“Leaders by Divine Appointment” – FBC Morning Light (10/13/2023)

Well, a good Friday morning to you. Here we are coming to another weekend and looking forward to the Lord's Day this week. And just as a reminder, at our church on Sunday morning in the adult Bible study time, we're studying the book of Acts.

In the Sunday morning service, I've been preaching through the seven letters to the churches in Revelation, chapters two and three. And then Sunday night, we're in the book of Proverbs and doing really kind of topical studies in the book of Proverbs.

And this Sunday night, next two Sunday nights, I think we'll be looking at words of wisdom from Proverbs. Well, today in our Bible reading plan, we're reading in Jeremiah chapters 27, 28, beginning the New Testament book of Hebrews with chapter one, and then the third chapter of Ecclesiastes in our reading.

The Lord Sovereignly Appoints and Removes World Leaders

I want to look at a couple of different ideas in Jeremiah 27 this morning, and chapter 28 as well, and I hope that these things will encourage you. The first is, I want you to think about the nations of the world right now in which we live, and then the figureheads of those nations, the leaders of those nations.

Just do a little mental exercise, maybe rehearse some of the news in the last couple of days of names that you've heard of governmental leaders. When you think about the governmental leaders of the nations of this world, it's important for us to realize that they are in power in their nation because the Lord sovereignly put them there for his purposes to accomplish his plans.

That is sometimes really difficult for us to accept, isn't it? Because there are governmental leaders that are dictators, they're cruel, they're barbarous, they're devils, they're devils to their people.

And they, on the world stage, they're just horrendous, horrific individuals, human beings. And for me to make that statement, that governmental leader is in the position of power that he holds because the Lord sovereignly put him there for his purposes to accomplish his plans, that seems like, man, how can I accept that?

But listen to what the Lord says here in Jeremiah chapter 27, verses 4 and following. Listen carefully. He says, As thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, thus shall you say to your masters, I have made the earth, this is the Lord speaking, I have made the earth, the man and the beasts that are on the ground by my great power and by my outstretched arm and have given it to whom it seemed proper to me.

And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant. Nebuchadnezzar was not a man of God. He was not a believer in and a follower and worshiper of Yahweh, the Old Testament God.

No, not at all. But God calls him my servant. He says, I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him.

So all nations shall serve him and his son and his son's son until the time of his land comes, and then many nations and great kings shall make him serve them. Do you see what's going on there? Now if you did not have that revelation, if God had not put that in the Scriptures, all you would see is what's broadcast on the news.

You would see this ruthless leader of the Babylonian Empire coming into a land and devastating it, killing people by the scores, ripping up women with children, devastating buildings, tearing them, utterly destroying them, setting property aflame, and all this kind of stuff, just wreaking havoc.

You'd be seeing all that on the news, and you'd be horrified watching the scenes, and so on, and so forth, and taking people into captivity, and you'd say, this is terrible, you know, taking them to these... and then 70 years later, you'd turn the news on.

It wouldn't even be 70 years later, it would be a few years later. The Medo-Persian Empire would come, the Medes and the Persians would come and attack and destroy the Babylonians and take over their kingdom and be ruthless toward them, and on and on it goes.

These many nations come against Nebuchadnezzar and take him captive. In verse 8 it says, it shall be that the nation and the kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation the Lord says, I will punish.

So there's a hand of the Lord in all of this, and you know, again, as I said, if we didn't have this revelation, we'd see all this played out in technicolor, and would just think it's all because people are really bad, and cruel, and ruthless, and Putin-like, or on and on with other leaders of dictators and ruthless barbarians in this land, in this world.

But here, let's not miss what God has revealed to us, that these leaders are in their positions of authority, doing what they're doing, even wreaking havoc sometimes, because they are accomplishing purposes that God has, plans that God has established.

Whether we understand those plans or not, whether we understand the purposes or not, most of the time we don't know. We're only seeing things in a parenthesis of time, and there is a bigger picture going on than what we can comprehend.

Do we have to comprehend it? Do we have to know it all? I would suggest we don't. All we have to do, what we do need to do, is trust in the one who does know what he's doing, and he does have it under his sovereign control.

So when you think about North Korea, China, Russia, Iran, Iraq, etc., etc., what you can be doing is be confident. You can be confident that our God has sovereign authority over and control over each of these nations, and he will use them to accomplish his purposes.

Let's rest in that, and not demand having to have all the answers. Let's just rest in what God's revealed, all right? So Father, encourage us with this today. We don't have to sit around watching the news and wringing our hands in despair and anxiety.

We can rest in you. May we do so. And this we pray in Jesus' name, and for his sake. Amen. All right, well listen, have a wonderful weekend, and do gather with God's people on the Lord's Day. It is his day after all.

Make that a priority in the start of your new week, all right? Listen, have a good day. God bless.