His Sovereignty

Man doesn't want anybody telling him what to do. And God never gives suggestions. God always gives commands because God is in charge. And man doesn't want to follow the commands of God. Tonight, hopefully we can come to a better understanding of God's sovereignty by looking at just a few things by way of introduction. Then looking at the biblical instruction and then by way of implication What does it mean for your life and and for mine? But first of all by way of introduction, let's define the sovereignty of God And then let's look at a biblical demonstration of the sovereignty of God.

To define the sovereignty of God. We need to understand that it means to be over or to be above. A supreme ultimate authority to do whatever you want to do. Independent of and unlimited by anyone or anything else. In God's sovereignty, God is the owner. Of the universe. He can rule any way he wants because everything is his. I have a home. I live in my home. You come to my home and you say, I don't like your furniture. That doesn't make any difference to me because it's not your furniture, it's not your home.

If you were in charge of that home, you could change the furniture. But because you're not in charge of that home, you can't change the furniture. I'm in charge. You might not like my kids. You mightn like the fact that I have six kids, but that's irrelevant because I was in not in charge, but I was a part of the process of helping bring those kids into the world, you see. That is my domain. That is my house. I rule in my house. You don't rule in my house. This is God's universe. This is God's world.

He rules his world. He rules his house. We might not like the way he rules it. We might not like the way he has decorated it. We might not like the way he has made us. But God never asks you what you think. God is not interested in your opinion. God is in charge. He is the one who rules. In fact, he rules in a very intimate And intricate way. He is so involved in everything that happens. That it's hard for us to grasp how much God cares about the universe. To believe in the sovereignty of God is to believe that God directly causes.

O consciously permits everything that happens in human history. Romans chapter 11, verse number 36 says, For from him, and through him, and to him are all things. So God is somehow involved in everything that takes place in the world. It says in Ephesians chapter 1, verse number 11, In him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to his purpose, who works all things after the counsel of His will. It says in Revelation chapter 4, verse number 11, these words: Worthy art thou, O Lord.

And our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For thou didst create all things, and because of thy will they existed and were created. Tonight when you leave, you will either leave accepting the fact that God is sovereign and the ruler over all, or you will become so angry with the fact that God has allowed the things to happen in your life that you will rebel against Him. There is no middle ground when it comes to the sovereignty of God. You either accept the fact that God is sovereign and yield to that will, or you yell and scream and kick because God is sovereign.

That's why it's so difficult for us to grasp. That's why we have such a hard time understanding it. Let me give you a demonstration.

Turn over with me to Daniel chapter 4. Nebuchadnezzar began to believe his own press. I be the man. People look at me and they can see I am the king.

I am the ruler. This is a great job I have done. And he wanted the glory to go to himself. Only one problem. Isaiah 4:11 says, That my glory I will not give to another, God says.

Anybody who tries to usurp the glory of God is always in for a bombshell. You can't take away God's glory. And yet, Nebuchadnezzar thought that the glory should go to him. And if you know the story of Daniel chapter 4, he had had a dream. He called Daniel in. Daniel interpreted the dream for him. And Daniel said, King Nebuchadnezzar, you've got to repent of your sin. You've got to get right with God. But because Nebuchadnezzar was the man. So he thought he was the man. He didn't have to get right with God.

And the Bible says that 12 months passed. See, God is so patient. See, I wouldn't be patient if I was God. You ought to be glad I'm not God because I wouldn wait 12 months. I wouldn wait 12 seconds. But see, God waited 12 months for Nebuchadnezzar to repent, to understand what Daniel the prophet had said to him about the dream, but Nebuchadnezzar did not repent of his sin. He thought he was great. And so on that day in the palace man, as he was giving great accolades to himself, it says in verse number 31: while the word was in the king's mouth.

A voice came from heaven saying, King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared, sovereignty has been removed from you. And you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle. and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever he wishes. God said, Nebuchadnezzar, you think you're the ruler, but I want to let you know something.

You've got to learn a lesson. And until you learn that lesson, you're going to become like the beasts of the field. There are people today in the Church of Jesus Christ who have yet to learn the lesson that God is sovereign. And God has put his heavy hand upon them. And things just aren't working out the way they thought they should be working out. And they're yelling, they're kicking, they're screaming. But they're going to yell and kick and scream to their grave, believing that their destiny is in their own grasp, that they can control it.

And God says, you cannot. And it says in verse number 33, immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled, and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven. until his hair had grown like eagle's feathers, and his nails like birds' claws. But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, Raised my eyes toward heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the 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, and all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. but he does according to his will in the hosts of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth and no one can ward off his hand or say to him what hast thou done At that time my reason returned to me, and my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom and my counsel and my nobles. began seeking me out, so I was re-est in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me.

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and honor the king of heaven. For all his works are true, and his ways just, and he is able to humble those who walk in pride. That is the classic illustration. Demonstration of a man who had to come to grips with the sovereignty of God. We can never say, Look at the business I have built.

We can never say, look at the church that I have built, or look at the legacy that I have built, or look at the money that I have accumulated.

The time we begin to say those kinds of things, God will bring the hammer down upon your life. I promise. Oh, it might not happen today. It might wait 12 months. He might even wait 12 years. The God will eventually bring the hammer down in your life so that you understand that He is the Most High God who rules over the universe. And as a side note, I find it very interesting that for those seven years that Nebuchadnezzar walked among the beasts of the field, his kingdom was not overtaken. I believe that somehow Daniel rose to leadership in the kingdom.

And God preserved that kingdom and gave it back to Nebuchadnezzar. Because he realized finally after seven years that God is sovereign, God's in charge, and he's not.

I wonder this evening. Do you understand that? Do you believe it? Do you live it? God is in charge. And because He is. You can't say, God, I don't like what you say. I don't like what you have done. God only gives one opinion. And God only gives one view. That's his view. And what happens in your life, and what he says about your life, he says not to make you miserable, but to give you meaning. If you are miserable, it's not because God is sovereign. It's because you have refused to yield to his sovereignty.

Because God in his sovereignty has declared very clearly what he demands from his people. And when you follow his will, you will not be miserable. Your life will find meaning, and you'll understand the master of the most high. Point number two: I want to talk to you a little bit about some instruction on God's sovereignty.

What does the Bible say about it? And the first thing I want you to know is that when you talk about God's sovereignty, excuse me, you talk about His powerful control.

That's number one. God is powerfully in control of all things. Turn with me to Psalm 99. Psalm 99. I going to go through a lot of verses here, so if you can't get them all, just write them down or get the tape and go through it later. But Psalm 99, verse 1 says, The Lord reigns, let the peoples tremble. He is enthroned above the cherubim. Let the earth shake. The Lord is great in Zion, and he is exalted above all the peoples. Let them praise thy great and awesome name. It says in Psalm 103, verse number 19: The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his sovereignty rules over all.

We understand God is powerfully in control, first of all, by understanding his position. He is higher than anyone else or anything else. He has to stoop low to see the heavens. But look what it says over in Isaiah 43. Verse number 13, even from eternity I am he, and there is none who can deliver out of my hand I act and who can reverse it. Folks, that's power. So, to understand God's sovereignty, you must understand His powerful control. Number two, you must understand His providential care.

And this is good because, you see, because God's so powerful, you'd think that He would just be cr, and He could. But he doesn't. Because providentially, he cares about all things. In fact, if you read over in Isaiah 55, verse number 8, you know the verse. It says this, my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thought. God says, Look, I know you want to understand me and know me, but let me let you in on just a little secret here.

My ways and my thoughts are so far from yours that you'll never grasp it. You're not in a place that God doesn't want you. You ever think about that? You're in the place God wants you to be. Now, in that place, you can be making some wrong choices, and you can be doing some wrong things, like sin, but you are in the place God wants you to be. Joseph understood that. So he could look his brothers in the eye and say, You meant it for evil, but my God, because I'm in his place, he meant it for good.

The providential care of God is orchestrating all the events of your life. Turn with me back to Daniel chapter 2.

You know the story. Daniel gave praise to God for his omnipotent reigning power. That he is a God who controls all things. He moves kings. He establishes kings. That's why you should never get it set at election time. God's in charge. I don't care who votes. God's in charge. Don't ever get upset at election time. God always is going to put in office who He wants. Because God's in charge. That doesn't mean you don't vote. You've got to be responsible. But God's still in charge. God works it out. And Daniel understood the providential care of God.

He didn't fear death. King said they're all going to die. Didn bother him. Why? Because he knew God. He knew the power of God, the wisdom of God, the ways of God, that God is sovereign, that he is a ruler over all things, and the king can't do anything unless God grants him permission to do it. Isn't that good? Do you believe that? Do you understand that? I mean, nothing's going to happen to us unless God allows it to happen to us. God's in charge. He's in control. L me move on. Because the next one is going be kind of difficult to grasp.

It 's a hard one, I'll admit. And it deals with his personal choices. To understand the sovereignty of God, you must understand his powerful control. You must understand his providential care. And number three, you must understand his personal choices.

His personal choices. Let me read to you Proverbs 16 and verse number 4. The Lord has made everything for its own purpose. Even the wicked for the day of evil. Did you get that? Let me read it to you again.

The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil. Isaiah 45, verse number 7. I am the one forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating. Calamity. I am the Lord who does all these. Now you might not like that. You might get really upset by the fact that God is the creator of calamity. But that's what the Bible says.

In fact, if you read Isaiah 45, verse number 9, it says this, Woe to the one who quarrels with this matter. The Bible says you're cursed if you quarrel with the fact that I am the creator of calamity.

Don't do that. Don't even think of quarreling with the Creator. That's what the Bible says. Don't let it go to your head. I am the creator of calamity. I am the creator of light. I am the creator of darkness. I am the Lord who does all these things. What about Lamentations 3, verse number 37? Who is there who speaks that it comes to pass unless the Lord has commanded it? Nobody speaks and it comes to pass unless God says it's going to happen that way.

Verse number 38, is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and ill go forth? Wow! So both good and ill go forth because God commanded it. Think about that. Tell the thousands of people who were killed by the hurricane. That God is the creator calamity. See how they respond. Think about it. Nobody wants to worship that kind of God. Because nobody wants to submit to that kind of sovereign rulership. You've got to consider two things. Number one, God's right to do what He does.

And number two, God's reason behind what He does. Turn with me over to Romans chapter 9. In Romans chapter 9, in verse number 14, we pick up the fact that people think that God is unfair. Why? Well, for the simple reason that God had chosen Isaac. Above Ishmael, and God had chosen Jacob above his twin brother, Esau, before they were born. And some of them might say, well, that not fair. You can't do that, God. Because you see, when it comes to salvation, you were elected in eter to past. God chose you before the foundation of the world.

Isn't that good? Just unless you think that you had anything to do with your salvation, God says, sorry, you were elected an eternity past.

It was all my doing. I chose you. And some people might say, well, God, you didn't choose me. That's not fair. You can't do that. Romans chapter 9, verse number 14. What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be. For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. Everything depends on God. Why? God's in charge.

That's why. And why does God do that? Because He's going to receive all the glory. That's why. The glory is his, and he will not give it to someone else. And lastly, the fourth thing you need to know about God's sovereignty is his purposeful conclusion. God's got a conclusion. God's bringing it all to an end. And over in Revelation chapter 19, verse number 1, it says this. Hallelujah. Salvation and glory and power belong to God because his judgments are true and righteous. For he has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth.

With her immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his bonds on her. And a second time they said, Hallelujah.

Her smoke rises up forever and ever. And the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worship God, who sits on the throne, saying, Amen, hallelujah. And a voice came from the throne saying, Give praise to our God, all you, his bonds. You who fear him, the small and the great. And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, and as a sound of many waters, and as a sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, Hallelujah. For the Lord our God the Almighty reign. God reigns. And his purposeful conclusion is to bring everything to one climactic event that says every.

Will bow before him and recognize him as the king of the universe, the Lord of lords. And as Job said in Job 42, verse number 2: I know that thou canst do all things. And that no purpose of thine can be thwarted. The world has to come to that conclusion, and God is going to bring everybody there. So they will all see that he is the king of kings and that he is the lord of lords and he has done whatever he pleases. And everyone would submit to him and bow to his kingship. That's our God. So, what are the implications?

What's in this for you and me? Because God is sovereign, what does that mean? Three things, and we'll close. If you understand that God is sovereign, then you understand that it will create confidence in your life. God's sovereignty creates confidence. In your life. Reminded of the story of the cowboy who applied for health insurance. The ag routinely asked him, Have you ever had any accidents? To which the cowboy replied, Well, no, I have not had any accidents. I was bitten by a rattles once, and a horse did kick me in the ribs.

That laid me up for a while, but I haven't had any accidents. And the agent said, Well, wait a minute, I'm confused. A rattlesnake bit you and a horse kicked you, weren't those accidents? No, he said, they did all that on purpose. He had the right idea. Things just don't happen. There is a purpose behind everything that happens. God has a purpose. Romans 8. 2 says that we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. And if God's at work, man, what better workmanship could I be than to know that God Himself is involved in my life, working out the events of my life to honor and glorify His name?

Number two. Not only should it create confidence in me, but it should cause comfort in me. It should cause comfort in me. There's no more chance in your life. No chance. The Bible says, and we know, not we hope.

We pray, we think the Bible says we know. The question is: do you know? Do you know? If you're going to be a joyful Christian, you've got to know that all things aren't good, but God overrules evil for the good of his people. Joseph's brothers men are for evil, God for good. Judas's betrayal produced the salvation for the world. Israel's apostasy produced salvation for the Gentiles. Paul's imprisonment produced the New Testament. Martyrdoms of early saints produced the church. Sickness doesn't just happen.

Death doesn't just happen. Tragedy in your family is not just bad luck. You losing your job is just not another crisis. Why? Because you know that all things work together for good. That's why. God's sovereignty should create confidence in me. Should cause comfort in me and lastly should cultivate courage in me It should cultivate courage in me Psalm 31, verse number 15 says, My times are in thy hand. Isn't that good? My times are in thine hand. You should have great courage knowing that God's in charge.

You're on the winning side, you're not on the losing side if you know Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior. Until the church, the body of Christ, gets a hold of this truth. We'll never overwhelm the world with the gospel. We will be intimidated by circumstances. We will be petrified by opposition from the world. If God is sovereign, there is no foe that can defeat us. From the course of the stars to the heart of man, God rules and reigns and controls. He is sovereign. One man said it this way: big doors swing on little hinges.

Translation, God can't control the big things unless he controls the little things. Do you understand that?