out fortune is out random chance is out that exists but only in the vocabulary of uneducated pagans odds in Vegas are 100 percent certainties in the plan of God the
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King God makes things happen Jonah 1 each man said to his mate come let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us so they cast lots and the lots fell on I mean it had to happen randomness our
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God at the helm those your two options which ones more reassuring turn to Ecclesiastes 7
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I think what happens is we think about some of these specific details in life we're fine with the ones that maybe help us encourage us that might give us hope that God's triumphantly sovereign over but then there are some some verses that I called gut -punch verses that kinda take your breath away because it's great to say
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God's sovereign over all these wonderful things but what about difficult things alright let's just throw it out there is
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God's sovereign over sin? Is God's sovereign over calamity?
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in the days of prosperity Ecclesiastes 7 be happy I like that advice but in the day of adversity
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Ecclesiastes 7 .14 consider when it's a good day be happy enjoy what the
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Lord has given you on days of adversity think would not believe how many people
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I meet and the first word that comes out of their mouth describing what they do is I feel I feel I feel
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I feel this is a bad doctrine to be the feeling kind of person I think
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I need to consider what do you need to consider God has made the one as well as the other so that men will not discover anything that will be after him did you see that the day of adversity
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God made that he's sovereign over it listen to Isaiah 45 the one forming light and creating darkness causing well -being and creating calamity
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I am the Lord who does all these things how can that be the text says it just imagine if God wasn't sovereign over evil where would you be then
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Lamentations 3 who is there who speaks and it comes to pass unless the
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Lord has commanded it is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and ill go forth if you get that if you get
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Amos chapter 3 if calamity occurs in a city has not the Lord done it then you can truly appreciate
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Romans 828 how can God cause all things how can God work together all things how can he take all these evil things and turn them out for our good and for his glory you can appreciate
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Romans 828 when you realize God's sovereign over evil and he can use sin and Satan and trouble and everything else to accomplish his eternal purpose where are the pastors who teach these verses are they afraid are they embarrassed are they ashamed of the
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King of King God is sovereign over all good and bad and everything that's ever happened to you
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God is sovereign over that come now you who say today or tomorrow we will go to such -and -such a city and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow you're just a vapor that appears for a little while then vanishes away instead you ought to say if the
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Lord wills we will live and also do this are that that's
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James 4 that's the response to this all -encompassing realm of God he's sovereign over creation history tiny details number for design that you might not worry design that you might trust rest in this
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God he sovereign over your birthday and your funeral he sovereign over your birthday and your funeral
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I visited Jack O 'Leary this week and I don't think I've ever met a man face -to -face that I knew had has had two new hearts right the new heart from the
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Lord Jesus granted by salvation and then he had the heart that was put in him we think it might have been a lady who was killed and I was talking with him and we were talking about all kinds of people and things and sovereignty and in God's goodness in our our church family and we began to talk about some of those here at the church who have died we thought about Tom Shepard and Blake and others and what we do if if these things are just accidents what we do if this is just random and maybe we're next maybe we're not is
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God really sovereign over your birthday and your funeral the king of the universe could have decided that you would never be born he could have decided to be born in a different country at a different time to any parents that pleased him he chose your exact parents he chose your exact strands of DNA he chose the day of your birth he chose the color of your eyes hair skin whether you're male or female and everything else about you he chose there's nothing about you that was not sovereignly decided upon by the triune
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God I mean nothing that includes your death turn to Psalm 31 please
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I want you to see two Psalms that talk about this Job says since his days are numbered the number of his months is with you his limits you have set so that he cannot pass
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I have no idea when I'm going to die and short of the Lord's return I will die but there's nothing I can do no amount of exercise
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I like to exercise no amount of of of echinacea or vitamin C or zinc none of that will decelerate the time of my impending funeral
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I like exercise I I like doing all those kind of things but the day that I'm going to die is been ordained
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Psalm 31 verse 15 I mean
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I just I just revel as I I just hear myself read these verses revel in this great
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God my times are in your hand I mean remember he's singing about this deliver me from the hands of my enemies and from those who persecute me
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Lord I can just trust in you these people are trying to kill me but I can trust in you
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Psalm 139 how about that I often read part of this Psalm when I visit people they got a new baby and I think about this with little ones
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God's sovereignty over even the day you die you could have 10 ,000
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SWAT team members protecting you on that day but if it's your turn to die you're dying matter of fact if it's not your day to die you can have 10 ,000 gang members pursuing you and you will not die why
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Psalm 139 your eyes have seen my unformed substance verse 16 and in your book were all written the days that were ordained for me when as yet there was not one of them isn't that amazing the day that you're going to die is ordained
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Pink writes to deny the divine decrees would be to predicate a world and all its concerns regulated by undesigned chance or blind fate then what peace what assurance what comfort would there be for our poor hearts and minds what refuge would there be to fly to in the hour of need or trial none at all there would be nothing better than the black darkness and abject horror of atheism how thankful we should be that everything is determined by the infinite wisdom and goodness of God what praise and gratitude are due unto
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God for his divine decrees number five
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God's not only sovereign over creation history macro history micro your birthday and your funeral but also he's sovereign over every act committed by man every act committed by men and women he's sovereign over now we're leading someplace
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I'm leading you somewhere because some of you will acknowledge many of these things but point six you can have a hard time with so I'll just tell you ahead of time
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I'm trying to force you with this text to say God is sovereign over everything he's sovereign over all creation he's sovereign over every act committed by man true or false
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God called Cyrus anything but a godly
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King my shepherd true he even called him in Isaiah 45 his anointed are evil people and evil outside of God's sovereign umbrella well let's look at a few passages number one
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Genesis 45 please people easily see the
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God is sovereign over rain but when they're confronted by the Bible as it clearly instructs every reader that even the sinful and unrighteous deeds of humans are under the auspices of God's sovereign control they shudder they squirm they don't like it how and why is this the case could it possibly be and might there be some people here today those who struggle with this concept and this doctrine this
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God because they have not bowed their hearts and minds to the clear teaching of Scripture and their only defaults are philosophy logic well what about free will what about this what about that God makes me a robot then et cetera et cetera will get there that's not my point right now my point right now is
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God is sovereign over all of Scripture I mean it's sovereign over all of creation all of people because Scripture teaches it
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Joseph understood the sovereign rule of Yahweh in the midst of a sinful brother's actions do you see it in chapter 45 verse 8 of Genesis I'm excited to read through Genesis in the next 52 week.
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How many chapters in Genesis? 50. Is that right? Is that right?
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50? I get a check sometimes. You want to pass with the checks. Alright, 50.
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Thank you. 50 weeks. By the way, there are some crazy things in there and we're gonna read them every
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Sunday because if it's God's Word it's good for you, yes? I'm gonna give those to Pradeep to read, those hard ones.
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I'm not dumb. Makes me blush already thinking about it.
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Genesis 45 verse 8. Now therefore it was not you who sent me here. Wait a second, they did.
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But not ultimately, but God and he has made me a father to Pharaoh and Lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
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And then in chapter 50 verse 20 you know this verse, you've heard this verse. I just want you to hear this verse and not have a false theology placed over these verses to blunt the trauma of our pride.
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As for you, Genesis 50 20, you meant evil against me and that's exactly what those brothers did.
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Evil intentions, evil motives. But God meant it for what? Because he's sovereign over all those evil intentions.
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He meant it for good in order to bring about this present result to preserve many people alive.
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Sometimes we see how God sovereignly rules over evil and what the benefits are. Other times we don't see, but it's still true.
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God is sovereign over wicked people. Can you imagine if he wasn't?
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Question, what's the worst sin ever committed on this earth? There's a particular sin that's the worst sin that's ever been committed.
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What was that sin? Evil people sinning. It's the worst one by far.
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The response must be the crucifixion of the innocent man, Jesus Christ. No one deserved the execution and torture of Jesus less than him.
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No one deserved it. Yet observe carefully the words of scripture. Turn to Acts chapter four.
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This is the one, by the way, if you're ever talking to someone and they're not getting this, God ordains evil.
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God is using evil. God is sovereign over evil. They're afraid to use this language.
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They want to say things maybe about allowing. They want to say things maybe permitting. They want to say something else about it, to blunt this.
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I want you to always go here and think, God thankfully, wonderfully took the worst sin ever committed and gave you heaven for it.
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If you'll just trust in him. No one deserved this execution less than the
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Messiah. Excuse me. Acts 4 .23. When they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priest and elders had said to them.
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And when they heard this, they lifted up their voices to God with one accord and said, Oh, Lord, it is you who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, who by the
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Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father, David, your servant said, Why did the
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Gentiles rage and the people's devise futile things? The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers were gathered together against the
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Lord and against his Christ. Listen, for truly in this city, they were gathered together against your holy servant,
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Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod, evil man, evil intentions, and Pontius Pilate, evil man, evil intentions, along with the
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Gentiles and the peoples of Israel. They're evil. They're doing this to Jesus.
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But make sure you'd never forget this, because you'll have no hope in a world of evil if you don't, to do whatever your hand and your purpose predestined to occur.
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Friends, the death of Christ Jesus at Golgotha was sovereignly planned by God. Even though sinful men will give an account for their sinful actions, both are true.
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Derek Thomas says, God reigns through the stumbling, hobbling service of his people and the rage and malice of his foes to establish his eternal purpose for this world.
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The alternative options, by the way, are frightening. Number six, and finally,
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God is king over the eternal destiny of every person. It's one thing to say,
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God's sovereign over the rain, He's sovereign over my skin color, He's sovereign over my parents. It's another thing to cut to this chase,
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God is sovereign over the eternal destiny of every person. I mean, what's the option? He's sovereign over everything but that.
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This is the stumbling block of all stumbling blocks, that God controls who goes to His heaven and who goes to hell.
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I don't know if you've ever stubbed your toe on a big rock before and it just split open and you can just see the blood and feel the throbbing.
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This is the kind of doctrine that causes that, that God alone chooses the destiny of every human being that is offensive to people.
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And the only way you'll get this doctrine, besides the Spirit of God helping you submit to it, is saying to yourself, what does every person deserve?
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It better start off there. What does every person deserve? When Adam sinned, what did he deserve? When Eve sinned, what did she deserve?
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When Abel sinned, Cain sinned, David sinned, Jephthah sins, Moses sins, you sin,
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I sin. What does sin deserve? I mean, we don't even understand the depth of our depravity and so no one deserves heaven.
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Who is in heaven that says, I deserve to go? We don't really understand grace.
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But I'm not working off depravity now and sin. I'm after the sovereignty of God over eternal life and eternal judgment.
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If you think salvation is something that you do, you're going to have a problem with this.
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If you think it's something other than Jesus did all the work, He lived a perfect life according to the law,
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He was born of a woman, born under law, obeyed the law not for Him because He was already righteous, but obeyed the law for us.
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And our law breaking, He paid for it, Calvary. We know that's true because He's seated at the right hand of the
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Father now. If you think somehow you let God save you, you did save Him, that your faith is the cause instead of a result, you're going to have problems with this doctrine.
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Thomas Arnold said, the distinction between Christianity and all other systems of religion consists largely in this, that in these other religions men are found seeking after God while Christianity is
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God seeking after. Somehow today in evangelicalism, we've imbibed too deeply the lie that grace is contingent upon work and merit in what you do.
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No one left in his sinful fallen state would ever approach God, let alone dwell with God, a thrice holy
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God, without God's permission based on covering of sin and atonement and pardon.
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We're not saved by anything we can do, but we're saved by the King's good pleasure. Turn to Romans chapter 9, please.
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I know some churches that want to rip this chapter right out of their Bible, but it is such a wonderful chapter because A, it's true of God whether you like it or not, and B, this is hope for unbelievers.
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If you've got an unbelieving friend and you're hoping that they can just come up and give themselves a different skin color and the leopard can change its own spots and they can go from a sun of darkness to a sun of light on their own and they can regenerate themselves, you are going to wait forever.
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But this king, this sovereign king, beckons people in spite of them and he makes them alive and they freely respond with belief and repentance and trust.
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We're not saved by anything we can do, but we're saved by the King's good pleasure in and through the person of Christ Jesus, planned in eternity by the
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Father, applied by the Spirit of God. Verse 14,
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Romans 9. What should we say then? Well, you probably say a lot if you look at verse 13,
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Jacob, I loved, Esau, I hated. And you're going to wonder what's going on there and you're going to ask questions.
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And here's the question you're going to ask, verse 14, is there injustice on God's part? I mean, he loved one and he hated the other.
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Remember what they both deserve, by the way. And then Paul responds, by no means. For he says to Moses, by the way,
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Moses was put in the cleft of the rock and Moses said, God, I want to see your glory and the goodness of God pass by.
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And this is the verse showing the essence of God. You want to know what the character of God is at his essence?
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Here it is. He's a choosing God. He's a sovereign God. For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom
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I have mercy, that's sovereignty, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. Hallelujah that it wasn't, he didn't have compassion on anyone.
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I mean, the angels that fell, the one third of the angels fell, he did not have mercy on them, he did not have compassion on them.
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And he didn't owe them anything except justice. But here he gives mercy to some.
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Wow, he gives compassion on some. Verse 16, hear this well.
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So then it depends not on human will, your little idol of free will isn't so free, number one, and that's not what causes your salvation.
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It doesn't depend on human will or exertion, working, trying, but on God.
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And this is a God, and we know this in the personal work of Christ Jesus, has mercy. Yeah, show me where that's found in the
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Bible, Paul. Verse 17, the scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose
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I raised you up that I might show my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.
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So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
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You gotta let that stop and just sink in. I know what you're gonna say, then why are we accountable if he does this?
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Verse 19, you will say to me then, why does he still find fault?
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Who can resist his will? If you ask the question theologically, I understand. If you ask the question,
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I'm putting God under my thumb and he deserves an answer to me, he deserves to answer me, here's the response.
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Who are you, oh insignificant man, to answer back to God? You better shut your mouth is what you should do when you talk to God like that.
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Well, what does molders say to the molder? Why have you made me like this? Question, has the potter no right over the clay?
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Don't give me robots, give me pottery language. To make out of the same lump, the lump that all deserve to be used for what?
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Privy pots for honorable use and another for dishonorable use. Why is the potter can take clay and make privy pots and china at his own good pleasure, at his own goodwill.
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But God can't do that. Verse 22, here's an insight into why
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God saves some and not all. He could have saved all, he could have saved none, but he saved some, not all.
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There is a hell, Judas is there. It would have been better if he'd never been born. Desiring to show his wrath and to make his power known.
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That's one of the reasons why there are people suffering in hell and eventually the lake of fire. Has endured with much patience, vessels of wrath prepared for destruction.
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In order, verse 23, to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy.
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You will do not know how good you have it until you realize what people are doing who have rejected this
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God and they don't believe in the son which he has prepared beforehand for glory. True or false?
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As many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. I hope you say true because that's
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Acts 13, 48. As many has been appointed to eternal life believe. As Persians said, attempts have been made to prove that these words do not teach predestination.
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But these attempts so clearly do violence to the language that I will not waste my time in answering them. God determines who goes to his heaven because nobody deserves to go and for him to save anyone is amazing grace.
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Well, what's the response to all this? Dear friends, here's a response. Submit to the teaching of Scripture that God's sovereign over everything.
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Here's a response. Stand in awe of such a great God. Here's a response.
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Be humble. And when you pray the way the Lord Jesus taught his disciples to pray in that model prayer, thy will be done.
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That recognizes that God is sovereign. Here's a response. Fear God. That's the beginning of wisdom to entrust yourself to this
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God who deserves honor and reverence and fear. Here's a response.
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Don't complain. Don't complain about your spouse or your friends or your workers or your children.
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Shall not the judge of the universe do right? Is he not sovereign over them? Here's a response.
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Rejoice. Revelation 19, hallelujah. For the Lord our God, the almighty reigns.
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Calvin said, it comforts him to know that he has been received into God's safekeeping and entrusted to the care of his angels and that neither water nor fire nor iron can harm him except in so far as it pleases
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God as governor to give them occasion. I shall not be afraid,
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Psalm 56. What can mere man do to me? Here's a response. Father, increase my faith.
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Build my faith. Help me realize that while I might be panic stricken when I get the phone call, there's a problem.
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There's a sickness. The test results are in. You're not panicked at all. Can you imagine
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God biting his nails, wondering and worrying? Here's a response.
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The sovereignty of God makes the worst person's life bearable. Innumerable, one writer said, are the evils that beset human life.
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Innumerable, too, the deaths that threaten it. Wherever you turn, all things around you not only are hardly to be trusted, but almost openly menace and seem to threaten immediate death.
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Embark upon a ship, you are one step away from death. Mount a horse, if one foot slips, your life is imperiled.
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Go through the city streets, you are subject to many dangers as there are tiles on the roofs. If there's a weapon in your hand or a friend's, harm awaits.
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All the fierce animals you see are armed for your destruction. But if you try to shut yourself up in a walled garden, seemingly delightful, there's a serpent sometimes lying hidden.
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Your house continually in danger of fire threatens in the daytime to impoverish you and at night even to collapse upon you.
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I'm a bearer of good news. He, the writer says,
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I pass over poisonings, ambushes, robberies and open violence. And for our modern people, nuclear war.
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But our times are in his hand. I would be worried if I thought about undesigned chance and blind fate.
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But the peace that I get from God and the assurance and the comfort. No wonder
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David says, many, oh Lord, my God are the wonders which you have done. Your thoughts toward us, there is none to compare with you.
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If I could declare and speak to them, they would be too numerous to count. Our God is a sovereign
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God. Let's pray. I thank you Father for this time where we can look upon your word and even think about the
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Lord Jesus Christ. In eternity, you had that plan to send the
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Son to rescue us. And in time, your spirit, the Holy Spirit, helped the
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Lord Jesus obey. And then you, through your spirit, applied Jesus's life and death to our account.
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If I had to control everything here, Father, I would be left undone. I would be worried. But your servant, the
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Lord Jesus, said he would send another one, the Holy Spirit, just like him, to help us.
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To sovereignly make sure everything is going to plan. Father, I pray that you would give joy to the hearts of every parent here with a loved one who's wayward.
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Every spouse that's here with a loved one who has not bowed the knee to the Lord Jesus. Every person here who has medical tests waiting for the results and have gotten some back that are bad.
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Father, this is the balm. It's not about signs and wonders and music and blue lights and emotionalism up on a stage.
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It's a God proclaimed through a frail preacher that he rules, he reigns.
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Jesus Christ, out of all the kings, is the one who's kinging. And of all the lords, is lording. And that he would be called our
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Savior, our friend, our advocate. We praise you for that. There's someone here who has not bowed the knee either to this doctrine or to the
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Lord Jesus. Because you are sovereign and you use means like preaching and prayer, grant them saving faith today.