My subject tonight is THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. Our text will be…
Psalms 135:6 "Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places."
With those words the Psalmist David both declares God's absolute, universal sovereignty and calls upon us to trust, worship, and praise him because he is the sovereign God of the universe.
Indeed, we can and should trust our God implicitly because he is sovereign. Nothing is more delightful to the hearts of God's children than the fact of his great and glorious sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe troubles, and when enduring the most heavy trials, we rejoice to know that our God has sovereignly ordained our afflictions; that he sovereignly overrules them, and that he sovereignly sanctifies them to our good and his own glory.
Every believer rejoices in the sovereignty of God. Yet, in this day of religious darkness and confusion, there is no truth of Holy Scripture for which we must more earnestly contend than God's dominion over all creation, his sovereignty over all the works of his hands, the supremacy of his throne and his right to sit upon it.
God's saints rejoice to hear him say, "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?" (Matt. 20:15). Nothing in this world is more comforting to the believer's heart than the knowledge of the fact that "Our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased" (Ps. 115:3).
We rejoice in God's sovereignty! But there is nothing revealed in the Bible that is more despised by worldlings and self-righteous religionists. Natural, unregenerate, unbelieving men and women are happy enough to have God everywhere, except upon the throne of total, universal sovereignty. They are happy to have God in his workshop, creating the world and naming the stars. They are glad to have God in the hospital to heal the sick. They are pleased to have God in trouble, to calm the raging seas of life. And they are delighted to have God in the funeral parlor to ease them of pain and sorrow. But God upon his throne is, to the unregenerate man, the most contemptible thing in the world. And any man who dares to preach that it is God's right to do what he will with his own, to dispose of his creatures as he sees fit, and save whom he will, will be hissed at, despised, and cursed by this religious generation.
Be that as it may, it is God upon the throne whom we love, trust, and worship. And it is God upon the throne that we preach.
Proposition: God's sovereignty is so basic and fundamental that it is impossible to understand any doctrine taught in the Bible until we recognize and have some understanding of the fact that God is sovereign.
A God who is not sovereign is as much a contradiction as a God who is not holy, eternal, and immutable. A God who is not sovereign is no God at all.
If the god you worship is not totally sovereign, you are a pagan, and your religion is idolatry. You would be just as well off to worship a statue of Mary, a totem pole, a spider, or the devil himself as to worship a god who lacks total sovereignty over all things.
In one of his letters to the learned and scholarly Erasmus, Martin Luther said, "Your thoughts of God are too human." No doubt Erasmus resented the remark. But it exposed the heart of his heretical theology. And it exposes the heart of all false religion. I lay this charge against the preachers of our day and against the people who hear them, follow them, and support them - Their thoughts of God are too human. I know the seriousness of what I am saying. But it must be said. The God of the Bible is utterly unknown in this religious generation.
God's charge against apostate Israel was, "Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself" (Psa. 50:21), and that is his indictment against the religious world of our day. Men today imagine that God is moved by sentiment, rather than by the determination of his sovereign will.
They talk about omnipotence, but imagine that it is such an idle fiction that Satan thwart the power of God.
They think that if God has a plan, it must, like the plans of men, be subject to constant change.
They tell us that whatever power God does possess must be limited, lest he violate man's free-will and make him a machine.
The grace of God is thought by most people to be nothing but a helpless, frustrated desire of God to save men.
The precious sin-atoning blood of Christ is thought by most to be a waste, shed in vain for many.
And the invincible, saving power of the Holy Spirit is reduced by most to a gentle offer of grace which men may easily resist.
The god of this generation no more resembles the Sovereign Lord of heaven and earth than a flickering candle resembles the noon-day sun. The god of modern religion is nothing but an idol, the invention of men, the figment of human imagination. Pagans in the dark ages used to carve their gods out of wood and stone and overlay them with silver and gold. Today, in these much darker days, pagans inside the church carve their god out of their own carnal imaginations.
In reality, the religionists of our day are atheists, for there is no possible alternative between a God who is absolutely sovereign and no God at all. A god whose will can be resisted, whose purpose can be frustrated, whose power can be thwarted, whose grace can be nullified, whose work can be overturned, has no title to Deity. Such a god is not a fit object of worship. Such a puny, pigmy god merits nothing but contempt!
When I say that God is sovereign, I am simply declaring that God is God. He is the most High, Lord of heaven and earth, overall, blessed forever. He is subject to none. And he is influenced by none. God is absolutely independent of and sovereign over all his creatures. He does as he pleases, only as he pleases, and always as he pleases. None can thwart him. None can resist him. None can change him. None can stop him. None can hinder him. He declares, "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure" (Isa. 46:10). "He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?" (Dan. 4:35). Divine sovereignty means that God sits upon the throne of universal dominion, directing all things, ruling all things, and working all things "after the counsel of his own will" (Eph. 1:11).
Divisions: When preaching the sovereignty of God, the greatest difficulty is deciding where to cut the message off. This is a subject about which hundreds of books have been written, and yet "the half hath not been told." Divine sovereignty is not some isolated doctrine, taught in a few verses of Scripture. It is revealed, literally, upon every page of Inspiration. But tonight we will limit our thoughts to five revelations of the sovereignty of God. Here are five things which manifestly and irrefutably reveal the sovereignty of God.
I. GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY IS IRREFUTABLY REVEALED IN HIS ETERNAL PREDESTINATION OF ALL THINGS.
Does the Bible teach predestination? Of course it does! Any preacher who attempts to deny that it does is either a babbling idiot, totally ignorant of the Word of God, or a liar.
A. God chose some men and women in eternity to be the objects of his saving grace and predestinated those elect ones to be conformed to the image of his dear Son (Rom. 8:28-29).
Romans 8:28-29 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (29) For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."
Before the world began God sovereignly determined…
Having determined these things he infallibly secured his eternal purpose of grace by sovereign predestination.
B. Yes, God predestinated from eternity everything that comes to pass in time to secure the salvation of his elect (Eph. 1:3-6, 11).
Ephesians 1:3-6, 11 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: (4) According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (5) Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, (6) To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved…(11) In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:.
"All things are of God" (II Cor. 5:18).
Eternal election marked the house into which God's saving grace must come. Eternal predestination marked the path upon which grace must come. And sovereign providence led grace down the path to the house at the time of love.
II. NO ONE CAN REASONABLY DENY THE REVELATION OF GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY IN HIS MARVELOUS WORK OF CREATION (Gen. 1:1; Rev. 4:11).
Genesis 1:1-2 "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (2) And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."
Revelation 4:11 "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."
Nothing moved God to create, except his own sovereign will. What could move him when there was nothing but God himself? Truly, "The heavens declare the glory of God" (Psa. 19:1-4).
A. God created the heavens and the earth as a stage upon which to work out his purpose of grace (Psa. 8:1-9).
Psalms 8 "O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. (2) Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. (3) When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; (4) What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? (5) For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. (6) Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: (7) All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; (8) The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. (9) O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!"
B. God created the angelic host to be ministering spirits to those who shall be the heirs of salvation (Heb. 1:14).
Hebrews 1:14 "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?"
C. God created the sun, the moon, and the stars for the benefit of man.
D. God created all plants and animals to provide food, comfort, and pleasure for man.
E. At last, God created man in his own image and after his own likeness that he might show forth the glory of his grace in man.
III. WE SEE THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD IN ALL THE WORKS OF HIS DAILY PROVIDENCE (Rom. 8:28; 11:36).
Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
Romans 11:36 "For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen."
In divine providence, God almighty sovereignly accomplishes his eternal purpose of grace in predestination.
Revelation 5:1-10 "And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. (2) And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? (3) And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. (4) And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. (5) And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. (6) And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. (7) And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. (8) And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. (9) And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; (10) And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth."
Revelation 10:1-2 "And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: (2) And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,"
A. God's sovereign rule of providence extends to all his creatures.
Inanimate matter, irrational creatures, all things in this world perform their Maker's bidding. At his pleasure...
B. God's rule of providence extends even to the thoughts, and wills, and actions, and words, even of wicked men.
Exodus 34:23-24 "Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel. (24) For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year."
Proverbs 21:1 "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will."
2 Samuel 16:11-12 "And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him. (12) It may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day."
Psalms 76:10 "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain."
C. THE OBJECT OF GOD'S PROVIDENCE, THE OBJECT OF GOD IN ALL THAT HE DOES, OR ALLOWS TO BE DONE, IS THREEFOLD.
Application: Children of God, here is a resting place for our troubled hearts. Neither Satan, the demons of hell, nor men, nor sickness, nor war, nor pestilence, nor the whirlwind is beyond the reach of God's sovereign throne (Matt. 10:30). Blessed be God, "My times are in thy hand!"
IV. GOD'S INDISPUTABLE SOVEREIGNTY IS CONSPICUOUSLY REVEALED IN THE SALVATION OF SINNERS BY HIS ALMIGHTY GRACE (Rom. 9:8-24).
Romans 9:8-24 "They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. (9) For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. (10) And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (11) (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) (12) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. (13) As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. (14) What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. (15) For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. (16) So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. (17) For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. (18) Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. (19) Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? (20) Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? (21) Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? (22) What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: (23) And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, (24) Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?"
A. God chose to save some, but not all.
B. He gave Christ to die for some, but not all.
C. He sends his gospel to some, but not all.
D. He gives his Spirit to some, but not all.
E. He causes some to hear his voice, but not all.
F. He saves some who seek him, but not all.
"Salvation is of the Lord!"
V. AND GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY IS CONSPICUOUSLY REVEALED IN THE VARIOUS SPIRITUAL GIFTS HE BESTOWS UPON HIS PEOPLE (I Cor. 12:14, 18, 28-29).
1 Corinthians 12:14 "For the body is not one member, but many."
1 Corinthians 12:18 "But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him."
1 Corinthians 12:28-29 "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. (29) Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?"
God sees to it that his church has everything she needs to carry out the work he has for her to do.
Let us each covet earnestly the best gifts, the gift of love one for another, and if we have that we will serve God and his people well in our place.
Application: "Our God is in the heavens! He hath done (and is doing) whatsoever he hath pleased!"
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