God did what? - Genesis 45 - Sunday Sermon

the second announcement is that we're

going to be having our Good Friday

service at 6:30 p.m. um the re reality

is we used to have that at 4:00 and we

heard from the congregation with people

that would really want to come but just

can't get off work that early uh the

thinking at of having it four was to

have it before you have dinner so you

can still have dinner but we've decided

that um through feedback that 6:30 would

be a better time and so we'd love to

have you there I think there's something

really powerful when we consider not

just the resurrection at Easter but what

it cost Jesus in the first place and so

Good Friday is a very somber very

reflective time worship only I I I don't

think I really have much of a speaking

role at all uh several of you will

though reading scripture um it's really

powerful time and and highlighting the

depths of the suffering of Christ on the

cross really uh just increases our joy

on Easter so um Easter notice we have a

coffee hour at 9:30 that's not just it's

like an upgraded coffee hour it's almost

breakfast and a really good one so i'

love to have you for that there too and

you can invite your friends to all of

these times and then our Easter Service

will be on Sunday at 10:30 at the normal

time um another exciting thing I have to

announce um uh is that we've been

invited by a creek a creek is probably

the largest church in in Oregon to

participate in their this giant scale

Evangelistic event at the Moda Center

it's called PDX Crusade I'm particularly

excited about that because coming from a

campus Crusade family part of me always

thought that uh large scale Evangelistic

events should not just be happening

through parot church organizations but

through the church itself and so a is

doing this the motor Center holds up to

25,000 people they're expecting it to be

packed they need something like 2,000

people serving and so you'll be uh told

about service opportunity I'm meeting

with their Pastor Brett met on April

11th and I'm assuming we'll be

discussing a lot of this I don't know to

what degree they want us involved but

what they at least wanted to do was for

those who make a recommitment in faith

or come to Faith in the first point

point them to faithful churches and

we're one of the ones that they've

chosen to point to so huge blessing you

know I'm I have a degree in marting

advertising from Portland State and in

terms of Impressions you can't get a

better deal than 25,000 people hearing

about your church and I think people in

Oregon are looking for uh uh churches

that are faithful and sometimes they'd

rather choose a smaller church over a

larger one and so I think I don't want

to predict how much we'll grow but I

think we will grow as a result and we'd

love to have you involved more on that

in the future um you can go to their

website PDX Crusade decom and talk about

it we'll probably be buying lots of

these These are bumper stickers if you

want to help us promote it I'm going to

putting these on my van another car uh

you can also buy T-shirts and things

like that so exciting things um that God

is doing in in Portland and I'm really

excited and grateful to be part of it um

because of that they're doing that on

the first weekend of August and that is

normally when we have our pig roast and

so we've decided to participate in that

and not double up on the pig roast too

feeling that would be way too much and

just move our pig roast one week back so

if you're looking at your calendars the

pig roast is not something you want to

Miss it's great fun 200t slide uh all

you can eat brisket and uh pork that's

been you know uh roasting in our above

ground uh pit for a long 12 hours or

something like that so if you if you go

to to um August on your calendar it

normally would have been on August 2nd

but August 2nd and 3rd is the PDX

Crusade so it's going to be on the 9th

and that's starts at 11: and we'll be

ending around 2 maybe one other thing is

you know you if if you're thinking about

should I come should I not if you have

kids we do kind of a graduation party on

the pig roast on um Sunday where kids

graduate from the fifth grade to the

sixth grade which takes them out of our

children's program and has them come up

here and so we keep the slide open for

that for that second day on Sunday uh I

think which is really fun maybe the last

thing I'll say is that um if you've not

been baptized and you want to be

baptized right now we'll probably be

doing baptisms more often than this but

we have a big baptismal which is

basically a hot tub we have a heater for

it so even if it's not as warm of a day

we could do it really any day any time

of day and uh so um if you want to be

baptized uh come let me know because we

have a process that we'd like to take

you through it's basically reading a

chapter in a book about baptism and then

talking about um your testimony and then

and then uh just going forward from

there so um or if you want one of your

children baptized that's another thing

um while we don't baptize infants we do

baptize believing children and so we

have a process that we take them through

as well and it's not scary we uh we ask

them questions that they have time to

prepare for with their parents that's

all by the way of announcements again

August 9th 11 to 12th 11 to2 is our um

is our pig roast I'm going to go ahead

and pray and then we're going to get

right back into Genesis as usual we have

lots to talk about but I think even more

heavyweight things to talk about than

usual let me

pray father as we come to your word we

want to come as students with teachable

attitudes uh listening ears and Open

Hearts but we know that it's you that

has to open your scriptures to us and

open our hearts to your scripture and we

pray that we would do that there there

is no greater teacher than your spirit

your spirit dwells inside of us and can

uh convict us challenge us strengthen us

encourage us and when we need

consolation even console us these are

all things we need that are important

for us and there's power in your word

and Power in the story that telling us

about what really happened with Joseph

and his attitude towards things like

your sovereignty and forgiveness and so

I pray that we would be able to deeply

consider these things and what they mean

for our faith and what they mean for

applic applying this and and gaining the

power to be transformed by it in in our

lives I pray these things in Jesus name

amen I was trying to think of a uh movie

or story that just about everyone would

know and whether or not you've seen uh

Star Wars or not I doubt there's anybody

in here that doesn't know who Darth

Vader is now you might not know his

backstory he started as Anakin Skywalker

and uh there was some kind of Prophecy

I'm not really a Star Wars uh uh geek or

nerd I I nerd out on other things just

not on that and uh but I know a little

bit about it from having seen the movies

and uh he he was there was some kind of

Prophecy that he'd be the one that

brings the balance the force he was

particularly Force sensitive a very

powerful in the force and so Obi-Wan

wanted to make him his Apprentice

technically Padawan but again we're not

nerding out here and uh so I think

apprentices are the the evil ones thing

turns out uh Anakin because of fear and

anger turns to the dark side and he

becomes very evil and does extremely

evil things he kills all the children

younglings and uh he kills all of them

and murders them because he's so

terrified that he's not going to be able

to save the love of his life and uh

thinks that he may gain that power but

once that power takes over him he does

terribly evil things so in the story

when you think of who chose to kill

those Youngs you think well it's Anakin

just because his name is become Darth

Vader doesn't mean he's not culpable for

it he's guilty and you never once think

that anybody else is it's him that did

it right but then you have to consider

who wrote that story and I thought it'd

be a slam dunk that was like George

Lucas or something it's actually hard to

tell it's some guy named um Alan Dean

Foster or something the ghost wrote it

and then you're like well who wrote the

the origin story and some online sources

will say it was George Lucas right but

you never think either regardless of who

the author is that it's their fault that

anak can turned to the dark side or that

he killed the Younglings right you don't

blame the author because you're in the

story and when you're in the story that

the villain is the one that you want to

to be brought to Justice you know I was

thinking about Clint Eastwood stories

and I think the reason why we like them

is because we like a good Revenge story

most of them seem to be revenge stories

you know it's not actually God's way but

there's something in us that likes that

and so my point is just simply that we

we don't really blame the author until

we do you know um this new Snow White

movie I blame the authors for the

changes they made in that and if I was a

plane watching it I'd still walk out

so uh it takes a moment to get that one

but what happens when you start blaming

the author have you ever read a story

and you're like you got so familiar with

the character they develop the character

and then the author has that character

do something that's so out of character

it just feels wrong almost like the

author made the wrong choice think of

that when we're talking about scripture

today in God's

sovereignty God authored not only the

words in the scripture but all the

events too he's the author of Life he's

the author of everything that happens so

when you think about that God as the

author of all the story and the story is

history it's not fiction anymore and

we're the characters do you sometimes

disagree with his authorial decisions

over your life I do sometimes I don't

understand why job did we'll go through

that maybe for a Time Joseph did he

seems un it doesn't say he did so and it

just seems like he accepted it really

quickly it's a very powerful thing that

he did that we're going to find out in

this chapter that he assigns the reason

why he was sent to Egypt not to the

brothers who sold him into slavery but

to God who sent him there so he has a

very high view of God's sovereignty he

knows that God authored his story and he

knows that he Au authored it in Advance

even in advance of when have given his

dreams but at a minimum he gave him

dreams that he was going to rule over

his own family so he even Joseph knew in

advance that that was going to happen so

God prepared him to accept his

sovereignty so when we disagree with the

author sometimes we might disagree that

he's not in control you think he can't

possibly be in control and why would you

think that if you know anything about

God you know he's good there not there's

no point in thinking him about him as

God if he's not good uh so if he's good

then why do these bad things happen that

theological terms that's called theodicy

if God's in control how can evil happen

when God's revealed will is against evil

why doesn't he stop it all right it's

very difficult question and Christians

give different answers you'll hear mine

today and that that also represents the

elders and teaching of Boon faery but

but on a personal level you have to

decide the enemy is going to try to

divide those two concepts that God is

good and that God is in control that God

is Sovereign and that he's is good and

he might divide you towards this side

where like well if God's in control and

this evil thing happened he must not be

good and it's usually very personal evil

that happened to you sometimes though

can just be something that happened to

someone you love in Joseph's case it was

very personal evil that happened to him

and and he did not decide that God is

only Sovereign but since the evil thing

happened not good he decided that God is

good and God is Sovereign and that's

shown here very much and what it led to

was that he ended up loving God even

more and also loving his brothers so if

we could put the main point up today

you're going to see how Joseph

knew that accepting God's trusting God's

Sovereign goodness results in love for

God that leads to love for

others it means aligning yourself with

what you know about him and his purposes

it means even when the worst thing

possibly happens that it's not just sort

of a fake yeah God is good but you

deeply trust God's Sovereign goodness

and that then results in loving him more

you'll see Joseph's love for God here

but that love that God shows in his

Sovereign goodness is also for others

let me actually just read a verse here

because it's unbelievable um verse 7 of

40 uh actually yeah 45 um and God sent

me before you to preserve for you he's

talking to the brothers and God sent me

before you to preserve for you a Remnant

on Earth and to keep alive for you many

survivors

what they sold him into slavery and what

was God doing behind the

scenes he was using all of that in order

to save them and keep them alive and and

many of them and many others as well

we'll see by the end of of Genesis which

we're not going to get to today but the

point is that God's Sovereign plan is so

much more good than you can imagine that

it actually eclipses the evil that's

happened he's in control of that too so

we're going to be talking a lot about

God's sovereignty and before we even get

into to the story I want to say

something and this is from the heart uh

everything that I say in terms of my

view and the elders View and conviction

really about God's sovereignty uh these

are strong convictions but a

simultaneous conviction for me is that

every single Christian needs to have the

space the right and the time to develop

their own convictions not only that I

believe that we have been given the

right by God to disagree as unto the

Lord

Paul says that in Romans and also in

Corinthians that for example if you

think one day is more holy than other

then keep that day holy as unto the Lord

if you think all days are alike then

keep all those days unto the Lord but as

if you're doing it unto the Lord God

accepts it we can have different

convictions on things you can have

differing convictions from your elders

it's difficult uh it's not particularly

enjoyable when you disagree with the

elders but you are not only welcome to

uh develop your own convictions you are

welcome to disagree not divisively we

don't want you disagreeing divisively

and stirring up uh stirring up this

Unity but we don't really expect that to

happen so if it does we deal with it but

the point is both convictions are

important so I do not want you to feel

overshadowed what's being said rather

consider me like a guide through the

topic of God's sovereignty today because

it comes up very clearly In this passage

so we need to deal with it asking

questions like how Sovereign is God how

free is the will of man what does the

Bible say about it I wouldn't go to

philosophy or Logic for that I would go

to just what does God's word say okay

and you may think well he's mentioning

some verses and not others I can't

mention them all I'm going to mention

the ones that I believe say really

really particular things about those

topics and I'm also available more

available than you know people think oh

he's so busy I'm busy with the church

and my family the family is still the

priority there but I have lots of time

you want to meet with me on Wednesday

Thursday or Friday uh I'm not at the

point where I have to book out several

months to do that and I love discussing

things and I'll take the same attitude

there at least I'll try which is uh the

one that we do in our discipleship

communities where we facilitate

discussion and in our discussion in the

discipleship Community people disagreed

some people had a certain view of God's

sovereignty some people had other and

there didn't seem to be any uh flaring

tempers or deep frustration either so I

hope you appreciate a church that that

will tell you exactly what it believes

but also give you the freedom to decide

what you do according to scripture and

that's what it ought to be so when I say

this means this you look with your own

heart and spirit and mind and think God

does it really say that and if it does

then submit to it and if you feel like

no I feel differently then decide you

know decide what your conviction is I'll

say no more about that again throw up

the main point one more time so we can

get back into the idea that we're

talking about and that is that trusting

God's sovereignty or Sovereign goodness

results in love for God that leads to

love for others when you have an

interruption there it interrupts your

love for God and it will most certainly

interrupt your love for others we do not

have the power to love others

particularly when they sin against us

but not the way that God loves them

unless we're aligned with his Sovereign

goodness all right let's get into the

story we pick back up in verse

four last time we ended in verse 5 but

we want to just go back a little bit and

find out what's happening um what's

going on here is that Joseph has finally

revealed himself to Brothers he was

testing them he was setting up so that

he would get his father back and Judah

sacrificed himself at least

hypothetically to uh so that Benjamin

wouldn't have to be uh come a servant

and and stay away he did that out of

love for Benjamin in particular love for

his father Jacob and you can see he's a

changed man and it overwhelms Joseph he

realizes wow my brothers are trustworthy

again so he reveals himself and he

forgives them deeply and part of what

we're learning about today is how he

responds to them how much he loves God

and and how much he actually loves them

even though they sold him into slavery

verse four so Joseph said to his

brothers come near to me please I want

to stop right there when someone has

sinned against you and you have not

forgiven them or believe that you've

forgiven them but still don't know if

you can trust them it's always a

question mark if you want to come near

again sometimes even physically right

that could be really difficult in the

church because you guys sit right next

to each other right and it's not that

far away and you start feeling awkward

coming to church when there's something

wrong in a relationship to another

person and it becomes difficult and God

wants to reconcile those relationships

and he'll move Heaven and Earth he'll

create situations that are not

coincidences to put you like corner to

corner with the decision of whether

you're going to forgive and reconcile

and Joseph wants to be near to them just

more evidence that he's truly forgiven

and really is interested in having trust

be rebuilt he might think about are you

aligned with God's will to draw close

again to those who have sinned against

you through a process of reconciliation

that's not always possible we've been

talking a lot about that in the last

four sermons about exactly what's the

difference between forgiveness and

Reconciliation if you have questions and

it's reasonable to have questions about

that refer back to those sermons but

here it's obvious that Joseph wants to

be near them he loves them he's been

wanting and longing to be reconciled and

they came near and he said I am your

brother Joseph whom you sold into Egypt

I'll stop there again he doesn't deny

what they did he's not pretending like

it was just all okay and totally fine

and he hasn't forgotten right um or that

he that he's somehow forgotten about it

and that's important he doesn't diminish

the severity of their sin and that's not

what forgiveness ever requires you to do

did you know that did you know that

forgiveness does not require you to

diminish the severity of someone's sin

ever that's not the way right Jesus can

take whatever severity of sin when they

ask for forgiveness based on the cross

so that it becomes just for you to

forgive them they did the wrong thing

but Jesus gets punished for it instead

of them that's why you can show them

Grace that's why it's okay for God to

not judge those who believe that who are

justified by that sacrifice otherwise

you know if a judge just said hey you

know what it's not that big a deal that

you killed this other person I'm going

to let you off the hook you know judges

are doing that all the time in America

we see that as lawlessness increases

hearts grow cold and lawlessness is

increasing you know so so we see that

happening in judges but God's not a

judge like that God is Justified in

forgiving people because he has not left

the guilt unpunished it's just not that

person that had to incur the punishment

sometimes sometimes you still have

Earthly consequences so again you don't

have to diminish anybody's sin God's not

asking you to say it's not that big of a

deal it is a big deal sin leads to death

it breaks

relationships but you can forgive anyway

because of the Cross we talked all about

that last week verse 5 and now do not be

distressed or angry with

yourselves his worry is their inner

emotional life they sold him into

slavery they trafficked him can you

imagine being trafficked and not seeing

your family I think we calculated to as

about 22 years by our best calculations

if you look at the ages and things over

two decades and he's concerned with

their

feelings there's there is no way that he

didn't forgive them that's not possible

humanly speaking to be concerned with

the feelings of the person who

trafficked

you ask yourself if you're wondering

have I really forgiven because you guys

are conscientious and sincere and I've

had meetings with some of you where

you've asked you know how do I how do I

know that I want to really forgive them

how do I know that I really

have well one example of that would be

you'd start caring about them again

loving them again being concerned for

their feelings here what is he concerned

about well it would be very distressing

to meet the man you sold into slavery

wouldn't it especially when he's in

charge of all Egypt second in command he

doesn't want them to be distressed he

does not want to be intimidating and he

does not even want them to be angry with

themselves he wants them to experience

real

forgiveness so let me read it again and

do not be distressed or angry with

yourselves because you sold me here for

God sent me before you to preserve life

now and that's statement alone you could

still kind of hold together the fact

that they trafficked him and God sent

him but Joseph goes farther than that

listen to this for the famine had been

in the land these two years and there

are yet five years in which there will

be neither plowing nor Harvest so at

that time no supermarkets or anything

like that it's an agrarian society and

when there's no food for years if there

if someone if they don't find food

they're going to die it's an absolute

life and death situation a terribly Des

more desperate than the Dust Bowl more

desperate than the Great depression

there is no food except for in Egypt and

God pre-planned to use Joseph for

that but he continues verse 7 and God

sent me before you to preserve for you a

Remnant on Earth and to keep alive for

you many survivors the very

people who sinned against Joseph by

selling him into slavery are the ones

whom God is sovereignly caring for in

and through all of

that I mean to me no one God doesn't

tell us his plans in advance because

they would be

overwhelming imagine being told hey I

want to use you to save your

brothers and you're like yes I what

what's going to happen well there's

going to be a famine and if people don't

get food everyone's going to die and I'm

going to make you the vice world of

Egypt and give you a great and wise plan

and you're going to just hoard all of

this grain and the whole world's going

to come to you and you're going to save

so many people like yeah there's just a

catch but what is it you're going to be

hated by your brother brothers sold into

slavery and they're going to lie to your

father that you were torn by animals and

you're not going to see them for 22

years can can you think if you have

children can you think of times where

you haven't told them the full weighty

truth about something because they're in

their childhood and you don't want to

put that kind of weight on them God

loves us like children we are his

children when we believe and so but

that's that's what God did that's the

story

[Music]

wrote so if you're Joseph and in this

case Joseph is an example of someone

early and often accepting God's

sovereignty and not letting it be

divided from his conviction that God is

good but for you I think I've told you

the story where uh Christine and I got

married and went off to Hawaii for our

honeymoon and we had these seven days

I'd never been a tropical place you know

she was kind of astonished because for

her it's normal to you know see these

amazingly fragrant flowers that you can

eats like a ginger flour but for me

everything was I was a little child

there you know and then the second day

she gets emergency room

sick first thought I like why of all

times of all times the honeymoon she's

going to get this desperately sick and I

don't know exactly how God speaks to you

but sometimes he puts thoughts in my

mind that didn't come from me they come

from his word or they come from his

spirit and it was a question in this

case what if I did this so that you

could learn how to serve your wife and I

thought I'm willing to do that I went

from I I'm I'm not proud to say it but I

went from blaming him for ruining my

honeymoon to yeah I'll do that yes I can

serve her you know so he stayed in I

mean I cooked Ramen in like a coffee

kind of thing you know you can heat up

the water uh and honestly then it was so

interesting she would feel really great

half the day so we did the road to Hana

while she's sick and she's tough but she

wasn't actually feeling anywhere near as

sick as she did in the mornings and the

evenings so we still had a wonderful

honeymoon but it's been really the story

of my whole marriage that God has

wanting to teach me how to sacrificially

serve my wife and I do better at times

than others but man I don't know if he'd

said hey I'm going to make your

honeymoon I'm going to have your wife

get emergency room sick to teach you to

serve

her it had to happen to me before I

surrender to it that's the way I feel

and that can be the case with God's

sovereignty so many times is when

terrible things happen your faith is

being tested and Satan's tempting you

right along that to doubt his

goodness I think it's probably more

often that for Christians especially

Christians um like kind of conservative

Evangelical biblical Christians it's

more likely that you'll be tempted to to

distrust his goodness than his

sovereignty because you just know in

your bones that he's in control but that

can happen too you start like are you

not in control here what you do not know

me do you not see what's happening well

it's way more than that God has a plan

that's far greater than you yet know and

sometimes he reveals parts of that plan

he did for Joseph and he he does for us

in Joseph's story but even goes on

before there let me read verse 7 again

and God sent me before you to preserve

for you a Remnant on Earth and to keep

alive for you many survivors now listen

to this doozy so it was not you who sent

me to here sent me here but God we're

going to stop there before we even go to

the second part of the verse so it was

not you who sent me here but God whose

will is Joseph highlighting in his view

of of sovereignty God's over against the

will of the

brothers the author's will that's the

one who decided and he decided the means

too it happened that way because that's

the way God wrote the story it was not

the brothers that sent him to Egypt is

Joseph actually denying their sin no we

just got done saying he told them you

whom you sold into Egypt you did it but

it wasn't you who did it it was God who

did it and it shows a remarkable view of

God's sovereignty I thought long and

hard about this and there are times when

God's highlighting certain things and

you talk about this Doctrine or that but

I found that maybe the most valuable

thing that I could do is

discuss maybe through kind of a Biblical

surve survey certain question about

God's sovereignty maybe one question

would be how Sovereign is he does he

really determine all things if so what

scriptures say those things if he

determines all things do we have free

will do we have some free will do we

have a limited free will do our choices

matter if God determines all things then

can humans actually be guilty do you

know that Paul asked that question in

Romans 9ine if God hardened Pharaoh's

heart why do you still find fault in

him I said that correct I thought I

messed that up but yeah if God hardened

Pharaoh's heart how can you still find

fault in him for who can resist his will

there's a there's a problem with God's

sovereignty and trying to say that human

will is free and there's Christians for

the ages have been working it out okay

so I'm going to present you with the

view that Boon fairy teaches and I'm I'm

not presenting two equal and balance

views because I have a very strong

conviction on this I'm not saying you

couldn't present uh a balance view I

think the most valuable thing I can do

you're here at this church you want to

get to know what the church teaches you

want to know what the Bible teaches so

we're going to go to actually quite a

few verses here to discuss questions

like that what is God actually Sovereign

over is it everything and how is he

Sovereign over and what does that mean

for our will questions like that uh

because Joseph said and God uh but God

sent me here not you it wasn't you that

sent me but God okay so the very first

verse I want to go to and this is where

you just turn your own interpretation on

you ask the holy spirit is this true is

this what I believe from this chapter is

going to be Isaiah

Isaiah 45:7

45 verse 7 and I'll have it up too so

you can turn there in your Bibles I'm

reading from the ESV Bible by the way um

which I think is a faithful translation

H but I also think there are other

faithful translations as well but here

is what God says in Isaiah 45 verse 7 I

Isaiah 45:7

form light and create Darkness I make

well-being and create calamity I am the

Lord who does all these

things what I believe that saying is

that every time that something good is

happened and every single time that

something calamate has happened God has

done that all of the things so in my

life I would I would consider Katrina

something that God brought about I don't

know why I think Christians should stop

short of thinking they know that that

was somehow to judge someone or for some

purpose God has not revealed his

purposes in a lot of modern calamities

but but when it talks about the famine

which is a Calamity God brought that

about he said he was going to bring it

about he limited the the time of

abundance to S years in the time of

famine to seven years and he made sure

that the seven years of famine swallowed

up the seven years of abundance God did

all of that so when I look at this I

don't think well there are some

calamities that God doesn't create he's

in charge of all of them he is in

control of all of them so that that's

that's sort of a a baseline about about

about things that happen that are good

things that are happen the bad Wars

famines natural disasters okay let's go

to Proverbs um chapter

16 verse

33 the lot is cast into the lap but it's

every decision is from the Lord lot

casting was intentionally random it's

like rolling the dice and Israelites

will understand what this means more

deeply because it's part of their

history when sometimes and this was

actually taught by God to do the priest

would draw lots to decide what God's

will is why cuz they know that he's

Sovereign over random events you're

eliminating human bias you're

randomizing it but it's not actually

random because every decision is from

the Lord we're not going to get into

decision- making in the will of God in

the sense that should you flip a coin

about it I don't think you should but

that's a different sermon uh I'd love to

get into all those things but again all

every random event I believe every

single random event is ultimately fully

in the control of God decision-making

process so that means there are no

random events that doesn't mean that if

a tower falls on people God did that

because they sinned again you do not

assign motive to God where he hasn't

revealed the motive right that's a

really important thing you can really

hurt other people sometimes you know

maybe maybe a disease is caused by sin

there are certain sins you can commit

that are definitely harmful for your

body but maybe a disease has nothing to

do with that and it's just part of the

broken world world and God still in

control of both of those versions but we

ought not to assume that someone has a

disease because they sinned see what I'm

saying John the Apostle talks about that

when he quotes Jesus word to a friend is

this man blind because he sinned and

Jesus says no but it's for the glory of

God so again why does God do things for

what purpose does he do all things yes

all the calamities all well-being every

random event let's continue let's go to

Proverbs 21 because this is getting a

little bit closer to humans in fact as

close as you can possibly get the king's

heart this is Proverbs 211 the king's

heart is a stream of water in the hand

of the Lord and he turns it wherever he

Wills wherever he will so what what is

the heart well biblically the heart is

like the epicenter of who you are it's

where your desires come from it's it's

not even like our desires is what drives

our will right if we let the flesh reign

then we desire to do evil but if we let

the spirit reain then from the heart we

desire to do good but it's God that has

to do something to give us a new heart

without that new heart you don't have

the desire so part of what God is saying

here is that the very epicenter like the

control center of the decision-making

process of a human being the innermost

places are like a stream in the hands of

the Lord and He directs it wherever he

Wills let's go to an example of that

Exodus

Exodus 4:21

4:21 a difficult example of this Exodus

Exodus 4:21

4:21 said this is the first time that it

comes up in the whole book of Exodus and

the Lord said to Moses when you go back

to Egypt see that you do before Pharaoh

a different Pharaoh whom they didn't

have favor with hated and oppressed the

Egyptians see that you do before Pharaoh

all the Miracles that I've put in your

power and now You' think and I'll change

his heart so that he lets the Israelites

go no but I will harden his heart so

that he will not let the people go like

a stream does whatever he wants now uh

because I hate when my view is strawman

and I don't like when someone straw mans

my view I think we ought to be as

careful to say what Christians are

wanting to be represented by so Exodus

Exodus 8:15

8:15 most certainly says that Pharaoh

also hardens his own heart listen to

this but when Pharaoh saw that there was

respit from a plague he hardened his

heart and would not listen to him but

then we get the verse as the Lord had

said so Moses is the author of both

Genesis and exodus but whose will is

being highlighted as the one that that

caused the thing God's I'll Harden his

heart and therefore pharaoh to hardened

his heart but Pharaoh really did Harden

his heart and that's a clue to the idea

whether uh human beings can make

decisions that matter it's not a slam

dunk yet though let's continue verse

Exodus

Exodus 9:16

9:16 but for this purpose I have raised

you up so I may show my power so that my

name may be proclaimed in all the Earth

why did God Harden Pharaoh's heart

why does he direct the hearts of Kings

the way he does why is he in control of

all random events and all calamities and

all good things for his glory that's

what it means that his name would be

proclaimed in all the Earth so the very

purpose that I believe and convicted

that the Bible continues to point to for

Why God does what he does is always his

glory to make himself look glorious if

anybody else did that it' be

megalomaniacal but he's actually worthy

to be shown His Glory by glor glorious

by himself we want that we don't want

any power corrupts and absolute power

corrupts absolutely except for with God

absolute powerful absolute power

glorifies absolutely when it comes to

God and he's about his glory and you

will all you can always know in all

situations that the way that God is

controlling something is for His glory

that's a very important thing to know

biblically let's continue um is God even

in control of evil and of evil person

is God in control of Satan let's look at

that so let's go to 2 Samuel 24:

one again the anger of the Lord was

kindled against Israel and he incited

David against them saying go number

Israel and Judah by the way it was

against God's will that he would number

Israel and Judah and he judges him for

it but he incites him to do it so God we

know God tests and he does not tempt but

we also know God knows that David's

going to fail the test test and battle

hardened Thug of a general job TOS him

joab tolds him don't do it why would you

do this thing what's it about

well God has over and over again in the

history of people of God uh shown them

that it's not by the might of their

armies but the might of his right hand

so he's even told stories that David

would have certainly known remember

Gideon he kept whittling away gon

Gideon's Army until he only had 300

people just to show that it's not by the

might of these people but it's that my

might that you're going to Route this

vastly Superior and larger army they

know that so counting and doing a census

of your armies is from the intent to see

how powerful your army is rather than

really trusting the lord it's a sin

against the Lord that God incited him to

do so you'd be like well this is sounds

dangerous it sounds like the God's the

one that caused the sin here but let's

read SEC 1 Chronicles 211 about the

exact same event then Satan stood

against Israel and incited David to

number Israel it's not two different

events you can read the accounts again 2

Samuel and 1st Chronicles uh 24 and 21

respectively so what do you make of that

you know uh liberal Bible scholars and

atheists and agnostics alike this is a

famous example of a a contradiction in

the Bible I don't believe there's any

contradiction here can you work it out

in your mind how this works how did God

incite David using

Satan using Satan did you know that God

can use Satan in that way for his own

purposes of judgment and mercy it's

unbelievable that's a very high view of

God's sovereignty and I can continue

showing that you think oh man um that uh

sounds crazy and actually I'm looking at

my my text notes here and I'm I'm not

sure if I actually have the exact

quotations but I'm almost positive it's

in in Kings uh Greg if you're back there

if you can look up the passage of the

lying spirit and I don't know if you'll

be able to display it but then at least

I can give you the verse uh so that you

can look at it what happens and and I

wish I had recorded I don't know why I

didn't but what happens is that um uh

King Jehoshaphat is being judged for

constantly listening to false prophets

and Micaiah tells him of an episode that

he saw in a vision of God in heaven um

asking who will uh go and do his will

and one looks this way one looks that

we're assuming Angels but then there's

this spirit it's called a spirit and

that's important not it's not called an

angel uh says I will go and entice and

and uh entice the prophets against uh

against him against Jehoshaphat and God

Says by what means and he says I will

put a lie in the mouths of His prophets

and then God says and again I'm

paraphrasing here hopefully we'll have

it up in a minute uh but it's very close

to the story and God says okay good do

that and he gives him success in doing

it and then it says God was the one that

sent the lying

Spirit very difficult passages did God

lie no God never lies absolute

conviction God never sins in him it's

all light and there is no Darkness have

to believe that those are certainties

and yet here it said he's sending a

lying

spirit so who is to blame the lying

Spirit we know Angels wouldn't lie

angels are sinless if they sin they're

demons so again he's using a

demon right let me show you another

thing because job often comes up in the

um discussion about this about this

thing and uh I I'll set it up we're

going to be going to Job 1 21-22 but I'm

not reading it just yet what happens is

that it turns out Satan has come before

God in his court and um God God's the

one that first mentions have you

considered my servant job how righteous

he is and Satan basically says well he's

only righteous because you've given him

so much and God knows that's not true

this righteousness is by faith um and

it's not just by whatever blessings he's

been given uh then Satan says well let

me you know kill his whole family let me

destroy destroy everything that he has

and we'll see if he actually still

follows you and here and still loves you

and here's job 1:

21-22 and he said naked I came this is

job speaking naked I came from my

mother's womb and naked shall I return

the lord gave and the Lord has taken

away blessed be the name of the

Lord it was definitely Satan that killed

his whole family and destroyed

everything he owned definitely who does

job assign it to God furthermore verse

chapter 13:1 15-16 listen to

this though he slay me I will hope in

him he's not talking about Satan he's

talking about God and I will argue to my

ways to his face this will be my

salvation that the Godless shall not

come before him so he's he's saying

listen I know it was God that saved

slayed me I know it was God that did it

and yet I'm going to hope in him but I'm

going to argue to his face and so he

continues arguing face and if you know

the story of Job he either becomes

dangerously close or he goes actually to

the point where he's distrusting God's

will because it's not fair because he

didn't do anything unrighteous to

deserve it and God shows up in a

whirlwind and what does he

say not that job has too low of a view

of his sovereignty but that he doesn't

have a high enough view of his

sovereignty did you make the ostrich

egg did you hang the sun moon and stars

in their orbit and also if you did what

did they hung on

to this day scientists do not understand

what gravity really is I think if we did

it's possible that we might be able to

harness it but we can't yet we don't

understand it to this day with all our

modern methods of scientific discovery

God still says did you hang the sun moon

and

stars God sustains the reaction of the

sun which is bigger than all the nuclear

weapons we could ever compile he's so

great in his sovereignty and so powerful

and his concern with what job said is

not that he's assigning too much control

to God but not enough and when job hears

it he calls himself ignorant though

though I perceived with my mind I now

see with my eyes and he repents repents

of having too low of a view of God's

sovereignty that says God can only do

something that's bad in your life if

you've done something specifically

deserve it not true turns out God God

used suff suffering instrumentally in a

way that to paraphrase Romans 9 ends up

leading to Hope here it is uh what it's

it's First Kings 2:22 I'm going to go

1 Kings 2:22

ahead and read it because I want you to

see how close what I was saying is

actually what he says and you can make

up your mind the Lord said to him by

what means and he said I will go out and

I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of

His prophets and he said you are to

entice him and you shall succeed go and

do so do you have one do you have verse

23 cuz that's where God actually says he

he sent him but either way you say you

see what it's actually saying so what I

believe that leads to in a view of God's

sovereignty is that God however powerful

Satan and his demons are God is

infinitely more Sovereign and can use

him for whatever purpose he wants to

even if that means killing a righteous

Man's family and no wonder job argued

right it's not fair he says he knows

God's Sovereign he knows God did it but

he says it's not not fair how is this

fair and it makes us wonder you know do

we have any free will do human beings

have free will and this is probably

maybe even more so than anything I've

said here where some of you may disagree

and I just ask listen to the actual

words of scripture and then make up your

mind is there something there I haven't

yet seen or do I disagree with the way

it's being handled um but to be really

honest I don't believe the Bible in any

verse whatsoever ever says that our

human will is autonomously free in in

fact I think it says the opposite that

our will is enslaved to sin and that we

cannot break out of that sin apart from

God breaking us out of it now I just

said that but Paul also says that let's

go to Romans 6 uh 17 um and we'll go all

the way through

23 um let's see yeah I think it is 617

yeah but thanks be to God that you who

were once slaves of sin what's a Slave

certainly not someone that's free right

someone that's enslaved you know what it

is means they're captured by it they're

ens snared by it they can't get out once

slaves of sin have become obedient from

the heart to the standard of teaching to

which you were committed and having been

set free from sin the word free here is

assigned to God's work you were set free

you didn't set yourself free from sin

have become slaves to

righteousness I mean you're switching

Masters when you come to

Faith so what else does it say about our

freedom I am speak speaking in human

terms because of your natural

limitations I'm included and Paul's

included in those natural limitations

but Paul had a lot revealed to him and a

lot to say for just as you once

presented your members as slaves to

impurity and to lawlessness leading to

more lawlessness so now present your

members as slaves to righteousness

leading to sanctification for when you

were slaves of sin you were free in

regards to

righteousness have you ever read that

have you ever seen that you're slaves to

sin in your will and you're free from

righteousness I don't see that and think

we're autonomously free to do whatever

we want apart from God you're stuck in

sin your will is in bondage and he has

to break it free and you're free from

goodness that's what righteousness means

you're free from being justified before

him you're free from doing the right

thing and that is no Freedom at all that

is slavery to sin verse 21 but what

fruit were you getting at that time from

the things which you are now ashamed for

the end of those things is death

but now that you have been set free from

sin and have become slaves of God the

fruit you get leads to sanctification

and its end eternal life for the wages

of sin is death and the free gift of God

is eternal life in Christ Jesus our lord

and so so now you you might be asking

well if you're claiming that our will or

if you think Paul is claiming or if

indeed Paul actually is claiming and

therefore God claiming that our will is

not only not free but it's in bondage to

sin and slavery to sin and the only

thing we're free from is righteousness

in our unsaved State and that God has to

do something all by himself to break us

out of that and then our will is not

spoken of as free per se it's spoken of

as slave to righteousness and that we

need to continue entrusting ourselves to

another Master again highlighting God's

control so if that's true then then how

could a human being ever be found guilty

for

something don't you have to have some

kind of amount of freedom so that it's

your fault and not God's fault who has

all the freedom to cause you to do

whatever you do well here's the deal I

want to affirm something that it says in

Galatians this is really important I

think to believe because it's so

definite it says in Galatians 5 or

excuse me Galatians 6:7 do not be

Galatians 6:7

deceived God is Not mocked for whatever

one SWS that he also will reap for the

one who SWS to his own flesh will from

his flesh reap corruption but the one

who SWS the spirit will from the spirit

reap eternal

life and I can show you many more verses

that show just how consequential our

decisions are that they are eternally

consequential but over and over and over

again what the scriptures what God wants

to highlight is that his will is in

control even of all of our choices so

your choices matter I want to show you

how that applies to the Cross towards

the end of the sermon your choices do

matter but let's say Okay so you're

saying that God is the one in control of

choices well are you saying that we

can't even receive Christ that we can't

even freely choose him well just let's

listen to what Jesus said John 6:44 no

John 6:44

one can come to me unless the father

sends uh sent him excuse me no one can

come to me unless the father who sent me

draws him and I will raise him up on the

last day what is that highlighting our

freedom from the state of our ens

slavery to sin to just decide to come to

God or is that highlighting that God has

to First draw us again over and over and

over again in my understanding of

scripture and I have studied this

extensively it's it's not like a New

Concept it's been something I've been

fascinated with all my life and I used

to disagree with what I say today I used

to disagree strongly angrily actually uh

wi with with what I say now but I've

just looked at the verses and no matter

how hard they are to believe I look at

that I'm like it's clearly hiding God's

will as primary as the one that's

Sovereign it's saying that our will is

enslaved to sin is saying that God has

to break us free and once we break us

free he is our master so this Freedom

that we want this autonomous Freedom

that I think is oftentimes claimed uh

Without Really deeply considering what

the scripture actually says if it is

deeply considered great that's good I

affirm that but sometimes without even

it's kind of just what you've heard

right I think that desire for autonomous

freedom is really related to Pride we

want to be autonomously free from God we

want to be the choosers and he's the

Chooser and we're the Beggars it still

doesn't mean and I will come back to

this even more deeply towards the end of

the sermon because you'll see that God

says something very powerful through

Luke in acts in Acts 2:22 about his

Acts 2:22

sovereignty over the cross and yet human

culpability so let me let me summarize

shortly what I've said um I believe that

scripture and not just these verses but

lots more claims that God is in control

of all good and bad things that happen

well-being and Calamity I believe that

there is no such thing as random chance

but that God controls all random chance

and it was actually a way that the

Israelites made decisions by eliminating

human bias I also believe that God is in

charge at the of the very

decision-making center of the human

heart not just Kings but every single

person and that he gives us examples of

how he did that in ways that ought to

make you feel very uncomfortable it's

uncomfortable to hear you know you think

of all Pharaoh's evil so it's okay that

he hardened his heart but that was

somebody's son that was that was he had

a mother you know so you have to ask

yourself the question how can he still

find fault and the way that I look at

that the best metaphor that I've ever

thought of and I'm not even sure it's

mine I may have heard it somewhere but

not consciously knowing that is that

he's the author and we're the characters

it was Anakin it was Darth Vader who

killed the Younglings not George Lucas

or allenan Foster but Allan and or Lucas

wrote the story God wrote the he's the

author of life he knows every one of the

hairs of your head and he is ordained

every single day for you in advance I

said we'll go back to that because it

reflects there's something about the

cross that I think is probably the

deepest understanding of God's

sovereignty and human will and will come

back to it but I I believe Joseph knew

this I believe you can't really claim

that it was not them who sent not his

brothers but God without knowing that

God's will is primary and

determinative and God sent me before you

to preserve life for you in a Remnant

and a Remnant um verse chapter 25:7

again and to keep keep alive for you

many survivors so although his will is

to glorify himself his will is also good

and it's good for us so it's not you who

sent me here verse 8 but God he has made

me a father to pharaoh and Lord of all

his house and ruler over all the land of

Egypt hurry and go up to my father and

say to him thus says your son Joseph God

has made me the Lord of all Egypt come

down to me do not t you shall dwell in

the land of Goan you shall be near me

you and your children and your

children's children and your flocks and

your herds and all that you have there I

will provide for you for there are yet 5

years of famine to come so that you and

your household and all that that you

have do not come to

Poverty his household by the way

includes all of the brothers it's like

the whole tribe of Israel at this point

with him as the the current patriarch

and look how much care and urgency to

show that care that Joseph has for all

of them for all of

them so when I say that trusting God's

Sovereign goodness leads to loving God

you can feel the love that Joseph has

for God even though God sovereignly

chose to have him enslaved in

Egypt did God also sovereignly choose to

have them put unjustly in prison yes

whose fault was it well Piper's wife

definitely and also potier because he

just tried to wash his hands of it you

know it's like no you need to

investigate whether that's really

actually true and not just let your

anger re there but Joseph just kept

looking at that like what people meant

for evil God meant for good that's how

high and deep his trust in God's his

View and Trust of God's sovereignty was

so he he's he loves God and it's he

loves God's sovereignty and trusts his

goodness he's aligned with that purpose

and it gives him the power to love other

people because he's part of the purpose

he was sent for the very purpose to care

for

them it's so powerful verse uh 12 and

now your eyes see and your the eyes of

my brother Benjamin see that it is my

mouth that speaks to you you must tell

my father of all my honor in Egypt and

of all that you have seen hurry and

bring my father down here and he fell

upon his brother Benjamin's neck and

wept and Benjamin wept upon his neck and

he kissed all his brothers and wept upon

them after that his brothers talked with

him so at this point they're even

convinced that he's really forgiven them

they were dismayed to talk to him they

were distressed they had to be told

don't be distressed don't be angry with

yourself and now you know they're deeply

moved and willing to talk with him and

come

close and when the report was heard in

PHA house Joseph's brothers have come it

pleased pharaoh and his servants and

Pharaoh said to Joseph say to your

brothers do this load your beasts and go

back to the land of Canaan and take your

father and your household and households

and come to me and I will give you the

best of the land of Egypt and you shall

eat the fat of the land when's the last

time you've heard the president or ruler

or dictator or whatever kind of leader

give the best of the land to the most

abominable people in their View and you

know Nations do hate whole people groups

throughout the entire history America

did that with slavery Germany did that

with Jews sometimes they do it with

their own people like Mao in China or

Stalin in in uh uh in in in Russia but

you might think what's he talking about

well just turn to the very

um uh oh my goodness I'm I'm missing the

verse again here but it it it's it says

that the uh that that Hebrews were an

Abomination to Egyptians and that

Shepherds were too and they're Hebrews

and Shepherds okay so they they they

couldn't even eat with them and yet the

Pharaoh is giving them the best of the

land you know I still think that the

fact that pastors have like a tax

deduction that allows them to allow

small churches to be able to float uh a

pastor's boat so to speak is

unbelievable favor you see how how our

is turning against that it's

unbelievable favor that God has ordained

for the church in America too and it's

supernatural it's not what naturally

happens Jesus says they will hate you

because they hated me

first right so it's un again God's

sovereignty is on display the fact that

Pharaoh gives a people that Egyptians

find abominable basically that even to

eat with them as Abomination uh gives

them the best of the land unbelievable

shall eat the fat of the land next verse

and this is what Joseph is giving them

great very loving and generous of him

and you Joseph are commanded to say well

this Pharaoh through Joseph giving him

are commanded to say do this take wagons

from the land of Egypt for your little

ones and for your wives and bring your

father and come have no concern for your

goods for the best of all the land of

Egypt is yours and the sons of Israel

did so and Joseph gave them wagons

according to the command of pharaoh and

gave them Provisions for the journey to

each and all of them he gave a change of

clothes but Benjamin he gave 300 shekel

of Sil silver and five changes of

clothes I just want to mention something

here because I wondered oh is he just

passing on the favoritism there and it's

just again we've talked about

interpretive senses I don't think that's

what happening the principle that I draw

from this is that although God can you

use even your sin for your good it's

still better to obey and the blessings

of obedience are far greater they're

also undeserved than the undeserved

blessings of Disobedience and you say

blessings of Disobedience it's not your

Disobedience that God is blessing it's

in spite of our Disobedience that he's

blessing us right so it's still better

to be obedient and Benjamin was not one

of the ones that had ever sold him into

slavery verse 24 then he sent his

brothers away and as they departed he

said to themo not quarrel on the

way have you ever cared that much for

someone that sinned against you it's

such a shining example to me it makes me

think what's my inner attitude towards

people that have hurt me in the

past when when I see them quarreling

with somebody am I kind of happy well

that's what you

get that's not being aligned with God's

Sovereign goodness at all he is so

aligned with Sovereign goodness that the

ones that trafficked him he's now

concerned that they wouldn't fight

amongst each other and he knows them he

just recently saw Reuben try to get like

blame the brothers for the whole problem

when Ruben was also one that lied he he

he knows they're going to quarrel about

it cuz they I told you you shouldn't

have done this you know who knows what

he's going to do to us he says don't

quarrel he's a The Peacemaker blessed

are the peacemakers so they went up out

of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan

to their father Jacob and they told him

Joseph is still alive and he is the

ruler over all the land of Egypt and his

heart became numb for he did not believe

them have you have you ever experienced

something that's so emotionally

overwhelming that your heart becomes

numb what what pulls you out of

that how do you get out of something

that

sort of

like it's like way too much electricity

through the circuits and they're just

fried and you're just numb you don't

even know what to say this is what he's

exper if you've ever experienced that

like it's it's too much I can't even

feel the things I'm feeling because it's

all sensory

overload and he doesn't believe them he

can't he doesn't want to believe it's

too good to be

true but when they told him all the

words of Joseph which he had said to

them and when he saw the wagons that

Joseph had sent to carry him wagons

which God sovereignly ordained for

Pharaoh the king of the Egyptians who

find Hebrews abominate abominable and

Shepherds

too when he saw the wagons that Joseph

had sent to carry him the spirit of

their father Jacob revived and Israel

said it is enough Joseph my son is alive

I will go and I will see him before I

die man I hope some faithful Christian

director someday makes a story of this

it would be an unbelievable movie if

they didn't just you know I watched that

movie about Noah and I've never heard

that story before so oh man the one with

Russell Crow Rock Angels what a bunch of

nonsense but I don't know why Satan's in

control of Hollywood that's for sure but

God's in control of Satan isn't he and

how would you want it any other way

would would you you know how good God

is he's perfect and so we want him to be

in control now I want you to think about

because we're talking about evil things

that have happened and whether God's in

control what is the most evil thing that

has ever occurred on Earth and

Christians should all only have one

answer and there should be no debate

it's crucifying

Jesus the only perfect one the only

righteous one God In the Flesh the only

intent of his heart is to forgive us of

our sin and atone for it and so we kill

them I say we but let's go to who

actually did it first let's go to acts

chap 222 through 23

just a second I turned to the wrong page

Acts 2

22-23 says this men of Israel as Peter

speaking hear these words Jesus of

Nazareth a man attested to you by God

with Mighty works and wonders and signs

that God did through him in your midst

as you yourself know this Jesus

delivered up according to the definite

plan and forn knowledge of God you

crucified and killed by the hands of

Lawless men let's go back for a moment

and this is a place where um you could

return to the sermon or write a note

here um because actually sometimes we

need to do word studies in order to

understand what words actually mean and

be sure that we're not saying they mean

something that they don't or missing

what they actually mean uh the word

definite here in Greek is harito and you

look it up it means

predetermined it means decided

beforehand planned it out for knowledge

interestingly is prognos

which is the word where we get prognosis

from and when you're speaking of human

beings a doctor's prognosis is something

like a prediction of what will most

likely happen statistically with the

disease that you have based on all of

the evidence of what happened with

disease to other people but it's just a

prediction and they don't know that that

will happen and they're I don't know if

they're often wrong but they're

definitely sometimes wrong is that how

God forn knows like could it happen

differently than he forn knows or is his

knowledge forn

perfect it's another thing you have to

consider because it doesn't just say

predetermined It also says forn

knowledge with forn knowledge you could

say well he knew what was going to

happen um and uh was reacting to it or

you can realize actually if God knew it

to happen and for before it happened it

can't happen any other way it's already

predetermined just by the fact that he

for knew it because his forn knowledge

is perfect but on top of it it says

harito

harito Boule that's that means

predetermined plan definite plan

pre-planned

it couldn't happen any other way and yet

who's to

blame what does it say delivered up

according to the definite plan and forn

knowledge of God even Jesus asked us

that another way three times with three

implied no answers and then submitted

his soul you crucified and killed by the

hands of LA men who's you the Pharisees

and the Jews who were screaming crucify

who's the Lawless men pilate who washed

his hands of the Injustice as if somehow

he wasn't part of it but still gave the

order and gave him over and then

soldiers did you know that some of those

soldiers came to Faith do you know that

some of the Pharisees came to Faith so

what they did was

murder and God was forgiving their

murder in their act of

murder the greatest Injustice

on the part of human beings killing the

Lord Of Glory is the greatest example of

God's justice there's no justice apart

from the cross there's no way to be

justified apart from the cross I don't

know that there is a verse in Scripture

that shows better the relationship

between God's sovereignty and human will

God definitely predetermined it he

definitely brought it about he planned

it and forew it couldn't happen any

other way there was no other plan there

was no other possibility who's guilty

for it you and what does it say right

after that you crucified and killed by

the hands of Lot's men God raised him up

loosing the pangs of death because it

was not possible for him to be held by

it God resurrects him can't be held by

the

death and why I was saying that we were

the ones that crucified Jesus is that it

was our sin that required it it was our

slavery to sin that required it now you

might say we haven't mentioned Adam and

Eve

weren't they free yeah and what did they

choose to do

Sin from a perfect State we chose to sin

that's what we did in Adam and Eve and

we're all

included and what did God choose to do

send his son to die for our

sin the very Act of greatest evil the

greatest Injustice the most sinful thing

we could possibly carry out becomes our

Salvation I don't know anything that

displays God's sovereignty more and I'm

not afraid to submit to it I don't have

to work it all out it's not my problem

that God determines all things and that

your choices matter and that mine does

too it's too high for me but it's what I

believe scripture says you say it's

impossible everything in our face

impossible God's Not a Human Being yes

he's a human being God is completely

human and completely God in Jesus

Christ God can't be made to be sin and

yet he made him sin who knew no sin so

that in him we could become the

righteousness of God God is

one but the scripture says the holy

spirit is God the scripture says Jesus

is God the scripture says God the father

is God so is God three or one he's both

they're both true your your faith has so

many parad is that you can't work out so

why not just one more and if you come to

communion today with the same heart

Joseph had the same heart that Paul has

the heart of surrender to God's

sovereignty all the way down and the

belief and conviction that is unshakable

that he's still all the way good and

that every one of his Sovereign Act is

in the service of his glory and his love

man the cross the communion is is the

best example for that so you can bring

you can bring your freedom which was

freedom from righteousness to the Cross

you can bring the places where you feel

like you're stuck and you can't get out

of it even as a Christian there's times

where we get stuck back in a pattern of

sin and we just Paul talks about it he

doesn't want to covet he know that

covets wrong he agrees with the law that

coveting is wrong and that being

satisfied is right but then he just

keeps coveting keeps coveting over and

over and over again says

whoo right how will I be saved from this

body of death

and is through Jesus Christ Our Lord for

in him there is no condemnation and

there's no condemnation of you either so

today again if you remember nothing else

when you come to communion is that

trusting God's Sovereign goodness leads

to loving God which leads to loving

others and somewhere in there all of us

need to realign ourselves so I want to

pray for you that you would again if you

want to talk about this if you want to

learn more about it if you want to

disagree um you can take that to the

Lord you can meet with me but either way

we all know that there is sin in our

life that needs to be redeemed and the

cross is for that very thing the

greatest display of God's sovereignty

and human culpability in all existence

let me pray heavenly father thank you

for the opportunity to just look at such

deep things even when we sometimes

disagree thank you that you teach us

through your word and thank you more

importantly something that every one of

us can agree on deeply all the way is

that

your cross Jesus is the only way to be

forgiven of sin both for people yet

unsaved and for people already saved we

still just draw in the blood of Christ

for the Forgiveness of our

sins I pray that you would draw us as a

community and as individuals to the

table of communion today to your Lord's

Supper as we come during these next

songs I pray that you would Minister To

Us by your spirit show us the ways our

heart are not aligned with your

Sovereign will show us the doubts we

have about your goodness help our souls

to surrender to a faithful Creator once

again I pray all these things in Jesus

name amen