Introduction to The Godhead: Sovereign Decrees | Steve Benson

Good morning.

>> Open your Bibles if you would

to the book of Ephesians.

We're

still doing our study of sound doctrine.

We're still on the Godhead

looking at um the Father, the Son, and

the Holy Spirit. ensuring that our faith

is resting in a triune God.

That's what the word of God reveals to

us. So

this morning we're going to look at the

decrees of God

and there's

there's several of them. This one sort

of centers in on his fornowledge.

So, we're going to start in the book of

Ephesians,

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1.

And uh

Paul kind of sums it all up here. This

is you're familiar with this section.

We went through the that was one of the

first books I went through when I got

once I got saved and started going to

the Bible class. We went through the

book of Ephesians and really helped me.

And here is where Paul

uh mentions this.

You know, God knows the beginning

uh from the end and everything in the

middle. Our God is a great God

and his decrees are like him.

You know, whatever God says,

you you can take it to the bank and you

can take it to eternity.

So,

uh we have here this morning some of

those decrees

that are just like him.

He's faithful and he he won't let us

down. He's all those great things that

are God is his plan and his purposes,

his decrees

are very similar. God's eternal. God's

unchanging. God is holy. God is wise.

All those things that we know. And God

has a sovereign purpose.

And his existence and our existence.

And we've mentioned his sovereignty

over and over. That's a that's a normal

part of Bible study. That's a normal

part of understanding God. He's

sovereign.

He does as he pleases.

So, you know, we're unable to comprehend

all these great things about him and

about his plan.

You know, we we can't know it like he

knows it, but you know, we know him and

he reveals these things to us. So, we

walk by faith and we trust in him and

his decrees are are very much like him.

And he has these causes and he has these

conditions and he has these purposes

uh if you will.

And here in Ephesians chapter 1,

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

this is the the longest sentence in the

Bible is from verse three on down to

verse 14. You guys know all that. So

this is just one big long

sentence on this subject.

You know, Paul, he doesn't say, "Well,

let you know, these are new Christians.

Let's let's save this for a couple of

years."

No, he says, "Let's talk about this."

And this was a gentile church

uh here in Ephesus. And you know, that's

who God sent Paul to,

you know, so we don't have a Gentile

writing the New Testament for us

Gentiles. We have a Jew writing the New

Testament for us Gentiles. That's

important.

You know, Paul knew the Old Testament,

didn't he?

So, he was the guy that God used to

reveal his ways to us Gentiles. And here

in Ephesus is a good place where this

happened,

you know, and and God is greater than we

are. We, you know, things are impossible

for us, but nothing is impossible for

God.

So as we look into the word and we see

him reveal himself in this way

um you know these are the plans

that proceed from God. You know we

wouldn't think about going yeah I can we

can freelance a trip right we're just

going to go do what we whatever we want

when we want or we plan things out you

know we know where we're going to be. We

know where we're going to stay. we know

where we're going, you know, and and

that's the way it is with God. He has a

plan, not not just one that he just

started,

but this plan goes back into eternity

with him.

And his plan is perfect. It's like him,

you know, he whatever God does is is

right, correct, true.

you know, add all those things into it.

So there's no sin in God, there's no

wrong in God, there's no evil in God,

but evil has been allowed by God.

So that's another thing that we're going

to talk about as we as we go on here.

But

you know, God is all wise. So he's never

learned a thing. There's nothing that he

doesn't know.

And you know, he's given us light in

this particular area to know what his

plans are like. And and he is all

knowing. He's all wise. All those things

that we know our God is. And in chapter

one

and verse five, I want to zero in on a

couple phrases here

about God and his sovereignty.

In verse five,

he says, "Predestinated us to the

adoption of sons by Jesus Christ to

himself."

Here's what I want. According to the

good pleasure of his will.

So this sovereign God, this all knowing,

all- wise, eternal

uh no mistake God

decided he's going to do this according

to his will and the good pleasure of his

will.

Why are things the way they are? It's

the will of God. You know, some people

think that things have gotten outside of

God's control to the point where, you

know, people are making fun of God.

Oh, God God has not lost control.

But this is at the good pleasure of his

will. And over in verse 9,

we have a similar phrase, having made

known unto us the mystery of his will.

So you know that it's not a problem for

God to make himself known to us and his

will and his ways

but we have to come to the word of God

to find him.

So having made known unto us the mystery

of his will

according to the there's that good

pleasure again which he has purposed

where in himself.

You know, there are things that God has

planned and decreed that are not uh

creature comfortable.

You know, places like hell, things like

judgment, things like the wages of sin,

you know, all those things

um God is going to use and allow, but he

has purposed these things in himself.

So

God is acting

according to his purpose and according

to his will.

And that's where we come in. That's

where, you know, Adam came in, Noah, you

know, Solomon, David, all these all

these wonderful people we learn about in

the Old Testament. Moses, all these, you

know, all these people

have been called of God.

and to his

um to do his will.

So these decrees and these these uh

purposes

originate in the mind of God.

That's where they come forth from.

That's what Paul says here. you know,

let's let's not talk about anything here

until we say this is God and this is

God's plan and he is sovereign. He can

do as he pleases.

He just said that.

And and uh you know this is the very

deep section on these things here. You

know we we cannot rob God of his

sovereignty. We cannot rob God of his

intelligence.

You know, so that's what God tells us.

Good morning.

>> Good morning.

>> So here we are then to

as we begin this to see that, you know,

this is the right of God. Whatever he

purposes, whatever he wills, whatever

he's going to do, he says, "I'm doing it

for myself." It's not necessarily

preacher comfortable.

And you know, that's the sovereignty

that he has.

And

you know, from God, we're going to see

that, you know, from him came the

greatest possible plan.

Um, you know, if you don't like the plan

of God, then go make your own universe

and do your own thing.

But if you're a creature, God's the

creator. He's sovereign over his

creation. He, this belongs to him.

this earth, you know, everything in it

belongs to him and he can do whatever

and however he pleases. So, you know,

God's power is beyond measure. You know,

we can't measure God's power.

Um, his wisdom is beyond measure. We we

can't measure God's wisdom. It's like

him.

But he said, "I'm going to display my

infinite love

through my son. And here's how I'm going

to do it."

You know, and not just to the part where

we come in, but whatever God said back

here and whatever God says over here,

you know, it's the same plan and it's

the same purpose in the word of God.

So, you know, he is the author of this

plan.

That's what Paul's telling,

you know, and not only is he the author

of the plan, he also made it known unto

us. And he did it through his word, he

did it through his prophets.

So, God reveals himself to us. We don't

find him out.

And it's the same about his plan.

You know, we didn't come to God and say,

"Hey, we got a good idea.

I mean, the creatures aren't telling the

creator what to do." Oh, yeah, they are,

but they're in big trouble.

God's going to stick to his plan.

And Paul says there in verse 10, "The

fullness of time that he might gather

together in one." So, you know, God not

only has a plan, he is working it out in

time.

So, things happen the way God has

planned them from eternity past.

And God's not going to stumble.

You know, we've got creatures stumbling.

Adam and Eve, uh, Lucifer, a third of

the angels. We have creatures that fail.

But God will never fail ever at

anything.

Whatever he has said,

he will do.

And his sovereign plan is like him. It's

like his word. God's perfect. His plan

is perfect. His word is perfect.

You know, we have a all these things

going for us because, you know, we're

trusting in the God who is perfect.

We're trusting in a plan that is

perfect.

And look over in chapter 3 of Ephesians

while we're out here.

And that's what Paul tells

these Ephesians. You know, that was a

big deal. The Jews and the Gentiles. You

know what? You know, how can the

Gentiles be on the same footing with the

Jews now? Well, it's because of the

blood of Christ that Paul says there in

verse 13.

And this was God's plan all along.

He says so in verse 5, which in other

ages was not made known unto the sons of

men,

that's everyone, Gentiles, Jews.

Um, but it is now revealed unto his holy

apostles and his prophets by the spirit.

So the spirit brought these things to

Paul to write and to John and to Peter,

you know, and uh human mysteries, some

of them will never get resolved. M

mine's the yellow light, you know. I

wish there was a just a standard, you

know, seconds that the yellow light was

going to be in there, but you don't know

if it's going to turn fast or it's going

to turn slow,

you know, and you know, we may never get

that mystery solved. But, you know, not

so with God, you know, if that's what he

wanted to do, he'd get it resolved. He's

got the wisdom to do it.

and and God is working on greater things

than you know how long the yellow light

should be yellow.

I guess he's leaving that to us. And

then he says in verse 11, remember in

times past, Paul says that's that's in

the Old Testament. You know, the

Gentiles are there, the new birth is

there, the Savior is there, the redeemer

is there for all mankind.

And that's what Paul unfolds here for

these Ephesians.

And that's what verse 12 says. In whom

God, that's where our faith is.

In whom we have boldness and access with

confidence by faith in him. So God has

made this a faith thing. You want to

know God. You want to know his plan. You

want to know his purposes, there's only

you got to come, but you got to come on

God's terms and that's his son.

You know, so humans don't decide what

we're going to do. God's already decided

these things for us. turn to Acts

Acts 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2 just to see

you know how some of these things

happened in Acts chapter 2

Acts 2 · chapter mention

you know these apostles they lived with

Jesus for you know three and a half

years I mean there's no doubt in their

mind who he was you know yet you know

they missed the cross part you know

there that's where they stumbled

And that was part of God's plan.

You know, we you know, it's uh you know,

Jesus was not defeated

by the devil or by the world. No, he

victoriously overcome them.

And that was the message of Peter and

these men in the early book of Acts

Acts 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 or excuse me, two and verse

23.

him

being delivered by the determined

counsel in the fornowledge of God.

So the sovereignty of God is in this

plan. This is the plan that God would

die for our sins. You took him by wicked

hands. You crucified and you slain. So

see, you know, there's the the effectual

will of God. There's the permissive will

of God.

You know, God overcome what men do. You

know, like he did that with Job. He did

that uh with Joseph. You meant it for

harm, but God meant it for good. So God

can overrule

these things. And that's, you know,

that's what happened with Judas. That's

a good example.

You know, the devil came to Judas, got,

you know, he got the silver and he got,

you know, talked to the high priest and

he betrayed Jesus.

You know, that God didn't do that.

You know, uh the devil and and a man

named Judas did that. Jesus said it'd be

better for this man if he hadn't been

born.

But, you know, God allows these things

to happen. And God knows what's best.

You know, he his will is never wrong.

His purpose is never wrong.

And you know, that's why Jesus said, you

know, the gates of hell will not prevail

against my church. He said that.

So, you know, that's what's going to

happen. Turn back to Daniel chapter 4.

Daniel 4 · chapter mention

So, God's plan, it's all throughout the

Bible.

God's purposes are all throughout the

Bible.

And here in Daniel chapter 4

Daniel 4 · chapter mention

in verse 35,

you know, this is one of those verses,

you know, Paul could have said when he

was writing to the Ephesians, can you it

for it is written in Daniel 4:35

Daniel 4:35

and all the inhabitants of the earth are

reputed as nothing and he doeth

according to his will in the armies of

heaven and among the inhabitants of the

earth and none can stay his hand or say

unto him what are you doing

you know so God is

not out of control ever

and again sometimes God's decrees are

not creature comfortable you know

they're they're terrifying if they're

not a believer. They should be.

And then remember over in in Isaiah 6

and:e3

and God says the whole earth is full of

my glory. You know this belong we're on

his property. We're trespassing

on God's property.

So you know his sovereign right is to do

as he pleases.

Not once in a while but his whole

purpose. I mean, he's the one that's

going to bring all these things to pass.

Then there are two two decrees, two

kinds of decrees from God. His

effectuous

and his permissive.

The effectuous won't fail. The

permissive, God allows certain things.

And you know that's Judas. God allowed

Judas and Satan to to betray Jesus. And

then God brought brought it all about

good. That's what Romans 8:28 said.

Romans 8:28

You know that that all things work

together for good to them. You know,

whatever evil is out there that God is

allowing, he's ultimately going to he is

going to take back his earth.

Turn to Isaiah chapter 46.

Isaiah 46 · chapter mention

Isaiah

Isaiah 46 · chapter mention

chapter 46

and we have all these verses in Isaiah.

You know, God establishes himself. You

having trouble with the sovereignty of

God? Read these chapters in Isaiah about

this. Read in the Psalms about the

subject.

You know, the earth is the Lord's.

We're all trespassing.

But we're not trespassing because he

gave it to us. He said, "Go."

So here in Isaiah 46

and verse 10,

he says here, declaring the end from the

beginning, from the ancient times, the

things that are not yet done.

So

that's a part of God's

knowing. He knows what is going to

happen before it happens.

So nothing is a surprise to him.

My counsel shall stand. I will do

all my pleasure, says God. There's that

sovereign God.

So, you know, the promises and the

warnings

that are in this book are given to us by

a God whose counsel will stand.

And you know, his decrees embrace

everything that comes to pass.

The devil tried to get Jesus to bow down

to him and, you know, join him in this

world. Jesus said, "Nah, I don't think

so.

already got a kingdom.

And you're going to see it, devil.

You're going to see it, Judas. You're

going to see it, Pilate.

So, that's what God says. I don't need,

you know, I don't need human beings to

help me get my kingdom established.

And God does as he pleases. And he holds

everybody responsible for what they do.

And you know, I have purposed it and

I'll do it. He says there at the end of

verse 11. So these are just incredible

verses in Isaiah. Turn over to chapter

14.

Isaiah,

Isaiah 14:24

chapter 14,

verse 24.

What's God going to do to this world?

What's God going to do to the sinners?

What's God going to do to the evil?

What's God going to do to the devil?

What's he going to do to the third of

the angels that followed the devil? He's

going to judge them.

Every one of them

by his son.

And the Lord of hosts has sworn saying,

"Surely as I have thought,

God thinks,

you know, and acts." He's the sovereign

God who can do that.

And I will break the Assyrians in my

land and upon my mountain, and tread him

underfoot. Then shall his yoke depart

off of him, and the burden depart off of

their shoulders. And this is the purpose

that is purposed upon the whole earth.

And this is the hand that is stretched

out upon the nations.

For the Lord of hosts has purposed.

And who shall know it? And his hand is

stretched out. Who can turn it back?

Not a man, not a human being, not a

creature, not an angel, not a human

being.

We have the great triune God

running his plan and running his purpose

throughout the whole earth. Turn to

first Samuel.

1st Samuel

chapter 23.

1 Samuel 23 11 and 12.

You know, here's why we pray.

You know, we may not not know what to

do, but God does.

He knows what the He knows what's going

to happen to you next week and me and

everyone.

And here

um is David

and you know he's concerned about

himself and and we he says here will a

man of Halia deliver me up into his

hand?

He's asking God, "Will Saul come down?

As thy servant has heard, oh Lord God of

Israel, I beseech you, tell your

servant."

And the Lord said he will come down. So

God knows what people are going to do

before they do it.

Whether they're saved or unsaved,

everyone

thoughts and actions are known by God.

David says, "Will the men of Kalia

deliver me and my men into the land of

Saul?" And the Lord said, "They will

deliver thee up."

You see, God's fornowledge

um he knows everything about us. He

knows our our our ins and our outs and

our ups and our downs.

And turn back to second Timothy.

and you know remember what you know how

many prophets did God have many men have

God used

and he's revealed himself you know to

them

and they've revealed God to us that's

this book that we have

and in second Timothy chapter 1. You

2 Timothy 1 · chapter mention

guys are familiar with this verse

who has saved us and called us with the

holy calling.

This is God, the sovereign God who said,

"I'll do as I please. No one will stay

my hand. No one will change my mind. No

one will find fault with me or my plan."

And it's to a holy calling. You know,

that's important. God wants us. We

didn't start out real well with Adam,

but we're going to end up well in Christ

because of God's great plan.

And not according to our works. You

know, our works are filthy rags. So, we

can't please God. Our flesh is

condemned.

But according to his own purpose, there

it is. God's purpose, God's decree,

and his grace. God said, "I'll just do

it by my grace. I don't need your works.

You're going to hell uh if you try to

get to heaven with your works and

through your works. You have to come by

God's grace and God's purpose, which is

given. You didn't earn it.

given to us in Christ Jesus where and

when?

Before the world began.

So everything and all things that God

has purposed will come to pass.

And he's abolished death. That's some of

my favorite verses

right here.

This is big. Turn over to Titus chapter

Titus 1 · chapter mention

1.

Titus chapter 1 verse 2.

Titus 1:2

This gives us hope

to know that this sovereign God

uh has purpose to love us, purpose to

save us, purpose to comfort us, you

know, purpose to take away all the

condemnation that we deserve.

through his son in hope of eternal life

which God who cannot lie promised before

the world began. You got pro. You got

God's promise. That's all you need.

These things he's given to us. He has in

due time manifest his word

through preaching which is committed

unto me according to the commandment of

God

our savior. So that's how God revealed

himself

to us is and his plan is through Paul.

So what you know this is this is God's

great plan

you know it's going to unite us with God

in the end

and you know that's what this book says

even our death you know God even knows

the day we're going to die at Paul says

in 1 Corinthians 15 there about

every man in his own order so God knows

the order that we're going to die the

day were going to die. There's nothing

God doesn't know.

And you know, I guess the question,

you know, you know, why didn't God just

go on being God? Why did he, you know,

create

and put Adam and Eve in the garden?

Why did he even create the angels? Why

didn't he just go on

without us?

Well, that's his sovereign right if he

would have chose that. But that's not

what he chose.

What he chose was this plan, this

purpose that we're involved in here.

So, you know, God, he needs nothing

outside of himself.

You know, he's quite content.

He He doesn't need us,

but he has he has loved us. And this is

the opportunity he had to send his son

to show us his great his great love.

And he didn't do it out of necessity.

You know, I feel sorry for him. I'm

going to I'm going to save him. No, it's

not out of necessity either.

It's that it's he volunteered.

You know, we see that with Jesus in the

in in the Gospels. He's He said, "The

devil can't take my life. The Jews can't

take my life. The Romans can't take my

life. No one can take my life. I'm going

to lay it down."

And lay it down he did. And so it is

with the plan and the purpose of God.

This is a this is a voluntary thing that

God is doing for us

in his purposes.

That's what he's that's what you know

that's where we started in Ephesians

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1.

Why? Well, this is the purpose of God.

This is the will of God according to his

own pleasure.

So again, God's decrees are not out of

necessity. They're not out of uh uh

need, but they are volunteered

by the Trinity.

We have that verse in in Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 29:29

29:29 that says, you know, that God has

revealed some things to us, some things

he has not revealed to us. So, you know,

he's greater than us. His purposes are

greater, you know, than our

understanding.

Turn to John 13.

You know, there were times that Jesus

even told his apostles,

you know, I said something to you and

it's not making sense, but later on it

will.

And you know, the decrees of God, the

sovereignty of God, the purposes of God,

these are great things

and God wants us to know them.

And here in John 13:7,

John 13:7

Jesus says just that. He answered and he

said unto them, "What I do thou knowest

not now, but thou shalt know hereafter."

So there are great things about God.

There are great things about the word of

God, great things about the plan and the

purpose of God that you know we

we all start out Armenians

and it's the grace of God that we began

to see that these purposes of God, the

sovereignty of God, the grace of God,

these great great things.

And you know, God is a he he's a

mystery.

You can't figure him out.

And so his plan is there are some things

that we don't know that are hidden that

are that are a mystery

uh to us, but they are not to him. He

knows what he's doing.

So the death of his son, as we saw in

Acts chapter 2, that was not a surprise

Acts 2 · chapter mention

to God

at all.

Turn to Psalm 85.

Psalm 85 verse 8.

Psalms 85:8

Who would have thought God would have

just pardoned us?

And that's what this is.

It's a great pardon. Salvation is a free

gift

and it comes from God.

That is his truth. That is his purpose.

That's where his mercy, that's where his

grace, you know, the mercy seat is where

God met with man. The mercy seat,

Christ, is where God meets with man.

And Jesus said, "Come unto me all ye

that labor and are heavy laden, and I

will give you rest." So if you come

God's way, you'll have that rest. You'll

have that mercy.

And here in Psalm 85:8,

Psalms 85:8

I will hear what the Lord will speak.

That's all we want to know. What's God

said? You know, I like talking to you

guys and you like talking to me, but

we're here to hear what God said to help

us, you know, talk to each other.

And that's what the psalmist says. What

God say? Well, God says he's sovereign.

God says he's eternal. God says he has a

great plan and a great purpose. God has

paid for our sin. God can give us this

free gift of salvation if we'll come to

him

on his on his terms.

That's what God has said.

So we should say speak Lord I want to

hear

and he will speak peace

to his people. This God thundering on

the mountain

is going to speak peace to his people.

That's us. We're his people.

the one he chose before the foundation

of the world

and to his saints.

But let them not turn again to folly.

That's the holiness of God. He He

doesn't like sin. He doesn't like sin in

us. And it's there, isn't it? In our

thoughts,

in our words, and in our deeds. We're

not like Jesus.

So, we need him. We need his holiness.

God doesn't want us bound up in sin. And

that's what sin does to us. God wants us

freed from those things. Mercy and truth

are met together. Righteousness and

peace have kissed each other. Truth

shall spring out of the earth, and

righteousness

shall look down from heaven. Yay, the

Lord shall give that which is good, and

our land shall yield her increase.

Righteousness shall go before him, and

shall set us in the way of our steps.

You know, God, he's both just and the

justifier of those who come to him

through Jesus.

So, it's based on the wisdom of God,

this plan.

It's based on the grace of God. It's

based on the mercy of God,

this great plan of God.

And, you know, God gave us everything to

enjoy,

you know, out here in the in the world,

as long as it's not sinful.

You know, God's not he's not down on

having a good time.

He just doesn't like sin and he doesn't

like sin in us.

But he gave us all things to enjoy.

That's over and over here. Jesus even

taught that. But that's not our chief

end.

You know, we've got a greater end. And

here the psalmist tells us that. Here

Jesus, you know, told us that. And you

know, God wants us to be like his son.

That's no secret.

and he's equipped us

to be able to do this. Turn over to

Psalm 19.

I don't know if you were out Friday

night, but Friday night was so clear.

I was like, man, I'm going to go back

outside. So, I did. I stayed up late

just gazing into the sky

at this great creation that God has

made.

You know, it people want to try to talk

about evolution on the earth and rob God

of his glory.

Uh

the same with the with the galaxies and

the Milky Way. I mean, we're just

getting started on what's out there.

There's no end to it,

you know, because there's no end to God.

And this great God who created the

heavens and the earth, the stars, and

named every one of them, this all-

knowing God, this all wise God,

decided to love us.

And Psalm 19 talks about

God revealing himself to us. The heavens

declare the glory of God.

The firminant shows his handiwork. You

know, God didn't have to go to school to

learn how to create

and how to run the universe.

Nope. He's doing a good job and he's not

finished. But to us, day to day, utter

speech, night and night, shows

knowledge. So, here we are. We're going

through that that 24hour,

7 day a week, you know, 12 months in a

year. You know, that's where we are. And

we're not separated from God. God is

just shouting to us through creation

his glory.

There's no speech or language where

their voice is not heard. Wherever you

go,

God is there. We're people are taking

drones now and flying into areas that

we've never been, mapping it and

looking at it. But there's no place on

this earth where God is not. That's what

David said. uh a few centuries ago

and their line is gone out through all

the earth. Their words to the end of the

world

in them

he has set a tabernacle

for the sun.

I don't know how many million years old

millions of years some of those guys

believe in. But you mean to tell me that

son's been there that long? Well, if

it's goes another million, we won't have

to uh get another son. It's not going to

wear down and wear out. That thing come

from God,

the all knowing God, the all- wise God,

the all powerful God.

And you know it,

the the galaxy didn't shut down so we

could go do some maintenance on the sun.

I know we've ruined the earth to some

degree,

but be a good steward with that.

But God is even involved in that. And

it's going forth is from the end of the

heaven. So, so you know, there's nothing

hidden from God

in this infinite universe.

And then David says the law, the word of

the Lord is perfect. Wow. We've got

something that's perfect now.

Like God, his purpose, his plan, his

testimonies,

they're sure.

Making wise the simple. That's us.

The statutes of the Lord are right,

rejoicing the heart. The commandments of

the Lord are pure, enlightening the

eyes. So that's what God's word does for

us.

The fear of the Lord is clean.

Yeah, it's okay to fear God.

But as well, this God that we fear loves

us.

More to be desired of they than gold,

yay, than much fine gold, sweeter than

honey in the honeycomb.

And moreover, by that them is your

servant warned and keeping of them there

is great reward. Here's where we come

in. God's made it real easy.

We just study his word, preach his word,

follow his word,

and we have this gold from heaven

in this life.

And who can understand his errors? We

certainly can't.

We can't even understand our problems.

And God, he not only understands them,

he's fixed them

for us. Now we're going to be rewarded.

Keep back your servant from presumptuous

sins. Let them not have dominion over

me. That's what God hates. For sin to

have dominion over us and us not

enjoying him

and his word. And I will be upright,

says David. I will be innocent from the

great transgression. What's the great

transgression? Not listening to God. Not

giving God the glory for the heavens and

the earth.

It's his. He hadn't surrendered it to

the devil

or to Adam.

He's going to take it back.

Let the words of my mouth, the

meditation of my heart be acceptable in

your sight, oh Lord. See, God knows our

thoughts.

He knows the meditation of our hearts.

There's nothing that this great God

doesn't know.

Um, turn to Romans chapter 9. I'm also

Romans 9 · chapter mention

going to turn to Isaiah 48:11. That's

Isaiah 48:11

where God chose Israel

and uh go back to Romans chapter 9.

Romans 9 · chapter mention

This is so infinite that God chose the

elect angels. He even knew which ones

were going to rebel on it. He knew all

about it. He knew what was going to

happen in the garden.

He knew all about it.

So that's why he has to choose us

or we'll never come back.

That's another

topic in another day. But here in

Romans chapter 9

Romans 9 · chapter mention

in verse 23,

you're familiar with this.

God knew that Israel was going to reject

the Messiah.

He knew Judas was going to betray his

son. There's nothing that God doesn't

know.

And here we have

chapter 9 verse 23. This is

this section is hard for some people,

but you know, God,

he this is his universe.

He can do what he wants, when he wants,

where he wants, however he wants.

And he's purposed a great purpose for

us.

And here in verse 23,

that and that he God, he's the potter

and we're the clay. That's that's the

illustration here for us to get this.

God's sovereign everything that he does.

And here we see in verse 23,

that he might make known

the riches of his glory on the vessels

of mercy which he had before prepared

unto glory.

That's that's the elect. That's the

that's the saints. That's the that's the

believers. That's the church.

That's all the Jews that believe. That's

what Paul is telling and breaking down

here for them.

That God was going to draft the Gentiles

in. That's us. Hallelujah for that. I'll

turn back to chapter 8

and verse 29. This is,

you know, Paul again tells the gentile

church in Rome about these things. In

verse 29, it says there's that word

forno.

There's that word predestiny.

So from the infinite God, the sovereign

God, the God who has the greatest

purpose that could ever be,

not creature comfortable for everybody.

But it is for those

that he forneew and did predestinate

to be conformed to the image of his son.

That's why,

you know, God doesn't want us over

occupied down here. He wants us occupied

with heaven. We're just visiting.

So, you know, all the New Testament

writers believe in this. Turn to First

Peter.

Chapter one. This wasn't something that,

well, Paul, you know, that Paul, he was

pretty smart guy. He figured this out.

No, it's not that at all. It's a

revelation from God.

That's what Peter says here.

1 Peter chapter 1

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

and

in verse uh two,

you know that Peter does the same thing.

You know, people are like, "Well, man,

this is so this is so out there. I don't

know if people are going to get it. You

know, let's wait until, you know, year

12 to introduce them to this." Nope.

That's not what these men do.

He introduced Christians and churches to

this right away.

And we can see this because we've got

God's word. This is a revelation. This

is not a, you know, not a brain

horsepower thing at all.

Electing

to the four knowledge of God.

That's who we are. That's who this

church was. Peter believed this um and

preached it. You know, I'm sure that as

he stumbled through his life and the

many trials that he went through, this

was quite comforting for him to know

that God chose him from the foundation

of the world like Paul and Timothy and

the other men

and through sanctification of the

spirit. So, see, he God doesn't just

leave us in our flesh.

He's given us something

and that we can be sanctified

unto obedience.

You know, that's an amazing thing.

Before we were saved, we didn't even

want to talk about God. You know, we ran

from him.

But here we are now obeying him. What

happened?

Well, this God from eternity past

elected us according to his knowledge,

to the obedience, to the sprinkling of

the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace and

peace be multiplied. There's no end to

it

for us sinners. Now, turn to Revelation

Revelation 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4.

You know, that's the great thing about,

you know, God and his purposes and his,

you know, all these great things is, you

know, he's going to clean things up. We

don't have to do it for him.

And here in Revelation 4

and verse 11,

you are worthy, oh Lord, to receive

glory and honor and power.

For thou hast created all things, and

for thy pleasure they were created.

Why were you created?

For the pleasure of God.

We're here for your pleasure.

He gave us this earth. Those galaxies,

the mountains, and the beauty of the

glory of this earth. It just shouts the

glory of God. And we've got more to

come.

And we have somebody now who is worthy.

And it's the son of God who come to

earth to redeem us.

So to sum it all up, there are four

areas of God's infinite knowledge. He

knows all things. He knows the future.

He knows everything going on right now

in every person's mind.

And he knows our mind and our thoughts.

And he knows everything possible.

So we don't know when the Lord's going

to come back, but he does. is resting

with him and we trust in him

and he's going to do something about

this sin. It's like David said in the

Psalms,

Lord, what's going on?

I'm in troubled and they're not. And

David said, then I went into the

sanctuary and there I saw their end.

So if your end's not looking good,

there's only one person that can change

all that, and it's Jesus Christ, the God

man who died for our sins according to

the scriptures, and it brought us into

the presence of God. Let's pray. Father,

we thank you this morning for your word.

We thank you for your purposes, your

your declarations. These these are great

things. These are deep things for us to

think about. But we don't want to run

from them. We want to embrace them. We

want to believe them. We want to trust

in you. You know the end from the

beginning. And uh we wait for the return

of your son.

And may we be busy preaching the gospel

of your son. And and he is holy, holy,

holy just like you.

He is the one who was, the one who is,

and the one who is to come. In him we

trust. In his name we pray. Amen.

>> Good morning, Dave.

>> Good morning, Martha.

>> How are you, [singing] Lord? As we go

from this [music] place,

loving [singing] you more,

trusting [music]

you more.

May the power of your [singing] love and

the light of your word shine [music]

to a sin darkened world as we go from

[singing] this

>> [music]