What is the Sovereignty of God?

The Neglected Doctrine of God and Theology Proper

I want to invite you to take out your Bibles and turn with me to Isaiah chapter 45. We're going to be looking at verses 5 -7. It can be argued that one of the most neglected, if not the most neglected, doctrine in the modern church is the doctrine of God.

Now what is the doctrine of God? What I mean by the doctrine of God is what we might call theology proper, or the study of who God is and how God governs the world. As I mentioned in the past few weeks, over the past few weeks, there is a growing anti-intellectualism within the modern church.

This has caused so many to abandon the study of the weightier matters of the faith. And they have replaced them with concerns for good emotional feelings, health, and wealth. And of course, how can Jesus make your life better?

That's become the focus. We've stopped studying God. We've stopped focusing on the weightier matters of faith. And instead, we have focused on the emotional aspects. And as a result, when one begins to engage the subjects such as who God is, His nature, His being, and His sovereignty, this can cause people to get rather uncomfortable.

Some would even go far as to say, we don't care to dive into the deep subjects, we just want to experience God. We don't want to dive into the subject, we don't want to dive into the study of it, we just want to experience Him.

So we'll stand with our hands open and our heads raised, or with our hands closed and our heads down, and we'll just experience God. Yet because of a lack of depth in theology, the experience itself is shallow, if it exists at all.

I am convinced that the only way for our faith to grow is for us as individual Christians to engage the subjects that drive us out of our comfort zones and force us to look at God as He really is. Which force us to understand Him as He really is.

This is the only way to grow deeper in our faith. As such, over the past few weeks, what I have been doing, I hope most of you have noticed this, over the past few weeks we've been in the Old Testament, and what I've been trying to do is examine the nature of God as He is demonstrated to us in the Old Testament.

Now there are some who would say that's not a good idea. There are some who would say that's actually a bad idea. Because why should we examine the God of the Old Testament when we have the New Testament?

Well, beloved, the reason why we are examining God in the Old Testament is because God is immutable. That word means that God does not change. So if God was a certain way in the Old Testament, He's still that way.

Interesting. I've heard people say, I've actually heard people say, well you can't study the God of the Old Testament, He was mean. Well, beloved, if God was mean in the Old Testament, He's mean today because He says in the Bible, I am the Lord, I changeth not.

I just, I never can get over that. When people have this idea that somehow the God of the Old Testament is different than the God of the New Testament. We need to be confident that the same God of the Old Testament is the same of the New Testament.

And it's the same God that continues to this day. And what we learn about Him in the Old Testament, about His sovereignty, about His being, about His person, continues to be true today. Last week we looked at the holiness of God.

And we said that the holiness of God should encourage us toward an appropriate fear of God. Because men like Isaiah, a godly man, had a godly fear of God. An understandable fear of God. And that we too should have a reverence, a fear of God.

Because God, of course, tells us that that is the case. He says, don't fear the one who can kill the body, but fear the one who can send both body and soul into hell. Very clear. That's the New Testament, by the way.

So we come to today. And what is it we're learning about today? Well, you have the title of the sermon. It's on the board. Or on the screen. I don't have a board in here. I wish I did. I'm big on dry erase boards.

I really like to teach from those. But I have my screen. The question today is, well, what is sovereignty? Last week we looked at holiness. This week we're looking at sovereignty. I mean, hey, the name of our church is Sovereign Grace Family Church.

We ought to know a little something about sovereignty. But sadly, as I said, many people do not want to go down this road of study because they know that it leads to some very uncomfortable areas. They know that it leads to some areas that might make us have to step out of our theological comfort zone and get into an area where, hey, this isn't what I was taught in Sunday school.

This isn't what I understood as a kid. This is more deep than I've ever had to tread. These waters are deeper than I've ever had to wade in before. And thus, I'm uncomfortable and I don't want to go. We can't have that attitude.

We can't. If we are expected, and we are, to grow in our faith, it's a real growth which takes real effort. And it's a stretching process. And any one of you who has ever done any type of exercise at all, you know that the stretching process and the exercise, it creates a flexibility.

It stretches you out. And if you don't do that, it hurts. But if you do do that, it hurts worse. If you don't stretch out before you exercise, it hurts. But if you do stretch out, it's going to hurt too.

Because the next day you wake up and everything hurts. Well, that's the way it is with your brain. We're going to stretch you. Make you have to think. And sometimes stretching hurts. But you know what?

You're going to be alright. You're going to survive. And you're going to grow. That's part of the process. So today we're going to be looking at God's sovereignty. We're going to see how it encourages us.

If we understand it, it will actually encourage us towards a more confident walk with Him. So let's stand. We're going to read Isaiah 45, verses 5 -7. This is going to be the introductory text to our study today.

Isaiah is speaking in the place of God here. He is speaking for God. And I want you to hear what the Lord says through the prophet. Isaiah 45, verse 5. I am the Lord, and there is no other. Beside me, there is no God.

I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness.

I make well-being and create calamity. I am the Lord who does all these things. Our Father and our God, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for this opportunity to study it. I pray, O Lord, that You would keep me from error as I teach and open the hearts of the people to understand what is being taught.

And Lord God, that ultimately it would all meet with Your approval and that it would all glorify You. I pray this in Jesus' name and for His sake. Amen. The biblical doctrine of the sovereignty of God is one that has caused great confusion in the history of the church, especially recently.

For some, it is a place of rest and peace, as it provides security in the midst of life's chaos, knowing that in the end, God will ensure that it all works towards His glory and the believer's good. But for others, however, it has been a point of great contention and fear as people grapple with the ideas of how can God be sovereign, yet the world seems so out of control.

So you have this contention within the body of Christ, a contention of understanding. What is sovereignty? How does it work? What does it even mean? How does it affect my daily life? There was a group of pastors who were in a class and they were asked, what is the doctrine of the Bible that gives you the most comfort in your ministry?

Now you might think, they might have said, well, the love of God or maybe the mercy of God, the grace of God, any one of those things would be a doctrine that would bring them peace in their ministry.

Almost to a man, the answer was the sovereignty of God because their answer was based on their theological understanding that you know what, my ministry is under God's control. No matter where He places me, no matter in what situation I am in, no matter what I face, no matter what person I face, no matter what issue I come across, God is still God.

And for them, it gave them great comfort. But yet I see within the sea of Christianity, not a lot of comfort, not a lot of trust in the sovereignty of God. And it has created a mass of Christians who I think are very weak in their faith.

I wanted you to hear. Did you hear me say the word sovereignty of God? You say, well, what is it? A .W. Pink. I don't know if any of you have ever heard of A .W. Pink. A .W. Pink wrote a book called The Sovereignty of God.

It's a small book. I recommend it to your reading. It is a fantastic work on this subject. But I want to read to you one paragraph from his book. He says this, and I quote, The sovereignty of God is an expression that once was generally understood.

It was a phrase commonly used in religious literature. It was a theme frequently expounded on in the pulpit. It was a truth which brought comfort to many hearts and gave virility and stability to Christian character.

But today, and this was years ago. Stopping the quote for a moment. When he's talking about today, this was years ago. So it's worse today. But in his day, he says,. But today to make mention of God's sovereignty is in many quarters to speak in an unknown tongue.

Were we to announce from the average pulpit that the subject of our discourse would be the sovereignty of God, it would sound very much as though we had borrowed a phrase from one of the dead languages.

Alas, that it should be so. Alas, that the doctrine which is key to history, the interpreter of providence, the warp and wolf of scripture, and the foundation of Christian theology should be so sadly neglected and so little understood.

End quote. So even in the days of A .W. Pink, there was a reference to the fact that people have stopped studying it. People have stopped concerning themselves with it. People have stopped their understanding of it.

And now the virility and the strength of Christian character is lost. Because we don't understand God anymore. We don't understand what it means to be sovereign anymore. And thus, our Christian character is done.

It's a powerful quote, really. Because, again, we live in a time that's post-Pink. I just created a term. We are post-Pink. And what's happened now is people have not only gone to where they don't understand sovereignty, they've gone to the point where they actually deny it.

And now we live in an age where Christian churches, holding to doctrines such as open theism. And I don't know how many of you know what open theism is, so I want to make sure that everyone understands what that term means.

Open theism is a very popular teaching right now. And it teaches this, that God has a good idea of what the future holds. But He is in no way managing it. He is in no way managing the future. The future is open.

So that's the term open theism. In his book, God's Lesser Glory, Bruce Ware explains that this system shows that the God of open theism is not really the God of the Bible at all. This is because the God of open theism is at best a seer of the future and not the sovereign God of the Bible.

So open theism is not biblical theology, yet it has infected so much of the Christian world. The Bible is clear that we do not serve a God who simply sees the future. You have to understand this. God does not simply see the future.

We serve a God who ordains the future by divine decree and who is absolutely the authority over His creation. That is a different view of God than many people hold. Many people, oh, well, God knew what was going to happen, but He didn't have any control over it.

Then He ain't God. Bad grammar or good theology? Because if your God only can see it's going to happen, but He's like the person standing at the stop sign seeing the car about to hit the other car and going, oh, I hope it doesn't happen, but He has no control that He's not God.

He's a spectator. And that's the God that many people have. They have a God who simply witnesses history, but does not engage it. A .W. Pink said this in his book. He said the sovereignty of God. What do we mean by this expression?

We mean the supremacy of God, the kingship of God, the Godhood of God. To say that God is sovereign is to declare that God is God and anything else and He's not God. I love that statement. To say He's sovereign is just to say He's God.

The two words are synonymous. He is the Lord of the universe. And we quit using that word Lord a long time ago. We want Jesus to be our Savior, but not our Lord. Because Lord involves having allegiance, having to bow down, having to do what He says.

We don't want that. We want the Savior part because that scratches us where we itch. It makes us feel good. It makes us feel better about ourselves because somebody is willing to save us. But then to have to kneel down to a Lord, oh, we don't like that.

Sovereignty means that there is nothing in the universe that is outside of God's control. Nothing in the universe that is outside of God's control. It's expressed in places like we read this morning in 1 Chronicles 29 .11.

Remember we read it when we first came in this morning? It was our opening text. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is Yours.

Yours is the Kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head above all. Everything. Nothing is left out. John Calvin, who I know gets a bad rap from some people, but he has some great theology. I have his books in my office.

One of the things he says, not one drop of rain falls from the sky without the sovereign approval of God that God is in control of everything. And you say, well, that seems like awful nitpicky. God said He knows every hair on your head.

You don't think He knows every raindrop that falls? You see, the problem with so many people is their view of God is so small that they don't have room in their minds, in their hearts, in their houses for a sovereign God.

They want a God who is an accessory. They want a God who is a part that comes into their life to make it fulfilled rather than a God who is in control over it all. From the rain that falls to the earth that rotates, even to our beating hearts, God undergirds them.

God controls them. God is the commander of the universe. God answers to no one. There is no standard to which God must live up to. He is the standard. He is God. It's just like in this passage that was our opening passage this morning.

He says, I am the Lord. Let's go back to Isaiah 45. We're going to go over this passage. He says, I am the Lord and there is no other. That's an important passage. By the way, if you ever have to talk to a Mormon, not that this has anything to do with today's sermon, but I've got to say it because if I didn't, I would be remiss.

If you ever need to talk to a Mormon, Isaiah 45, verse 5 is a great place to go. Because the Mormon theology teaches that God was once a man who lived on another planet, who because of his commitment to Mormon teachings grew up and lived a faithful woman life, died and became a God, and that He is now the God of our world.

Because they believe that a person can become God as a result of faithfulness to Mormon doctrine and Mormon teaching. There's a lot more to it, but that's the foundation of Mormon theology is that if you get married in a temple marriage ceremony, you and your wife have an eternal marriage which lasts past the grave, and you two spawn universes because you become gods of your own.

Now, again, I didn't mean to go off on Mormon theology, but here's the thing. Isaiah 45, I am the Lord and there is no other. Beside me, there is no God. That's pretty clear. I would say that is crystal clear.

That if your theology says not only are there many gods, but there's going to be many gods because you yourself can become a god, then your theology is unbiblical. So Isaiah 45, verse 5, keep that in your middle Rolodex the next time one of them comes to your door.

At least you'll have something that you might start a conversation about their doctrine of God. Because again, the doctrine of God. This is an issue. A major issue. He says, I equip you though you do not know Me that people may know from the rising of the sun and from the west that there is none beside Me.

I am the Lord and there is no other. Isaiah 45, 5, and 6 is focused on the uniqueness of God. I am the Lord. There is no other besides Me. It's focused on His uniqueness. And he goes on to say in verse 7, I form light and create darkness.

I make well-being and create calamity. Now, there's a little issue here. If you have a King James Bible, which I know some of you may, I think it says, I form the light and create darkness. I make well-being and create evil.

Does anybody have a King James? Does it say I create evil there? Is evil the word that's used? Just to make this clear, because if we are talking about this passage, I want to make sure that we understand.

In the Hebrew language, the word evil here can have various connotations in the way that it's translated. I think the ESV and the New American Standard Bible both are a little bit clearer by saying God creates calamity.

When we talk about that which is evil, necessarily evil, that is anything opposed to God. And obviously, God doesn't do that which is opposed to His own will. So translating it as evil in that sense I think is a little bit of a mistranslation.

I think the term here when it says God creates calamity, He really does. God is at work in all areas of the world doing all types of things. And He says I make well-being and I create calamity in the sense that He is involved in everything that's going on.

But God is not the author of evil in the sense that God does not author that which is opposed to Him. Because that would be outside of His character. James says, he says I am not the author of evil. I mean, James tells us that very clearly.

So when we see the word evil here, we must understand is that evil itself is not a created thing. Evil itself is the opposite of God's being. It's sort of like light and darkness. Light is a thing. Darkness is not a thing.

Darkness is what happens when the light goes out. Righteousness is a thing and evil is not a thing. Evil is the result of when righteousness goes out. So in this sense, it's not that God has created that which is opposed to Him, but in Isaiah 45, when He talks about creating calamity, He's talking about the fact that He's sovereign over everything.

And that there's nothing that happens, good or bad, in the world that God is not in control over. We have trouble with that, but that is the truth. That is how the Bible describes God. It's absolutely sovereign over everything.

We have trouble with this concept. I think we have trouble with it primarily, and I've mentioned this before, some of you have heard me say this before, I think this frustrates some of you, but I'll say it anyway.

Not because I'm just intentionally trying to frustrate, but because, you know, I'm going to say it. I think that the problem we have with sovereignty most of all is because we live in a democratic, we've grown up inherently democratic as Americans.

None of us have ever lived under a dictator. None of us have ever lived outside of a democratic foundation. I don't know, some of you may be from overseas, but if you're born and raised in America, then you've always had an opportunity to have your vote count.

We grow up with that understanding, one man, one vote kind of thing. And very important part of this freedom that we all experience in America. This is important to us. So I think what happens when we talk about sovereignty of God, the thing that frustrates us is that God is not democratic.

God does not take a vote. God doesn't care whether we think it's right or not. If He says it's right, it's right. If He does it, it's right. If He says it's wrong, it's wrong. That's it. We don't get to hold God to a higher standard than Himself.

He is the highest standard. And I think that frustrates us sometimes. I think that's the part of sovereignty that is most uncomfortable for Americans, is that we have a God who chooses according to the pleasure of His will, and He does not need our input.

He does not need our advice. He does not need us in any way, shape or form to vote on the matter. He's got this. And He answers to no one. Daniel chapter 4 and verse 35. And by the way, the person speaking here is Nebuchadnezzar.

Remember Nebuchadnezzar? Nebuchadnezzar was not a great theologian. Nebuchadnezzar was an evil king. But God struck Nebuchadnezzar with a bout of madness. And afterward, Nebuchadnezzar says these words, All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing.

And He, speaking of God, does according to His will, among the hosts of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay His hand or say to Him, What have you done? You see, Nebuchadnezzar had just come out of a bout of madness.

Remember what happened to Nebuchadnezzar? Walks out on his balcony, sees everything. Oh, look what I've done. Look what I have. And what did God? Struck with madness. He's out there eating grass like a cow.

God proved, you think you're sovereign? Get up. I mean, I got you. I am sovereign. You are not. That's the way, you know, we have a hard time understanding. God is sovereign. What little bit of control we get to exercise in our own lives, what little bit of control we have, even at the highest levels of control, are granted to us by God.

That's why Romans 13 tells us that we have to submit to authority, because there's no authority given to anyone that wasn't given to them by God. Sometimes we wonder why God gives certain people authority.

Why do certain people that we have in our nation have the authority that they have right now? Well, God has sovereignly placed people where He wants them, and here's the thing that people don't often like to think about.

God places people in authority for one of two reasons. Anybody in authority is either a blessing or a curse to a people. Always. They're either a blessing or a curse. I'll let you decide what we got right now.

Seriously. God places people in authority for one of two reasons. Either to bless a people or to curse a people. To bring them good or bring them judgment. One or the other. But God is the one who's in control.

Never you mind God is the one who is in control. Always. Never think that it's any different. People have asked me at times, Pastor, do you really believe in the sovereignty of God? I say, yes. They'll say, does that mean you also believe that God has ordained everything that will come to pass?

I say, yes. That's what sovereignty means. Might be hard to understand. In some of the old catechisms, I know we don't use them very much nowadays, but in the confessions of faith, the great confessions of faith that came out of the Reformation, you know, the statements about the sovereignty of God were very clear that God has unchangeably ordained that whatsoever will come to pass.

Those words are written down as a result of an understanding of Scripture that is far deeper than what we have today. And people say, well, if you believe that everyone, you know, if you believe these things, you believe God has made choices, you believe God has ordained, you know, these things before the foundation of the world.

Why? Why do you believe these things? Do you believe it because it's written in a confession? 1600, you know, from the 1600s? Do you believe that because of that? Do you believe because it's in the 1689 London Baptist Confession?

Is that why you believe it? No, I believe it because it's in the Bible. And I believe those who deny it not only have to jump over hurdles in Scripture to get by it, but they have to deny and just put to bed certain passages that they will never preach in their own churches or never discuss.

Again, I believe in the sovereignty of God, not because it fits into some philosophical or theological system, but because it is what the Bible teaches. You're in Isaiah 45. Turn over to chapter 46. One page, verse 11.

Isaiah 46 and 11. I'm sorry, verse 8 to 11. Remember this and stand firm. Recall it to mind, you transgressors. Remember the former things of old. For I am God and there is no other. By the way, that was very similar to what he said last chapter.

There's a theme here. For I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from the ancient times things not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all My purpose, calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My counsel from a far country.

I have spoken and I will bring it to pass. I have purposed and I will do it. Now, let me just break this down for you rather quickly here. He says in verse 8 and 9, he says, remember this and stand firm.

Recall it to mind, you transgressors. Remember the former things of old. For I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like Me. Again, pointing to his own uniqueness. What makes me unique though?

What makes me unique? Not me, but God. What is it that makes me different than the idols? You remember the time of Isaiah? He's dealing with the people that are dealing with idol worship. What makes me different?

I've said, I am God and there is none like Me. What makes me different than the other gods? Verse 10, I declare the end from the beginning. God says, I have declared the end from the beginning. I didn't just say what was going to happen.

I determined it. From ancient times, things not yet done. Saying, My counsel shall stand and I will accomplish My purpose. All My purpose. This is something only a true God can say. Only the true God can say that I have declared the end from the beginning.

I have a purpose and I have determined it will be fulfilled. Only a sovereign God. Only a God God could say such a thing. As in Psalms 135, whatever the Lord pleases, He does. In heaven and in earth. And in the seas and in the deeps.

That's a God who is God. Proverbs 19 .21. Many are the plans of a man's heart, but the counsel of the Lord is what will stand. Most of us know that one. And most of us know that to be true, right? We'll have a plan.

We'll have a good plan. We'll have a well marked out plan. And God will have other plans. And guess who wins? Every time. And by the way, if you ever want a comfort for what is happening in our nation, Proverbs 21 .1 says, The king's heart is like a stream of water in the hand of the Lord.

He turns it wherever He wills. Now you ever think about what that means? It says the king's heart is a stream of water. You ever had water run in your hand and you throw it this way or you throw it that way?

Maybe your kids are coming over and you can aim it at them or you can aim it at this one? The king's heart is in the hand of God. Again, like I said earlier, he's either there for judgment or he's there for blessing, but it's God.

That's powerful stuff. And this is the Bible. This ain't Keith Bosky's opinion. This ain't the Keith Standard version. This is the Bible. W. Bingham Hunter writes this. He said, From a biblical perspective, the world's history books should all be prefaced with 2 Kings 19 .25.

He said all history books should be prefaced with 2 Kings 19 .25. You know what 2 Kings 19 .25 says? It says, Have you not heard, long ago I ordained it, and the days of old I planned it, and now I have brought it to pass?

Hear it again. Long ago I ordained it, and the days of old I planned it, and now I have brought it to pass. That's how history started. God planned it. God ordained it. God brought it to pass. Because He is God.

God's Sovereign Purpose in Evil, Calamity, and Human History

We see the sovereign acts of God throughout the Bible. You know, it's easy. When we start opening our eyes to these things, it's easy to start seeing the sovereign hand of God. And most of you have heard me talk about these things before, but again, it's a reminder to your heart of these truths.

We see the hand of God, the sovereign hand of God, even in the evil acts of men. That's hard for us to get sometimes. Because even when a man is acting evilly, even when a man is acting in evil, God can have purpose, and does have purpose, in everything that He allows.

Sometimes we don't understand that. Sometimes we see something that's so evil, so heinous, so unrighteous, and we think, God, you know, we have one of two ways to address that. One of two ways to address it.

We can either say, God, you're in control, and I know you have a purpose for this, but I don't know what it is, but I'm going to trust you. Or we can say, God, you must be out of control. I mean, there's only two ways to come at it.

Either He is or He ain't. And which way trusts in God? Think about Joseph. You all know I was going to get around to Joseph at some point in this sermon. How can you not? Think about Joseph. Joseph, he's sold into slavery by his brothers.

First they were going to kill him. Then they decided it would be easier to make money off of him. So they make money off of him. They sell him into slavery. He ends up in the prison. I'm sorry, he ends up a slave of Potiphar.

Then because of an accusation of attempted rape of Potiphar's wife, he ends up in prison. And as a result of that, he ends up being used by the pharaoh to save the people from an impending crop shortage and ends up being lifted to the second in command of all of Egypt.

His brothers get brought before him. They find out who he is. Scared to death. As would we all be if we sold our brother into slavery. And then he became the second most important person in the known world.

I think we'd all be a little nervous. And yet, what was his response? Genesis 45, what was his response? It says in 45 verse 4, it says, So Joseph said to his brothers, Come near to me, please. And they came near.

And he said, I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here. For God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these last two years.

And there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here.

It was God. Beloved, people say, oh, well, God just can take lemons and make lemonade. That's the way they look at sovereignty, and that's silly and shallow. God is not a God who just takes lemons and makes lemonade.

God is a God with a plan and a purpose. And Joseph could see at this point in his life that everything that had happened to him, that God had ordained, that God had allowed into his life, had happened for a purpose to bring him to this place.

That is why in chapter 50, in verse 20, he can say, it was not you who sent me here, but God. What you did for evil, Genesis 50, 20, what you did for evil, God did for good. So God can take even that which is evil and have a purpose for it because he purposes the good within it that we do not see at the time.

But it's only because he is sovereign. And only a sovereign God could do such a thing. Again, our sovereign God does not make lemons out of lemonade or lemonade out of lemons. He has a purpose that he started from the beginning and is working towards to the end.

And everything is part of his divine decree. When people say, I just don't believe that God could ordain evil things with a purpose. Well, then you don't believe in the cross. Because the cross was absolutely the most evil act in history in the sense that there was nobody who was ever as innocent as Jesus.