God's Sovereignty

It's so terrifying that God will unleash the fury

that many will face the mountains and rocks,

fall on us and hide us from the face of him

who is seated on the throne.

The wrath of the Lamb, as the Revelation says.

Man is in utter rebellion against God.

Who can deny it?

And countless other things we have not mentioned here.

It's in all of us.

And who really is in control?

God or the devil?

Does God fail to accomplish his purposes

because of evident human rebellion?

Put this back on.

So how do we account for the sheer quantity of evil

and calamities in the world?

Many Christians want to take God off the hook

for evil and calamities.

And they rightly see that sin vandalizes God's good creation.

Sin affects creation itself.

Like putting graffiti on a beautiful painting in the Louvre.

God is not only the king, he is the judge.

People recognize that.

And many women will one day give an account

before the judgment seat of Christ.

And with this we must all agree.

But in arguing of how to understand evil in the world,

some want to say God cannot prevent evil

because that would destroy our freedom

to choose good and evil.

He just kind of rolls the dice and hopes for the best.

And humans have the power to choose good and evil.

And because it's up to us,

he can clean up the mess afterward,

but he is helpless to prevent it.

Our freedom is so valuable

that he's willing to pay the price of human suffering.

And God cannot prevent evil.

After the tsunami in Southeast Asia,

a Christian was asked this,

whether God had anything to do with a disaster.

No, he replied.

This question has to do with geology, not theology.

So putting aside the profound theological statement

that person's making in that statement,

I want to say the scripture has much to say to us

about this topic.

And the scripture appears to cut in a different direction

than that statement.

Isaiah 45, verse 7,

Isaiah 45:7

The same God who is good,

in which there is no darkness,

says to the people,

I form the light and create darkness.

I bring prosperity and create disaster.

I, the Lord, do all these things.

And Daniel 4, 35,

up here,

says,

All the inhabitants of the earth

are accounted as nothing,

and he does according to his will

among the hosts of heaven

and among the inhabitants of the earth,

and none can stay his hand or say to him,

What have you done?

In the midst of severe misfortune,

including winds which swept in

and caused the collapse of a house,

killing all the young inside,

Job refused to curse God.

He says,

Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?

In surveying the ruins of Jerusalem,

Jeremiah asked,

Is it not from the mouth of the Most High

that both calamities and good things come?

So in the scripture,

when suffering happens,

I think pastorally the writers of scripture

want to draw our attention to God's sovereignty.

The disciples asked Jesus,

Who sinned,

this blind man or his parents?

Jesus answered,

Neither,

but that the works of God

might be displayed in him.

So we know the creation is cursed

because sin creates disabilities

like blindness.

God created everything and called it good.

There was no blindness before sin.

But this man's blindness was no accident,

according to Jesus.

He was born blind

because God had a purpose for this man,

that he would have a chance to glorify him

through his suffering.

And one of the priceless truths,

the pillow we can lay our heads on at night,

is the truth of God's sovereignty.

All things are under God's rule and control,

and nothing happens without his direction or permission.

God doesn't work some things out,

but all things out,

according to the counsel of his will.

And this is good news for us,

that God controls every molecule,

atom,

even the smallest subatomic particle

unseen by the most powerful microscope on earth.

Something that the human eye has never seen,

God is in control of those things.

From the forces of nature, we'll see,

to the rise and fall of nations,

over good and evil,

even the deeply painful events in our lives.

God is in control.

And so this means your suffering is not meaningless.

We will see.

And Christian, though you can't see it now,

one day you will see

that God is working out these painful things for our good.

And my hope and prayer is that

by the end of our time together,

we will see God's sovereignty

as the bedrock of our trust,

and God's sovereignty would lead us to rest

in the fatherly hand of God.

So let's begin with,

what do we mean when we say sovereignty of God?

Well, a sovereign is a ruler, a lord.

To discuss the sovereignty of God

is to discuss his lordship, his kingship.

A.W. Tozer defines it as,

God's sovereignty is the attribute

by which he rules his entire creation.

And to be sovereign,

God must be all-knowing, all-powerful,

and absolutely free.

The word Yahweh in the Old Testament

expresses this sovereign rule.

The name revealed to Moses at the burning bush.

I am who I am.

He depends on no one.

He always was and always will be.

And the word Lord, Yahweh,

is found 7,000 times in the Old Testament.

He is the King of kings,

the Lord of lords,

the great, the mighty, and the awesome God.

Psalm 115, verse 3,

Psalms 115:3

Our God is in the heavens.

He does all that he pleases.

And the prefix omni means all.

So he is omnipotent.

He is all-powerful.

Omniscient.

He knows everything.

You combine all the knowledge

by all the people at Yale,

and it is comparable to a kindergarten reading lesson

compared to what God knows.

He knows everything there is to know.

Omnipresent.

Scripture says he's everywhere.

You go 36,000 feet to the bottom of the ocean,

God is there,

if you aren't crushed by the pressure.

So we see this as the premise of God in the Exodus.

It was God, not Pharaoh,

who reigns over all things.

Exodus 3, verse 19 to 20,

Exodus 3:19–20

But I know that the king of Egypt

will not let you go

unless compelled by a mighty hand,

so I will stretch out my hand

and strike Egypt

with all the wonders that I will do in it.

After that, he will let you go.

The sovereignty of God means

God as a king is in control of the world.

He is in control of Pharaoh.

And to what purpose does God exercise his sovereignty?

Well, God tells the Israelites in the Exodus,

So that the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord

when I stretch out my hand against Egypt

to bring out the people of Israel from among them.

God does everything for his own glory.

So think of God speaking to Isaiah,

Bring my sons from afar

and my daughters from the ends of the earth,

everyone who is called by my name,

whom I created for my glory.

We have been created to display the glory of God.

Like a master painter

whose canvas is the entire universe,

he governs every detail to bring himself glory.

And one day the earth will be filled

with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea,

as Sabaccic says.

So how does the scripture portray

the sovereignty of God?

So we'll begin with the macro

and then we'll narrow down to the micro

as it hits closer to home.

So first, God is sovereign

over the decisions of nations.

Over the decisions of nations.

Proverbs 21, verse 1.

Proverbs 21:1

The king's heart is a stream of water

in the hand of the Lord.

He turns it wherever he will.

He controls kings.

He has unlimited power.

He has the power to summon a king

to pound swiftly and destroy another nation.

And that's precisely what he did

when he summoned Cyrus and Isaiah

to crush Babylon.

Isaiah 46.

I am God and there is no other.

I am God and there's none like me,

declaring the end from the beginning.

And from ancient times,

things not yet done,

saying,

My counsel shall stand

and I will accomplish all my purpose.

Calling a bird of prey from the east,

a man of my counsel from a far country.

I have spoken and I will bring it to pass.

I have purposed and I will do it.

And that bird of prey that God is referring to

is him summoning Cyrus, the king of Persia,

to abruptly and swiftly conquer Babylon

and liberate the Jews from captivity.

God is sovereign over the very fortunes of nations

over Syria and Babylon and Persia.

He is sovereign over Russian tanks coming into Ukraine.

He is sovereign over Vladimir Putin and Zelensky.

He is sovereign over China and Taiwan,

over North Korea and South Korea, Lithuania.

He is sovereign over the elections in the United States,

the polar bears and the penguins in Antarctica.

He reigns supreme as the king over all the nations

and his purposes always prevail.

When he stretches out his hand,

there is none to turn him back

because there is no one over him and beside him.

So we see God is sovereign over the decisions of nations.

And second, God is sovereign over calamities,

over calamities.

We saw this previously in Job's life.

And also besides that,

who sent the flood during Noah's time?

God is not making a point of meteorology, but theology.

Genesis 6, verse 17,

Genesis 6:17

I'm about to cover the earth with a flood

that will destroy every living thing that breathes.

Everything on earth will die.

God wants them to know ahead of time

who sends the storm.

He is the God of the storm.

He judges sin.

And he will send the storm to judge the nations.

He is sovereign even over calamities.

Who sent the plagues in Egypt?

In Exodus 9,

God brings a terrible hailstorm upon the Egyptians,

but he leaves one area untouched,

the land of Goshen,

where the Israelites lived.

He makes distinctions in the plagues

through natural events.

And for what purpose?

Again, God says,

the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.

He does it so that they know

that he is king in control,

even of nature itself.

And at his word,

the sun stood still so Joshua could win the battle.

According to Genesis,

he sends famine.

The disciples said to Jesus,

what kind of man is this?

Even the winds in the sea obey him.

God is in control of the weather,

even over calamities.

And do you remember that terrifying episode

of the sons of Korah in the book of Numbers?

Do you remember the sons of Korah

were rebellious men,

challenging the authority of Moses and Aaron

as God's appointed leaders?

And Moses in number 16 says,

if they die a natural death,

then the Lord has not sent me.

But if the Lord opens up the earth

and swallows them up

with everything that belongs to them

and they go alive into the realm of the dead,

then you will know that these men

have treated the Lord with contempt.

And what happened?

As soon as Moses was done talking,

the earth split open and swallowed them up

and the earth closed over them.

What an awesome and mighty God.

He can send the earthquake

to swallow up rebels.

And we can say with the psalmist,

be still and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations.

I will be exalted in the earth.

And God reveals himself in nature

so that we will know his power.

And God is sovereign even over calamities.

Wow.

God is not only sovereign over calamities

and nations,

God is sovereign even over circumstances,

even if evil is being done to us.

You recall that well-known passage

in Joseph's life,

at the end of his life,

in Genesis 50, verse 20?

Genesis 50:20

As for you,

you meant evil against me,

but God meant it for good.

To bring it that many people

should be kept alive as they are today.

You meant evil against me,

but God meant it for good.

Joseph had been sold into slavery

because of his malice and hatred.

Was a heinous evil done to Joseph?

Yes.

Yes, it was.

It was very evil.

Was God sovereign over those circumstances?

Yes.

God was sovereign.

And what was God's purpose?

That the people should be kept alive.

Ultimately, God is preserving the line of Abraham.

Right?

And all the nations of the earth

would be blessed through the line of Abraham.

Through Joseph's suffering,

God keeps his promises.

And think for a moment with me.

Think of Joseph's life.

An innocent man,

even if unwise,

with his rainbow coat,

who was loved by his father, Jacob,

stripped of his rainbow coat,

betrayed by his brothers

for 20 pieces of silver,

falsely accused by Potiphar's wife

and thrown into a pit with criminals.

But through his suffering,

he saves his people from death.

Through his suffering,

God ultimately delivers his people from famine.

And Joseph takes a Gentile bride

and he is exalted at the right hand of Pharaoh.

And his brothers bow down before him.

And he intercedes before Pharaoh

on behalf of his family.

And ultimately,

he will extend kindness and forgiveness

to those who betrayed him.

Through Joseph's life,

suffering and exaltation in Egypt,

God, he keeps his promises.

Now, does that story sound familiar to you at all?

Does that ring an echo

of a greater story in the Bible?

And God will actually orchestrate Joseph's life

to be a shadow of the greater Messiah

who would come to rescue his people.

Not from famine,

but from God's white-hot judgment against sin.

And Jesus, fully God and fully man,

was rejected.

Even though he had committed no evil,

he never sinned.

Not even for a millisecond.

Jesus was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver,

falsely accused,

and suffered at the hands of Pontius Pilate,

stripped of his robe,

and crucified next to two criminals,

and then was raised to the right hand of the Father

and now intercedes for us

to deliver us from death and judgment,

taking for himself a bride from the nations.

That sounds like Joseph's life.

Not one-to-one,

but there are echoes

of how Joseph was a signpost for Christ.

Now, were the details of Joseph's life an accident?

Well, clearly not.

Clearly not.

If you've been at Trinity long enough,

you've heard Christ preach from the Old Testament.

And examples like this abound.

And for those who came to the biblical theology class

last year,

you know that this is called typology.

And typologies are shadows in the Old Testament

wherein Christ is the reality.

And this is the hermeneutical framework

that the apostles used in the New Testament

to interpret events and people

and foreshadowing the work of Christ and the Messiah.

And this way of interpreting the Old Testament

assumes that God is sovereign over all of history,

even the small details.

And God isn't just controlled generally,

but meticulously controlled.

And the supreme example of this

is the cross of Christ.

Jesus' death is a result of events outside his control,

even when evil is done to him.

God superintends every detail

precisely for his glory.

Everything that happened on Good Friday

was a fulfillment of Scripture, wasn't it?

Peter says as much while preaching in Jerusalem

after the resurrection.

Acts 2.

This Jesus delivered up to the,

according to the definite plan

and fuller knowledge of God,

you crucified and killed

by the hands of lawless men.

So according to Peter,

was a heinous evil done to Jesus?

Yes.

The Lord of glory was crucified

and killed by the hands of lawless men.

An innocent man was condemned.

A heinous evil

was God's sovereign over those circumstances.

Yes.

He was delivered up to the definite plan

and fuller knowledge of God,

according to Peter.

So the cross was not plan B

after human beings messed it up

according to our sin,

but it was God's plan A.

The cross was God's plan

from eternity past.

Revelation says,

in the mind of God,

the lamb was slain

from the foundation of the world.

But he accomplishes his purpose

through the hands of the sinful mob

who yelled,

crucify him,

crucify him.

So we were in that crowd.

We sinned with them.

We wanted to crucify the Lord of glory,

but through the sinful acts

of men and women,

God accomplishes his plan of redemption.

Just like in Joseph's life.

The precise details,

in Matthew chapter 26,

Matthew 26 · chapter mention

will say,

all this has taken place

so that the scriptures

might be fulfilled.

The precise details

were fulfilling the scriptures.

Judas, a close friend,

betrayed by Jesus,

fulfilled Psalm 41.

The Pharisees selling Jesus

for 30 pieces of silver.

And then Judas,

using that to buy a field,

God then moves Judas

to return the blood money

in fulfillment of the prophecy

in Jeremiah and Zechariah,

as Matthew tells us.

So all the precise details,

we can go to Isaiah 53.

He was pierced for our transgression.

He was crushed for our iniquities.

All the details

are precisely,

sovereignly ordained by God.

And all the attributes of God

meet at the cross.

The supremacy of his grace.

The supremacy of his kindness

towards sinners.

The supremacy of his holiness

and wrath against sin.

Both are there.

As Jesus, the Lamb of God,

hangs as our substitute,

the line of Judah

shows his supreme strength.

And the king is crucified

willingly.

Nothing external held him there,

but he willingly laid his life down

and was condemned

and submitting himself

to the Father.

And so,

God is sovereign

even over circumstances,

even if evil

is being done to us.

And in no way

does that diminish

human responsibility

for sin and evil.

And so D.A. Carson

makes this point.

God is absolutely sovereign.

Yet his sovereignty

does not diminish

human responsibility

and accountability.

Human beings

are morally responsible creatures.

Yet this fact

in no way jeopardizes

the sovereignty of God.

At Calvary,

all Christians

have to concede

the truth

of these two statements

or they give up

their claim

to be Christians.

So we must affirm them both.

God's sovereign

over the cross

and the evil

that was being done to Christ.

That's what

D.A. Carson is saying.

So he's sovereign

over circumstances.

Even if evil

is being done to us,

I want to take a moment

and see if there are

any questions

before we continue.

Does that make sense?

When you're talking

about all his attributes,

the only thing

that I would beg

to differ

is that all his attributes

are his attributes

because of his holiness.

His holiness

is not an attribute.

His holiness

encompasses

everything that he is.

he's completely

and wholly

other.

That's why

his omniscience

is other.

His sovereignty

is other.

It's the highest

form

of omniscience.

That's good.

It's not

another attribute.

evil.

We talk about

the simplicity

of God.

So the simplicity

is all his attributes

are one

and there's no division

within God.

He's not like

he's half holy

and he's half loving.

No, he's all holy.

He's all loving.

He's all rapture.

He's all love.

And so

I would say

his attributes

all kind of overlap

with each other.

His power, right?

He's powerfully loving.

He's powerfully

strong.

I know what you mean.

So we have to keep

that in mind.

He doesn't have

division within himself.

The simplicity of God.

Yeah, Matt.

A comment.

D.A. Carson

seems to me

to be echoing

something from

the Westminster

Catechism

about God

determines all

things that happen

yet in such a way

that doesn't

make him the author

of evil

or

violating

human freedom

or establishes

human freedom.

Something

maybe

such a conflict.

Yes.

Yes.

And we're going to get

to man's responsibility

toward the end.

But

that is

the two

truths

that the Bible

gives to us.

Sovereignty

and responsibility.

Right.

And Carson

is a different

Carson quote.

Yes.

Yes.

Carson.

So

there may be

some people

who can put

those together

logically.

You know,

I can't.

And so I,

you know,

I'm left with

what appears

to be a paradox.

But

that's okay.

You know,

science,

there are paradoxes.

Yes.

There are paradoxes.

It's not surprising

that I don't understand

God.

Join the club.

God is one.

God is three.

Three and one.

My puny mind

doesn't understand

that.

I mean,

I'm not going to

understand how

and Spurgeon said

there's not one line,

there's two lines

and you have to

look at them both.

And I think

the moment you

take one side

and make it

the whole thing,

that's when you

run into error.

You have to keep

them both in tension

to be,

to really keep

in tension

what the Bible

keeps in tension.

Yeah.

So he's sovereign

over nations.

He's sovereign

over calamities.

He's sovereign

over circumstances

even if evil

is being done

to us.

Now,

that's a hard

truth

and

that also

gives us

I think

that the

battlefield

of faith

when evil

is being done

to us

is in the mind.

Right?

We have to keep

three truths

in tension

together in our minds.

God is good,

God is for me,

and God is sovereign.

God is good,

God is for me,

God is sovereign.

You have to keep

those three things

in your minds

when we suffer

unjustly from others.

I think the moment

you take God's

sovereignty out of it,

God is good

in God's form,

but he's not really

sovereign,

and that's kind

of cold comfort.

You know,

God is really

powerless to help

you in your

struggles,

in your weakness.

But the scripture

presents those

three things

in unity together,

and I think

that's where

the battlefield

happens in our minds

as we try to

hold God's sovereignty

and his goodness

together.

So point number four,

point number four,

he is not only

sovereign over

our circumstances,

he is also

sovereign over

our decisions.

And we see that

in the decision

that Joseph's

brother made

to sell him

into slavery.

And the decision

to crucify the

Lord of glory

was according

to the definite

plan and foreknowledge

of God.

God is sovereign

even over the

hearts of sinful

men and women.

Proverbs 16,

Proverbs 16:9

verse 9,

the heart of man

plans his way,

but the Lord

establishes his steps.

And so even in that

verse,

you can see that

human beings have

freedom to make

their own decisions,

right?

The heart of man

plans his way,

but at the same time,

our choices are

under the sovereign

determination of God.

The Lord

establishes his steps.

Can that

Proverbs 16,

9 apply to

a cartel drug dealer?

Yes, it could.

Yes, it could.

Yes.

God is sovereign

over our decisions.

And we're going to see

that that does not

diminish the drug

dealer's responsibility

and accountability

toward God.

Yes.

So point number

five,

God is sovereign

not only our

decisions,

but God is sovereign

over our salvation.

Now,

when God

determines to bring

someone to faith

to Christ,

he cannot fail.

Now,

I suppose this is

where we must draw

our daggers.

As Charles Simeon

once said to his

friend John Wesley,

but before you

draw out your dagger,

let's consider together

God's sovereignty

in this area.

I'm convinced

if you are a Christian,

we all recognize

in our hearts

that God is sovereign.

And I don't need

to persuade you

that this is true.

How do I know that?

You're like,

Tyler,

you don't know me.

I'm actually

a really staunch

anti-sovereign type.

Well,

friend,

have you ever

thanked God

for your conversion?

Yes,

of course.

But why would

you do that?

Do you pat yourself

on the back

because you are

smarter,

more intelligent

than other people

who refuse to believe?

Not for a moment

would you ever say that.

Instead,

you give God glory.

You realize

that you once

were foolish,

blind,

and could not see,

but then you say

with Paul,

but by the grace

of God,

I am what I am.

And although

you have labored

hard for Christ,

you can say,

though it was not I,

but the grace of God

that is with me.

You give God glory

for your salvation.

But there's a second

thing that you do

that shows that you

believe that God

is sovereign.

And what is that?

Well,

you pray,

don't you?

You pray for the salvation

for someone

who has a hard heart,

a family member

who has rejected

the gospel

so many times.

Well,

what do you pray for

for that person?

Do you pray

that God gives them

eyes to see

and ears to hear?

That God removes

their heart of stone?

That God would

show himself to them?

I think all these prayers

acknowledge at a heart level

that God is in control

and he is powerful

to save by his grace.

And we understand that

at a heart level

when we are on our knees

before the throne of grace,

we cry out to God

and we recognize

that God is sovereign.

And so before we draw

our daggers,

listen to this conversation

between Charles Simeon

and John Wesley.

And two godly men

who are on opposite sides

of this.

And John Wesley

had this conversation

in his diary

with Charles Simeon.

Simeon said,

Sir,

I understand that you

were called an Arminian

and I have sometimes

been called a Calvinist

and so I suppose

we are to draw daggers.

But before I consent

to begin the combat,

with your permission,

I will ask you

a few questions.

Sir,

do you feel yourself

a depraved creature,

so depraved

that you would never

have thought of turning

to God

if God had not first

put it into your heart?

Yes,

says Wesley,

I believe that indeed.

Simeon says,

Sir,

do you utterly despair

of recommending yourself

to God

by anything you can do

and look for salvation

solely through the blood

and righteousness of Christ?

Yes,

Wesley said,

solely through Christ.

But sir,

suppose you were first

saved by Christ,

are you not somehow now

or afterward

to save yourself

by your own works?

No,

Wesley said.

Simeon continues,

What,

then are you to be upheld

every hour

and every moment

by God

as much as an infant

in its mother's arms?

Yes,

altogether,

Wesley says.

And this is all your hope

in the grace and mercy

of God

to preserve you

unto his heavenly kingdom?

Yes,

I have no hope,

but in him,

Wesley says.

Then sir,

Simeon continues,

with your leave,

I will put up my dagger again

for this is all my Calvinism.

This is my election,

my justification by faith,

my final perseverance.

It is in substance

all that I hold

and I hold it

and therefore,

if you please,

instead of searching out

terms and phrases

to be ground of contention

between us,

we will cordially unite

in those things

where we agree.

And that's a spirit

I think we all should have

as we encounter

our brothers and sisters

who differ with us

on this.

That's what we ultimately

agree on

is that God gets glory,

we depend on him

every single day,

and that there's nothing

in us that God saw

that wanted him

to save us.

It is God's mercy

and love alone.

And I think we all

can agree on this.

That is the heart

of a Christian.

And that's the spirit

I want to proceed

in this conversation.

What's at stake here,

I don't want it

to be definitions,

but I want us to see

that God is to be relied

upon every moment

and he is to get glory.

So, 2 Thessalonians 2,

2 Thessalonians 2:13–14

verses 13 to 14 says,

But we are always

to give thanks to God

for you, brothers,

beloved by the Lord.

Why?

Because God chose you

as the first for us

to be saved

through sanctification

by the Spirit

and belief in the truth.

So, God chooses those

to be saved

through belief

in the truth.

And some call this

irresistible grace.

God the Father

chose certain individuals

to be saved

based on his sovereign

good pleasure.

Christ would say,

No one comes to me

unless the Father

who sent me draws him.

All the Father gives me

will come to me.

So, Jesus is saying,

You can't come to me

unless the Father

first draws you.

You have the golden chain

of salvation

in Romans 8.

The golden chain

of redemption.

So, those whom

he predestined,

he called.

And those whom he called,

he justified.

And those whom he justified,

he glorified.

So, the golden chain,

those chains cannot be broken.

If God has predestined you,

you will be glorified

according to Paul

in Romans 8.

And the Scripture

which emphatically teaches

that God is sovereign

over salvation

and that his sovereign

determination

is decisive

is Romans 9.

Romans 9, verse 15.

Romans 9:15

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 depends not on human will

or exertion

but on God

who has mercy.

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh,

For this very purpose

I have raised you up

that I might show

my power in you

and that my name

might be proclaimed

in all the earth.

So then,

he has mercy

on whomever he wills

and he hardens

whomever he wills.

And verse 21,

Has the potter

no right over the clay

to make out of the same lump

some vessels

for honorable use

and another

for dishonorable use?

What if God,

desiring to show his wrath

and to make known

his power,

has endured

with much patience

vessels of wrath

prepared for destruction

in order to make known

the riches of his glory

for vessels of mercy

which he has prepared

beforehand for glory?

So ethnicity

in Romans 9

or family heritage

is not decisive.

That's the point

that Paul is making.

Your ancestors,

your mom

or your grandmother,

right,

that doesn't determine

whether you're a Christian.

God's mercy is decisive.

And I was telling Jonathan

there's an old southern song

called

God Ain't Never Had a Grandchild.

It goes something like this,

God Ain't Never Had a Grandchild,

Only a Child Will Do.

If you're not a joint heir,

then you ain't going there.

No cousin, niece, or nephew

will be among the chosen few.

God Ain't Never Had a Grandchild,

Only a Child Will Do.

And what a richly edifying song.

But what they're saying

is what Romans 9 is saying,

is that your ethnicity

or family heritage

is not decisive.

God's sovereign decision

to save

and to show mercy

is decisive.

And Romans 9

is not a popular truth,

but it says

He created the wicked

for the day of wrath.

You can go back

in your Bible,

Romans 9,

make sure it's there

after this.

So to our finite minds,

admittedly,

this sounds absurd.

How can God be sovereign

over salvation

if He is a judge

and who will condemn

those who do not believe?

How does that make sense?

And Paul anticipates

this complaint

in Romans 9.

You will say to me then,

why does God still find fault?

For who can resist His will?

And Paul responds

not by a comprehensive explanation

of how these two things

work together,

but he rebukes

the spirit of the question.

But who are you,

O man,

to answer back to God?

We have no right

to find fault

in God's ways.

Our part is to acknowledge

these facts

and worship God

and His righteousness

as both sovereign king

and judge.

And we see

that there's no part

of the universe

that exceeds God's authority

and that includes

those whom He calls

to be His.

The Lord alone

will be exalted

before that great

white throne.

And we will say with Him,

why have you shown me mercy?

Nothing in me

caused me to be here,

but your grace alone.

And He will get

all the glory for that.

So I want to stop there

and ask questions.

Feel free.

If you have a question

in your mind,

throw it out for the group.

So I'm just,

so I think these are

really difficult things

for humanity,

for people like me.

Everything you said,

I believe,

is true.

But how do you respond

to the person who

isn't just arguing

for the sake of arguing,

isn't just trying

to pinpoint,

isn't just intellectualizing

and like,

well,

it doesn't make sense

or it's not fair.

But the person

whose heart

is really torn

about these things.

Like the person

who's genuinely,

yeah,

feeling this isn't fair

or,

like how do you

respond to that person?

Like,

everything you said

is true,

but I'm thinking about

how's that going to land

with someone

who's really struggling

with this,

not someone who just

wants to check off

the doctrinal box.

I just wondered.

I completely agree

and it depends

on the heart

of that person.

Is it an intellectual

problem?

Is it maybe

a past history

of abuse?

Like,

are you saying

God is sovereign

over what happened

to me when I was a child?

How is God good

in that?

How is he sovereign

over that?

And I think those,

depending on where

they are,

those are two

different answers.

Well,

I think that's

what I'm getting at.

The person

who's really suffering

or has,

you know,

so I have a history

of childhood abuse.

I had to work

really hard

to get through that

in a way

that maintained

my faith

in a good God.

So,

that's,

I think that's

the person I think.

Yeah.

I will say,

I would go back

to the cross

and

someone said,

you know,

we,

sometimes

we don't know

why he does

certain things,

but we know

that it's not

because he doesn't

care about us.

That much we can

say for sure.

Because at the heart

of the cross,

we see that he does

care for us.

And he did give us

his own son.

He will give us

all things.

And I don't know

if we can answer

the question of why,

which I think

people want to know

why did this happen

to me when I was

younger.

And,

of course,

Christians are to

lament and to

weep at those

who are weeping

and there's true

injustice and evil.

God's sovereignty

provides comfort

and patience

in tribulation

knowing that

these are not

random acts

outside of God's

control.

And he does

have some...

Say it again?

I have a full

view in faithfulness.

That's what God

says in his word.

I was in rehab

six times,

three rehabs,

two heart attacks,

16 months

in a homeless

shelter,

molested by my

dad,

my uncle,

raised with

hardcore porno,

my father beat

my mom.

It's like I never

questioned God.

I never said why.

I never questioned.

I just knew that

he was working.

And then finally

my eyes were opened

up and there he is.

Yeah.

You know,

you find out that

when God is the

only thing you have,

you find out that

God is the only

thing you need.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

You know?

And it's because

him,

because in my

natural state,

I hate God.

He drove me to

the cross.

Mm-hmm.

Nobody is

sincerely looking

for God.

Nobody.

Mm-hmm.

They all hate God.

No matter how

it looks outside.

You know,

you can get this

close to God

and end up in hell.

And it looks like

he's really wanting

to find God.

But no.

God is sovereign.

You're not going

to make it.

Yeah.

God knows who

are his.

And his

sovereignty,

to your point,

we can look back

and this is the

doctrine of providence,

which we'll get to

in future weeks.

Sovereignty is

God's attribute,

but providence

looks backwards

and sees how

our lives

were orchestrated

for our good.

I think

Flavel said

providence is like

the Hebrew alphabet.

It's read backwards.

So you have to

go backwards

and see.

I remember that.

You have

horrible circumstances

in your life.

If you're a Christian,

you can look back

on those things

and see how God

was orchestrating

events to bring

you to himself.

Oh, Jesus

had a great life

on earth.

Yeah.

No,

man of sorrows.

Look at Paul.

When he came

to Christianity,

he lost everything.

Everything.

And he was raised

in a male culture.

He had the education.

He had the money.

He had the reputation

and he came to Christ,

beaten, robbed,

jailed, shipwrecked.

I mean,

he lost everything.

You know?

It's not a fun walk.

Yeah.

But he gained Christ.

Yeah.

So,

I'll take that math

right there.

It's all worth it.

Yeah.

It's all worth it.

It's all worth it.

And God's sovereignty

is,

it is,

it is a mystery

and I think

most things in the...

Sorry,

Amos,

go ahead.

I just want to add

maybe,

it's a bit,

a bit cliche,

but I think

that there's

greater glory

in different testimonies

all pointing

to the same

holiness of God.

And everybody

had identical

testimonies

of like,

we all had

idyllic childhood

and then

came to Christ

and then died.

Like,

if everybody's testimony

was identical,

I think it would say

less about God

than...

I was long schooled

and raised in Nebraska.

Which,

I've been saying

that there's,

that there's,

that there's,

that those,

that that also

demonstrates God's power.

But it's,

but there's

greater testimony

in the diversity

of stories

that people bring.

That,

you know,

it's kind of like

the all,

all nations,

all races,

all walks of life.

But our stories

all melt into

one story,

his story,

of what he's doing

in history for us

and for his glory.

My story doesn't

mean anything.

You know,

I'm saying it's a story.

No matter how bad

it is,

it means nothing.

It's his story.

His utter

sovereignty

and my utter

dependence on him.

That's the story.

And that's what

Dorothy Sayers said

in the 40s.

He says,

the drama of Christianity

is in the doctrine.

Crossing the Red Sea.

The prophets of Baal

and Mount Carmel.

The cross.

All the miracles.

Man,

what drama.

You can't even make

a movie like this.

You know?

And,

again,

this is hard

to keep

in our minds

at once.

But,

the challenge

of most truths

in the scripture

is that

there are tensions

and we have to keep

them both

in our minds

at the same time.

And those who

aren't comfortable

living in that tension

tend to shirk

one for the other

and that

is where

you get

error.

I think the

intellectual

part of this,

the objection is,

look,

if God commands

that we believe

or to obey

the gospel,

then that must

somehow imply

the moral ability

to do so.

How can God

command something

if we have

no ability

to follow

that command?

that is the part

where I think

people have

a hard time with.

And there's

something

that makes sense.

That's a logical

argument that makes

sense.

I think the answer

that I can see

is that

the command

to obey

is given

but we always

act in accordance

with our nature.

I think that's

the answer

that scripture

gives us.

We have

complete freedom

to choose

what is in our

hearts.

But we always

choose sin

apart from God's

grace.

In our natural

estate,

we always

choose sin.

And

that's what

our hearts love.

And you get that

in the language

of being slaves

to sin.

you get that

in Genesis

even from the

beginning.

You had

the fall

of Adam

and then

right after

the fall

who comes

next?

Cain.

And you have

Cain's line

of murderers.

But then you have

Seth,

the appointed line,

the heir

of God's

promises

and you see

that Seth's line

are recipients

of God's grace.

grace.

And so you have

those in our

natural estate

apart from God's

grace,

we are slaves

to sin.

Paul says that

right in Ephesians

2.

You were slaves

to the prince of

the power of the

air,

but God rich in

mercy has made

you alive with

Christ.

So this state,

we always act in

accordance with

our nature.

God gives us

the commands,

but we never

choose Christ

apart from

the Spirit's

intervening grace

in our lives.

So we must

emphatically say

that man's

responsibility

cannot be

minimized

and that we

are responsible

for the choices

we make.

Yeah,

I'm sorry,

I just want to

add something

here.

I think,

I mean,

you were kind

of camped out

in Romans 9

a little bit

here,

which is good.

And the end

of Romans 9,

I think,

gives us

life,

it's like we

get to the

edge of this

mystery,

and then we're

all like,

wow,

like,

we're at the

edge of a

real mystery

here,

and God

says,

basically,

this far

and no

further,

but then we

go on and

try to explain

it,

which is,

we just can't

help it,

right?

We go on to

apply our human

reason to try

to make it

make sense.

And I think

a helpful thing

to do,

back to Laura's

question,

is to ask

ourselves,

why did God

put this,

if we have

the scripture

he intended

us to have,

I think most

of us believe

that,

what is the

point of

Romans 9?

Like,

what,

why is he

telling us

as much as

he is telling

us?

What question

is God

trying to

answer in

this particular

passage?

And one

thing we know

for sure is

not to give

us answers

that are going

to satisfy our

human reason.

like,

he could,

he,

well,

it's a debate

whether he

could do that

at all,

but he's

definitely not

done it.

And so,

when we're

chasing our

tails,

trying to

figure out,

make it all

work,

what are we

missing?

realizing,

why is God

telling us,

if you think

you had a

hand in

your,

like,

if you

think,

you know,

there's 8%

where you

stepped up to

the line and

made a good

choice,

and he's

saying,

no,

you didn't,

what are we

supposed to

take away

from that?

because we

can miss

that most

obvious thing,

and I think

that can

become,

if not a

bomb,

it can

become a

more livable

thing that we

walk away and

say,

God's trying to

tell us all

something,

and we

want to argue

about how it

fits in the

human categories,

when we all

are all sitting