God's Sovereignty

Oh, Heavenly Father, it is daunting to try and think about your greatness and your majesty and your glory.

! We're very conscious of not only the inadequacy of our minds to grasp this truth, but also the sinfulness of our hearts, which pushes against this kind of truth about your bigness and your greatness.

So, Lord, we pray this evening that you would especially help us, not only in sort of understanding the concepts here, but also joyfully submitting to your greatness and your majesty and your glory.

Lord, we do recognize that you revealing your greatness to us, even though we can't grasp it or understand it fully, you do reveal it to us because you love us and you want us to know you.

And so we pray that we'd submit with joy as we read your word together this evening, as we think about it. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Good evening. Come and join us.

Sit on the back row that we took away. Yeah, there you go.

We've come this evening to chapter three of the Baptist Confession of Faith and to what it calls God's decrees.

Let me give you a brief recap. It's been a couple of weeks.

So these sessions, we've been looking at how the 1689 Baptist Confession outlines answers to questions that we're all still asking.

The 1689 Baptist Confession, if you've never heard of it, was an amended version of the Westminster Confession, which was written just down the road at Westminster Abbey in the Jerusalem Room,

which apparently you're not allowed to go into. But anyway, you can go and ask if you like.

The Westminster Confession was written in the midst of the English Civil War when Parliament was fighting the crown.

And it was quickly followed and largely copied and pasted by the Savoy Declaration, which was written by the Congregationalists.

And then the Baptist Confession, which was written by the Baptist.

Now, the decrees of God in chapter three are all about God's sovereignty.

That is God's power over all things.

This is the idea that God rules and reigns not only just over the good things in our world, but also over the bad things, the evil things in our world.

That all things, everything without exception is accomplishing God's plan.

So both good and wicked accomplish the purposes of God.

Now, before we dive into what the Confession says, I want to read to you a string of Bible references.

My intention here is to overwhelm you, right?

Not just in a kind of like, oh, my goodness, there's so much information.

I can't take it all in, but it will do that.

But also, I want you to see that this is that the writers of the Confession are trying to capture a theme that comes all the way through the scriptures, right?

They're not just kind of proof texting an idea off just a couple of verses.

So I want to start at the beginning of the Bible.

We're going to start in Genesis chapter 50.

Genesis 50 · chapter mention

Genesis chapter 50, Joseph's brothers following the death of their father, Jacob, are worried that Joseph might now take the opportunity to pay them back for selling him into slavery.

Genesis 50 · chapter mention

And so Joseph replies to them.

But Joseph said to them, don't be afraid.

Am I in the place of God?

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Now, notice what he says.

He doesn't say, you intended to harm me, but God allowed you to do it.

He doesn't even say God knew what would happen.

Rather, he says, in a parallel to them, you intended it for evil.

God intended it for good.

So although the brothers intended it, it was in their will to do it,

their intentions, their will only ever accomplished what God's intention was.

Now, when you start to think about the implications of all that, it is incredible, isn't it?

It means that in all of the intentions of the brothers' hearts in throwing Joseph down the well, in selling him into slavery,

all of those intentions were submitting to, in some sense, unconsciously to the grand intentions of God to save his people.

And so he was involved even at that level of what was going on.

Not just knowing, but intending to accomplish a purpose.

Exodus chapter 3, God speaking to Moses about how he's going to work in freeing the Israelites from Egypt.

Exodus 3 · chapter mention

He says this,

Notice this, that God's will shapes the disposition of the Egyptians towards the Israelites.

That the Egyptians aren't coerced against their will to give generously to the Israelites as they leave,

but rather that the Egyptians willingly give their gold and silver to the Israelites as they leave,

because God willed it.

So God wills it, and they carry it out willingly.

Their will turns out to be God's sovereign will.

Jump forward a few books in the Bible to 1 Samuel chapter 19.

1 Samuel 19 · chapter mention

Here we have the nation of Israel under Saul, and David is the king in waiting.

Everybody knows it.

David is growing in popularity.

They sing the song, don't they, that David's killed a lot more people than Saul.

Everyone is more excited about David than they are about Saul.

Listen to what is said about Saul.

Once more, war broke out, and David went out and fought the Philistines.

He struck them with such force that they fled before him.

But an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand,

while David was playing the lyre.

Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear,

but David eluded him as Saul drove the spear into the wall.

At night, David made good his escape.

It's incredible, isn't it?

God is not evil, right?

God is holy.

That is the witness of all the scriptures.

But still, God is in control of Saul's evil intentions in such a way

that it is described as he sends the evil spirit into Saul,

which gives him the desire to kill David.

The desire to kill David is not God's desire.

That's a wicked desire, isn't it?

But the desire that Saul has to kill David is not outside of God's control.

In fact, he stands behind it.

It works in submission to his will and his purpose.

King Ahab, the king of Israel, the bad king.

I would love to read you the whole story.

But basically, this is what's going on.

They're about to go into war together.

The king of Israel is going to go with the king of Judah.

And they seek out the prophets to see what the outcome is going to be.

And they all prophesy that it's going to be amazing

and that King Ahab is going to win a victory.

And then Micaiah continues.

He says,

One suggested this and another that.

And finally, a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord and said,

I will entice him.

By what means?

The Lord asked.

I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets, he said.

You will succeed in enticing him, said the Lord.

Go and do it.

So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours.

The Lord has decreed disaster for you.

It carries on.

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth Gilead.

This is where they're going to have the great success

because all the prophets have said they're going to be really successful.

But the prophets decreeing success is because of a deceiving spirit

that the Lord has put in their mouths.

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat,

I will enter the battle in disguise, but you wear your royal robes.

So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.

Now the king of Aram had ordered his 32 chariot commanders,

don't fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.

When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat,

they thought surely this is the king of Israel.

So they turned to attack him.

But when Jehoshaphat cried out,

the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel

and stopped pursuing him.

But someone drew his bow at random

and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armor.

The king told his chariot driver,

wheel around and get me out of the fighting.

I've been wounded.

All day long, the battle raged

and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans.

The blood from his wound ran onto the floor of the chariot

and that evening he died.

As the sun was setting,

a cry spread through the army,

every man to his town,

every man to his land.

So the king died and was brought to Samaria

and they buried him there.

They washed the chariot at the pool in Samaria

where the prostitutes bathed

and the dogs licked up his blood

as the word of the Lord had declared.

Now, right, that's a longer passage

and we don't have time to get into the detail of it.

But just notice the depth of God's control.

God puts the lying spirit into the lives of the prophets

so that they entice him into battle.

This is just like with Saul again, isn't it?

It's exactly the same kind of language.

And then he, God is so in charge

that the apparently random firing of an arrow

through the sky in the heat of battle,

it lands in the only place possible

for it to kill King Ahab.

Now think about what that means.

It means that God's suffering control

is over the flight of every arrow,

the flight of every drone

or every missile or every bullet,

all landing in exact spot

in which the Lord intends it to.

And it's not just that he's

governing the physics of that, right?

That might be one thing for us to believe,

that God governs the physics of our world

so that objects fly in certain directions.

He also rules over the desires of human hearts

that are involved in the firing of those arrows as well.

Now that's all Old Testament narrative stories.

I could have given you more,

but the Old Testament stories of God's sovereign power

are just a small sample

of how the Bible deals with God's sovereignty.

The prophets then come.

And in lots of ways,

the prophets are the preachers of the Old Testament.

They take what's written,

especially in the law

and in the accounts of history

and the revelation of God that they're receiving

and they preach it to the people.

And what do they say?

Well, here's a couple of examples.

Isaiah 46.

Remember the former things,

those of long ago.

I am God and there is no other.

I am God and there is none like me.

I make known the end from the beginning,

from ancient times,

what is still to come.

I say my purpose will stand

and I will do all that I please.

From the East, I summon a bird of prey,

from a far off land,

a man to fulfill my purpose.

What I have said,

that I will bring about.

What I have planned,

that I will do.

Exactly the same idea, isn't it?

God's will governs and rules history.

He is God.

There is none like him.

He does what he pleases,

even to the point of summoning birds of prey,

foreign armies and leaders

to come and accomplish what he has planned

because what he has planned

is what he will do using all means

because all means are in his control.

Now you jump forward to the New Testament,

you find that Jesus speaks of God's authority

in this same way to account for people's attitudes towards him.

So now we've moved from sort of geopolitics,

now into the areas of belief and unbelief

and attitudes to Jesus.

Jesus, if you like,

is the new Joseph.

He is the new people of God.

He is the new David.

And so what we're seeing in God's sovereignty

and control over their attitudes to those people

is now seen in their attitudes to Jesus himself.

John chapter six,

Notice that.

For people to come to Jesus,

it has to be God's action first.

He has to enable them.

Coming to Jesus is impossible for them

without the enabling of God.

God's will has to make the first move.

God has to will it and enable it.

Again, same idea.

John chapter 10,

John 10 · chapter mention

Jesus answered,

I did tell you,

I did tell you I was the Messiah,

but you did not believe.

The works I do in my father's name testify about me,

but you do not believe

because you are not my sheep.

My sheep listen to my voice.

I know them and they follow me.

I give them eternal life

and they shall never perish.

No one shall snatch them out of my hand.

The unbelief of the people

is because they are not my sheep.

So they will not listen to his voice.

Interestingly, what they respond,

the Jews after this is,

what do they say?

We're not going to listen to him.

That's what they say.

Why listen to him?

He's crazy.

Don't listen to him.

But they don't listen

because they are not his sheep

and so they do not believe.

The early church then in the book of Acts

bring the same doctrine to the fore

and they use it to explain the atonement,

Jesus' death at the cross.

So the church pray,

Acts chapter four,

they say,

indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate

met together with the Gentiles

and the people of Israel in this city

to conspire against your holy servant,

Jesus, whom you had anointed.

They did.

So they conspired against Jesus, right?

They planned and they plotted.

But they did, verse 28,

what your power and will

had decided beforehand would happen.

In other words,

even in following their desires,

even in their plotting and their scheming,

they are only ever doing

what God had already decided should happen.

Again, it's the same idea, isn't it?

Herod, Pontius Pilate,

the Gentiles and the people of Israel,

even in their conspiring,

are only ever accomplishing

what God had decided would happen.

Now, then the epistles,

the apostles take this same doctrine,

not only to explain our reactions to Jesus,

not only to explain the atonement,

not only to explain history,

but also to explain personally

how you and I experience salvation.

Ephesians chapter one,

praise be to God,

the father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who has blessed us in the heavenly realms

with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

Why?

For he chose us in him

before the creation of the world

to be holy and blameless in his sight.

In love, he predestined us

for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ

in accordance with his pleasure and will

to the praise of his glorious grace,

which he has freely given us

in the one he loves.

In other words,

our belief finds its root,

not in our hearts first,

but in the eternal will of God

who decided before the creation

who would be saved.

Those are the ones predestined,

not because of anything they had done,

because they have, by definition,

not done anything,

not just because they were going

to become Christians anyway,

but because God decided.

The root of the action

is in the will of God.

He decides for reasons not given

and for reasons only contained within himself,

because at that point,

nothing else existed.

So God's sovereign will

over belief and unbelief,

over our responses to Jesus,

over the atonement,

over the events of all of history.

Those are just a quick run through

some Bible passages.

Talk to the person next to you.

What is striking or surprising

about what we've read?

What does it mean about God

and what he is like?

Have a think about those questions

for a moment.

We'll feedback,

and then we'll come up

with four conclusions.

Go for it.

Okay.

Any,

anyone want to feedback?

Anything that was said

in a Greek?

Yes,

come.

Come.

You said something helpful

about the section,

the 1 Samuel verses,

about the evil spirit from the Lord.

You said a line about something like how,

although God,

God and wickedness can't be together,

I just,

I thought that was helpful

when you said it,

but it's just a problem.

Okay.

I'm not quite sure what I said.

So,

He's not making the evil,

like,

no.

I think it's like,

if you've called it,

God's made that back.

Right.

Yeah.

God is in control

of Saul's evil intentions

in such a way

that he is able

to send the evil spirit

into Saul

so that he seeks

to kill David.

The desire to kill David

is not God's,

that's wicked,

but the desire that Saul

had to kill David

is not outside of God's control.

In fact,

he stands behind it.

Yeah,

so,

the Bible is really clear

that God is not wicked,

but he stands behind wickedness

in such a way

that he is not morally responsible for it,

but it is not outside of his control.

And it's really important

that we hold that.

We don't know all of the

details about how exactly

that works.

But if that is not true,

you have a world

in which God's purposes

can be thwarted.

You and I might not be saved.

Right?

The church might not survive.

The gates of hell

might prevail.

Yeah?

But we're told they won't

because God is so...

Yeah.

Dane,

did you have your hand up?

Were you...

No, no.

That's right.

Okay.

Okay.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And also,

what's the point in praying

if God can't answer the prayers?

Yes.

What's the point in praying

if God can't answer the prayers?

Jim Packer,

speaking,

I think,

to university students,

I think in Cambridge,

I don't know,

probably in Cambridge,

but it's always there,

isn't it?

Right?

In the...

It becomes a book called

Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God,

and he says,

I know you all already believe

in God's sovereignty

over belief and unbelief,

and I can prove it to you.

You all pray

for your friends and family

to come to know Christ.

And if God had no power

or control,

what would be the point in praying?

Because you're better off

stop wasting your time praying

and go and nag them

to become a Christian

because the solution

lies in their heart,

not in God's.

Great.

Let me conclude

with the four things

that the confessions

sort of greet these together,

and we can ask questions

along the way through.

The confessions essentially

then say four things

about God's decrees.

They take passages

like the ones

that we've looked at

and others,

and this is what they say.

The number one thing,

God is in charge of everything.

The creed puts it like this.

From all eternity,

God decreed everything

that occurs

without reference

to anything

outside himself

because there wasn't

anything outside himself,

right?

He did this

by the perfectly wise

and holy counsel

of his own will

freely

and unchangeably.

Yet God did this

in such a way

that he is neither

the author of sin

nor has any fellowship

with any in their sin.

This decree

does not violate

the will of the creature

or take away

the free working

or contingency,

dependency,

on second causes.

On the contrary,

these are established

by God's decree.

In this decree,

God's wisdom

is displayed

in directing

all things

and his power

and faithfulness

are demonstrated

in accomplishing

his decree.

Notice here

that the confession

wants to say

that it is not

God's sovereignty

versus human freedom,

right?

Both of those exist

at the same time

and actually

it is God's sovereignty

itself,

his power

over all things,

which provides

the realm

for human freedom.

Without God's sovereignty,

you would have

no freedom.

Without God's power

and control

over all things,

you would have

no freedom

or responsibility.

So that's how

it states it.

The point is that

God rules over

big things,

small things,

hidden things,

invisible things.

He decrees,

declares,

decides what will happen,

not by seeking

somebody else,

but in himself.

And notice again,

this is what we were

talking about with Daisy,

he is not the author

of sin,

he is not morally

responsible for it,

he is not

being wicked,

but neither is he

forcing or violating

the will of the creature.

So people do

what they want,

the archer wanted

to fire the arrow,

the Jews wanted

to kill Jesus,

Joseph's brothers

wanted to sell him

into slavery,

but still the Lord

decrees those things

to accomplish his purposes.

Now the point of this

is that we would see

his wisdom,

God is the author

of the story,

works all things

to accomplish

his decrees.

Now one of the ways

that theologians

have sort of tried

to square the circle,

is that what you're saying?

Or whatever,

about this,

is to talk about

the two wills of God,

not in opposition

to one another,

but sort of over one another.

So they talk about

God's sovereign will

and God's moral will.

Okay,

so God has a

sovereign will

over all things

which cannot be

thwarted or defeated.

So let's think

about the cross.

It is in God's

eternal plan

from before the

foundation of the world

that God the Son

would take on human flesh

and die on a cross

for the sins

of his people,

right?

That is in God's

sovereign overall plan

that cannot be

thwarted or changed.

And yet in his

moral will,

right,

in terms of what

God wants

and desires

for people,

what is moral

and good,

having murderous

intent

towards the divine

Son in human flesh

is about as wicked

as you can get,

right?

There isn't really

anything as immoral

as that,

right?

That is the height

of immorality.

So you've got the cross

being both

in his sovereign will

but against his moral will.

And lots of things

work out like that,

don't they?

So that God can

sovereignly decide

that something

against his moral will

will happen

whilst he is not

morally responsible

for it in order

to accomplish his

purposes in glory.

And that's exactly

how it works

with the cross,

isn't it?

People are held

responsible for the

wickedness of killing

the Son

and yet in their

wickedness they

accomplish God's

sovereign plan

and purpose.

You might want to say

all things work

together for good

for those who love

God and are called

according to his

purpose.

Secondly,

this is more

than knowing

what will happen.

I think,

say,

we were talking

in the group

at the back

there a moment ago

just that the

question that comes

to mind is why?

Why?

Why?

Like why?

Why choose some

people and not all

people?

And we don't know

the answers to these

questions,

don't we?

So sometimes what we

try and do is

accommodate God's

sovereignty to something

that we can understand.

So we might want to say,

oh well God,

because he's sort of

outside of time

and because he is

bigger and greater

than anyone or

anything else,

he can sort of see

what will happen

in human freedom

and he can sort of

retrospectively decide

that and foresee it.

But the creed is very,

or the confession

is very careful

to say that

that is not the case.

It's more than

Jesus just knew

who would believe

in him

and so settled

on choosing them.

It's rather that

God's intentions

in those things

are being achieved.

So chapter three,

part two,

the confession says,

God knows everything

that could happen

under any given

conditions.

However,

his decree

of anything

is not based

on foreseeing

it in the future

or foreseeing

that it would occur

under such conditions.

In other words,

he's not just like

a really good chess player

who can see like

ten moves ahead

or whatever

and then just

outmaneuvers everybody

to accomplish

what he wants.

Rather,

actually,

his will

is what decides

what will happen.

God stands over history.

He is the author

of history.

Now,

that's really important,

isn't it?

Because it means

that he is not

a passenger

of fate

or human freedom

who just happens

to know where

things might go

and just is a better

player of history

than you or I.

The Bible never talks

about God like that.

God intends

Joseph's brothers

to sell him

into slavery,

which means that

he steered

even Joseph's arrogance

and his brother's

hatred of his arrogance.

He provided the well

for them

at just the right opportunity.

He made sure,

didn't he,

that Reuben

didn't have a chance

to rescue him

so that he would

get sold

into slavery.

Number three,

this decree

includes salvation.

This is probably

the most difficult

part of all this.

It's one thing,

isn't it,

to realize that

God decrees events.

It's another thing

to see and admit

that he governs

belief and unbelief too.

But again,

that's what we found

in the scriptures.

Jesus says it,

no one can come to me

unless the Father

enables it.

You do not believe in me

because you're not my sheep.

And so the confession says,

by God's decree

and for the demonstration

of his glory,

some men and angels,

men using as in humanity,

are predestined

or foreordained

to eternal life

through Jesus Christ

to the praise

of his glorious grace,

echoing Ephesians 1.

Others are left

to live in their sin,

leading to their

just condemnation

to the praise

of his glorious grace.

Part five,

those men and women

who are predestined

to life

were chosen by God

before the foundation

of the world

according to his eternal

and unchangeable purpose

in the secret counsel

and good pleasure

of his will.

He chose them in Christ

for eternal glory

purely as a result

of his free grace

and love

without anything else

about them

serving as a condition

or cause

moving him to do so.

Now it's really important

that you read this carefully.

The confession

is really clear

to separate belief

and unbelief

and how God

stands behind

both those things.

So notice what he says

in chapter 3,

part 3.

Notice he says,

God's decree

and for the demonstration

of his glory,

some men and angels

are predestined

or foreordained

to eternal life

through Jesus Christ

to the praise

of his glorious grace.

Others are left

to live in their sin.

The confession

is surprised

by the grace

of God

to sinners,

not the condemnation

of sinners.

Right?

Left to our own devices,

we would all be lost

and condemned.

That's the point,

isn't it?

The wonder

of the confession,

the wonder

of the scriptures,

the wonder

of Ephesians 1

is that God

in his kindness

chooses to save any

because nobody

deserves it.

There is no condition

in humanity

which deserves

the salvation

that we receive

in the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is nothing

in us

that would deserve

the love

that Christ has shown

in coming and dying

on the cross.

So there can't be

a reason in us.

And so he stands

behind belief

and unbelief

in slightly different ways,

doesn't he?

He graciously

and for reasons

only known

and understood

by himself,

he loves

and saves some

and others

are left

to live in their sin

leading to their

just condemnation

to the praise

of his glorious grace.

Now I realize

that it is difficult.

The asymmetry

between them

is important

to hold on to

but it doesn't answer

all of our questions.

But really I think

we're supposed

to be in awe

and wonder

that God

for some reason

known only to himself

has chosen to love us.

As he describes

in the Old Testament

when he's trying

to explain

why he loves Israel,

he says,

I loved you

because

the next phrase,

I loved you

because

I loved you.

That's his answer.

I loved you

because I loved you.

You want to know

a reason for my love?

It's because of my love.

The cause is

within God himself.

Now just think

about what that means,

right?

Just think how that works,

right?

Just think

that God

stands behind

then

in his sovereign power

all things

that brought you

to faith

in Jesus Christ.

Now I can't remember

everyone's testimony.

I was trying to think

of someone's testimony here

but I'm going to pick Ray

and you can correct me,

Ray,

where I'm wrong,

right?

So the Lord

sovereignly decided

that Ray

would be born

on Salisbury Road

above the laundrette,

right?

And that in his

teenage years

he would encounter

the gospel

and be drawn

into friendships

with other believers.

And so

it's not an accident

that those people

were in his life

at that time.

You know,

the conversations

that were had

that encouraged Ray

to start thinking

about the gospel,

they were not

accidents,

right?

The Lord

did that.

Now why would

the Lord do that?

Well because

in time eternity

before Ray

even existed,

the Lord

chose

to love him

and save him

and as he

sovereignly rules

over all things,

organises all of that

for the purpose

of eventually

Ray freely

responding to the call

of the gospel

in his life.

And if you're a Christian

this evening,

God's done all of that

for you.

I had the privilege

of being raised

by Christian parents

who prayed for me

and shared the gospel

with me.

Oh yeah,

well that just means

that you're conditioned

to believe.

You've never really

kind of had chance

to freely respond

to the gospel.

What if

God is so sovereign

that his intention

to save me

involved placing me

in the particular family

that he placed me in

whereby I would hear

the gospel

in the way that I did

in order for me

to be saved?

You know,

the flyer that was left

on the car windscreen,

the person that gave

the gospel to you

as you were walking

out the tube station,

you know,

the Christian friend

who just wouldn't give up

inviting you to church,

none of that was an accident.

None of that was an accident.

The Lord stands behind it all

working in order

to accomplish his purpose

in eternity.

Incredible, isn't it?

Incredible truth.

Okay.

Just as God has appointed

the elect to glory,

so he has,

by the eternal

and completely free purpose

of his will,

foreordained all the means.

It's how the confession

puts it.

I don't know whether

I put that on your handout.

He's foreordained

all the means.

Isn't just that he says

this is the end,

but he goes,

this is how we're going

to get there as well.

Finally, number four,

and this is really important.

We're going to end here.

Oh gosh, it's nearly 7.30.

We need to treat this doctrine

with great care.

Yeah, this is really important.

I think our struggles

with the doctrine

of God's sovereignty

are probably not so much

to do with the logic of it

or the absence

of Bible material on it.

There's so much

Bible material on it

and actually,

the logic of it

in terms of the bigness

of God

makes absolute sense,

doesn't it,

of the God

that we worship.

The problem that we have

with it is that

it's badly used

or abused

by Christians

who wrongly apply

the doctrine

or contradict other things

that the Bible also says

which we'll come to

in weeks to come.

So the Confession says this

in its final section

on the decrees of God.

It says this,

the doctrine

of the high mystery

of predestination

is to be handled

with special prudence

and care

so that those

heeding the will

of God revealed

in his word

and obeying him

may be assured

of their eternal election

by the certainty

of their effectual calling.

In this way,

the doctrine

will give reasons

for praise,

reverence

and admiration

of God

as well as humility,

diligence

and rich comfort

to all who sincerely

obey the gospel.

Here's the point,

the Bible's teaching

on God's sovereignty

and his predestination

of those who would believe

is not written,

one,

to answer all the questions

you might have,

it's not.

Two,

it's not written

to contradict

human freedom

and responsibility

because the Bible

teaches that too.

Three,

it's not written

to prevent you

from sharing the gospel

with people

or praying for people,

it's exactly the opposite.

Instead,

it's written

because God wants you

to know

that you are saved

because he loves you.

Ultimately,

he is holding you,

you are not holding him

and he wants you

to know that

because if you think

your Christian life

is you holding on to God,

you will not make it.

Only if you understand

and only if it's true,

which it is,

that God holds on to us

will we make it to glory

because if you know

anything about yourself,

you should know

that your grip on God

is way too weak

to last

through life's trials

and purposes.

But God has a hold on you,

says the confession,

says God's words,

and history is

accomplishing his purpose.

He will finish

what he has started

in your life.

He's not just working it out

on the fly.

Whoa,

didn't realize

that would happen.

Goodness me,

I didn't realize

that their children

would be wayward

or difficult.

I didn't realize

that their parents

would not approve

of their new faith

in Jesus Christ.

He's not shocked

by any of those things,

is he?

But he's working

all things out

for the purpose

of his glory,

that you can trust him

and praise him

and give him

all the glory.

I've finished there.

Any questions

as we wrap it up?

Yes.

So, like,

how does this

inform our daily lives?

I understand

how, like,

completely understand

how predestination

is comforting to us

and is something

that we can fall back on.

But, like,

in our daily lives,

how does this impact?

Like,

does God,

if I miss a bus,

God's sovereignty is that?

If I choose what,

and the vitamin S,

does God's sovereignty

end up?

How does that

live through the daily life

besides salvation?

Yes.

If God is sovereign

over all things,

how does that affect

daily life?

So,

it shouldn't paralyze you

into not making

any decisions,

right?

Because God

gives you responsibility

to make decisions

and to move forwards

and to do things.

You know,

you can't go into M&S

and just say,

I'm just going to stand here

until God writes

in the sky what I'm,

you all right?

Yeah.

So,

you are to go and move forward

and make those decisions.

But you are to understand

that underlying

all of those things

is God's sovereign

purposes that can

never be thwarted.

So,

if you take those two wills,

I seek to live my life

in obedience

to God's moral will.

But it is not my ability

to live according

to his moral will

that will determine

ultimately the ends.

That is in God's

sovereign purposes,

isn't it?

So,

even when I sin,

I don't worry

that God's purposes

and glory are going

to be thwarted by that

because even those things

are in his

control.

So,

it brings great comfort

to me

and it relieves

a lot of

anxiety and stress.

So,

like you say,

yeah,

the bus that you missed,

that's in God's

plan and purpose,

isn't it?

You may,

that doesn't mean

that it will become

obvious why that happened,

does it?

You may never know,

but you do know

that that is in

God's sovereign hands.

You know,

when you worry

and you panic,

you basically have to say

to yourself,

don't you,

you know,

Lola,

Steve,

whatever,

do you really genuinely

believe in the bigness

of God?

Or do you suddenly

think that God

is now out of control

and that all of these

things have happened

because he's just

kind of lost it?

Oh,

no,

I don't believe that.

Oh,

right,

okay.

It will all be

all right then.

Everything will be okay.

I don't,

in terms of doctrines,

like the kind of cash

value of that in my

day-to-day life is massive,

absolutely massive.

Yeah.

Any other questions?

So where is our

responsibility

in the whole scheme of things?

Right,

where is our responsibility

in the whole scheme of things?

We will come to that,

right?

So we do have

responsibility

and we are held

responsible for our

obedience or disobedience

to God's moral will.

Absolutely right.

That,

that responsibility

is,

is not in opposition

to God's sovereign

will and purpose.

It is secured

by his sovereign

will and purpose.

But you're still,

you and I are still held

morally responsible

for what we do.

You know,

so,

you know,

Galatians 6,

don't,

you know,

don't be deceived.

God cannot be mocked.

You reap what you sow,

right?

So there is a,

a direct relationship

between what we do

and the lives

that we receive.

But even that

is in God's

sovereign plan and purpose.

Ultimately,

you have to say,

don't you Clifford,

that you don't understand,

I don't understand,

exactly how,

what the Bible says

about my responsibility

and God's sovereignty

can be married together.

I don't understand that.

I do know that

the Bible teaches both

and I can't

kick this one out

in order to keep this one

and I can't kick that one

out to keep this one.

I have to hold the two

in tension with one another

because the Bible says both.

Well,

my good intention exists.

Yeah.

Yes.

I can't resolve it for you

ultimately.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Great.

Let me pray.

I know we've run over time

but that was all

in God's plan.

Let me pray.

Heavenly Father,

what a wonderful joy it is

to know that we leave

this room tonight

absolutely inside your will

and your sovereign purposes

that nothing that will happen to us

will come as a surprise to you

or outside of your intentions for us.

Thank you that we can know

that what you've started

in our hearts,

you will finish.

There is a day

when we will stand

transformed into Christlikeness,

living with you

for all eternity

in a world remade

by your power

for your glory

forever and ever.

We long for that day

and we know

we will be there

because you are holding us,

not us holding you.

And all things in our lives,

little and big,

are working together

for your good purposes.

So we pray

that we'd trust that

and we'd enjoy that

this week.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.