God Will Still Be on the Throne Wednesday

Sovereign Grace Family Church

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November 1, 2020

00:00: Open up your Bible and turn with me to the Old Testament and to the book of Isaiah.
00:15: And find your place in Isaiah 45, and when we come time to read, we'll read just the one verse, verse 18.
00:32: But really today is going to be a survey of this entire chapter, but the focal verse for us today is verse 18.
00:45: This Tuesday will be the fourth presidential election since I became the pastor here.
00:55: I was the pastor of this church in 2008, in 2012, in 2016.
01:05: I'm the pastor now and Lord willing I'll continue to be the pastor for the foreseeable future.
01:12: But none of those previous days, none of those previous elections have seemed to have the same sense of anticipation as this one, even though I would say there was a lot of anticipation particularly at the last election.
01:29: This one has seemed to have risen to almost a fever pitch.
01:33: We have, as a nation, had a difficult year.
01:40: The threat of disease has given rise to what many of us could only describe as governmental overreach and abuse of power.
01:55: Accusations of social injustice have caused mob response in cities to burn and people to be attacked and even killed.
02:07: Just this past week, the leading leftward voice of the Supreme Court was replaced with what will likely prove to be her polar opposite.
02:19: And that is causing much consternation from those on the left side of the political spectrum.
02:30: And all of this has combined to cause many to recognize that the political consequences of Tuesday's election are no less than what many would say are just very serious.
02:46: But my purpose today is to remind us of something, and I want to remind you all of something.
02:55: This sermon, this is my fourth time preaching on this occasion, and every four years I preach the same topic.
03:09: Now as can rightfully be said, it's not the same sermon, because as the Lord wills, I've been able to learn more and dig deeper.
03:20: And as I'm four years older now, a little wiser, I hope.
03:27: But this is, the reason why I preach this same sermon every four years is because every four years I hear the same thing.
03:33: I hear people say, I'm really scared about the results of this election.
03:39: I hear that whether it was 2012, whether it was 2008, whether it was 2016, people always tend to say the same thing.
03:46: I'm really, I'm concerned, I'm really scared about the results of this election.
03:51: And while I share some of those concerns regarding the economy, the state of the union, the direction of our nation, the very soul of our nation in regards to morality and the direction of all sorts of things, we need to understand this morning that we serve a sovereign God who is never out of control, no matter who is placed in authority over us.
04:26: God is forever working all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
04:36: And that means that even if we face a time of difficulty, that God has that purpose for our good too.
04:51: You see, people tend to look at Romans 8.28, the all things work together for good passage, and they tend to read it like this, all good things work together for good.
05:01: But that's not what it says.
05:03: It says all things work together for good.
05:08: And why can we say that? Because God is God and He is still in control.
05:17: And that's what we're going to look at today.
05:19: We're going to look at God's control in one of the clearest texts in the Bible.
05:26: And I want to show you some things about this text.
05:28: In fact, I want to make a statement before we read it.
05:31: This particular text, I hope this is understandable.
05:38: This particular text is proof not only that God is in control, this text is proof that God exists.
05:49: This text is proof that God is the God of the Bible.
05:56: I have a lot to show you today.
05:58: But I hope you go home hungry to devour this text.
06:02: Because what little bit I'm going to get to do in the 45 minutes to an hour that I preach is nothing compared to what's in this text.
06:09: I've been swimming in it all week long.
06:11: And I'm excited to share it with you.
06:14: So let's stand together and be reminded of who our God is and what He does.
06:23: Isaiah 45 verse 18 For thus says the Lord who created the heavens.
06:30: He is God who formed the earth and made it.
06:34: He established it.
06:36: He did not create it empty.
06:38: He formed it to be inhabited.
06:40: I am the Lord and there is no other.
06:47: Father in heaven as I seek to give an understanding of this passage Lord I pray first and foremost that you would keep me from error.
06:55: For God I'm a fallible man and I'm capable of preaching error.
06:58: I pray that you would keep me from error.
07:00: And I pray that you would also keep me from cowardice.
07:04: Lord keep me steeped in your truth and in your boldness.
07:09: And Lord may your word go out today and reach the hearts of your people.
07:14: And for those who believe Lord that this would be life to life.
07:17: And those who do not believe that this would be to them a day of reckoning.
07:21: And Lord that they would see that you are God and there is no other.
07:25: You are God and there is no other God.
07:27: And that there is no one else worthy of our worship.
07:30: And no one else worthy of our trust than you oh God.
07:34: May it be in Jesus name.
07:38: Amen.
07:39: You may be seated.
07:53: As I was preparing my message this week.
07:56: I was reading through a commentary by Ortlin and Hughes.
08:01: Kent Hughes is a commentator and I read quite a bit.
08:06: I tend to like the way that he puts things together in words.
08:10: I want to read to you something that he wrote in this commentary.
08:15: It's a paragraph so I would encourage you not to allow your mind to wander.
08:20: But to listen to this closely.
08:25: It's possible as our awareness of reality expands with adulthood.
08:31: For our knowledge of God to remain at a juvenile level.
08:35: If we let that happen we end up having to choose between the facts as we see them.
08:42: And loyalty to an inadequate God.
08:46: We end up secretly fearful that some new discovery in human knowledge might overturn our beliefs.
08:53: We end up worshiping God not with glad confidence but only as a duty.
08:59: That is a defeatist faith.
09:03: Nowhere does the Bible teach us to think that way.
09:06: The prophetic faith of the Bible brings all of reality.
09:10: Including the perplexities of life under the command of God.
09:15: The Bible doesn't shrink from problems.
09:18: It deliberately creates more problems for us.
09:21: Why? Because we do settle for superficial answers.
09:27: But God wants to lift us to a mature confidence in him.
09:32: As the one true God who is wisely managing reality toward a goal that deserves our all.
09:43: Now why did I read that paragraph? Because I think Dr.
09:48: Hughes really hits on something with this paragraph.
09:50: He makes the point that ultimately our view of God tends to be very small.
10:03: Our view of God's power tends to be very small.
10:08: And we see this happen when the bad things come and we begin to shudder with fear.
10:15: We begin to shake with discontent.
10:17: We begin to be frustrated with the world around us.
10:20: Because somehow we think that it's all up in the air.
10:24: And there's no rhyme nor reason.
10:26: And that it's all going to go according to the fates.
10:32: And what happens is, and I love this quote, I even underlined it.
10:35: We end up secretly fearful that some new discovery in human knowledge might overturn our belief.
10:44: We end up secretly afraid that somehow we're going to find out God wasn't in control all along.
10:51: We end up secretly afraid that somehow we're going to reach the end and realize we've worshipped the wrong God, or the God that we've worshipped is inept or impotent.
11:03: We've said He's powerful, but do we really believe it? We've said He's almighty, but do we really live that way? We've said He's sovereign, but do we really put our trust in His sovereignty? We end up with a juvenile faith and we grow into maturity as adults, but we don't take our faith to maturity.
11:24: We become 60-year-old adolescents in our faith.
11:31: We become old in our body, but still have a 12-year-old understanding of God.
11:38: Are y'all with me? Are you hearing what I'm saying? Because this is all that today is about.
11:44: Because to really recognize the sovereignty of God, and really live in light of the sovereignty of God, takes a spiritual maturity that most of us are not ready to even begin to go toward.
11:59: Because we're still caught up in the juvenile faith.
12:06: I mean, Paul talks about this, right, in his letters? He talks about those who have not yet gone on to maturity, that are still living as essentially infants in the faith.
12:23: And I do think this is an issue.
12:26: I think this is an issue for all of us.
12:30: I think we're afraid.
12:35: And I think we live in fear, because we still have an immature faith.
12:50: I'm not standing here saying I'm better than you, by the way, just so you know.
12:55: I have fear.
12:57: I deal with fear.
12:59: And I deal with doubt.
13:02: I really do.
13:04: And I struggle with those things.
13:09: When things are good, man, God is good.
13:14: All the time, right? And we're going to sing that later.
13:17: Because God is good all the time.
13:18: But the purpose of singing that song is to remind us something.
13:22: All the time, even when it's not good.
13:24: Because it's hard to sing that song when things are bad.
13:29: It's hard to say those words when it hurts.
13:37: And it's hard to trust when it looks like everything's falling apart.
13:52: Our passage today, from Isaiah 45, is about the coming of a king to the people of Israel.
14:03: I feel like I'm getting a buzz.
14:04: Is that me? You want to back me off on the pack, maybe? Is that it? Okay, that's better.
14:12: All right.
14:16: I don't know how many of you have studied Old Testament history.
14:20: I don't know how many of you have studied the events of the Old Testament.
14:23: Some of this may seem like I'm talking about something you're not familiar with.
14:32: So let me just very quickly give you an overview of the situation.
14:36: The people of God, because of their rebellion, God is going to allow them to go into a time of captivity.
14:45: You've heard of the Babylonian captivity, right? In 722, the northern kingdom of Israel was allowed to go into captivity in Assyria.
14:55: In 586 BC, this is all BC by the way, in 586, the southern kingdom of Judah was allowed to go into captivity under Babylon, under King Nebuchadnezzar.
15:06: You guys remember this? It's the stories in Daniel, right? When Daniel gets taken away, that's the story of Nebuchadnezzar coming in, taking them over, and essentially trying to change their life, right? Well, prior to these events, God sent Israel prophets to tell them what was going to happen.
15:25: Prior to the events of the captivity, God sent them prophets to tell them, this is what's going to happen.
15:33: First of all, you're going to go into captivity.
15:35: Second of all, once you're in that captivity, I'm going to still be with you, and one day I'm going to bring you out of that captivity.
15:41: But you're going to be in that captivity for a specific period of time.
15:47: Everybody with me so far? Now, there were prophets that prophesied before the captivity, there were prophets that prophesied during the captivity, there were prophets who prophesied after the captivity.
15:59: If you took my class on Old Testament history, it was the pre-exilic, the exilic, and the post-exilic.
16:05: Those who prophesied before the exile, those who prophesied during the exile, those who prophesied after, right? Pre, during, and post.
16:12: Well, the pre-exilic prophets were the ones who were saying, it's coming, this bad situation, this captivity is coming, and you need to know that it's coming, and you need to know that God is going to see you through it.
16:27: You need to know that God is going to be there on the other side.
16:30: And that's what we have in Isaiah.
16:34: Isaiah is a prophet who's prophesying before the events take place.
16:45: But, Isaiah prophesies about the man that God is going to use to take them out of captivity.
17:08: And he doesn't just prophesy that a Savior is coming.
17:18: He prophesies the person by name.
17:26: Turn with me, you've got Isaiah 45, right? Go back to Isaiah 44 and to verse 24.
17:33: I've got something in my throat, so excuse me.
17:42: If you go back to chapter 44, and you look at verse 24.
17:52: Excuse me.
17:57: It's something in there.
17:58: I turned my mic off.
18:01: Excuse me.
18:02: Alright.
18:03: So we're at verse 24.
18:09: This is what the Lord says.
18:16: Or rather, in the ESV, it says, Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb.
18:21: I am the Lord who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, who frustrates the signs of liars, and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish, who confirms the word of his servant, and fulfills the counsel of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, She shall be inhabited, and the cities of Judah they shall be built, and I will raise up their ruins, who says to the deep, Be dry, I will dry up your rivers.
18:52: This is the key.
18:53: Verse 28.
18:54: Who says of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose, saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built, and of the temple your foundation shall be laid.
19:06: Verse, chapter 45.
19:07: Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him, and to loose the belt of kings, to open doors before him, that gates may be closed.
19:20: Now, I want to read the I will statements in a moment.
19:22: That's what begins in chapter, or verse 2, the I will statements.
19:24: But before we read them, just for a moment, understand this.
19:31: Isaiah is prophesying about a king who is going to come.
19:41: But this isn't 20 years down the road.
19:44: This isn't 40 years down the road.
19:47: This is 150 years down the road.
19:56: Say it again.
19:58: Isaiah is prophesying about a king.
20:01: This has been rolling in my heart all week long.
20:03: This is the part that I've been swimming in.
20:08: Because Isaiah is writing 150 years before the coming of Cyrus.
20:18: He's writing 100 years before the birth of Cyrus.
20:25: Are you picking up what I'm putting down? The weight and immensity of this.
20:31: Remember what I said earlier? This not only proves God is sovereign, it proves God exists.
20:36: Because here's where you have to go with this, folks.
20:39: I told this to Brother Mike, I was on the phone with him the other night.
20:41: I said, you either have to come to one of two conclusions.
20:45: You either have to conclude that this information was written later.
20:52: And that's what higher critical scholars do.
20:56: The higher critical scholars, which are the liberal scholars, will say Isaiah never wrote this.
21:04: In fact, liberal scholars will say Isaiah didn't write anything after chapter 40.
21:09: They say you have what's called the Deutero-Isaiah.
21:13: Meaning the second Isaiah.
21:15: They say Isaiah wrote chapters 1-39, and somebody else came along later and wrote chapters 40-66.
21:24: You understand the argument.
21:26: You understand why they would make that argument, right? Because what Isaiah is saying here, this is no prophecy of, well, someone might come.
21:43: This is prophecy that this guy, by this name, is going to come.
21:55: You're not following the weight of this.
21:58: I can tell by the looks in your faces.
22:00: Either I've lost you, or you just ain't getting how serious this is.
22:04: Because this is serious, guys.
22:09: There is no other way Isaiah could have known that Cyrus would be, and by the way, the word here is Messiah.
22:20: The word anointed one.
22:23: You say, wait a minute, Jesus is Messiah.
22:24: Yes, but Cyrus is a messianic figure because he is going to raise the people up and lead them out of captivity.
22:31: He's a prefiguring of the one true Messiah, who is Jesus.
22:37: But this word Messiah, anointed one, is used throughout the Old Testament at various times of various people.
22:46: Right? Moses led the people out of Egypt.
22:49: Cyrus will lead the people out of captivity as well.
22:53: He will be a messianic figure to the people.
22:56: And he will be prophesied about 150 years before it happens.
23:03: So either we agree with the secular, unbiblical position that Isaiah didn't really write this, or we have to conclude that one, there is a God in heaven.
23:18: Because nobody could just guess this.
23:22: This is a million to one.
23:25: This is a billion to one shot.
23:27: That it's going to be this guy by this name is going to do these things this way.
23:35: I'll tell you, it does read like a history.
23:38: I understand why somebody who doesn't believe in God would come to that conclusion.
23:42: Because there is no other way.
23:44: There is only two positions.
23:47: There is a God.
23:48: He is the God of Israel.
23:50: He spoke to Isaiah.
23:51: And Isaiah wrote His word.
23:53: Or some guy just came along later and wrote a history and put Isaiah's name on it.
23:58: And you have to come to that conclusion, right? I think Isaiah wrote the whole thing.
24:07: I believe Isaiah wrote the whole thing.
24:09: I believe Isaiah wrote under the inspiration of Almighty God.
24:14: And I believe this is not only proof God exists, this is proof He is the God of Israel.
24:18: We got the right one! Come on! I'm not Pentecostal, but I'm going to ask for an amen sometime.
24:26: Because this is serious, guys.
24:29: As I said, I've been swimming in this all week long.
24:33: Just thinking that thought.
24:37: That 150 years.
24:38: Our nation is only 200 and some odd years old.
24:45: There's houses in England older than our whole country.
24:49: There's castles that go back to the Middle Ages and further.
24:55: As I said Wednesday night, the difference between the Europeans and the Americans is Europeans think 100 miles is a long way.
25:03: And Americans think 100 years is a long time.
25:06: Neither of that is true.
25:09: You see, 100 years ago was the early part of the 1900s.
25:19: 150 years ago, Civil War.
25:21: Or just this side of the Civil War.
25:27: That seems like a million years ago, right? Think about the Civil War.
25:31: It's only 150 years ago, or a little more than 170 years ago, right? Seems like it was forever ago.
25:38: That's the distance between Isaiah and Cyrus.
25:44: From us to the Civil War is the distance between Cyrus and Isaiah.
25:53: Now imagine somebody in the Civil War would have stood up and said, Donald Trump is going to be the President and he is going to confound all of his enemies with his Twitter rhetoric.
26:14: I can't help it.
26:16: But you know whoever said that could not have done that by accident.
26:22: You know if some prophet in the Civil War would have talked about the coming of Ronald Reagan and would have talked about the Cuban Missile Crisis they wouldn't even know what missiles were.
26:36: You see, that's the thing about this particular text.
26:40: Isaiah talks about things they didn't even know were going to happen.
26:44: He talks about the exile.
26:47: They weren't in it yet.
26:49: He talks about their destruction.
26:51: It hadn't been destroyed yet.
26:53: Think about if you're listening to Isaiah.
26:57: It would be like being in the Civil War and somebody talking about the nuclear bomb falling on Hiroshima.
27:01: You wouldn't understand.
27:07: But Isaiah writes God's Word.
27:10: And he provides to them a prophetic utterance.
27:13: By the way, the prophetic utterance is one of the most powerful defenses for the validity of the Word of God.
27:25: I mean, the Word of God defends itself.
27:27: It's like Spurgeon said.
27:28: It's like a lion.
27:29: Just turn it loose and it will defend itself.
27:30: Right? It's its own apologetic.
27:32: And this is one of the ways.
27:34: Because it has within it the marks of authenticity.
27:39: It has within it the marks of truth.
27:42: And one of those marks is the prophetic utterance.
27:46: And Isaiah tells us there is a man coming.
27:50: There is this man coming and his name is Cyrus.
27:54: And God is going to raise up Cyrus as a shepherd and as an anointed one or a Messiah.
28:03: And that's what we looked at there.
28:05: But now I want to show you what it says.
28:07: I want you to see verses 2 and down through verse 7.
28:12: I want you to see what he says about Cyrus.
28:21: I will go before you and level the exalted places.
28:26: I will break into pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.
28:32: I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hordes in secret places that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
28:42: Notice who he is talking to.
28:44: Go back up to verse 1.
28:45: Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus.
28:50: Notice he is speaking to Cyrus before he is born.
28:57: And he is saying, I am going to go before you.
29:00: I am going to break into pieces the doors of bronze.
29:03: Those things that hold you back, I am going to break it down.
29:05: I am going to give you the treasures of darkness.
29:08: For the sake of My servant David and Israel My chosen, I call you by your name.
29:14: I name you.
29:15: God named Cyrus.
29:17: Here's the thing.
29:17: If you don't believe in the sovereignty of God, I ask you this question.
29:22: Could Cyrus' mama name him something different? No, I'm serious.
29:29: I ask that question.
29:30: What if his name was Leroy? I mean, seriously.
29:33: I mean, what if his name was Jonathan? Then God would have been wrong, right? I mean, this is such a small thing.
29:44: But the profundity of it is really, really deep.
29:48: I name you.
29:51: And I call you by name.
29:58: Look at verse 4 again.
30:00: Though you do not know Me.
30:02: See, here's the thing.
30:03: Cyrus was an ungodly pagan.
30:07: Cyrus was not a follower of Jehovah.
30:10: Cyrus was not a Hebrew.
30:12: Cyrus was an ungodly pagan.
30:16: And yet he was God's man.
30:18: He was God's Messiah.
30:20: Wow! Now, don't get caught up with that word Messiah.
30:25: Because understand, I'm not comparing him to Christ in the sense of he's the same as Christ.
30:28: It's a prefiguring situation.
30:31: But the word is here.
30:33: God's chosen anointed one.
30:36: That's the way this word is being used.
30:39: And God chooses Cyrus.
30:42: And He places him in this position.
30:44: Even though you don't know Me.
30:46: Verse 5.
30:49: I am the Lord.
30:52: There is no other.
30:54: Beside Me, there is no God.
30:59: I equip you.
31:00: Though you do not know Me.
31:03: That people may know.
31:05: From the rising of the sun and from the west.
31:07: That there is none besides Me.
31:10: I am the Lord.
31:11: And there is no other.
31:17: Verse 5 and 6 by itself could have just been the sermon.
31:21: There is no other.
31:22: There is no other God beside Me.
31:24: I equip you.
31:24: You don't even know who I am.
31:26: And I'm giving you the tools to do what I've called you to do.
31:29: I lifted you up for this very purpose.
31:31: I put you in the place for this very purpose.
31:34: To do this thing.
31:38: And people will know.
31:41: When they see you doing it.
31:42: They will know I am the one who empowered you to do it.
31:48: That I am the Lord and there is no other.
31:53: Now verse 7 creates some controversy.
31:58: Especially if you happen to be a person who uses a King James Bible.
32:03: Because verse 7 says this.
32:05: I form light and create darkness.
32:07: I make well-being and create calamity.
32:10: I am the Lord who does all these things.
32:14: The reason why it's controversial in the King James.
32:17: Is because it says I form light and create darkness.
32:20: I make well-being and create evil.
32:24: And some people say wait a minute God doesn't create evil.
32:27: And that is true in the sense that.
32:30: God does not create moral evil.
32:34: Because moral evil is a rejection of His righteousness.
32:40: God cannot behave in a way that is opposed to His own nature.
32:46: And God's nature is perfectly righteous.
32:48: Therefore God does not create evil in the sense of moral transgression.
32:54: Ok.
32:57: But in the sense that.
33:00: God is absolutely sovereign over all that happens in the world.
33:07: Nothing in this world can happen apart from His divine decree.
33:14: And that's what this verse is saying.
33:20: When we consider a hurricane.
33:26: Hurricane is slowly making its way toward the coast.
33:32: There are different attitudes people take.
33:36: But I have often heard the attitude people take.
33:41: That's just natural.
33:43: God doesn't have anything to do with it.
33:46: Hurricane slams into the coast.
33:48: Destroys homes.
33:50: People die.
33:51: And people say oh God doesn't have anything to do with that.
33:59: And my response has always been very simple.
34:05: You cannot have it both ways.
34:08: You can't say God's in control.
34:10: And then look at something bad and say but He wasn't in control of that.
34:14: You can't look at the world and see a tsunami hit.
34:19: And say well God didn't know that was going to happen.
34:21: Or God didn't plan for that to happen.
34:22: Or God didn't will for that to happen.
34:25: Because at that point you're no longer dealing with God.
34:28: You're dealing with that 12 year old self.
34:30: That you still have your immature faith.
34:32: Remember what I talked about in the beginning? The adolescent faith that hasn't grown up yet.
34:37: That's what creates that kind of thinking.
34:41: Because it's a faith that has not yet grown up to understand.
34:45: That God is sovereign over everything.
34:48: Look at verse 7 again.
34:50: Just from the ESV.
34:51: I form light and create darkness.
34:55: I make well-being and create calamity.
34:59: I am the Lord who does all these things.
35:03: Now I brought with me today.
35:04: I don't normally do this.
35:07: I always read.
35:08: I try to read from the original language as best I can.
35:11: But the Hebrew is really difficult.
35:12: So a lot of times I'm in the English much more.
35:16: So when I go to this particular passage.
35:20: I brought a copy of a more modern translation.
35:26: Some of you might say, oh don't do that.
35:27: It's not the message guys.
35:29: Don't get too excited.
35:31: This is the New Living Translation.
35:34: The New Living Translation is a dynamic equivalent translation.
35:39: I think it's actually better than the NIV.
35:40: Those of you who like the NIV.
35:42: If you like dynamic equivalent.
35:43: I think this is actually a better translation.
35:45: But let me read what it says at verse 7.
35:48: I create the light and make the darkness.
35:52: I send good times and bad times.
35:56: You might say, oh that's too simple.
35:59: Yeah, it's simple though.
36:04: God is the God of the good times.
36:07: But He's also God in the bad times.
36:11: God is God while the President meets with our desires.
36:20: And God is God if the President doesn't meet with our desires.
36:25: God is God no matter what.
36:29: That's the point.
36:32: And when somebody says, well I'm experiencing difficulty.
36:35: Yes, but God is still God.
36:37: That doesn't mean the situation is any less difficult by the way.
36:42: That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt.
36:44: And I'm not saying that you're not allowed to cry.
36:47: I'm not saying that you're not allowed to hurt.
36:52: We're not called to be statues.
36:56: Jesus wept.
36:59: Okay.
37:05: But at the end of the day, where is our faith? Is it in a God who is too small and too powerless to do anything? Or is it in a God who is powerful enough to do whatever He chooses? And who does whatever He chooses.
37:31: You see, here's the thing I think a lot of people happen.
37:34: I think this happens a lot.
37:35: People will say, God's powerful enough to do whatever He chooses.
37:37: But they won't go as far as to say, and He does what He chooses.
37:48: I was asked this year to speak at a conference.
37:51: I spoke at the Southeast Regional Conference for the Fellowship of Independent Reformed Evangelicals.
37:57: That's a mouthful.
37:59: And I was asked to speak on comforting anxious saints.
38:04: Because the conference was on the subject of dealing with COVID.
38:08: And there were some guys there who have been through a lot.
38:10: I mean one guy's church has been closed down three times.
38:12: They've had COVID spreads and people sick.
38:18: Three times in six months they've had to close down.
38:22: And I mean this guy was just, I mean you could just tell.
38:24: He was just, just defeated.
38:27: And I hurt for him, bro.
38:28: I mean, we all loved on him because it's a tough thing to be.
38:33: It's a tough thing to make decisions that affect other people.
38:37: Just so you know.
38:38: None of our elders ever make decisions without thought and prayer.
38:42: And really considering the consequences of the decisions that we make.
38:45: That's our, that we understand.
38:49: But when I was asked to preach that sermon.
38:53: I started out with, I had read a book in preparation.
38:57: The book is called How Long, O Lord.
38:59: It's by D.A.
38:59: Carson.
39:00: It's on the subject of, it's on the subject of waiting on God in times of suffering.
39:06: And in that book he tells story after story after story of suffering.
39:11: I mean the first chapter is just, make you just turn your stomach.
39:14: Just some of the stuff that people had to face.
39:17: Real life stories.
39:22: And I read some of these things to the people at the conference.
39:25: I told some of those stories.
39:28: And I said, you know when we, my passage for that particular message was Romans 8.28.
39:33: I said if I'm going to preach on comforting people.
39:35: Romans 8.28 is the comfort passage.
39:38: But what does Romans 8.28 say? You all don't have to turn there.
39:41: What does it say? All things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose.
39:52: Right? I don't think that there's a greater comforting passage in all the Bible.
39:59: But that is a hard passage to say to somebody who just got a diagnosis of cancer.
40:05: It's a hard passage to say to somebody whose child was just hit by a car.
40:10: Honestly? Can we be honest and at least say that, yes? But it's no less true.
40:21: And that was my point.
40:23: My point is this verse is true regardless of circumstance.
40:32: Tuesday morning, the polls will open.
40:35: And the masses will descend.
40:40: It won't really be the masses.
40:42: It's less than 25% of people actually vote anyway.
40:47: But maybe more this year.
40:49: The masses will descend upon the voting booths.
40:54: Some of you have already voted.
40:55: You've already put your picture and your sticker up.
41:03: And they will go in hoping that their man will win the day.
41:08: And honestly, I get it.
41:14: I do get it.
41:18: I have my desires.
41:21: This year I started my podcast.
41:22: I talked a little bit about what I think.
41:26: Some of you maybe heard me be a little more candid than normal.
41:33: But at the end of the day, we have to go back to where we are right now.
41:43: And remember this truth.
41:45: If God chose Cyrus 150 years before he was ever put in that position, we have to know God has chosen who is going to go in this position now.
41:59: Without doubt, there is no rolling the dice for our Father in Heaven.
42:09: He has determined the end from the beginning.
42:14: He is God and there is no other.
42:18: And whether He chooses that we experience a time of prosperity, or He chooses that we experience a time of persecution, He will still be God.
42:34: And I'll tell you this.
42:35: The church often thrives most in persecution.
42:47: The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.
42:52: That was a saying that came out of the first three centuries of the church.
42:56: When the Christians were being fed to lions, when they were being dipped in pitch and lit on fire, the stories that come out of the first few centuries are not even to be repeated.
43:25: God has a plan and a purpose.
43:32: How dare we for a moment think that He doesn't have control over this nation? But let me remind you.
43:47: I can stand up here and I can give you five reasons to vote my way.
43:49: I can tell you whatever.
43:50: Let me remind you this.
43:52: I'm not going to do any of that.
43:53: I'm going to say this.
43:56: Regardless of what happens Tuesday, after Tuesday, after Tuesday, we are going to probably find ourselves in a nation that is increasingly divided.
44:16: And I do believe that what is going to happen, and I'm not a prophet, I'm not the son of a prophet, but I do believe what is going to happen is it is going to become more and more increasingly difficult to stand on the truths that we stand and to do so freely.
44:34: Are you Christians, are you willing to continue to stand? We used to sing songs.
44:47: We're marching to Zion.
44:49: Onward Christian soldiers.
44:51: Glory, glory, hallelujah.
44:53: We sang those songs because we knew we were in a battle.
44:57: And we knew our king was still on the throne and therefore the fight was worth it.
45:05: So many of us are ready to lay down our arms at the first sign of danger.
45:19: The king will not lose.
45:22: And if he is your king, you have no reason to be afraid.
45:29: But you fight and you keep moving forward.
45:33: The same God who raised up Cyrus will not forsake His church.
45:41: Understand this too.
45:43: You remember in Matthew 18 where Jesus was speaking and He said, I will build My church and what? The gates of hell will not prevail against My church.
45:57: Remember that? Do you understand what a gate is supposed to do? A gate is to keep out the enemy.
46:07: It doesn't say that hell will not prevail against the church.
46:12: It says the gates of hell will not prevail against the church.
46:15: We're supposed to be on the offense.
46:19: We're supposed to charge hell with both feet pounding and the Word of God in our hands.
46:27: Not afraid.
46:29: If Joe Biden becomes the president, I'm not afraid.
46:32: If Donald Trump remains the president, I'm not afraid.
46:36: If Joe Jorgensen becomes the president, I will be astounded.
46:40: But I won't be afraid.
46:44: Sorry.
46:47: The point is, we don't have to be afraid.
46:54: Because God will still be God.
46:57: He will raise up the man He wants to raise up.
47:00: And if He wants to raise up a man to prosper us, bless God.
47:03: And if He wants to raise up a man to persecute us, then blessed be the name of the Lord.
47:10: I know what I want, but I'm not God.
47:18: And therefore, I must call on all of us to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding.
47:28: In all our ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct our paths.
47:34: You know what the Bible says? No one is in authority except by God's putting them there.
47:43: Romans 13 tells us that no one is in authority.
47:46: You know what Jesus said to Pilate? You would have no authority over Me if it were not given to you from above.
47:56: We can say that to whoever becomes a president.
47:59: You would have no authority over Me if it were not given to you from above.
48:05: And whether we have to storm the gates of hell and it's a bloody battle, our King has already won.
48:16: We get too complacent.
48:18: We get too worried.
48:19: We get too concerned about the political realm because we forget that our battle is not there.
48:24: Our battle is not with flesh and blood.
48:28: But our battle is in the spiritual realm.
48:31: Beloved, I hope that what I've said today has been an encouragement to you.
48:34: And I had really hoped to read through this whole chapter, but I'm not going to even try.
48:38: There's too much.
48:39: Let me just simply remind you this.
48:41: Go to verse 9.
48:43: One last thing and I'll pray.
48:45: This is what God says to the one who doubts His sovereignty.
48:51: Woe to him who strives with Him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, What are you making? Or why does your work have no handles? Woe to him who says to a father, What are you beginning? Or to a woman, With what are you in labor? Now if you're familiar with Romans, you know that's very similar to what Paul said.
49:10: Right? Who are you, old man, to answer back to God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, Why have you made me this way? On Wednesday, we do not need to look up to heaven and say, God, why did you do this? What are you doing? You don't know what you're doing.
49:29: Beloved, God knows exactly what He's doing.
49:32: And God will certainly still be on His throne.
49:38: And He will continue to ensure that all things will work together for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
49:49: Do not doubt it.
49:50: Do not live in fear of anyone except God.
49:57: Let's pray.
49:58: Father, I thank You for this opportunity to be in Your Word today.
50:02: To be reminded that You are God.
50:04: To be reminded that You are sovereign.
50:05: You are the One who not only looks at history, God, You make history.
50:10: Lord, how easy it is for us to forget that.
50:14: How easy it is for us to forget that You are the One who makes history happen.
50:23: You brought Cyrus to lead Your people out.
50:32: But we know at times, Lord, there have been those who have been raised up to bring difficulty.
50:42: Because Your people need to be reminded about who You are.
50:45: And to be reminded to turn to You.
50:48: Lord, I want to be reminded of that.
50:52: Because I know how easily my mind goes towards my own will and my own ways and my own desires.
50:58: Lord, turn my heart toward You.
51:03: Forgive me of my doubts and fears.
51:08: Lead me into a deeper and more mature understanding of who You are.
51:15: For You are God.
51:18: And there is no other.
51:22: In Jesus' name, Amen.