Worthy Of Our Praise - The Sovereignty Of God

Temple Baptist Church - 6-7-2009

2 Samuel 22:4; 1 Chronicles 29:10-13

Introduction:

A. We have seen that the Lord is worthy of or praise because of His excellent name, His wondrous works, His exceeding power, His matchless grace, infinite wisdom, His wonderful Word, and Majesty. His name is truly wonderful, His works marvelous, His power beyond our imagination, His grace is truly matchless, His wisdom past finding out, His Word both perfect and eternal, and His majesty matchless.

B. Tonight I want to look at another aspect of the worthiness of our praise for the Lord. The Sovereignty of God! You will not find either of the words “sovereign” or “sovereignty” in the Bible but the truth is set forth from Genesis 1:1—where the bible declares that “In the beginning God”—to Revelation 22:21 where it says “Amen!” As God has said, “Let it be so!”

C. Since the word “sovereignty” is not a bible word, let us look at it’s definition for clarification:

Sovereignty – Free from all external control; reigning or royal authority; the dominion of a monarch, the complete authority to govern a state; exclusive in right to control one’s thoughts and actions; autonomous; greatest in status, authority, and power; supreme; exceptional in quality.

D. The doctrine of the “Sovereignty of God” is one of both the least understood and the most misunderstood.

1. Most believe that things happen per chance instead of providence. I do not believe in luck. I believe in the providence of an all-knowing, thrice holy God!

2. Many believe that God’s sovereignty over rules mans ability to choose.

a) The doctrine called Calvinism is both heretical and damnable!

b) How do you reconcile God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility? By realizing that, in God’s sovereignty, God gave man the ability to choose. This does not do away with God’s sovereignty. It amplifies it. God can do as He chooses and if He gives man the choice of salvation, then it is because He is a sovereign God.

c) I find it amazing that we all know that God has given everyman the right to choose the path for his life and, yet, they cannot either choose or refuse Christ! The unsaved as well as the saved make decisions all of the time and that does not seem to interfere with the sovereignty of God one bit.

d) It is a shame that when preaching on the Sovereignty of God, I have to explain that I am not nor could ever be a Calvinist. My God is loving, kind, gentle, good, and touchable! Let me give you some verses that show man’s ability to choose:

Genesis 4:6-7 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. (First Mention Principle of Bible Interpretation – God gave Cain both a choice and a second chance.)

Proverbs 1:24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; (God called? Man refused? He does have a choice!)

John 5:40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. (Jesus indicted the Pharisees because they would not choose to come to Christ and have eternal life. The list could go one but that is not my subject tonight.)

E. By the sovereignty of God, it is to be understood that—as Creator of all things both visible and invisible—God is both owner or and ruler over all things.

Deuteronomy 32:39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

1 Chronicles 29:11 Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.

Psalms 115:3 But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.

Isaiah 45:9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?

Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

Daniel 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Matthew 20:15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?

Romans 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

Colossians 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

1 Timothy 6:15-16 Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; 16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

F. Because He is sovereign:

1. He Requires No Counsel - Romans 11:34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?

Isaiah 40:13-14 Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? 14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?

2. He Seeks No Advice - 1 Corinthians 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

3. He Lacks No Wisdom - James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

4. He Asks No Permission – Job 33:13 Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.

5. He Answers To No Man - Romans 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

1. God Is Sovereign In His Creation – Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Hebrews 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Psalms 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. (Everything in nature contains the “finger prints” of God. You can believe it or deny it but you cannot stop it or change it! You were not there when the foundations were laid: God was there!)

2. God Is Sovereign In His Counsel – John 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Proverbs 1:23-30 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. 24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; 25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: 26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; 27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. 28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: 29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: 30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. (You can take it or leave it but you cannot alter it! You may reject it and or change it here on earth but it is forever settled in Heaven. You will hear it again!)

3. God Is Sovereign In His Conversion – John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. (Salvation is God’s way or not at all. It is His way or the highway! The “Highway to Hell!”)

4. God Is Sovereign In His Circumstances – Romans 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Job 23:10-14 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. 11 My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined. 12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. 13 But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth. 14 For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

Hebrews 2:10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. (He controls all that happens! Although tough to accept at times, Romans 8:28 is still in the Book! Proverbs 3:5-6 still apply!)

5. God Is Sovereign In His Consequences – John 3:16-18 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Luke 16:22-23 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. (It is either Heaven or Hell! In God’s sovereignty, He gave men a choice. Then, man’s choice leaves God no choice!)