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 you got your bibles turned to Romans chapter

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 11. Romans chapter 11. We are speaking this

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 weekend

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 on the all different kinds of aspects on the

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 sovereignty of God. In one sense, I'm

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 preaching

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 to the choir. I know that I'm not on the

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 street preaching to the people who've never

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 even heard

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 of God, let alone sovereignty of God. But what

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's interesting about this subject on the

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 sovereignty

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 of God is that, you know, when you preach the

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 gospel, like it says in Romans 10, how shall

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 they

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 hear without a preacher? But when it comes to

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 the sovereignty of God, you're reminding

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 people,

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 you're not preaching something new. They know

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 God is sovereign from the get-go. It's prefab

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 built in to their DNA according to Romans 1.

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 This is what they suppress in unrighteousness,

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 because although they knew God and they know

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 his power, they suppressed these things. In

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 other

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 words, this aspect of him being sovereign.

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 Romans chapter 11, verse 36, at the end of

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 this section

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 of 9, 10 and 11, where Paul's trying to answer

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 the question that seems to be coming up a lot

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 for him,

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 of why does the Jews not get in? I mean, they

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've got more Gentiles than Jews. And so he

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 tries to

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 answer that question in chapter 9 with how God

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, his salvation is built on promise, not pedig

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ree,

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 and how things in chapter 10, they've been

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 disobedient, and it's through simple faith,

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 not through performance. And he gets into

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 chapter 11 and kind of says, well, God's not

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 finished

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 with him yet. He's breaking off branches, but

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 he's also putting in branches. But when he

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 gets to the

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 end of chapter 11, and he makes a statement

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 about the wisdom of God and how unfathomable

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 it is and

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 everything, he makes this statement. He says

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 in verse 36, "For from him and through him and

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 to him

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 are all things. To him be the glory forever,

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 amen." My sermon is going to break down in

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 those three

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 parts. I'm building my sermon on three prepos

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itions. From, through, and to. The sovereignty

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 of God,

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 my topic for my message is how sovereign is

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 the God of the Bible.

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 Just how sovereign is he? Well, if you want

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 the short answer, you don't want to stay for

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 the whole

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 message. It's pretty sovereign. He's pretty

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 sovereign. Psalm 103 and 19 says, "The Lord

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 has

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 established his throne in the heavens and his

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 sovereignty rules over all." But some of the

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 things we need to also address is does his

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 sovereignty have limits? Are there areas of

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 his creation that God does not control or

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 leaves control to others? He got big debates

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 about this.

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 Throughout church history, this is probably

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 the topic that has caused more heat and more

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 controversy in the churches and probably any

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 other topic. And in the early centuries, I

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 mean,

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 the Trinity and the incarnation and things of

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 that sort. But this, the limits of God? Or

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 does he

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 have limits? Or how sovereign is he? What does

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 he control? Does he control anything? Or all

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 things?

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 Or what? It causes fits to people. Well, if he

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 does this, then that means that he's the

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 author of

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 evil. Or if he does that, then that means that

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 he's tampering with us and we're robots.

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 You ever heard things like that? Well, of

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 course, comes up all the time. And it goes

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 back to that

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 basic question of how sovereign is our God.

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 Also, is sovereignty different than the prov

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idence of

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 God? Are they synonyms? Or is there a little

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 difference of that? We'll try to answer a few

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 of those questions hopefully tonight. But let

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 me first of all start with what the

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 sovereignty of

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 God is not so that you can understand. I

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 always like to try to define my terms before

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 we start.

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 And the best way to define it is to try to get

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 out there before you affirm something,

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 you try to deny a bunch of things, kind of

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 clear the garden of the weeds, and then you

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 can plant

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 some stuff. First of all, it's not an

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 attribute of God's character. Really? It's a

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 function of his

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 character, of a position or a role that he

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 occupies. It's not eternal, but it is

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 everlasting.

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 The sovereignty of God is tied to His creation

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. In other words, back before anything was

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 created,

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 God wasn't sovereign. It doesn't mean He

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 couldn't be, but He just wouldn't. It wasn't

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 anything to be

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 sovereign over. So sovereignty has to do with

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 jurisdiction, sphere, dominion. There's things

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 out there that interact with God, called the

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 creation. That's a function of all of His

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 attributes.

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 So when you talk about the sovereignty of God,

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 you're talking about the most basic word

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 is the word control. And so my task is, how

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 much does God control when you talk about the

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 sovereignty

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 of God? Another way to define this or describe

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 it, if you go through the Scriptures, just

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 take the

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 word throne and do a Bible search, because

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 throne means authority. Throne means

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 sovereignty.

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 Psalm 97 says, "But the Lord abides forever.

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 He has established His throne for judgment."

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 He talks about the scepter of His throne in

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 Psalm 45. God reigns over the nation. God sits

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 on

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 His throne. His throne is established from old

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, from generation to generation. He goes on. He

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 says

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 things like, in Isaiah chapter 6, in the year

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 of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord sitting

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 on a

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 throne, sitting on a throne, sitting on a

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 throne. Not standing around it, not sitting in

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 a lazy boy,

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 not dancing or anything along these lines,

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 sitting on a throne. The number one piece of

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 furniture associated with God is His throne.

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 And throne is a great symbol of sovereignty.

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 When kings sat on thrones, they were wielding

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 authority, which assumed that they had control

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.

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 Where are you going to find the word throne

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 the most in the Bible? It's in the book of

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 Revelation.

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 Immediately, I was in the Spirit, and behold,

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 a throne was standing in heaven. Ezekiel gets

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 caught up in that first chapter. What's the

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 first thing you see? He sees a throne. Isaiah

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 sees a

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 throne. All these people have visions of God,

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 have visions of Jesus. Never talk about a

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 throne.

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 And every creative thing which is in the

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 heavens, and on the earth, and under the earth

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, and on the

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 sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "

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To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb,

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 be blessing and honor and glory and dominion

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 forever and ever, amen."

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 And the lost say, "Fall on us and hide us from

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 the presence of Him who sits on the throne."

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 They don't even address Him by name. They

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 describe Him, and more they are describing Him

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 well.

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 And they cried out with a loud voice saying, "

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Salvation to our God who sits on the throne."

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 So my definition of the sovereignty of God, so

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 that you have now a positive definition,

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 or the sitting on the throne, that aspect of

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 authority, is the sovereignty of God is the

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 authority and ability of God to control the

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 existence, the regulation, and the destination

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 of all things. And I get it from my text. From

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 Him existence, through Him regulation,

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 to Him destination of all things. That's the

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 sovereignty of God, the jurisdiction that He

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 has

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 over all of His creation. I like how R.C. Spr

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oul puts it. He says, "If God is not sovereign,

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 God is not God. If there is even one maverick

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 molecule in the universe, one molecule running

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 loose outside the scope of God's sovereign ord

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ination, we cannot have the slightest

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 confidence

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 that any promised God has ever made about the

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 future will come to pass."

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 Now, a little sampling of how wide this

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 jurisdiction of God's sovereignty, or control,

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 so you can substitute the word, or throne. I'm

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 using them all kind of interchangeably here.

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 Random events. You think of, well, how

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 detailed? Is it meticulous?

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 Proverbs 16, 33 says that the lot is cast into

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 the lap, but as every decision is from the

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 Lord.

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 Lot? I mean, how minute is that? Yeah, but the

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 decision came from the Lord.

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 He's sovereign over nature. Psalm 135, 6, and

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 7, "Whatever the Lord pleases He does in the

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 heaven and on the earth, in the seas and all

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 deeps, it is He who makes the clouds rise at

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 the end of

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 the earth, who makes lightnings for rain and

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 brings forth the wind from his storehouses."

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 The disciples ask in Matthew 8, "What sort of

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 man is this that even the winds and sea obey

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 him?"

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 He's sovereign over nature. He's sovereign

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 over animals, or not two sparrow, soul for a

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 penny,

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 and not one of them will fall to the ground

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 apart from your father.

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 Somewhere out in the jungle somewhere, there's

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 a little bird that

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 breathed this last and fell over, and God was

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 sovereign over that and controlled that.

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 And then you swing on the pendulum, and you

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 read in 2 Chronicles chapter 20 verse 6,

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 "You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations

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, in your hand, or power, and might,

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 so that none is able to withstand you." Sovere

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ign over animals, sovereign over nations.

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 All this stuff going on in the world right now

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, in the hostility in our country and all that,

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 controlled by God. Totally. The Lord brings

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 the counsel of the nations to nothing. He

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 frustrates

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 the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the

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 Lord stands forever. He is sovereign over

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 every

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 single human decision. Now think about that.

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 He was sovereign over every single decision

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 you've

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 ever made, even the decision to come tonight,

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 even the decision to listen to me or listen to

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 Larry.

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 He was sovereign over that. He's going to be

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 sovereign over whether you eat the dessert and

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 stick on your diet or not, later on. "The

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 plans of the heart belong to man, but the

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 answer of

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 the tongue is from the Lord." The heart of man

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 plans his ways, but the Lord establishes his

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 steps,

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 Proverbs 16, 9. "Many are the plans in the

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 mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the

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 Lord that

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 will stand. The king's heart is in the stream

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 of water in the hand of the Lord." He turns it

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 wherever he will. God's controlling that

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 shutdown of the government right now,

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 controlling all the

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 hearts of all the politicians right now. He's

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 controlling the hearts of the people who say,

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 "Let's continue the shutdown. No, let's sign

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 the bill." He controls both sides.

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00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:08,280
 So in our text in Romans chapter 11 verse 36,

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 our first point is that the origination of the

274
00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:16,370
 sovereignty of God is that the author and

275
00:11:16,370 --> 00:11:19,210
 ability to create his pottery. The potter

276
00:11:19,210 --> 00:11:20,880
 creates the pottery.

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00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:24,540
 He brings things that are not in existence

278
00:11:24,540 --> 00:11:28,910
 into existence. You are here tonight, not just

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00:11:28,910 --> 00:11:29,920
 tonight,

280
00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:32,770
 but here on planet earth, because God willed

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00:11:32,770 --> 00:11:36,720
 it. You were born because God willed it. You

282
00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:36,960
 were born

283
00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:38,640
 to your parents because God willed it, and

284
00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:41,450
 those parents, and not some other parents. And

285
00:11:41,450 --> 00:11:41,680
 you were

286
00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:44,220
 born in this century, not some other century

287
00:11:44,220 --> 00:11:46,960
 or century before. That's how you got here.

288
00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:50,120
 God has the authority and ability to control.

289
00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:53,440
 Remember, that's our basic definition. What

290
00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:56,310
 comes into existence stays into existence and

291
00:11:56,310 --> 00:12:01,280
 exits existence. When we say he's the potter

292
00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:01,600
 and he

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00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:05,450
 controls the clay, he controls not only what

294
00:12:05,450 --> 00:12:09,360
 he does with the clay, that'll be later. That

295
00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:10,160
's regulation

296
00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:13,610
 and destination. But even if he's going to

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00:12:13,610 --> 00:12:16,800
 create it in the first place, you got theolog

298
00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:17,200
ians that

299
00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:19,700
 talk about alternate universes and alternate

300
00:12:19,700 --> 00:12:22,160
 things that God couldn't do and things of this

301
00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:22,640
 sort,

302
00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:26,160
 they don't exist. They're nice for philosophy

303
00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:29,440
 class, but not in theology. Here it is, right

304
00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:29,680
 here.

305
00:12:29,680 --> 00:12:34,480
 He has the legal ownership of all of his

306
00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:37,880
 creation, because he created it. See, as a pot

307
00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:38,400
ter, think

308
00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:41,070
 about it. If we were a potter and we got some

309
00:12:41,070 --> 00:12:43,680
 clay and we put it on the wheel, we're already

310
00:12:43,680 --> 00:12:44,080
 working

311
00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:46,750
 with something that we never created. I didn't

312
00:12:46,750 --> 00:12:49,510
 create the clay. I had to go buy the clay.

313
00:12:49,510 --> 00:12:49,520
 Maybe

314
00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:51,770
 I had to go buy a wheel or something. But God

315
00:12:51,770 --> 00:12:55,200
 had to create all of that. All of that he owns

316
00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:55,520
. See,

317
00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:59,900
 when you own something, you got legal title to

318
00:12:59,900 --> 00:13:03,990
 it. He has legal title and rights to your life

319
00:13:03,990 --> 00:13:04,080
,

320
00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:07,180
 to your time, your energy, your health, or

321
00:13:07,180 --> 00:13:08,400
 lack thereof.

322
00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:11,450
 There ain't anything one you can say about it.

323
00:13:11,450 --> 00:13:14,000
 What are you going to say? He doesn't have

324
00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:14,560
 title to it?

325
00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:18,200
 Oh, you've got a right to something. Well,

326
00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:21,040
 show me your papers. Show me what you've done.

327
00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:22,480
 Can't do it.

328
00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:27,050
 Romans 9, verse 20 and 21 says, "The thing

329
00:13:27,050 --> 00:13:28,400
 molded will not say to the molder,

330
00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:30,740
 why did you make me like this? Will it? Or

331
00:13:30,740 --> 00:13:34,540
 does not the potter have a right over the clay

332
00:13:34,540 --> 00:13:34,720
?"

333
00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:38,410
 There's the authority. A right. The rights of

334
00:13:38,410 --> 00:13:42,640
 potters over clays. And he calls himself a pot

335
00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:42,880
ter

336
00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:46,740
 in Isaiah and in Jeremiah. And he's got the

337
00:13:46,740 --> 00:13:50,880
 right. He's got the title, entitlement.

338
00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:53,120
 But not only that, because he's got to

339
00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:56,480
 understand something. A person can have, when

340
00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:57,040
 we talk about

341
00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:00,190
 sovereignty and you talk about control, you

342
00:14:00,190 --> 00:14:02,860
 can have title but not have the actual ability

343
00:14:02,860 --> 00:14:03,200
.

344
00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:05,440
 You can have a cop trying to make an arrest.

345
00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:06,400
 And the guy's, you know,

346
00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:09,040
 six, nine, weighs 350 and gets the better of

347
00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:11,360
 him, right? So he's got the right to arrest

348
00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:11,600
 him,

349
00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:14,600
 but he doesn't have strength. Or you got a

350
00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:16,960
 fellow who's got the strength and he comes

351
00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:18,410
 and he got a gun pointed at you and says, "

352
00:14:18,410 --> 00:14:20,720
Give me your wallet." Well, he's not entitled

353
00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:21,520
 to my wallet.

354
00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:22,820
 Yeah, but he's got the strength at the moment,

355
00:14:22,820 --> 00:14:25,760
 doesn't he? So he's got the strength, but he

356
00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:28,400
 doesn't have the authority. Well, God's got

357
00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:30,920
 both. Title and strength. Authority and

358
00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:31,680
 ability.

359
00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:35,950
 He's almighty, this is called. And men know

360
00:14:35,950 --> 00:14:39,890
 this and they suppress this truth in unright

361
00:14:39,890 --> 00:14:40,240
eousness.

362
00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:44,710
 Because the most basic truth in Christianity,

363
00:14:44,710 --> 00:14:48,560
 listen up, this is where your Christian life

364
00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:48,880
 starts,

365
00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:54,100
 is the unqualified, unmitigated authority of

366
00:14:54,100 --> 00:14:58,800
 Jesus Christ. When you come to Christ

367
00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:01,020
 and you say, "I want to be a Christian," and

368
00:15:01,020 --> 00:15:03,200
 you can't answer the most basic question about

369
00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:05,590
 his authority and ability, you're not a

370
00:15:05,590 --> 00:15:08,800
 Christian. If you can't bow, you can't serve.

371
00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:11,120
 I mean, that's

372
00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:13,700
 just, I mean, that's not fancy, fancy

373
00:15:13,700 --> 00:15:17,180
 preaching material, that's just Bible. That's

374
00:15:17,180 --> 00:15:17,440
 what it means

375
00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:19,660
 to be a Christian when you press the claims of

376
00:15:19,660 --> 00:15:21,920
 the gospel. That's why when people get out

377
00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:22,080
 there

378
00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:24,130
 and talk about God being loved, they say, "God

379
00:15:24,130 --> 00:15:26,590
's God first. We've got to get back to basics."

380
00:15:26,590 --> 00:15:26,800
 He's

381
00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:29,880
 God and He's sovereign over you. I mean, how

382
00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:33,100
 are they going to hear in Romans chapter 10,

383
00:15:33,100 --> 00:15:33,680
 the preacher,

384
00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:37,910
 if they're not submitting in Romans chapter 1

385
00:15:37,910 --> 00:15:41,040
 to God? See, if God's going to open their

386
00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:41,600
 heart here,

387
00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:43,790
 He's going to have to get them to unsuppress

388
00:15:43,790 --> 00:15:46,880
 the truth over here. That's just how it works.

389
00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:50,130
 It makes the heart pliable, which means I'm

390
00:15:50,130 --> 00:15:52,720
 willing to bow and I wasn't willing before.

391
00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:57,040
 So, there's that ability. Colossians 1.16 and

392
00:15:57,040 --> 00:15:59,920
 17 says, "For by Him all things were created,

393
00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:01,630
 both in the heavens and on the earth, visible

394
00:16:01,630 --> 00:16:03,920
 and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or

395
00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:06,530
 rulers or authorities, all things have been

396
00:16:06,530 --> 00:16:10,400
 created through Him and for Him. He is before

397
00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:10,800
 all things

398
00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:13,780
 and in Him all things hold together." John 1

399
00:16:13,780 --> 00:16:16,880
 verse 3, "All things came into being through

400
00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:17,120
 Him and

401
00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:19,430
 apart from Him nothing came into being that is

402
00:16:19,430 --> 00:16:21,600
 coming to being." The first point is the

403
00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:24,040
 origination of the sovereignty of God. It's

404
00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:26,560
 built upon His being the Creator of all things

405
00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:26,640
.

406
00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:30,000
 And we got text after text, Revelation 4.11, "

407
00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:32,480
Worthy are you, O Lord, in our God, to receive

408
00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:32,800
 glory

409
00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:35,600
 and honor and power for you created all things

410
00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:41,040
. And because of your will, authority, strength

411
00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:41,120
,

412
00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:43,920
 you get the title to write to do it, and you

413
00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:47,520
 also get it. And because of your will,

414
00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:50,660
 they existed and were created." Now, the

415
00:16:50,660 --> 00:16:54,400
 second aspect of the sovereignty of God,

416
00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:56,150
 I'm going to jump to the last one, because I'm

417
00:16:56,150 --> 00:16:57,760
 going to use the middle one for the last one,

418
00:16:57,760 --> 00:16:59,760
 because that's where the, they say the devil's

419
00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:03,440
 in the details, or C. Sproul says, "No way,

420
00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:06,740
 God's in the details." And he's right. But it

421
00:17:06,740 --> 00:17:10,540
's the destination of the sovereignty of God.

422
00:17:10,540 --> 00:17:10,640
 When

423
00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:14,520
 God as potter, you know, has these vessels and

424
00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:18,160
 He brings them into existence, as a potter,

425
00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:21,600
 there's a destination for them. You know the

426
00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:24,960
 difference between a guy working with clay,

427
00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:27,370
 who's a potter, and a guy who's operating a

428
00:17:27,370 --> 00:17:29,040
 backhoe? An awful lot.

429
00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:32,100
 The guy with the backhoe is just trying to

430
00:17:32,100 --> 00:17:34,480
 remove clay and move it somewhere else because

431
00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:37,020
 he's going to put something there. But a pot

432
00:17:37,020 --> 00:17:39,760
ter has got a design element for the clay. It's

433
00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:40,160
 something

434
00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:43,310
 that he wants to accomplish with the clay. At

435
00:17:43,310 --> 00:17:46,160
 the end of the day, all of creation is going

436
00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:47,440
 to glorify

437
00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:51,130
 King Jesus. Every knee is going to bend, every

438
00:17:51,130 --> 00:17:54,160
 person's going to bow, and they're going to

439
00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:54,400
 say,

440
00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:57,790
 "He's Lord." You know why? Because all things

441
00:17:57,790 --> 00:18:00,530
 from Him through Him and to Him is to that end

442
00:18:00,530 --> 00:18:00,720
.

443
00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:03,700
 That's your destination. That's your mission

444
00:18:03,700 --> 00:18:06,240
 statement. People say, "What's your mission

445
00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:09,130
 statement in life?" Here it is. Like it says

446
00:18:09,130 --> 00:18:12,160
 in Isaiah, "You were created from unglory."

447
00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:14,850
 So kind of wanting to get on the same page

448
00:18:14,850 --> 00:18:17,960
 with God on that. The program, that's what He

449
00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:18,800
's doing

450
00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:21,550
 with vessels of mercy, who He has prepared

451
00:18:21,550 --> 00:18:23,680
 beforehand to receive mercy.

452
00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:29,040
 The Westminster Confession of Faith says in

453
00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:31,920
 chapter 3, the very first paragraph,

454
00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:34,030
 "God from all eternity did, by the most wise

455
00:18:34,030 --> 00:18:35,760
 and holy counsel of His own will,

456
00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:38,900
 freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever

457
00:18:38,900 --> 00:18:41,870
 comes to pass." This is the destination part

458
00:18:41,870 --> 00:18:42,080
 from Him,

459
00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:44,240
 through Him, to Him. In other words, when God

460
00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:46,620
 starts making pottery, He's got a goal in mind

461
00:18:46,620 --> 00:18:46,720
,

462
00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:49,090
 and He's got a design in mind. He's following

463
00:18:49,090 --> 00:18:51,280
 a pattern. He's something He's going to say,

464
00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:53,740
 "This thing is going to do that. This one's

465
00:18:53,740 --> 00:18:55,600
 going to sit on my mantle. This one's going to

466
00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:55,920
 go in the

467
00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:58,900
 bathroom." It's not the thing when you're

468
00:18:58,900 --> 00:19:01,400
 going to be able to counsel Him and say

469
00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:02,640
 something different.

470
00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:05,450
 "Well, I don't like what He's doing." Okay,

471
00:19:05,450 --> 00:19:07,120
 there's no complaint department in heaven.

472
00:19:07,120 --> 00:19:11,520
 You'll be like Isaiah in chapter 6, when you

473
00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:15,280
 see Him high and lifted up on His throne,

474
00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:18,700
 trained, feeling the temple, smoke so dense,

475
00:19:18,700 --> 00:19:21,600
 people can't come in there.

476
00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:25,060
 You've got angels who are perfect, can't even

477
00:19:25,060 --> 00:19:27,280
 behold Him because He's so holy,

478
00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:29,810
 covering their feet. They basically are

479
00:19:29,810 --> 00:19:32,400
 signaling to Isaiah there

480
00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:36,010
 and crying out, "Holy, holy, holy," saying, "

481
00:19:36,010 --> 00:19:38,000
We're uncomfortable here.

482
00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:40,220
 We've got to hide our eyes, hide our feet and

483
00:19:40,220 --> 00:19:42,800
 everything because we've got two different

484
00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:46,090
 contrasts going on here and they're sinless."

485
00:19:46,090 --> 00:19:50,160
 No wonder Isaiah says, "I come from a people

486
00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:53,340
 of unclean lips." I mean, talk about, I feel

487
00:19:53,340 --> 00:19:56,960
 out of joint. And of course, God remedies the

488
00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:57,520
 situation

489
00:19:57,520 --> 00:19:59,710
 with taking a cold from the altar and touching

490
00:19:59,710 --> 00:20:02,190
 His lips. I mean, this is God's prophet. This

491
00:20:02,190 --> 00:20:02,320
 is

492
00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:05,040
 the guy who speaks for God in His lips through

493
00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:12,800
 unclean. It says, "Our days whatsoever comes

494
00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:13,760
 to pass,

495
00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:16,400
 yet so as thereby neither is God the author of

496
00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:18,960
 sin nor is violence offered to the will of the

497
00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:21,460
 creatures, nor is the liberty of contingency

498
00:20:21,460 --> 00:20:23,530
 of second causes taken away but rather

499
00:20:23,530 --> 00:20:24,560
 established."

500
00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:27,030
 Ephesians chapter 1 verse 11, "Also we have

501
00:20:27,030 --> 00:20:29,100
 obtained an inheritance, having been predest

502
00:20:29,100 --> 00:20:29,280
ined

503
00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:31,560
 according to the purpose who works all things

504
00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:33,840
 after the counsel of His will." So He's got a

505
00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:36,630
 counsel, He's got a will, He's going to make

506
00:20:36,630 --> 00:20:38,880
 pottery and the pottery is going to do

507
00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:39,440
 something at the

508
00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:42,640
 end of the day. It's not just killing time, so

509
00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:46,240
 to say, doing, whittling it away on something.

510
00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:47,520
 You're not whittling on a piece of wood and

511
00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:48,960
 then going to throw the whole thing away.

512
00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:50,890
 He's not shaving an apple with a knife and

513
00:20:50,890 --> 00:20:52,880
 then going to throw it away. That's not what

514
00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:53,360
 God does.

515
00:20:53,360 --> 00:20:55,650
 He's going to do something with the pottery

516
00:20:55,650 --> 00:20:59,320
 and He's going to do something with you and He

517
00:20:59,320 --> 00:20:59,520
's going

518
00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:03,570
 to do something with me. Isaiah 43, 7, "

519
00:21:03,570 --> 00:21:06,950
Everyone who is called by my name and whom I

520
00:21:06,950 --> 00:21:08,320
 have created for

521
00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:10,340
 my glory, created for my glory, whom I have

522
00:21:10,340 --> 00:21:14,420
 formed and whom I have made." The end game of

523
00:21:14,420 --> 00:21:15,680
 all creation

524
00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:19,690
 is the panoply of all things to His glory.

525
00:21:19,690 --> 00:21:23,120
 Everything that comes into existence is in

526
00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:23,760
 existence

527
00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:26,500
 at the end of the day, as we say, to glorify

528
00:21:26,500 --> 00:21:30,160
 God. Simple concept, right? So from Him, He's

529
00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:30,240
 the

530
00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:32,280
 origination, there's the origination of His

531
00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:34,240
 sovereignty. If He doesn't create, there's

532
00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:34,720
 nothing

533
00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:36,260
 created in heaven's on earth or whatever,

534
00:21:36,260 --> 00:21:38,160
 there's no sovereignty. So the origination of

535
00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:38,640
 His sovereignty

536
00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:41,490
 is based on creation. But then this

537
00:21:41,490 --> 00:21:45,090
 destination of His sovereignty is based on His

538
00:21:45,090 --> 00:21:45,920
 glory.

539
00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:48,840
 Everything is going to be based on His glory,

540
00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:51,680
 not your well-being, God's glory.

541
00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:54,470
 Doesn't mean He's not interested in your well-

542
00:21:54,470 --> 00:21:58,640
being, but it's in the back of the line.

543
00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:01,450
 That's not the first thing. That's not the

544
00:22:01,450 --> 00:22:04,240
 first reason why Christ went to the cross for

545
00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:04,480
 you,

546
00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:08,380
 is for His Father. It was to glorify His

547
00:22:08,380 --> 00:22:12,080
 Heavenly Father who is in heaven, to satisfy

548
00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:12,400
 Him.

549
00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:14,930
 You got in on it, but that was the reason, and

550
00:22:14,930 --> 00:22:17,280
 that's always going to be the reason.

551
00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:24,990
 Now the third thing, and the last thing we see

552
00:22:24,990 --> 00:22:28,080
, the regulation of the sovereignty of God,

553
00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:31,500
 is His authority and ability to shape His

554
00:22:31,500 --> 00:22:37,600
 pottery. It's basically how the potter uses

555
00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:38,720
 His hands

556
00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:42,190
 on specific pieces of pottery, you. For some

557
00:22:42,190 --> 00:22:46,720
 of us, the wheel is going 500 miles per hour.

558
00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:49,100
 Clay's flying out everywhere. It looks like

559
00:22:49,100 --> 00:22:51,120
 people having more trouble. This poor person,

560
00:22:51,120 --> 00:22:53,240
 this looks like he's born for trouble. Every

561
00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:55,030
 time he wakes up, there's clay flying

562
00:22:55,030 --> 00:22:55,440
 everywhere.

563
00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:58,920
 And there's others, man, the wheel goes so

564
00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:01,280
 slow. I mean, they're like a rose opening up,

565
00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:01,680
 you know,

566
00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:03,700
 and there's petals, and it's like, yeah. It's

567
00:23:03,700 --> 00:23:06,000
 like, how come I can't have that? You're not

568
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:06,160
 because

569
00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:08,870
 you're not that. You don't get to compare

570
00:23:08,870 --> 00:23:12,320
 yourself to other pieces of pottery. You're

571
00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:12,960
 going to glorify

572
00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:16,090
 God in the way He has created you, and you

573
00:23:16,090 --> 00:23:19,240
 have got to learn to accept that. What's the

574
00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:19,760
 old phrase?

575
00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:23,010
 Stay in your lane, bro. This is your lane, and

576
00:23:23,010 --> 00:23:26,000
 nobody else is going to run it. You've got to

577
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:29,430
 stay in your lane. Well, what about that man?

578
00:23:29,430 --> 00:23:32,800
 Remember Peter says to Jesus about John? Well,

579
00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:36,110
 what about him? Wrong question. If I want him

580
00:23:36,110 --> 00:23:39,040
 to stay till I come, what is that to you?

581
00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:43,090
 And why is that a concern? Yet, we'll grumble

582
00:23:43,090 --> 00:23:45,520
 because of it. We'll look at other people and

583
00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:49,240
 see what they got, and you'll, you know, peak

584
00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:51,680
 our interest and make us not pray and things

585
00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:52,000
 of that

586
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:54,150
 sort, or maybe I'm in sin, maybe there's some

587
00:23:54,150 --> 00:23:56,450
 sort of rhyme or reason. Remember the Job's

588
00:23:56,450 --> 00:23:56,560
 friends

589
00:23:56,560 --> 00:24:00,050
 try to tell him, look bro, nobody goes through

590
00:24:00,050 --> 00:24:03,440
 these many trials without some sort of rhyme

591
00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:03,520
 or

592
00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:05,490
 reason of something he's done. Must be

593
00:24:05,490 --> 00:24:09,440
 something wrong with you as a pot. It wasn't.

594
00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:15,350
 So this idea of regulation through him are all

595
00:24:15,350 --> 00:24:20,480
 things. This is the part of the Providence,

596
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:22,690
 or this is part of the sovereignty of God

597
00:24:22,690 --> 00:24:24,320
 people have the most problems with.

598
00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:27,710
 They don't understand, or they don't like, or

599
00:24:27,710 --> 00:24:30,620
 they're going to fight against how the potter

600
00:24:30,620 --> 00:24:30,720
's

601
00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:33,680
 hands touch the pottery. They think some way-

602
00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:37,690
shaped form. There's a handbook for potters on

603
00:24:37,690 --> 00:24:37,920
 what they

604
00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:40,590
 can and can't do, and you'll see people try to

605
00:24:40,590 --> 00:24:43,360
 come to the defense of God and try to aid God

606
00:24:43,360 --> 00:24:44,940
 in what he can and can't do with his

607
00:24:44,940 --> 00:24:47,370
 sovereignty. Instead of just saying, this is

608
00:24:47,370 --> 00:24:47,920
 what he said,

609
00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:51,060
 this is what he's going to do, and we have to

610
00:24:51,060 --> 00:24:53,280
 accept it and not try to limit

611
00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:56,770
 what God's hand can do on the pottery that's

612
00:24:56,770 --> 00:24:59,360
 on the wheel. Stop it.

613
00:24:59,360 --> 00:25:07,680
 Through him.

614
00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:12,470
 Some of the objections you find, you find too

615
00:25:12,470 --> 00:25:17,440
 basically. If God is meticulously sovereign

616
00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:19,640
 over all the activities of mankind, then that

617
00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:21,200
 means God is the author of sin.

618
00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:23,590
 You're saying he's sovereign, right? He's

619
00:25:23,590 --> 00:25:25,600
 sovereign over all the events. He's

620
00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:27,350
 sovereign over World War II. He's sovereign

621
00:25:27,350 --> 00:25:29,840
 over 9/11. He's sovereign over what's going on

622
00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:30,320
 in our world,

623
00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:36,320
 right? Either he's not as just as we thought,

624
00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:37,790
 or he's not as loving as we thought, but there

625
00:25:37,790 --> 00:25:37,840
's

626
00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:40,190
 got to be a problem here. So undoubtedly, here

627
00:25:40,190 --> 00:25:43,350
's some limitations they say on the potter and

628
00:25:43,350 --> 00:25:43,440
 what

629
00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:46,510
 he can do with the pottery. He doesn't venture

630
00:25:46,510 --> 00:25:53,280
 into this area when it comes to evil. Because

631
00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:53,440
 if

632
00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:56,180
 we got, if you're going to tell me God is

633
00:25:56,180 --> 00:26:00,630
 behind all of this, then he's responsible for

634
00:26:00,630 --> 00:26:01,280
 it.

635
00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:06,630
 Well, the first problem you need to get away

636
00:26:06,630 --> 00:26:10,450
 from is bad language when it comes to theology

637
00:26:10,450 --> 00:26:10,640
.

638
00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:14,840
 God is not responsible. You need to listen for

639
00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:20,320
 his own actions. You are, but he's not.

640
00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:24,420
 Exactly. Tell me how he's responsible for his

641
00:26:24,420 --> 00:26:27,760
 actions. Like, who is he accountable to?

642
00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:27,760
 Because

643
00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:29,600
 that's what it means to be responsible. When

644
00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:31,760
 you're responsible, you have to answer

645
00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:33,220
 to someone for what you're doing. You're

646
00:26:33,220 --> 00:26:35,920
 responsible, which means built in, there's an

647
00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:39,010
 accountability somewhere. It doesn't matter

648
00:26:39,010 --> 00:26:41,520
 who you are, you're going to be accountable to

649
00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:41,920
 somebody.

650
00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:46,240
 And exactly who this potter is accountable to,

651
00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:49,720
 responsible for his actions. Every single

652
00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:50,480
 action

653
00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:54,320
 that God does according to the Bible is just.

654
00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:59,040
 Every single action God does is good.

655
00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:04,900
 Even the bad ones. Oh, that's where we get

656
00:27:04,900 --> 00:27:08,040
 into the fight in that. Well, I can't really,

657
00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:08,160
 I mean,

658
00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:11,160
 really, he's not responsible for evil because

659
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:14,560
 he's not accountable. It's an oxymoron.

660
00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:17,860
 So you got to change the language and don't

661
00:27:17,860 --> 00:27:21,200
 mind changing it. Now, he's the ultimate cause

662
00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:25,920
 of all things, but responsible. No, you won't

663
00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:28,480
 find that language or that terminology,

664
00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:32,310
 any kind of thing close to that in the Bible.

665
00:27:32,310 --> 00:27:38,200
 And the second objection to God in his, the

666
00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:38,400
 through

667
00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:40,700
 him section of how he regulates his

668
00:27:40,700 --> 00:27:44,190
 sovereignty over his creation. And people try

669
00:27:44,190 --> 00:27:45,120
 to limit God

670
00:27:45,120 --> 00:27:47,860
 on what he can do and can't do. But remember,

671
00:27:47,860 --> 00:27:50,560
 my task tonight is, was how sovereign is our

672
00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:50,880
 God.

673
00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:54,740
 And he's a 100% sovereign over all of his

674
00:27:54,740 --> 00:27:59,920
 creation. He owns it, has title to it,

675
00:27:59,920 --> 00:28:02,420
 authority, right, to bring it about and has

676
00:28:02,420 --> 00:28:06,080
 the ability. And none of this escapes God's

677
00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:08,080
 notice. Everybody tries to help God out when 9

678
00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:10,400
/11 showed up. I remember that. I think I even

679
00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:12,190
 remember John MacArthur going on the, was it

680
00:28:12,190 --> 00:28:14,720
 Larry King show or whatever. And he,

681
00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:16,110
 people are asking him questions. He was the

682
00:28:16,110 --> 00:28:17,760
 only one there that was given biblical answers

683
00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:17,840
. And

684
00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:19,520
 they were, you know, all over the place. Well,

685
00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:21,440
 God wouldn't do this. And, and he's not behind

686
00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:21,680
 that.

687
00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:23,530
 And God was like, God was wringing his hands

688
00:28:23,530 --> 00:28:25,360
 on the sidelines somewhere. And all these

689
00:28:25,360 --> 00:28:25,520
 other

690
00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:27,470
 things were happening, you know, just out

691
00:28:27,470 --> 00:28:29,650
 there randomly. And God wouldn't part of it.

692
00:28:29,650 --> 00:28:29,920
 Can you

693
00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:31,610
 imagine, you get in there and you start saying

694
00:28:31,610 --> 00:28:33,760
, well, no, well, God was the ultimate cause of

695
00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:33,840
 it.

696
00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:36,240
 Yeah, God calls 9/11. What's the problem here?

697
00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:40,760
 What kind of a God causes 9/11? I mean, they

698
00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:42,480
're ready to duke it out with you or something.

699
00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:46,160
 But why? Because you see Romans one, they know

700
00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:51,040
 that he's sovereign. And if he's all powerful,

701
00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:55,760
 he could prevent it. And if he's all knowing,

702
00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:57,550
 he knows about it before it ever happens and

703
00:28:57,550 --> 00:28:57,760
 plan

704
00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:00,960
 for it. And if he's all loving, he should have

705
00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:04,160
 prevented it. That's what they say. Because I

706
00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:06,530
 would have prevented it. And God's got to be

707
00:29:06,530 --> 00:29:08,880
 like me. And we make God our own image and we

708
00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:09,200
 worship

709
00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:12,010
 that thing instead of the God of the Bible. It

710
00:29:12,010 --> 00:29:15,840
's called theodicy and philosophy. If God has

711
00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:16,080
 these

712
00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:17,440
 omni traits and you have this evil in the

713
00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:19,240
 world and God's accountable for something, God

714
00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:19,520
's got to

715
00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:20,480
 answer for something and God don't have to

716
00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:24,080
 answer for anything. It's these people on

717
00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:24,800
 their high horse

718
00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:26,760
 and Paul brings them down to size and Romans

719
00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:28,960
 is not saying, who are you to answer this back

720
00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:29,360
 to God?

721
00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:34,170
 You can't do that. God's God. But then the

722
00:29:34,170 --> 00:29:38,040
 second objection is usually along the lines of

723
00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:38,560
 free will.

724
00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:42,510
 If God's sovereign over all the decisions of

725
00:29:42,510 --> 00:29:44,960
 mankind, that means man is not free to make

726
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:50,070
 his own decision. He's a robot. Gordon Clark

727
00:29:50,070 --> 00:29:53,840
 says in the religion reason and revelation in

728
00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:54,160
 his book,

729
00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:56,570
 he says, the question is, is the will free?

730
00:29:56,570 --> 00:30:01,200
 The question is not, is there a will? Calvin

731
00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:01,440
ism

732
00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:03,750
 most assuredly holds that Judas acted

733
00:30:03,750 --> 00:30:06,860
 voluntarily. He chose to betray Christ. He did

734
00:30:06,860 --> 00:30:07,760
 so willingly.

735
00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:11,360
 No question is raised as to whether or not

736
00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:13,760
 Judas had a will. He had a will.

737
00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:18,230
 What the Calvinists ask is whether that will

738
00:30:18,230 --> 00:30:22,580
 was free. In other words, here's the answer,

739
00:30:22,580 --> 00:30:23,520
 okay.

740
00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:26,270
 But someone like Judas, Judas had a human

741
00:30:26,270 --> 00:30:29,340
 capacity, the ability of a human being to make

742
00:30:29,340 --> 00:30:30,640
 a human choice.

743
00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:36,000
 Frogs make frog decisions, right? Humans make

744
00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:40,640
 human decisions. He had the capacity,

745
00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:46,790
 but he didn't possess a neutral human nature.

746
00:30:46,790 --> 00:30:49,200
 Let's see if you can understand this.

747
00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:54,630
 Wills are built on natures. Every will has a

748
00:30:54,630 --> 00:30:58,640
 nature. God has a nature.

749
00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:02,870
 God doesn't have a free will. If you mean by

750
00:31:02,870 --> 00:31:05,840
 free will, the libertarian definition,

751
00:31:05,840 --> 00:31:09,740
 that nothing acts upon my decision. That's a

752
00:31:09,740 --> 00:31:13,600
 lie. That's not even attainable. You don't

753
00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:14,160
 have will

754
00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:17,110
 floating out there unattached to natures. You

755
00:31:17,110 --> 00:31:20,720
 have a nature. It's a human nature. Frogs have

756
00:31:20,720 --> 00:31:24,730
 a frog nature and they make frog decisions. It

757
00:31:24,730 --> 00:31:28,400
's not hard. The frog becomes a prince.

758
00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:32,550
 Nature changes. He's going to make prince

759
00:31:32,550 --> 00:31:35,760
 decisions. God makes God decisions.

760
00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:40,290
 It's not hard to figure out. So nobody's will

761
00:31:40,290 --> 00:31:44,720
 is ever free. It's natural to the nature,

762
00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:49,830
 but it's never free. It's tied to a person's

763
00:31:49,830 --> 00:31:52,080
 nature. And here's some things you need to

764
00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:54,300
 understand about your nature and anybody else

765
00:31:54,300 --> 00:31:59,120
's nature. You're created to make choices and

766
00:31:59,120 --> 00:31:59,280
 you

767
00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:01,100
 will make the choice. Even if you don't make a

768
00:32:01,100 --> 00:32:04,720
 choice, you make a choice. It's built in to

769
00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:05,040
 your

770
00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:08,160
 human nature to make a choice. Adam and Eve

771
00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:11,000
 had a nature and it wasn't even fallen and

772
00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:11,280
 they made

773
00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:14,530
 a choice. Your decisions that you make are

774
00:32:14,530 --> 00:32:18,000
 yours and yours alone. Nobody else makes them.

775
00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:21,170
 You're responsible for your decision. Yeah,

776
00:32:21,170 --> 00:32:23,680
 but you're making me mad. No, they're not.

777
00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:27,900
 No, they might be a catalyst in that. And you

778
00:32:27,900 --> 00:32:29,600
 turn around and give them what for? You

779
00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:30,000
 decided

780
00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:32,620
 to give them what for? Judas. But the woman

781
00:32:32,620 --> 00:32:35,120
 thou gave us me. You think God listened to

782
00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:35,360
 that,

783
00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:37,670
 entertained that? Oh, dummy me. You're right.

784
00:32:37,670 --> 00:32:39,920
 You're off the hook. Come here, woman. He didn

785
00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:40,320
't do that.

786
00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:44,070
 You made the call. You fell. Romans five. And

787
00:32:44,070 --> 00:32:47,440
 because of that, everybody else that was born

788
00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:47,680
 to

789
00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:51,720
 Adam got a warped nature because of his

790
00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:57,060
 decision. He wasn't off the hook. You make

791
00:32:57,060 --> 00:32:57,520
 them, you make

792
00:32:57,520 --> 00:33:01,360
 your decisions, you make them freely. It's not

793
00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:04,000
 forced. Well, he forced me to shoot him with

794
00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:05,610
 the gun and then force you to shoot him with

795
00:33:05,610 --> 00:33:08,720
 the gun. Yeah, but if I wouldn't have shot him

796
00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:08,800
,

797
00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:10,730
 they would have shot me, then you get shot.

798
00:33:10,730 --> 00:33:13,520
 But you pull the trigger. You still own the

799
00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:13,920
 decision.

800
00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:17,340
 Doesn't mean there are other people and other

801
00:33:17,340 --> 00:33:18,320
 persons who will be culpable.

802
00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:21,380
 Didn't say they weren't. The decision is yours

803
00:33:21,380 --> 00:33:23,920
 and yours alone. And if you're gonna grow in

804
00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:24,560
 grace,

805
00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:26,200
 that's the first thing you need to own up on

806
00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:28,640
 is your own responsibility and quit shuffling

807
00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:29,040
 off on

808
00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:33,600
 others or on God. But the most basic thing

809
00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:38,890
 here is that your, your decisions are nature

810
00:33:38,890 --> 00:33:40,080
 guided.

811
00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:46,490
 They're socially shaped. You don't have any

812
00:33:46,490 --> 00:33:49,830
 idea how many forces and vectors are working

813
00:33:49,830 --> 00:33:50,480
 on you

814
00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:53,540
 right now to make you make a decision. You'd

815
00:33:53,540 --> 00:33:57,120
 have to be omniscient to know that. So when

816
00:33:57,120 --> 00:33:57,520
 someone says,

817
00:33:57,520 --> 00:33:59,680
 well, you know, I made this, this choice

818
00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:02,480
 freely. Well, to the best of your knowledge,

819
00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:02,880
 you made it

820
00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:05,590
 freely. God pulls back the curtains and there

821
00:34:05,590 --> 00:34:08,320
's legion of demons constantly lying to you or

822
00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:08,640
 pushing

823
00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:11,080
 your desires and appetites every which way but

824
00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:13,200
 loose so that you make a decision. Then you're

825
00:34:13,200 --> 00:34:14,940
 gonna begin to realize, hey, there's some

826
00:34:14,940 --> 00:34:16,640
 other entities out there with a different

827
00:34:16,640 --> 00:34:17,120
 nature than

828
00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:19,580
 mine, way more malevolent than mine. And they

829
00:34:19,580 --> 00:34:21,840
're trying to impress me and force me to make a

830
00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:22,240
 decision,

831
00:34:22,240 --> 00:34:25,280
 you think? Happens all the time. Your body

832
00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:28,480
 that's unredeemed is gonna whine and cry and

833
00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:28,720
 kick

834
00:34:28,720 --> 00:34:32,940
 because it wants its way. Because it's unrede

835
00:34:32,940 --> 00:34:36,720
emed. Passify me, satisfy me.

836
00:34:36,720 --> 00:34:42,840
 Listen to me. And you have got to make the

837
00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:45,920
 choice because you are responsible for your

838
00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:46,400
 choices.

839
00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:50,760
 And you're gonna be held accountable for the

840
00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:54,960
 choices you make. Yeah, but I had those

841
00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:55,440
 influences

842
00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:58,940
 working on me and your point is, well, I

843
00:34:58,940 --> 00:35:01,840
 couldn't help it. You're really gonna sell

844
00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:02,480
 that story.

845
00:35:04,240 --> 00:35:07,110
 You can't. Yeah, but they're all guilty. I'll

846
00:35:07,110 --> 00:35:09,280
 get to them later, one at a time. We're

847
00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:09,600
 dealing with

848
00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:12,980
 you right now. See how the judgment works? It

849
00:35:12,980 --> 00:35:15,680
's one at a time. The judgment of God is like a

850
00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:18,190
 turnstile. You go through it one at a time.

851
00:35:18,190 --> 00:35:20,720
 Yeah, but mama always said and daddy always

852
00:35:20,720 --> 00:35:21,440
 did and,

853
00:35:21,440 --> 00:35:23,550
 you know, and I would have been better if and

854
00:35:23,550 --> 00:35:26,160
 there's always something with society, right?

855
00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:31,160
 If the government was only doing this, or if I

856
00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:32,480
 was only raised doing that,

857
00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:35,660
 or if God just gave me victory, then I would

858
00:35:35,660 --> 00:35:38,220
 be able to see God's gonna blame God on

859
00:35:38,220 --> 00:35:39,360
 something here.

860
00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:45,600
 So your decisions are guided by your nature

861
00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:47,920
 and they're shaped by the natures of other

862
00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:48,240
 things

863
00:35:48,240 --> 00:35:51,660
 around you who try to impose their will on you

864
00:35:51,660 --> 00:35:57,360
. Evil people, good people, evil demons,

865
00:35:57,360 --> 00:35:59,070
 could be angels that are good. I don't know.

866
00:35:59,070 --> 00:36:00,560
 There are a lot of things I don't see and I

867
00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:01,040
 don't know

868
00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:03,840
 that they're working and they have a nature

869
00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:06,000
 and they're making decisions too and they're

870
00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:07,530
 going to be held accountable before God on Jud

871
00:36:07,530 --> 00:36:09,880
gment Day and you're going to see all of that

872
00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:10,320
 unfold

873
00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:12,120
 and realize, boy, I remember when I was in

874
00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:14,080
 that situation, I thought I was all by myself

875
00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:14,320
 making

876
00:36:14,320 --> 00:36:17,570
 that call and I had a World War III going on

877
00:36:17,570 --> 00:36:21,730
 with all these spiritual forces, demonic, good

878
00:36:21,730 --> 00:36:21,840
,

879
00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:25,190
 all these things pressing in upon me. Yeah,

880
00:36:25,190 --> 00:36:28,400
 you're going to find out. At the end of the

881
00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:28,880
 day, you're

882
00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:30,810
 going to be charged with the decision you make

883
00:36:30,810 --> 00:36:32,680
, just like they're going to be charged with

884
00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:32,960
 the

885
00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:37,120
 decision they make. Now, the decisions you

886
00:36:37,120 --> 00:36:41,680
 make are also going to become an influence in

887
00:36:41,680 --> 00:36:42,160
 the future

888
00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:46,050
 on others. It doesn't escape. God controls

889
00:36:46,050 --> 00:36:50,160
 every single influence in your decision-making

890
00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:50,160
,

891
00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:51,720
 all those voices and all these things. God's

892
00:36:51,720 --> 00:36:52,720
 in total control of that.

893
00:36:52,720 --> 00:36:58,050
 Just pick on Judas a little bit. It says, I

894
00:36:58,050 --> 00:37:03,530
 think it's in Mark 14, 21. It says, "For the

895
00:37:03,530 --> 00:37:04,560
 Son of Man

896
00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:07,430
 is to go just at his written of him, but vote

897
00:37:07,430 --> 00:37:10,020
 to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed

898
00:37:10,020 --> 00:37:10,160
.

899
00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:13,090
 It would have been good for that man if he had

900
00:37:13,090 --> 00:37:16,560
 not been born. It had been good for that man,

901
00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:18,690
 not for God's glory, but it would have been

902
00:37:18,690 --> 00:37:21,040
 good for that man if he never became a pot."

903
00:37:21,040 --> 00:37:25,600
 But he had to be a pot. He's been determined.

904
00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:28,800
 Well, Judas, then, he didn't have a choice in

905
00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:31,920
 the matter. Oh, he had many choices in the

906
00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:35,200
 matter. You think Judas just showed up one day

907
00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:35,680
 and decided

908
00:37:35,680 --> 00:37:38,960
 to betray Christ for 30 pieces of silver with

909
00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:42,160
 no influences on him? Judas cultivated that

910
00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:42,560
 nature.

911
00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:47,330
 Judas cultivated all those past decisions to

912
00:37:47,330 --> 00:37:50,720
 get to that point where he makes that decision

913
00:37:50,720 --> 00:37:50,800
. You

914
00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:55,480
 know what? He makes it freely. But I think at

915
00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:58,960
 the last supper, it said, "And the devil

916
00:37:58,960 --> 00:37:59,520
 entered into

917
00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:02,850
 Judas." There is another nature with a will

918
00:38:02,850 --> 00:38:09,050
 that's going to be imposed, all guided by the

919
00:38:09,050 --> 00:38:10,000
 sovereignty

920
00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:13,870
 of God. All guided because, and this is what

921
00:38:13,870 --> 00:38:17,860
 you're going to see, is that Judas gets to

922
00:38:17,860 --> 00:38:18,080
 that

923
00:38:18,080 --> 00:38:21,170
 point to make the decision because this is the

924
00:38:21,170 --> 00:38:24,420
 end game of the judgment of God. When God

925
00:38:24,420 --> 00:38:25,120
 judges

926
00:38:25,120 --> 00:38:28,940
 people and controlling all of their influences

927
00:38:28,940 --> 00:38:32,640
 and all of their decision making, and it goes

928
00:38:32,640 --> 00:38:32,960
 south,

929
00:38:32,960 --> 00:38:35,640
 it's called the judgment of God. See, you

930
00:38:35,640 --> 00:38:38,000
 think in the judgment of God, it's going to be

931
00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:38,480
 in time,

932
00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:40,260
 great white throne, everybody's there, sheep

933
00:38:40,260 --> 00:38:42,790
 and goats, and there's going to be that. But

934
00:38:42,790 --> 00:38:43,040
 God

935
00:38:43,040 --> 00:38:45,100
 judges, as it says in Romans 1, people who

936
00:38:45,100 --> 00:38:47,970
 suppress the truth and unrighteousness, the

937
00:38:47,970 --> 00:38:48,400
 wrath of God

938
00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:51,320
 is revealed. God is not sitting on his hands.

939
00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:53,900
 He's judging people right now, and you can

940
00:38:53,900 --> 00:38:54,320
 tell

941
00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:57,130
 because, and you can tell in your own life if

942
00:38:57,130 --> 00:39:01,200
 you're not a Christian. How did I get here?

943
00:39:01,200 --> 00:39:03,290
 How did I get here? And I started out, I

944
00:39:03,290 --> 00:39:05,120
 remember I was back in junior high and

945
00:39:05,120 --> 00:39:06,800
 everything. I never

946
00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:09,360
 say, what do you want to be when you grow up?

947
00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:11,760
 I want to be a drug runner, a gun runner and

948
00:39:11,760 --> 00:39:13,980
 sell drugs. Really, I would have never said

949
00:39:13,980 --> 00:39:16,160
 that. How did you get here then? A series of

950
00:39:16,160 --> 00:39:16,640
 decisions.

951
00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:19,330
 And a series of those decisions were made

952
00:39:19,330 --> 00:39:22,000
 because every time you made one of those

953
00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:22,480
 decisions,

954
00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:24,370
 God judged it and said, you want that? I'm

955
00:39:24,370 --> 00:39:26,800
 going to give you more of it. Oh, you like

956
00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:27,280
 that? I'm

957
00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:28,860
 going to give you more of that. And your

958
00:39:28,860 --> 00:39:30,530
 nature begins to change to like it and like it

959
00:39:30,530 --> 00:39:30,880
 more. And

960
00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:33,790
 I like it and like it even more. Until finally

961
00:39:33,790 --> 00:39:36,720
 at the end of the days, Judas says, he doesn't

962
00:39:36,720 --> 00:39:36,960
 see

963
00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:40,590
 Jesus as Messiah. He sees Jesus as a business

964
00:39:40,590 --> 00:39:45,040
 opportunity. 30 pieces of silver. That's an

965
00:39:45,040 --> 00:39:47,350
 awful lot. You can do a lot with 30 pieces of

966
00:39:47,350 --> 00:39:49,600
 silver. He sees that. None of the rest of the

967
00:39:49,600 --> 00:39:51,320
 disciples saw that. They had a different

968
00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:53,600
 nature, making different decisions, non-Judas.

969
00:39:53,600 --> 00:39:55,280
 But Judas

970
00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:58,490
 chose freely to do those things. Here's what

971
00:39:58,490 --> 00:40:01,440
 you need to understand. When God sovereignly,

972
00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:03,420
 because it says through him, when God

973
00:40:03,420 --> 00:40:06,990
 sovereignly controls all things, he uses the

974
00:40:06,990 --> 00:40:07,680
 creation,

975
00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:09,580
 the created order to do it. He just doesn't

976
00:40:09,580 --> 00:40:11,200
 come on there with his hand and controls

977
00:40:11,200 --> 00:40:11,600
 something.

978
00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:15,370
 He uses creation to control. Think how you got

979
00:40:15,370 --> 00:40:18,960
 here. You just didn't drop down from the sky.

980
00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:21,240
 No, Stark didn't deliver you to earth. You

981
00:40:21,240 --> 00:40:23,360
 have parents who had parents who had parents

982
00:40:23,360 --> 00:40:23,600
 who had

983
00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:26,820
 parents. And you inherited from them what they

984
00:40:26,820 --> 00:40:30,240
 possessed. What did they possess? Well,

985
00:40:30,240 --> 00:40:33,640
 if they had this kind of background or they

986
00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:36,960
 had this kind of eye features or hair or

987
00:40:36,960 --> 00:40:37,440
 whatever,

988
00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:40,310
 you got that. It's part of your DNA. You even

989
00:40:40,310 --> 00:40:43,290
 got your soul from them because it all comes

990
00:40:43,290 --> 00:40:43,840
 down

991
00:40:43,840 --> 00:40:46,360
 lineage. That's called traducenism and

992
00:40:46,360 --> 00:40:49,600
 theology. Your existence, God used them to

993
00:40:49,600 --> 00:40:50,480
 bring you

994
00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:53,880
 into existence. He just didn't drop you from

995
00:40:53,880 --> 00:40:55,600
 the sky. Now that's going to be important

996
00:40:55,600 --> 00:40:56,000
 later on

997
00:40:56,000 --> 00:40:59,710
 when we get into Romans 9. When it says in

998
00:40:59,710 --> 00:41:02,680
 Genesis chapter one, verse 12, "The earth

999
00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:03,120
 brought forth

1000
00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:06,050
 vegetation, plants yielding seed after their

1001
00:41:06,050 --> 00:41:08,670
 kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in

1002
00:41:08,670 --> 00:41:09,120
 them,

1003
00:41:09,120 --> 00:41:13,060
 after their kind." Verse 21, "God created the

1004
00:41:13,060 --> 00:41:15,440
 great sea monsters and every living creature

1005
00:41:15,440 --> 00:41:18,380
 that moves and with the waters swarmed after

1006
00:41:18,380 --> 00:41:22,720
 their kind, birds, after their kind, cattle,

1007
00:41:22,720 --> 00:41:25,890
 after their kind." He gets to Genesis chapter

1008
00:41:25,890 --> 00:41:29,520
 five, verse three, "When Adam had lived 130

1009
00:41:29,520 --> 00:41:30,000
 years,

1010
00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:32,030
 he became the father of a son in his own liken

1011
00:41:32,030 --> 00:41:35,180
ess, according to his image, named him Seth,

1012
00:41:35,180 --> 00:41:35,600
 after his

1013
00:41:35,600 --> 00:41:39,250
 kind." And then Romans 5, too. That's how

1014
00:41:39,250 --> 00:41:42,430
 death spreads all men because he now we're

1015
00:41:42,430 --> 00:41:43,120
 after his

1016
00:41:43,120 --> 00:41:47,340
 kind, Adam. So there's no neutral clay for the

1017
00:41:47,340 --> 00:41:52,400
 potter to make his pottery. You come from

1018
00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:53,040
 decomposed

1019
00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:56,660
 clay. You come into this world. You come bent

1020
00:41:56,660 --> 00:41:59,830
 underneath the wrath of God. As it says in Eph

1021
00:41:59,830 --> 00:42:00,160
esians

1022
00:42:00,160 --> 00:42:02,630
 chapter two, "You're born to hate God." It's

1023
00:42:02,630 --> 00:42:04,880
 just part and parcel of how you're made.

1024
00:42:10,560 --> 00:42:14,620
 So the methodology, this how God regulates his

1025
00:42:14,620 --> 00:42:18,720
 sovereignty, he uses the creation. Think about

1026
00:42:18,720 --> 00:42:22,820
 it in the realm of salvation. Nobody here got

1027
00:42:22,820 --> 00:42:26,160
 born again because all of a sudden one day you

1028
00:42:26,160 --> 00:42:26,320
 just

1029
00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:28,490
 woke up and got born again. The Bible says it.

1030
00:42:28,490 --> 00:42:30,560
 Romans 10, "How shall they hear without a

1031
00:42:30,560 --> 00:42:31,360
 preacher?"

1032
00:42:31,360 --> 00:42:34,480
 1 Peter chapter one, 22 and 23, "Since you

1033
00:42:34,480 --> 00:42:36,480
 have an in obedience to the truth, purified

1034
00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:36,880
 your souls

1035
00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:38,620
 for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently

1036
00:42:38,620 --> 00:42:40,480
 love one another from the heart. For you have

1037
00:42:40,480 --> 00:42:40,640
 been

1038
00:42:40,640 --> 00:42:42,710
 born again, not of seed which is perishable,

1039
00:42:42,710 --> 00:42:44,880
 but imperishable. That is through the living

1040
00:42:44,880 --> 00:42:45,040
 and

1041
00:42:45,040 --> 00:42:47,100
 enduring Word of God. And this is the Word

1042
00:42:47,100 --> 00:42:50,880
 which was preached to you." Preached. There's

1043
00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:52,000
 human elements

1044
00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:54,930
 to your salvation. Imagine that. Well, it

1045
00:42:54,930 --> 00:42:57,520
 takes the Holy Spirit to cause us to be

1046
00:42:57,520 --> 00:42:58,080
 regenerated.

1047
00:42:58,080 --> 00:43:00,320
 That's exactly right. Can you piggyback on the

1048
00:43:00,320 --> 00:43:01,760
 preached Word of God to do it?

1049
00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:05,210
 Now, that's not really where people have their

1050
00:43:05,210 --> 00:43:06,960
 problems with. And I'm going to finish up with

1051
00:43:06,960 --> 00:43:09,090
 this. Where they have their problems with is

1052
00:43:09,090 --> 00:43:11,840
 in the realm of how God judges. Because see,

1053
00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:15,220
 God still uses creation to judge. He does.

1054
00:43:15,220 --> 00:43:19,100
 Yeah. Well, what is he? How does God judge?

1055
00:43:19,100 --> 00:43:19,440
 This is how

1056
00:43:19,440 --> 00:43:23,970
 God judges sin in real time in creation. He

1057
00:43:23,970 --> 00:43:29,140
 uses sin to judge sin. He uses preaching to

1058
00:43:29,140 --> 00:43:30,080
 get people

1059
00:43:30,080 --> 00:43:33,380
 saved, right? He uses parents to have children

1060
00:43:33,380 --> 00:43:36,400
 to get you into the world. There's always a

1061
00:43:36,400 --> 00:43:36,800
 means to

1062
00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:39,350
 an end. When it comes to judgment, and that

1063
00:43:39,350 --> 00:43:41,900
 might sound weird to say, but God will use sin

1064
00:43:41,900 --> 00:43:43,360
. He will

1065
00:43:43,360 --> 00:43:47,190
 use evil to judge evil. Now, I'm just telling

1066
00:43:47,190 --> 00:43:51,040
 you, this is how the hands of the potter works

1067
00:43:51,040 --> 00:43:51,120
 on the

1068
00:43:51,120 --> 00:43:53,690
 pottery. And if you're a vessel of wrath

1069
00:43:53,690 --> 00:43:56,490
 prepared for destruction, this is what he's

1070
00:43:56,490 --> 00:43:58,160
 using to prepare

1071
00:43:58,160 --> 00:44:01,290
 you for destruction. If you're a vessel of

1072
00:44:01,290 --> 00:44:04,720
 mercy prepared for glory, he uses his hands as

1073
00:44:04,720 --> 00:44:04,960
 well.

1074
00:44:04,960 --> 00:44:08,670
 And he makes sure that the pottery receives

1075
00:44:08,670 --> 00:44:12,480
 the preaching that is needed. And you will

1076
00:44:12,480 --> 00:44:12,800
 hear

1077
00:44:12,800 --> 00:44:15,510
 the preaching that is needed. God controls,

1078
00:44:15,510 --> 00:44:20,160
 think, think about what it says in Isaiah 45,

1079
00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:21,900
 6, and 7, "I am the Lord and there is no other

1080
00:44:21,900 --> 00:44:23,920
, the one forming light and creating darkness,

1081
00:44:24,640 --> 00:44:27,550
 creating well-being and creating calamity. I

1082
00:44:27,550 --> 00:44:29,840
 am the Lord who does all these." Control.

1083
00:44:29,840 --> 00:44:34,470
 You even have Isaiah 63, 17, where people knew

1084
00:44:34,470 --> 00:44:36,720
 this, and this is part of their prayer,

1085
00:44:36,720 --> 00:44:39,240
 and they say, "Why, oh Lord, do you cause us

1086
00:44:39,240 --> 00:44:42,800
 to stray from your ways and harden our hearts

1087
00:44:42,800 --> 00:44:43,040
 from

1088
00:44:43,040 --> 00:44:46,070
 fearing you?" Well, wait a minute. Well, God

1089
00:44:46,070 --> 00:44:48,870
 doesn't cause that. They're praying that He

1090
00:44:48,870 --> 00:44:49,200
 does,

1091
00:44:49,200 --> 00:44:51,490
 because they're admitting that He does. Well,

1092
00:44:51,490 --> 00:44:54,800
 ultimately, you say ultimate cause, distal

1093
00:44:54,800 --> 00:44:55,200
 cause,

1094
00:44:55,200 --> 00:44:58,500
 yeah. Proximal is going to be them that's

1095
00:44:58,500 --> 00:45:01,870
 doing this. And their prayer to God is, "Ret

1096
00:45:01,870 --> 00:45:02,240
urn for the

1097
00:45:02,240 --> 00:45:05,100
 sake of your servants, the tribes of your

1098
00:45:05,100 --> 00:45:08,640
 inheritance." Amos 3, 6, "If a trumpet is

1099
00:45:08,640 --> 00:45:09,360
 blown in the city,

1100
00:45:09,360 --> 00:45:11,310
 will not the people tremble? If calamity

1101
00:45:11,310 --> 00:45:13,440
 occurs in a city, has not the Lord done it?"

1102
00:45:15,760 --> 00:45:17,790
 Acts 2, 23, "This man delivered over by the

1103
00:45:17,790 --> 00:45:19,840
 predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God,

1104
00:45:19,840 --> 00:45:22,000
 you nailed to a cross by the hands of Godless

1105
00:45:22,000 --> 00:45:24,160
 men and put him to death." Was God in control

1106
00:45:24,160 --> 00:45:24,320
 of the

1107
00:45:24,320 --> 00:45:27,300
 Godless men? Absolutely. It's predestined.

1108
00:45:27,300 --> 00:45:29,920
 Please rest in plan and foreknowledge of God.

1109
00:45:29,920 --> 00:45:35,780
 To do whatever your hand and your purpose pred

1110
00:45:35,780 --> 00:45:37,200
estined to occur.

1111
00:45:38,480 --> 00:45:42,660
 God in controlling evil does not commit evil.

1112
00:45:42,660 --> 00:45:45,680
 There's a difference. It says it in James 113,

1113
00:45:45,680 --> 00:45:47,530
 "Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being

1114
00:45:47,530 --> 00:45:49,520
 tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by

1115
00:45:49,520 --> 00:45:50,160
 evil,

1116
00:45:50,160 --> 00:45:52,590
 and he himself does not tempt anyone. He is

1117
00:45:52,590 --> 00:45:54,320
 not the immediate cause of evil."

1118
00:45:54,320 --> 00:45:57,040
 But he is the immediate cause. He's the

1119
00:45:57,040 --> 00:45:59,720
 ultimate cause. He has to be. He controls all

1120
00:45:59,720 --> 00:46:00,080
 things.

1121
00:46:00,080 --> 00:46:02,910
 He's too pure to look upon evil, it says in Ab

1122
00:46:02,910 --> 00:46:04,240
akkuk 113.

1123
00:46:05,360 --> 00:46:07,900
 John tells us in 1 John 1.5 that there is no

1124
00:46:07,900 --> 00:46:09,600
 darkness in him at all.

1125
00:46:09,600 --> 00:46:11,920
 So God is not responsible for sin, because he

1126
00:46:11,920 --> 00:46:14,320
's not responsible for any of his actions.

1127
00:46:14,320 --> 00:46:17,420
 But God uses evil as a form of judgment on the

1128
00:46:17,420 --> 00:46:18,240
 wicked.

1129
00:46:18,240 --> 00:46:21,390
 You ever read, this is an amazing passage to

1130
00:46:21,390 --> 00:46:23,840
 me in 1 Kings chapter 22.

1131
00:46:23,840 --> 00:46:26,170
 1 Kings 22, "You got Ahab, who's the king of

1132
00:46:26,170 --> 00:46:27,280
 the northern kingdom,

1133
00:46:27,280 --> 00:46:30,220
 and by marriage with their daughters and sons

1134
00:46:30,220 --> 00:46:31,040
," and all that.

1135
00:46:31,040 --> 00:46:32,840
 He's got Jehoshaphat on the hook there. Jehosh

1136
00:46:32,840 --> 00:46:34,800
aphat comes to see him and they kind of,

1137
00:46:34,800 --> 00:46:36,480
 you know, want to make a deal on all this.

1138
00:46:36,480 --> 00:46:39,360
 Well, Ahab says, "Hey, look, I've got these

1139
00:46:39,360 --> 00:46:39,520
 people,

1140
00:46:39,520 --> 00:46:41,370
 they're wanting to fight me. Once you come

1141
00:46:41,370 --> 00:46:43,120
 with me, we'll fight them together."

1142
00:46:43,120 --> 00:46:47,280
 And so he says, "Well, before we do that, we

1143
00:46:47,280 --> 00:46:48,720
 need to find the mind of the Lord on this."

1144
00:46:48,720 --> 00:46:50,640
 And so he says, "Oh, yeah, you're right. Okay,

1145
00:46:50,640 --> 00:46:51,440
 let's bring in the prophets."

1146
00:46:51,440 --> 00:46:53,880
 Well, they bring in all the yes men prophets

1147
00:46:53,880 --> 00:46:55,920
 who tell him, "Go up, you'll destroy him,

1148
00:46:55,920 --> 00:46:57,370
 and you'll do this and that," whatever. And Je

1149
00:46:57,370 --> 00:46:59,680
hoshaphat can see through that.

1150
00:46:59,680 --> 00:47:01,920
 And he says, "Is there not a real prophet?"

1151
00:47:01,920 --> 00:47:03,200
 And we can really kind of quarrel.

1152
00:47:03,840 --> 00:47:06,820
 Ahab says, "Well, yeah, there's a guy named

1153
00:47:06,820 --> 00:47:08,800
 Micaiah. He just doesn't like me,

1154
00:47:08,800 --> 00:47:10,810
 and I don't like him. He never says anything

1155
00:47:10,810 --> 00:47:11,680
 good about me."

1156
00:47:11,680 --> 00:47:15,080
 "Oh, don't say that, bring him on." And so Jeh

1157
00:47:15,080 --> 00:47:17,440
oshaphat says, "Go get him, bring him in."

1158
00:47:17,440 --> 00:47:19,510
 So they bring him in. Micaiah kind of mimics

1159
00:47:19,510 --> 00:47:21,920
 the other prophets and says, "Yeah, go in,

1160
00:47:21,920 --> 00:47:24,260
 go up, yeah, you're going where I'm sure." And

1161
00:47:24,260 --> 00:47:26,640
 they know he's being sarcastic.

1162
00:47:26,640 --> 00:47:28,570
 And so the king adjures him, says, "You're

1163
00:47:28,570 --> 00:47:30,400
 going to tell us. I want you to tell us

1164
00:47:30,400 --> 00:47:33,310
 the real prophecy from God." And so he says,

1165
00:47:33,310 --> 00:47:37,840
 Micaiah says, in 1 Kings 22 19, he says,

1166
00:47:37,840 --> 00:47:39,590
 "Therefore hear the word of the Lord. I saw

1167
00:47:39,590 --> 00:47:41,120
 the Lord sitting on his throne."

1168
00:47:41,120 --> 00:47:43,280
 We've heard that little phrase before. "And

1169
00:47:43,280 --> 00:47:45,120
 all the hosts of heaven standing by him on his

1170
00:47:45,120 --> 00:47:45,280
 right

1171
00:47:45,280 --> 00:47:47,810
 and on his left, the Lord said, 'Notice what

1172
00:47:47,810 --> 00:47:50,960
 the Lord says. Who will entice Ahab to go up

1173
00:47:50,960 --> 00:47:54,980
 and fall at Ramath Gilead?'" That's going to

1174
00:47:54,980 --> 00:47:59,120
 be the means of the method of his judgment.

1175
00:48:00,080 --> 00:48:02,230
 And one said this while another said that. It

1176
00:48:02,230 --> 00:48:04,880
's almost like a guy putting out bids.

1177
00:48:04,880 --> 00:48:08,380
 Notice, God's not doing it. God doesn't do

1178
00:48:08,380 --> 00:48:08,960
 that.

1179
00:48:08,960 --> 00:48:13,790
 You can't do that. You did that. You'd be

1180
00:48:13,790 --> 00:48:19,040
 complicit in a crime. The God can and does.

1181
00:48:19,040 --> 00:48:21,450
 And now it just says it in 1 Kings 22. You can

1182
00:48:21,450 --> 00:48:24,000
 read it in 2 Chronicles 18. Same episode.

1183
00:48:24,000 --> 00:57:05,590
 And one said this and another said that. Then

1184
00:57:05,590 --> 00:48:01,420
 a spirit came forward and stood before the

1185
00:48:01,420 --> 00:48:28,640
 Lord

1186
00:48:28,640 --> 00:48:32,130
 and said, "I know what I'll do because I will

1187
00:48:32,130 --> 00:48:36,640
 entice him." Oh, then the Lord said, "How?"

1188
00:48:36,640 --> 00:48:36,800
 And he

1189
00:48:36,800 --> 00:48:40,810
 said, "I will go out and be a deceiving spirit

1190
00:48:40,810 --> 00:48:42,720
 in the mouth of all of his prophets. I will go

1191
00:48:42,720 --> 00:48:43,040
 out

1192
00:48:43,040 --> 00:48:46,780
 and I will sin through the mouth of his false

1193
00:48:46,780 --> 00:48:54,300
 prophets." Then he said, "God, you are to ent

1194
00:48:54,300 --> 00:48:54,400
ice

1195
00:48:54,400 --> 00:48:58,350
 him and also prevail." He's got that authority

1196
00:48:58,350 --> 00:49:03,680
. "Go and do so." That's what he wanted to do.

1197
00:49:03,680 --> 00:49:06,140
 Now that spirit's going to be judged for what

1198
00:49:06,140 --> 00:49:06,720
 he did.

1199
00:49:06,720 --> 00:49:10,430
 "Go and do so." In other words, succeed in

1200
00:49:10,430 --> 00:49:11,920
 your sinning.

1201
00:49:11,920 --> 00:49:14,940
 Now therefore, behold, the Lord has put it.

1202
00:49:14,940 --> 00:49:17,280
 This is Micaiah telling Ahab this.

1203
00:49:17,280 --> 00:49:19,180
 "Therefore, behold, the Lord has put a dece

1204
00:49:19,180 --> 00:49:20,640
iving spirit in the mouth of all

1205
00:49:20,640 --> 00:49:22,270
 these your prophets and the Lord has

1206
00:49:22,270 --> 00:49:24,530
 proclaimed disaster against you." And so what

1207
00:49:24,530 --> 00:49:24,960
 does Ahab

1208
00:49:24,960 --> 00:49:26,520
 do? Fall on his face and say, "I need to

1209
00:49:26,520 --> 00:49:28,640
 worship God. I'm so sorry for my sins." Now

1210
00:49:28,640 --> 00:49:28,960
 that's what

1211
00:49:28,960 --> 00:49:31,480
 me and you would have done. We have different

1212
00:49:31,480 --> 00:49:34,400
 nature, not him. He said, "I'm going to pull a

1213
00:49:34,400 --> 00:49:36,850
 fast one on God. I'm going to disguise myself

1214
00:49:36,850 --> 00:49:39,440
 as a common soldier and I'm going to do this."

1215
00:49:39,440 --> 00:49:42,560
 You stay geared up looking like a king. Great.

1216
00:49:42,560 --> 00:49:44,800
 They're going to follow him and try to shoot

1217
00:49:44,800 --> 00:49:44,880
 at

1218
00:49:44,880 --> 00:49:46,720
 him because he looks like the king and they

1219
00:49:46,720 --> 00:49:48,800
 did. And Jehoshaphat called out to God and God

1220
00:49:48,800 --> 00:49:49,120
 delivered

1221
00:49:49,120 --> 00:49:52,590
 him on the battlefield. But not Ahab. And he

1222
00:49:52,590 --> 00:49:55,840
 said, "Oh, there was an archer who drew his

1223
00:49:55,840 --> 00:49:56,720
 bow at random

1224
00:49:56,720 --> 00:49:59,500
 and shot at random and the arrow came and hit

1225
00:49:59,500 --> 00:50:02,400
 in the joint of the armor and killed him."

1226
00:50:02,400 --> 00:50:03,680
 What luck.

1227
00:50:03,680 --> 00:50:07,940
 Because Ahab says before he goes out to battle

1228
00:50:07,940 --> 00:50:10,800
 and he's talking to Micaiah when they're

1229
00:50:10,800 --> 00:50:11,120
 dragging

1230
00:50:11,120 --> 00:50:13,380
 him away to go in prison, he says to him, "

1231
00:50:13,380 --> 00:50:15,360
Okay, when I get back, we're going to deal with

1232
00:50:15,360 --> 00:50:15,680
 you."

1233
00:50:15,680 --> 00:50:18,150
 And Micaiah says, "Yeah, you come back, my

1234
00:50:18,150 --> 00:50:20,320
 prophecy is false. You ain't coming back."

1235
00:50:20,320 --> 00:50:25,390
 And sure enough, he died in Asheria. Now, why

1236
00:50:25,390 --> 00:50:30,400
 are we told this? I'm giving a peek

1237
00:50:30,400 --> 00:50:34,910
 into how God regulates his sovereignty through

1238
00:50:34,910 --> 00:50:38,560
 him and to him are all things. This is in the

1239
00:50:38,560 --> 00:50:38,720
 realm

1240
00:50:38,720 --> 00:50:40,970
 of judgment. He's made everything, he says, in

1241
00:50:40,970 --> 00:50:43,760
 Proverbs 16.4 for its own purpose, even the

1242
00:50:43,760 --> 00:50:44,000
 wicked

1243
00:50:44,000 --> 00:50:46,240
 for the day of evil. Romans 1, when you read

1244
00:50:46,240 --> 00:50:48,470
 Romans 1, here's a guy, and maybe this was

1245
00:50:48,470 --> 00:50:48,960
 part of you.

1246
00:50:48,960 --> 00:50:52,020
 He sins. He doesn't give thanks to God, right?

1247
00:50:52,020 --> 00:50:54,400
 He doesn't honor him as God. Like it says,

1248
00:50:54,400 --> 00:50:56,460
 he suppresses the truth and unrighteousness.

1249
00:50:56,460 --> 00:50:58,480
 He suppresses the truth and unrighteousness

1250
00:50:58,480 --> 00:50:58,640
 and

1251
00:50:58,640 --> 00:51:00,700
 he should be honoring God and he doesn't.

1252
00:51:00,700 --> 00:51:02,720
 Because evidence is all around him that there

1253
00:51:02,720 --> 00:51:03,920
 is God and

1254
00:51:03,920 --> 00:51:06,490
 God, not a God, but the God, and he's all

1255
00:51:06,490 --> 00:51:09,990
 powerful. And he sins against that. He doesn't

1256
00:51:09,990 --> 00:51:10,800
 give thanks.

1257
00:51:11,760 --> 00:51:13,390
 Well, God's not sitting on his hands. After a

1258
00:51:13,390 --> 00:51:16,160
 while, he says, "Okay, well, I'm going to

1259
00:51:16,160 --> 00:51:16,320
 punish

1260
00:51:16,320 --> 00:51:19,860
 you for that sin. Oh, no. Lightning, no. I'm

1261
00:51:19,860 --> 00:51:23,770
 going to start giving you over to loving idol

1262
00:51:23,770 --> 00:51:24,400
atry, loving

1263
00:51:24,400 --> 00:51:26,800
 creation." And so he starts worshiping

1264
00:51:26,800 --> 00:51:28,900
 creatures that crawl and things of this sort.

1265
00:51:28,900 --> 00:51:29,440
 How did that

1266
00:51:29,440 --> 00:51:31,260
 happen? You go back because he, "Well, you

1267
00:51:31,260 --> 00:51:33,040
 didn't give thanks and he judged you for it.

1268
00:51:33,040 --> 00:51:33,440
 Now you've

1269
00:51:33,440 --> 00:51:35,650
 got this nature that looks to idols, looks at

1270
00:51:35,650 --> 00:51:37,520
 the gifts of God and thinks the gifts are

1271
00:51:37,520 --> 00:51:37,840
 better than

1272
00:51:37,840 --> 00:51:42,780
 the giver." That's why I'm doing these things?

1273
00:51:42,780 --> 00:51:45,840
 But you need to break off from your idolatry.

1274
00:51:45,840 --> 00:51:48,200
 He doesn't. He, you know, thinks he's wise and

1275
00:51:48,200 --> 00:51:50,320
 he's a fool, as it says in Romans 1. So God

1276
00:51:50,320 --> 00:51:50,720
 says,

1277
00:51:50,720 --> 00:51:52,240
 "Okay, I'm going to judge you for your idolat

1278
00:51:52,240 --> 00:51:53,800
ry now. I'm going to give you over to impurity

1279
00:51:53,800 --> 00:51:54,080
."

1280
00:51:54,080 --> 00:51:57,810
 And it usually manifests itself in the sexual

1281
00:51:57,810 --> 00:52:00,560
 realm. So you want to know why there's all

1282
00:52:00,560 --> 00:52:00,800
 this

1283
00:52:00,800 --> 00:52:03,010
 transgenderism and things of this sort. This

1284
00:52:03,010 --> 00:52:05,040
 is further on down the line. God has been

1285
00:52:05,040 --> 00:52:05,440
 judging

1286
00:52:05,440 --> 00:52:08,300
 sins and these people for a while. And we've

1287
00:52:08,300 --> 00:52:10,960
 getting down the line to where they're at.

1288
00:52:10,960 --> 00:52:15,470
 And so they're practicing impurity. And God

1289
00:52:15,470 --> 00:52:18,640
 doesn't sit on his hands. Keep that up. Well,

1290
00:52:18,640 --> 00:52:20,700
 I'm going to give you over to homosexuality.

1291
00:52:20,700 --> 00:52:22,720
 And then he judges homosexuality and gives

1292
00:52:22,720 --> 00:52:24,890
 them up to a reprobate mind. See, all of these

1293
00:52:24,890 --> 00:52:27,120
 things, it's because of what they did before,

1294
00:52:27,120 --> 00:52:29,350
 and their nature has changed all the way. You

1295
00:52:29,350 --> 00:52:31,360
 didn't run across anybody wanting to be

1296
00:52:31,360 --> 00:52:31,920
 transgender

1297
00:52:31,920 --> 00:52:33,630
 a hundred years ago and trying to do something

1298
00:52:33,630 --> 00:52:35,440
 about it. But you have it now. And I wonder

1299
00:52:35,440 --> 00:52:35,760
 why.

1300
00:52:35,760 --> 00:52:38,980
 See, as you get further down the Niagara River

1301
00:52:38,980 --> 00:52:41,360
 closer to the falls where there is,

1302
00:52:41,360 --> 00:52:46,360
 God takes your life, the speed of the river

1303
00:52:46,360 --> 00:52:50,430
 picks up, that the gravity picks up. And

1304
00:52:50,430 --> 00:52:50,880
 people start

1305
00:52:50,880 --> 00:52:53,840
 doing things that you would never thought they

1306
00:52:53,840 --> 00:52:56,700
 would have done. But God also uses evil, and

1307
00:52:56,700 --> 00:52:56,800
 this

1308
00:52:56,800 --> 00:52:59,960
 is where I want to close on this regulation

1309
00:52:59,960 --> 00:53:03,280
 thing, as a tool to preserve and sanctify the

1310
00:53:03,280 --> 00:53:03,760
 righteous.

1311
00:53:03,760 --> 00:53:07,080
 Look what Joseph says in Genesis 50-20, "You

1312
00:53:07,080 --> 00:53:08,560
 meant it for evil, and they did.

1313
00:53:08,560 --> 00:53:12,700
 And God meant it for good. All things work

1314
00:53:12,700 --> 00:53:15,280
 together for good to those who love God." See,

1315
00:53:15,280 --> 00:53:16,730
 they don't work together for good to everybody

1316
00:53:16,730 --> 00:53:17,920
. So those who love God and are called

1317
00:53:17,920 --> 00:53:18,480
 according to

1318
00:53:18,480 --> 00:53:21,000
 his purpose, they're going to be vessels of

1319
00:53:21,000 --> 00:53:22,880
 mercy. You know that going in, whatever

1320
00:53:22,880 --> 00:53:25,460
 trial I'm going through, God's got his hand in

1321
00:53:25,460 --> 00:53:27,840
 it to make it better for me to be more like

1322
00:53:27,840 --> 00:53:29,910
 Christ. That's why we consider it a joy when

1323
00:53:29,910 --> 00:53:31,870
 we encounter trials. It's not because it's

1324
00:53:31,870 --> 00:53:32,240
 joyful,

1325
00:53:32,240 --> 00:53:35,400
 the trial, because we know the end game. And

1326
00:53:35,400 --> 00:53:38,000
 the hands of the potter is on me. And boy,

1327
00:53:38,000 --> 00:53:39,710
 the clay is flying off everywhere, and the

1328
00:53:39,710 --> 00:53:42,480
 wheel is spinning 90 miles an hour. But you

1329
00:53:42,480 --> 00:53:42,960
 know,

1330
00:53:42,960 --> 00:53:46,110
 his hands are on me. That's a good spot. He's

1331
00:53:46,110 --> 00:53:49,760
 personally touching me and making me more like

1332
00:53:49,760 --> 00:53:53,380
 Christ. And it hurts, Lord. Help me. But

1333
00:53:53,380 --> 00:53:56,640
 whatever you give me to help me through this,

1334
00:53:56,640 --> 00:53:58,870
 help me to be thankful. So I don't want to go

1335
00:53:58,870 --> 00:54:02,000
 down the road in Romans 1. I want to be

1336
00:54:02,000 --> 00:54:02,320
 thankful,

1337
00:54:02,320 --> 00:54:04,260
 I want to honor you as God, you and you alone

1338
00:54:04,260 --> 00:54:06,400
 are God. I don't have a right to exist five

1339
00:54:06,400 --> 00:54:06,640
 minutes

1340
00:54:06,640 --> 00:54:09,260
 from now, and yet I'm existing. I'm alive. I

1341
00:54:09,260 --> 00:54:11,760
 have a heartbeat. I have a pulse. I'm living.

1342
00:54:11,760 --> 00:54:13,870
 I mean, I got money on my wallet. I got sanity

1343
00:54:13,870 --> 00:54:16,180
 on my brain. I mean, that's a lot of gifts

1344
00:54:16,180 --> 00:54:16,240
 going

1345
00:54:16,240 --> 00:54:17,970
 on here, especially as you get older, you

1346
00:54:17,970 --> 00:54:20,240
 appreciate more sanity in your brain. You do.

1347
00:54:20,240 --> 00:54:20,960
 Trust me.

1348
00:54:20,960 --> 00:54:24,600
 Even 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 20, when you're

1349
00:54:24,600 --> 00:54:26,720
 not finding, you know, he getting beaten down,

1350
00:54:26,720 --> 00:54:28,510
 he says you're harshly treated. He says you

1351
00:54:28,510 --> 00:54:30,640
 patiently endure. This finds favor with God.

1352
00:54:30,640 --> 00:54:35,260
 How sovereign is the God of the Bible? From

1353
00:54:35,260 --> 00:54:37,440
 him through him and to him are all things.

1354
00:54:37,440 --> 00:54:40,530
 I'll close with a quote by Sproul. He says, "

1355
00:54:40,530 --> 00:54:42,320
To me, there is nothing more comforting than

1356
00:54:42,320 --> 00:54:42,640
 knowing

1357
00:54:42,640 --> 00:54:46,080
 that there is a God of providence." Providence

1358
00:54:46,080 --> 00:54:49,760
 is the sovereignty of God directed toward good

1359
00:54:49,760 --> 00:54:49,760
.

1360
00:54:49,760 --> 00:54:53,770
 Something, we say, it's just by the providence

1361
00:54:53,770 --> 00:54:56,720
 of God, it means it was his sovereignty and

1362
00:54:56,720 --> 00:54:57,040
 action

1363
00:54:57,040 --> 00:54:59,420
 for good. He says, "To me, there is nothing

1364
00:54:59,420 --> 00:55:01,840
 more comforting than knowing that there is a

1365
00:55:01,840 --> 00:55:02,320
 God of

1366
00:55:02,320 --> 00:55:04,910
 providence who is aware not only of every one

1367
00:55:04,910 --> 00:55:09,280
 of my transgressions, but of every one of my

1368
00:55:09,280 --> 00:55:10,000
 tears,

1369
00:55:10,000 --> 00:55:12,610
 every one of my aches, and every one of my

1370
00:55:12,610 --> 00:55:15,280
 fears. Not only does he know about them,

1371
00:55:15,280 --> 00:55:17,880
 he controls how long I have them and how heavy

1372
00:55:17,880 --> 00:55:21,840
 they become. And that control today that he

1373
00:55:21,840 --> 00:55:22,640
 has

1374
00:55:22,640 --> 00:55:26,290
 in my trials has been planned and ordained

1375
00:55:26,290 --> 00:55:29,200
 before the foundation of the world."

1376
00:55:29,200 --> 00:55:34,180
 And so nothing takes us by surprise. People

1377
00:55:34,180 --> 00:55:37,280
 who believe in the sovereignty of God, like we

1378
00:55:37,280 --> 00:55:37,520
 do,

1379
00:55:38,320 --> 00:55:40,260
 should be people who have the utmost

1380
00:55:40,260 --> 00:55:44,600
 confidence in knowing God's doing a good work

1381
00:55:44,600 --> 00:55:45,200
 in our lives.

1382
00:55:45,200 --> 00:55:48,480
 As it says in Philippians 1:6, "You're his

1383
00:55:48,480 --> 00:55:50,560
 workmanship, creating Christ Jesus for good

1384
00:55:50,560 --> 00:55:51,360
 works,

1385
00:55:51,360 --> 00:55:53,580
 and so even the bad, the evil, the things that

1386
00:55:53,580 --> 00:55:56,960
 men do, and they do according to their nature,

1387
00:55:56,960 --> 00:55:59,980
 right freely, and we know why they do them

1388
00:55:59,980 --> 00:56:03,170
 because they've been judged and they're

1389
00:56:03,170 --> 00:56:03,920
 continuing to be

1390
00:56:03,920 --> 00:56:05,930
 judged." Remember, you're storing up wrath for

1391
00:56:05,930 --> 00:56:07,840
 yourself as it says in Romans 2, but for us,

1392
00:56:07,840 --> 00:56:12,530
 he's conforming us. The same trial that hard

1393
00:56:12,530 --> 00:56:15,930
ens a man whose vessel of wrath softens the

1394
00:56:15,930 --> 00:56:17,280
 Christian.

1395
00:56:17,280 --> 00:56:21,600
 You put a candle and you put a thing of clay

1396
00:56:21,600 --> 00:56:25,440
 outside in the sun, two different reactions

1397
00:56:25,440 --> 00:56:28,740
 and two different effects. Candle will melt,

1398
00:56:28,740 --> 00:56:31,840
 the clay will harden. All depends on their

1399
00:56:31,840 --> 00:56:32,160
 nature.

1400
00:56:32,960 --> 00:56:35,330
 You're made to be a candle. Father, we thank

1401
00:56:35,330 --> 00:56:37,200
 you for this time. We ask, Father, you take

1402
00:56:37,200 --> 00:56:37,840
 these truths

1403
00:56:37,840 --> 00:56:41,760
 and cause us, Father, to trust in you, knowing

1404
00:56:41,760 --> 00:56:44,640
, Father, that you are sovereign over all of

1405
00:56:44,640 --> 00:56:44,800
 our

1406
00:56:44,800 --> 00:56:47,370
 lives. You have caused us to be here. You've

1407
00:56:47,370 --> 00:56:49,680
 caused us to trust. And as we're told in

1408
00:56:49,680 --> 00:56:50,160
 Scripture,

1409
00:56:50,160 --> 00:56:52,740
 Lord, as surely as you have started this work

1410
00:56:52,740 --> 00:56:55,040
 and you've brought us down this path,

1411
00:56:55,040 --> 00:56:57,770
 we ask, Father, you complete it. Keep us from

1412
00:56:57,770 --> 00:57:00,400
 growing sluggish as we run the race. Help us

1413
00:57:00,400 --> 00:57:00,560
 as

1414
00:57:00,560 --> 00:57:02,890
 we see these truths, Father, to run faster.

1415
00:57:02,890 --> 00:57:05,360
 For us in Christ's great name we pray. Amen.