Doctrines of Grace - Part 1

Well, we take up this morning the glorious topic of what has been called the doctrines of grace.

! That is how it is that God saves sinners.

And these truths are to the saints of God of sweetest savor.

They furnish a display of the glory of God arrayed in its most ravishing vestment and vesture.

To view these unfolding is to cry out with the apostle,

Oh, the depths of the riches!

And while we might begin our view from any number of its gleaming facets,

I think it fruitful first to frame these truths of God's gracious work of salvation

in the wider view of His supreme sovereignty.

That is, God's all-encompassing rule and governance over all and in all,

the vast realm of His creation.

All that was, is, and is to come is ruled by the scepter of His pleasure

and follows infallibly the dictates of His will.

And here the setting fits the gem it holds,

His general sovereignty, His sovereignty and salvation.

The frame, almost as much as the portrait it encloses,

is a wonder to behold.

So we shall proceed by unfolding this glorious truth of God's all-encompassing sovereignty

as witnessed in the scriptures.

And like travelers upon a scenic path,

who on occasion cannot but pause

on some outlook to take in the rapturous vista

and burst forth in wonder and praise,

we'll sprinkle our path

with some reactions

of fellow travelers

who behold these truths like sparkling stars

in the firmament.

So, embarking,

let us entrust ourselves

to our sure guide.

Let's pray.

Come Holy Spirit

and soften our hearts

as we open Your Word.

Settle our convictions

and so strengthen our comfort

and deepen our joy

that Christ,

the Alpha and Omega,

might be exalted.

Amen.

Amen.

So one,

Scripture's witness

and saints' wonder.

To enter Scripture

is to inhabit a world

in which God reigns

and His purposes prevail.

Where all reflects

the unfolding of His will.

The unwavering conviction

is woven through Scripture's fabric

from beginning to end.

For from Him

are all things,

writes the Apostle

in Romans 11.

That is to say,

all things

find their ultimate source

in God.

All things

issue ultimately

from His will

and good pleasure.

God, we are told,

works all things

after the counsel

of His own will.

Ephesians 1, 11.

All things?

I mean,

as in every single thing?

Yes.

Consider things

first in the realm

of inanimate nature.

Now, no Hebrew

worshiper of Yahweh

would ever say,

hey, look,

it happened to rain.

for all knew

that God

sends the rain

and that the snows

fall by His command.

As Elihu testifies,

for the snow,

he says,

falls on the earth.

Likewise,

the downpour

is His mighty downpour.

Job 37, 6.

By the breath of God,

the ice is given

and the broad waters

are frozen fast.

He, God,

loads the thick clouds

with moisture.

The clouds scatter

His lightning.

They turn around

and around

by His guidance

to accomplish

all that He commands them

on the face

of the inhabitable world.

Job 37, 10 through 12.

The forces of nature

in their observed regularities

are not operating

simply out of some law

intrinsic to them.

They move by the command

of the Most High.

The sun,

the moon,

the stars

act in accordance with,

as Scripture says,

a fixed order

that God has established

by His own covenant.

The Lord of hosts

has established it.

Jeremiah 31, 35,

33, 20,

and on and on

throughout the Scriptures.

Thus it is

in the realm

of inanimate nature.

So also

in the realm

of animate nature.

Isaiah 46, 11 says,

He, God,

calls the bird of prey

from the east.

Even the two

for a penny sparrows,

Jesus reminds us,

that not one

will fall to the ground

without your Father's will.

Matthew 10, 29.

And remember the story

of Jonah.

God appointed

the great fish,

117,

and appointed

the worm

to eat

the shade-giving

gourd

which God had

appointed

to grow

and spring up.

Such appointment

also orders

the rise

and fall

of nations.

All the intricacies

of the flux

of national territory,

which imperial power

prevails

and which people

is consumed.

God, quote,

determined

their appointed times

and their boundaries

of their habitation.

Acts 17, 26.

And from the great surges

of geopolitical realms

to the most trivial,

seemingly random events,

nothing springs

!

Nothing springs

from chance.

Even the numbers

we roll on a die,

God's wisdom

determines.

Proverbs 16, 33.

The lot

is cast

into the lap,

but the decision

is wholly

from the Lord.

It was not random

that Achan,

Saul,

Jonah,

Matthias

drew the short straw.

It reflected

God's determination.

And this reality

of God's

ordaining

all things

encompasses

all human

choices

also.

Proverbs 16, 9.

The heart of a man

plans his way,

but the Lord

directs his steps.

Proverbs 20, 24.

A man's steps

are ordered

by the Lord.

I know,

O Lord,

says the prophet Jeremiah,

that the way of a man

is not in himself,

that it is not in man

who walks

to direct his steps.

Jeremiah 10, 23.

Now,

the heart

in Scripture

means the

affectional,

volitional

center

from which spring

our attractions,

our aversions,

all of our choices.

The heart

determines

what we desire

and abhor,

and hence

is the seat

of all action.

And it is

precisely here

that God

exercises

sovereignty.

Psalms 33,

14 through 15

tells us,

God looks down

from his throne,

quote,

on all the

inhabitants

of the earth

and fashions

the hearts

of them

all.

Why,

even the one

who you would

think to have

maximal autonomy,

to make

unconstrained

choices,

a king.

Of such

an emblem

of independence

and power,

we are told

the king's heart

is as a stream

of water

in the hand

of the Lord.

He,

the Lord,

turns it

whatever way

he will.

Proverbs 21, 1.

Again,

this is

throughout

scripture,

Ezra 6, 22,

the Lord

turned the heart

of the king

of Assyria.

Again and again,

we could multiply

examples.

And of course,

the king

is simply

a paradigm

case

of what is

true

of all.

Many are the

plans of a man's

heart,

but the counsel

of the Lord,

it will stand.

Proverbs 19,

21.

So utterly

does God

control the

hearts of mankind

that he can

tell the Israelites

that if they

obediently appear

before him

in the sanctuary

of Jerusalem,

leaving their

lands unprotected

and vulnerable

to looting

and conquest,

he would

preserve them.

And how

would God

accomplish this?

By making

it such

that their

enemies

would not

eye their

land with

envy.

and seek

to seize

it in this

golden opportunity.

He would

displace

covetousness

with contentment

and malice

with goodwill

in their

enemies'

hearts.

Exodus 34,

23 and 24.

John Calvin

writes in his

commentary on

this verse,

this was a

remarkable proof

of God's

providence.

Another word

for sovereignty

basically.

for how

could it be

that their

enemies,

who were

ever watching

for opportunities

of plunder,

should remain

quiet when

they knew that

all the men

were gone

from home?

The only

answer is that

God restrained

their cupidity

and by his

secret power

bridled their

lusts so that

they dared

not move.

Here,

therefore,

we see how

the Lord holds

the hearts of

men in his

hand and

bends them

according to

his will.

Stephen

Charnock,

the author of

that great,

The Existence

and Attributes

of God,

echoes this

conviction.

He writes,

God is present

in every

motion,

yet distinct

from every

creature.

He orders

all,

directs all,

and none

can move a

hand or

tongue without

his permission.

So,

the uniform

testimony of

Scripture is

that all

things are

ordered and

governed by

the sovereign

will of God,

from the

movement of

the spheres

in their

vaults above

to the hidden

impulses of

the human

heart within.

It is

truly an

awesome

truth.

I believe,

proclaimed Spurgeon,

that every

particle of

dust that

dances in

the sunbeam

does not

move an

atom more

or less

than God

wishes.

That every

particle of

spray that

dashes against

the steamboat

has its

orbit as

well as

the sun

in the

heavens.

That the

chaff from

the hand of

the winnower

is steered

as the

stars in

their courses.

the

creeping of

an aphid

over the

rosebud

is as

much fixed

as the

march of

the

devastating

pestilence.

The fall

of seer

leaves from

a poplar

is as

fully

ordained

as the

tumbling

of an

avalanche.

Jonathan

Edwards

agrees

and asserts

the same

degree of

minute

granularity

to God's

sovereign

decrees.

He writes,

not one

mote of

dust

errs

from the

path that

God has

appointed

it.

Whoa,

whoa,

okay,

but what

if that

mote of

dust

goes in

your eye?

And

Spurgeon

mentions,

as you

know,

that part

of God's

sovereign

disposals

involves

pestilence

and avalanche.

Are you

saying that

God decrees

even the

bad things?

The Chicago

fire,

the Lisbon

earthquake,

the collapse

of the

Twin Towers?

Unflinchingly,

Alex,

you have plenty

of room

anywhere you

want.

Unflinchingly,

the scriptures

do not

taper

God's

sovereign

will,

even a

whisker's

breadth,

when it

concerns

such

calamities.

Does evil

befall a

city unless

the Lord

has done

it?

declares

Amos the

prophet,

3, 6.

I am

the Lord

and there

is no

other.

I form

light,

I create

darkness,

I make

welfare,

and I

create

woe.

I am

the Lord

who does

all these

things.

Isaiah

45, 7.

Wait a

minute,

you protest.

There's a

lot of

carnage

that comes

from evil.

I mean,

think of

Gaza.

Babies

and small

children

were won

with hunger.

Yes,

the scriptures

are no

stranger to

that reality.

Jeremiah

writes with

horror and

sorrow.

My eyes

are spent

with weeping.

My soul

is in

tumult.

My heart

is poured

out in

grief because

infants and

babies faint

in the

streets of

the city.

Lamentations

2, 11.

Yet he

knows even

here God

is supremely

sovereign.

He

continues,

who has

commanded

and it

came to

pass unless

the Lord

has ordained

it.

Is it

not from

the mouth

of the

Most High

that good

and evil

come?

Lamentations

3, 37

and 38.

But let's

go straight

to the

limit

case.

What

would you

say has

been the

most utterly

horrendous

evil ever

perpetrated

on this

earth?

The

Holocaust?

Ethnic

cleansing?

The wholesale

commercial

slaughter of

babies in

the womb?

God

sends his

son to

seek and

save us

and we

hate him

and kill

him.

Away with

him.

Crucify him.

our evil

does not

extend

beyond that.

But did

God's

sovereignty

determine it

to be so?

Yes.

And Peter,

as Peter

told the

Jerusalem

crowd,

this man,

Jesus,

delivered up

by the

predetermined

plan and

foreknowledge

of God,

you nailed

to the

cross.

Acts 2, 23.

Not even

evil is

exempt from

the grip of

God's

sovereign sway.

His

governance is

all

comprehensive.

For

from him

are all

things.

Romans 11.

He works

all things

after the

counsel of

his own

will.

None of

the trials

and sufferings

that befall

fall outside

God's

reign.

All

events

are under

the control

of providence

or sovereignty,

writes Spurgeon.

Consequently,

all of the

trials

of our

outward life

are traceable

at once

to the

great

first cause.

out of

the golden

gate of

God's

ordinance,

the armies

of trial

march forth

in array,

clad in

their iron

armor and

armed with

weapons of

war.

Or as

Thomas

Watson

tersely

puts it,

whoever

brings

an affliction,

it is

God

who

sends

it.

So

there's

scripture's

witness

and

saints

wonder.

Persisting

puzzles

properly

pondered.

Now,

in the

presence of

this

truth of

God's

all

encompassing

sovereignty,

scripturally

revealed,

worshipping

minds have

wondered,

how could

these

things be

so?

For

by very

natural,

for some

very natural

puzzles

appear for

the thoughtful

who seek to

bring together

in harmony

the truth

of God's

sovereignty

with other

verities to

which scripture

bears witness.

It's good to

have an

integration

instinct.

They are

perhaps

percolating

in your

minds

already.

two

perhaps

are most

prominent

and pressing

and deserving

of passing

at least

comment.

First,

if God

is sovereign

over all,

how is

he not

implicated

in evil?

And,

second,

if God

is sovereign

over us,

how have

we the

freedom

for moral

agency?

Now,

there is a

right way

to raise

these questions

and a

wrong way.

The right

way is

that of

Mary at

the angel's

revelation

that she

would bear

a son,

God's

Messiah.

How can

these things

be?

It was

asked out

of a heart

of faith

and submission.

There was

no rejecting

disbelief.

not so

with

Zachariah.

His words

were exactly

the same

as Mary's,

but not

his heart,

for his

was an

unbelieving

heart for

which he

was rebuked.

So,

let us

proceed in

our puzzles

with the

submissive

humble

heart of

Mary.

So,

first,

if all

comes about

at God's

decree,

how is

he not

implicated

in evil?

How are

we to

think of

God's

ordaining

evil?

Surely

this is

out of

character

with a

good and

holy God

who is

light and

in whom

there is

no darkness,

1 John

1.5.

The

scriptures

have not

one whisker

of ambiguity

as to

God's

utter

unblemished

goodness.

He is

never

the

accomplice

to evil.

As

Moses sang

to the

assembled

Israel

in

Deuteronomy

32,

3,

and 4,

ascribe

greatness

to our

God the

Rock.

His

work is

perfect

and all

his ways

are just.

A

God of

faithfulness

without

iniquity,

just

and

upright

is he.

Or

the

prophet

Habakkuk

in

1.13.

You,

God,

are of

purer

eyes

than

to

see

evil

and

cannot

look

upon

wrong.

In the

sense of

look with

complacency,

that's

okay,

no problem.

The

sixth-wing

cherubim

who,

covering

their

eyes in

God's

presence,

call to

each

other

perpetually,

holy,

holy,

holy,

Isaiah

6.

The

assembled

host of

heavens

swell

with the

chorus,

Revelation

15.3,

great and

amazing are

your deeds,

O Lord

God

Almighty,

just and

true are

all of

your ways.

So,

in light

of this

brilliant

splendor

of unadulterated

goodness and

unsullied

uprightness,

we naturally

find ourselves

arrested

to read,

is it

not from

the mouth

of the

Most High

that good

and evil

come?

And I

form light

and I

create

darkness,

I make

well-being

and I

create

calamity,

I am

the Lord

who does

all these

things,

Isaiah

45.7.

How are

we to

understand

these

statements?

I don't

know,

I'll see

it at

no price.

Well,

the beginning

of wisdom

here,

I believe,

is to

recognize

a vital

distinction.

It's

indicated in

the remarkable

utterance

of Joseph

recorded

in Genesis

50.20.

Referring

to his

brothers

selling him

into slavery

and his

ending up

in Egypt,

he states,

you intended

it for

evil,

but God

intended

it for

good.

So,

notice how

in Joseph's

mind,

the action

was brought

about both

by his

brothers

and by

God.

But,

and this

is vital,

the differentiated

actors had

different

motives and

purposes in

and for

the action.

The brothers

intended it

for evil,

God intended

it for

good.

Now,

this duality

is instructive

in guiding

our thinking.

In each

action,

we must

see a

dual

reference.

There is

an intention

with respect

to the

creature,

the created

ones,

who is

acting,

whoever the

created one

is acting,

Satan,

villains,

sinners,

often

perfidious,

which may

or may

not prevail.

But,

there is

also an

intention

of the

creator,

whose

intentions

and purposes

will always

obtain.

His

intentions

are always

and necessarily

good and

holy and

glorious,

reflecting

his character.

As

Jonathan Edwards

writes,

it's a

little

archaic

grammar,

but you'll

get the

point.

Men

will,

sorry,

men do

will

sin

as

sin.

And so

are the

authors and

actors of

it.

They love

it as

sin

and for

the evil

ends and

purposes.

God

don't

will

sin

as

sin

or

for

the

sake

of

anything

evil.

Though

it be

his

pleasure

so

to

order

things

that

he

permitting

sin

will

come

to

pass,

he

doeth

it

for

the

sake

of

the

great

good

that

by

his

disposal

shall

be

the

consequence.

Now

that's

Edwards,

it's a

little

bit

dense.

Maybe

I'll

just

read

it

again

because

this

is

really

really

helpful

distinction

to have.

Men

do

will

sin

as

sin

and

so

are

the

authors

and

actors

of

it.

They

love

it

as

sin

and

for

evil

ends

and

purposes.

But

God

doesn't

don't

will

sin

as

sin

or

for

the

sake

of

anything

evil.

Though

it

be

his

pleasure

so

to

order

things

that

he

permitting

sin

will

come

to

pass

for

the

sake

of

the

great

good

that

by

his

disposal

shall

be

the

consequence.

Get that?

Very

helpful.

Very

helpful.

It's

from his

Freedom of

the Will,

page 408

and 9.

Long

book,

but worth

it.

Now

what can

make some

of the

language

about

this

jarring

is that

the

outcomes

of

these

dual

intended

acts,

Joseph

being

sold

as

a

slave

and

sent

to

Egypt,

are

described

from

the

vantage

point

of

our

experience

of

them.

We

experience

them

as

evil

and

they

are

rightly

so

described.

Joseph

being

sold

by his

brothers

was

evil.

They

intended

it

for

evil

and

Joseph

experienced

it

as

evil.

So

it

makes

sense

that

we

would

call

it

evil.

As

indeed

it

is.

What

else

would

we

call

it?

And

what

other

vantage

point

would

we

have

to

describe

it

than

our

own?

And

we

see

and

experience

it

as

affliction,

calamity,

and

evil.

But

God

is

in

it

and

so

we

may

and

must

say

does

fire

consume

a

city

and

do

not

I

God

do

it?

God

is

in it

and

ordains

it

but

in

his

case

for

good.

See

the

coming

together

of

the

dual

actors

think

of it

this

way

I

I'm

trying

to

remember

which

Puritan

he

talks

about

God

uses

Satan

as

his

drudge

imagine

Satan

there

it

says

I

hate

God's

elect

I

am

going

to

destroy

them

so

he

takes

the

flail

and

he

goes

after

God's

professed

people

with

a

flail

and

he's

just

flailing

away

and

aiming

to

destroy

them

and

we

feel

the

harsh

we're

under

the

flail

Satan

is

flail

but

in

doing

so

he

just

manages

to

achieve

God's

purpose

which

is

separating

the

grain

from

the

chaff

and

purifying

the

wheat

so

Satan

the

drudge

is

just

going

away

just

hammering

trying

to

destroy

and

that's

his

evil

intent

and

it's

evil

and

we

experience

it

as

evil

oh

my

goodness

I'm

being

battered

I'm

being

battered

I'm

under

the

but

God

is

achieving

his

good

purpose

of

refining

and

purifying

and

winnowing

the wheat

from the

chaff

so

these

things

come

together

so

there's

our

first

puzzle

hopefully

a little

bit

illuminated

our

second

puzzle

is

if

God's

sovereign

decree

ordains

all

things

including

human

actions

how

can

we

rightly

be

accountable

for

them

well

let's

take

for

guidance

in

this

puzzle

the

biblical

case

of

God's

ordaining

the

Assyrian

empire

to

scourge

apostate

Israel

for her

disobedience

God

describes

Assyria

as

vividly

Isaiah

10

5

the

rod

of

my

anger

the

axe

with

which

I

hew

the

saw

I

wield

that

is

God

manipulates

Assyria

as one

would

an

inanimate

tool

deploying

them for

his

errand

of

judgment

so you

can see

oh

how can

he

hold

that

if

he's

just

how

that

as

he

writes

against

a

godless

nation

I

send

him

Assyria

against

the

people

of

my

wrath

I

command

him

to

take

and

to

seize

and

to

plunder

and

to

tread

them

down

like

the

mire

in

the

streets

but

and

this

is

the

critical

point

to

recognize

God

does

not

need

to

sow

evil

into

the

Assyrian

hearts

for

them

to

act

in

this

role

their

hearts

are

already

remorseless

cruel

grasping

already

with the

disposition

to enact

cruel

rapacious

villainies

God

need

not

teach

the

Assyrians

new

tricks

to

use

them

cruelly

neither

get

them

to

act

contrary

to

their

habituated

evil

they

are

self

made

accomplished

experts

in

evil

as

the

next

verse

testifies

of the

Assyrians

verse

seven

it

is

in

their

heart

to

destroy

do

you see

that

and

so

after