The Rule of God

[0:00] And we've been looking at God. We looked at God the Creator. We looked at God as Trinity.! And today we're going to look at God as He rules the world.

[0:12] ! And as we look over this world, we see things like trees, wonderful, beautiful trees, beautiful babies.

[0:23] Well, I tried to draw a beautiful baby. I didn't try very hard. And stars, fantastic stars, flowers and all the world of nature.

[0:34] And then just in this past week, a civilian aircraft being shot down so it would appear. How on earth does that sort of thing happen?

[0:47] And we've got the two sides in the Middle Eastern conflict firing rockets at each other. And in the midst of that, we have the believer who prays and trusts with all this going on around them.

[1:04] And we have a world in which there can be three crosses. Two of them for criminals who say we deserve exactly what we're getting.

[1:15] And the middle one, the cross for the best man who ever lived. What sort of world is this? And we ask the question, it wouldn't be a strange thing, is anyone in charge of this?

[1:30] Is this all totally random? Is it heading anywhere? Is there such a thing as progress? Are we moving towards some purposeful end?

[1:44] Or is it just going in all directions? And the Bible has an answer to that, which was there in Revelation chapter 4.

[1:57] The Bible says that there is a throne. That there is a world. And in heaven there is a throne. And the throne is not empty.

[2:10] There is a king who reigns and who rules. And it's God who reigns and God who rules. And that's one of the fundamental points that we're looking at.

[2:25] So that's what we're going to look at this morning. And I'll break it down into three headings. Number one, does God rule? Number two, how does God rule?

[2:38] And number three, why does God rule? And that sounds so simple, doesn't it? So we'll see whether it comes out like that.

[2:51] Okay, you're with me so far? So let's look first of all at the question, does God rule? Is that a true statement?

[3:03] And a question like that is often asked for a reason and in a context. And as we might see if we were to spend time looking at it, Israel in the Bible asks questions like that, usually at particular times.

[3:22] And his people ask questions like that at particular times. So I'm going to show us some answers to that question. It's not that easy to separate God's rule from his plan.

[3:37] But I'm going to try and do that. So I'm not looking at does God pre-plan things. That's not my intention. But to say simply, does God rule as things are now?

[3:50] So, if you're good at looking things up in the Bible, please follow and look them up. If you're not, don't worry.

[4:00] I've got them on the screen. But if you can, without sort of delaying yourself and getting in a fluster, here are some texts.

[4:14] Psalm 115, verses 2 and 3. In this psalm, the nations, that's the nations who don't believe in the God of Israel, they say, where is their God?

[4:30] Because the nations have idols. And you can see them. They've been painted nicely and refurbished and decorated. And you can see their nations. You can see their gods.

[4:42] But you can't see the God of Israel. To which the reply comes, our God is in heaven. He does whatever pleases Him. He does whatever pleases Him.

[4:57] In other words, our God can't be stopped by things that people have invented, decided, or whatever.

[5:10] Our God does whatever pleases Him. So let's put that into the equation. Is our God like the idols? No. Our God is the living God who does whatever pleases Him.

[5:25] The idols promise a lot, but they don't deliver a thing. What about Psalm 103? 103.19.

[5:37] In which it says, The Lord has established His throne in heaven. And His kingdom rules over all.

[5:52] The Lord has established His throne in heaven. So there is a throne. There is a higher throne. And His kingdom rules over.

[6:03] Well, what does it rule over? Does it rule over Israel? Or just rule over the weather? Or only rule over the life of prayer?

[6:15] It says, His kingdom rules over all. And I suppose that's partly in answer to the question, how much praise should God have? Because the psalmist goes on to say, praise the Lord, all you His angels.

[6:31] Praise the Lord, all His heavenly hosts. Praise the Lord, all you servants. Praise the Lord, all His works. In all His dominion. And praise the Lord, me. Praise the Lord, O my soul.

[6:41] How much praise should God have? Well, He should have all praise because He rules over all. Or what about Psalm 47, 8? Which says, Verse 7 says, God is the king of all the earth.

[7:06] Sing to Him a psalm of praise. God reigns over the nations. God is seated on His holy throne. God reigns over the nations.

[7:17] That's interesting. He doesn't just rule over Israel. He reigns over the people who don't trust Him and don't believe Him and don't know Him. God rules over the nations.

[7:28] God is seated on His holy throne. Maybe that's answering the question, Are the nations outside God's patch? You know the idea of having a patch? So this is your patch, The bit you're interested in, But the rest has nothing to do with you.

[7:44] Does God have a patch? So He rules over that bit. He doesn't rule over the rest of it. God reigns over the nations. Let's look at Exodus 19.

[7:56] Here's a specific example of God dealing with one of the nations. Dealing with Egypt. Dealing with the king of Egypt, Pharaoh, Who was oppressing God's people.

[8:14] It's a very instructive turn of events, That history of God's people there. They were enslaved in Egypt, And God brought them out.

[8:26] Well how did He do so? In Exodus 9.16, God says to Pharaoh, And Pharaoh has opposed what God's been doing.

[8:38] So you might think that Pharaoh is outside God's reign. But God says to Pharaoh, Pharaoh, I raised you up for this very purpose, That I might show you my power, And that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

[9:01] You still set yourself against my people, And will not let them go, Therefore, etc. Here's an interesting comment, isn't it? Here's Pharaoh, Who is doing his very level best, Off his own bat, To oppose the work of God, And oppose the people of God, With all his power, And God says, Well that's what you think you're doing, And I can tell you there's a deeper truth than that, I raised you up, So that through you, I would do what I want.

[9:35] I raised you up, To show you my power, And that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. And maybe that's answering the question, That the people of God have, Why is our enemy still in post?

[9:52] Why is our worst enemy still in post? How did he get there? Well answer, God raised him up. God raised him up, For this very purpose.

[10:04] Quite surprising, isn't it? Or what about Daniel 4? So I've moved way on in the history of God's people, To another powerful king, Who was not a king of Israel, He was a king of the Babylonians, Again another oppressing power, And he learns a strange lesson, Through turning mad, For a period of time.

[10:37] This is in Daniel 4, It's in verse 17, And then very similar, In verse 25. What lesson, Does Nebuchadnezzar, This great king, Learn?

[10:51] He learns it the difficult way, Daniel 4, 17, This decision is announced by messengers, The holy ones declare this verdict, So that the living may know, That the most high, Is sovereign, Over the kingdoms of men, And gives them, To anyone he wishes, And sets over them, The lowliest of men, This is the dream, That I, King Nebuchadnezzar, Had.

[11:20] That's a remarkable thing, For a pagan king, To say, And a pagan king, To have learned, I learn, That the most high, The God of Israel, Rules, Over my kingdom, And all the other kingdoms, And he sets up, This oppressive king, Or that mistaken king, Or this humble king, He gives, The kingdom, To anyone he wishes, And sets over them, The lowliest of men, Well he's, He might be pleased, To do that, And that answers, Perhaps the question, Nebuchadnezzar, How did you get that power?

[12:01] Well I got it, Because it was from God, In some, Mysterious way, So does God rule, I think these texts, Are saying, Yes he does, What about, The Lord Jesus, When he's, Talking to his people, So we've seen God, Ruling over the, Great politics, Of the nations, Let's look at, Matthew chapter 10, Verses 29, And 30, So, Does God rule, Only over the big affairs, Only over the big statistics, Well apparently not, Because our Lord Jesus, Says in Matthew 10, Verse 29, He says, Don't be afraid, Of those who kill the body, That can't kill the soul, Rather be afraid, Of the one who can destroy, Both soul and body, In hell, Have the right fear, The fear of the Lord, Is the beginning of wisdom, And then he says, Are not two sparrows,

[13:03] Sold for a penny, Yet not one of them, Will fall to the ground, Apart from, The will of your father, Now the word will, Isn't in the original, It just says, Without your father, And then Jesus says, Even the very hairs, Of your head, Are all numbered, That's a remarkable statement, Isn't it?

[13:26] Because, I mean, Obviously we have, A different number of hairs, On our heads, As we look out, Over the congregation, But, This is God's, Supervision, And care, Not over, The big heads of state, But over, The very, Minutest, Details, Of, The lives of his people, So his rule, Is not only, A big, Large scale, You know, Headlines on the BBC rule, But, A very intimate, Even though, What happened, When you brushed your teeth, This morning, And when you combed your hair, This morning, And, The purpose of this, Is to reassure, God's people, Don't be afraid, Verse 31, You are worth, More than many sparrows, God knows, And cares, About the sparrows, And they're worth, Well they're probably worth, More than one penny, Now,

[14:26] With inflation, But he says, Whatever a sparrow's worth, You are worth, Very, Very, Very, Very, Much more than that, And if God looks after the sparrow, And has a will for the sparrow, How much more, Does he care, For you, As a believer, I suppose, That's answering the question, Can I trust God, For the small, And the big things, Of my life, And the answer is, Apparently yes, The story about, When John Cropley was, Was pastor here, He used to, He used to, Previously, Run a Christian work, With sailors, In the Royal Navy, And one of the sailors, That he knew, Was on HMS Sheffield, That was one that got, Blown up in the Falklands War, Wasn't it?

[15:23] Was it right? HMS Sheffield? And he says, That the, That the, The sailor, On this boat, That got blown up, He said, At the moment of, Getting blown up, He said, I felt, Very much the peace of God, I felt that God, Was very much in charge of it, And you think, Wonderful faith, He says, To be honest, When I got home again, I was really stressed about, I can't remember what it was, You know, Paying the newspaper bill, Or something like that, And it's an interesting fact, Isn't it?

[15:52] That, That, That our faith, Is sometimes very, Fluctuating, That this is saying, That small things, Or big things, Whether, We're blown up out of the water, Or whether we, Not quite sure, Where we put our purse, To pay the newspaper bill, God's in charge, Of all of those things, So, Does God rule?

[16:15] Well, Jesus says, Yes, What about, Ephesians 1, 11, I'm only trying to make one point, In this first section, Does God rule? And I think the answer, Is getting clear, That the answer is, Yes, Ephesians 1, 11, Where, The apostle Paul, Says, In him, We were also chosen, Having been predestined, According to the plan, Okay, I'm not going to touch on the predestining bit, And the chosen bit, It's obviously something, Being said there, But this bit, He works out, Everything, In conformity, With the purpose, Of his will, He works out, Everything, In conformity, With the purpose, Of his will, He works everything, According to the purpose, Of his will, Does God rule?

[17:15] I think that text is saying, Yes, He does, And I think in context, It's probably, Saying to the, Answering the Ephesians, Who are saying, I think they were probably into astrology, And the occult, And magic, And things like that, And they're saying, Well, Do we need to check, Our star sign, Before we go out this morning?

[17:38] Do we need to listen, To, What's her name? She's on, She's on, Steve Wright in the afternoon, Eva Petrelengro's, Is Eva Petrelengro, Or her daughter?

[17:53] I used to teach her daughter, What's her name? Claire Petrelengro, Yes, Yes, I taught her, And her brother, And she goes on, Steve Wright in the afternoon, It's just you and I, That listen to this, And she'll, She'll, She'll predict, You know, Your business, And your love life, And everything, Do we need that?

[18:13] Well, The apostle Paul says, Actually you don't, Because God, Without, Claire Petrelengro's permission, Works out everything, According to his will, And do I need a St. Christopher, Before I go out on a journey, Or a lucky medallion?

[18:30] He says, Don't bother with any of that, Because, All of these things, Are in the hands of God, And that's what you need, And then here's one, About God's rule, Act 2, 23, Concerning that cross, Where the best man died, Act 2, 23, This man was handed over to you, Says Peter on the day of Pentecost, As he preaches, To the very population, Of people, That some of them at least, Would have condemned Jesus to death, And said crucify him, Crucify him, And Peter says, This man was handed over to you, By God's set purpose, And for knowledge, And you, With the help of wicked men,

[19:31] Put him to death, By nailing him to the cross, Who was responsible, For the death of Jesus, Well, Peter gives two answers to that, Who was responsible, For the death of Jesus, You were, Because you handed him over, You nailed him to the cross, You are to blame for that, And Peter strongly, Emphasizes that, You need forgiving, For your first hand involvement, In the death of Jesus Christ, That's one answer, Then the second answer, Which he's also strong on, He says, God purposed it, You did a wicked thing, And it was wicked, But it was God's set purpose, And foreknowledge, God did it, God sent his son, God did it,

[20:33] For your salvation, And he seems to be, Not at all embarrassed, To put those two things together, So my first point, And I hope I've established this, Number one, Does God rule?

[20:48] And the Bible says, Yes, God rules, In many ways, In many wonderful ways, He rules, Okay, That was number one, Okay, Number two, How does God rule?

[21:08] Number two, How does God rule? Now, In answering the question, How, As I mentioned, A couple of weeks ago, We have to be careful, That we're asking the question, How, In a respectful way, That was the question, That Nicodemus asked, About being born again, But how can a man, Be born again?

[21:28] And Jesus didn't really, Have a lot of time, For him asking that, Because, It was really, Nicodemus, Not believing, So, How does God rule?

[21:40] So, We can answer that, But I will first of all say, Don't make how, The same thing as saying, If I can't understand it, With my clever brain, Then God can't do it, You see what I'm saying?

[22:00] If you're going to sit, And listen and say, Well, No, I don't understand that, That doesn't make sense to me, I can't accept that, Therefore God can't do it, That is the wrong way, To ask the question, How?

[22:14] That's a disrespectful way, And what it's really doing, Is saying, If I can't understand it, Then God can't do it, That's trying to make, God, Who is much higher than I am, And say, I'm as clever as he is, And if I can't understand it, God can't do it, God is much higher than we are, And if we can't understand something, It doesn't mean that God can't do it, It means that we can't understand it, It means that, We should worship God, Because he's greater than we are, It's just a very, Clear example of it, Otherwise, We're making an idol, Of our brains, Saying, Our brains rule everything, We, You know, Well that would be a silly thing to do, And a very dangerous, Thing to do spiritually, So I've got a number of answers, To this question, And I'm going to refer to text, But I'm not going to stop, And look them up as much, So, How does God rule?

[23:10] Number one, By working directly, Without using any other means, How does God rule? Here's number one way, By working directly, Without using any other means, So this we would, Sometimes we would perhaps call a miracle, Or a wonder, Or an act of power, And then I thought, Let's think of some examples, Where God works directly, Without using any other means, And you have a little think about it yourself, For a moment, So let's think of some examples, In the Bible, Where God works, Directly, Without using any other means, And I found it actually quite difficult, To think of any examples, Where God does that, I thought of perhaps, In the Exodus, Where the water is turned to blood, There's one of the plagues in the Exodus, And all the water, In the land of Egypt, Got turned to blood,

[24:12] And I think, Well actually he does use means, Because he uses water in the first place, Doesn't he? He doesn't make nothing turn into blood, He makes water turn into blood, So he uses some means, Or when, When Moses' stick, Turned into a snake, Do you remember that in Exodus?

[24:33] Is that God working directly, Without use of any other means? Well he uses the stick, So he doesn't turn nothing into a snake, And he does turn it into a snake, And a snake is something, That is part of this creation, If, If in the book of Exodus, God had turned nothing, Into a 32 inch television, That would have been, A different kettle of fish, Wouldn't it?

[25:00] But what he did, He does use things, That are already in existence, To a degree, So he takes a stick, And turns it into a snake, Well maybe you can think of, Maybe you can think of some examples, But, So I put that down as a category, Where God uses, Works directly without using, Any other means, So, Maybe you can think of examples, Better than I could, Then number two, By unusual use of existing means, Here's a second way, In which God works, By unusual use of existing means, So, Thinking back in Exodus, The plague of hail for example, Which is one of God's mighty acts, Well hail is something, We've all seen hail haven't we, It's something, That God has already put in this world, It's just that the sheer amount of it, And the timing of it, That was the, The thing, The unusual use of existing means,

[26:01] Or the plague of locusts, For example, So locusts, Are in that part of the country, That part of the world, But the sheer numbers of them, And the timing of it, That it came, According to God's word, And went according to God's word, God acted by unusual use, Of existing means, Number three, God acts, And rules, By use of secondary causes, Please turn, Do look this one up, Psalm 104, Psalm 104, And with it would go, Matthew 5, 45, Psalm 104, I didn't give you the verse, Did I?

[26:51] Psalm 104, Verse 14, Says, God makes, The grass grow, For the cattle, And plants for man to cultivate, Bringing forth food, From the earth, He makes grass grow, It says, This is God's work, He makes grass grow, But God uses all sorts, Of secondary causes, Doesn't he?

[27:22] He uses the nutrients, From the soil, He uses the, What's it called, When you take, Carbon dioxide, From the air, And turn it into sugars, Photosynthesis, And he uses, Perhaps the farmer plowing, And the sower sowing, He uses all sorts, Of secondary causes, At many different levels, And in a complex way, But the Bible still says, Well that was God, God makes grass grow, For the cattle, And likewise, Matthew 5, Says, He, I didn't quite write it down, Exactly correctly, So I will just, Double check it, Matthew 5, Matthew 5, 45, God causes his son, To rise on the evil, And the good, And sends rain, On the righteous,

[28:23] And the unrighteous, And Jesus sees this, As being, A direct expression, Of the will, And the character, Certainly the rule, Of God, He's doing it, He sends the sun, He sends the rain, We're to say, Thank you to him, But of course, God uses all sorts, Of secondary causes, Certainly with the rain, He uses the, Cold front coming in from here, And the cloud, Level being there, And the wind coming from there, And all this complex, Complex system, But, He uses, How does he rule?

[28:59] He uses, Secondary causes, But it's still him doing it, Does that make sense? I'm going to see some people nodding, Fourthly, How does he rule?

[29:15] He rules by using, The wicked deeds, Of evil people, For his own purposes, How does he rule? He rules, Using, Using the wicked deeds, Of evil people, For his own purposes, Notice that the deeds, Are still wicked, And the people, Are still evil, But it is God, Who is at work, So, Examples like, Pharaoh, Which we looked at, You are a nasty piece of work, Pharaoh, God raised you up, For this very purpose, Think of the betrayer of Jesus, The son of man goes, As it is written of him, But woe to the one, Who betrays him, So, God is at work, But he is using, The wicked deeds, Of evil people, For his own purposes, Or think of Joseph's, Nasty brothers, What a dysfunctional family, They were, They really were,

[30:17] And if I may just say, If you come from a family, Which is, You think, Well I know, I haven't really had the best start in life, Please don't despair, Because Joseph, Had a much worse family, Than you had, They tried to kill him, Didn't they, When he was little, And I, I very much doubt, Whether they tried to do that to you, But even if they did, Genesis 50, 20, This is right at the end of, The book of Genesis, Where, Joseph says, You intended to harm me, But God intended it for good, To accomplish what is now being done, The saving of many lives, So you really were nasty pieces of work, When you sold me off to the slave, Threw me in that hole, You did intend it to harm, And you are blameworthy for that, But God, Underneath that level of causation, And underneath that level, Of decision making,

[31:18] God, Underneath that, Intended it for good, For the saving of many lives, So how does God work, He uses the wicked deeds of evil people, For his own purposes, His own good purposes, How does he work, He works, Without reducing, The praise, Or blame, Most usually the blame, For the free decision, Of responsible people, So that was the quote, That I just mentioned, Out of step, The son of man goes, As it is written about him, But woe to the man, Who betrays him, You see, There's something quite, Remarkable about this, That God rules, In such a way, That he remains innocent, And that he, He, Receives the credit for good, And embracing within that plan, The evil deeds, Of evil people, It is a remarkable truth, And how does God work, Sixthly, He works, In the willing hearts, Of his people,

[32:19] Saved by his grace, He works in a redeeming way, He works, Not only despite people, But of course, He does work with people, So in, In the kingdom, Of his own, Dear people, The apostle Paul, Can write this in Romans, He can say, Offer, Yourselves, To God, As instruments, Of righteousness, Offer yourselves to God, Of those who have been brought, From death to life, The parts of your body, To him as instruments, Of righteousness, It isn't always that God works, In inanimate objects, That don't know, Very much about it, Or God works, Despite people, Who have really, Trying to do the opposite, But God works, In the willingness, Of willing people, Who are his people, Who say, Yes Lord, I do want to be, At your disposal, Yes Lord, I do want to serve you, I know I make a hash of it, A lot of the time,

[33:19] But you have put in my heart, The willingness, To do that, And God, Uses, His willing people, Doesn't only use, His willing people, But he does use, His willing people, And he uses, Their prayers, So I bring this in, Matthew 7 verse 7 says, Ask and it will be given you, And here's another, Wonderful theme, That this God, Who rules everything, According to the purposes, Of his own will, Includes within that, Hold on a minute, Those people down there, In Brighton, Are praying to me, About something, What are they asking about, Ah yes, Yes, I'll be pleased, To do that for them, God, Really, Responding, Person to person, In a real, Father son, Relationship, So let's not think, That prayer, That because of all this, Prayer is just, An illusion, Prayer is a real thing, And it's certainly, Within God's plan,

[34:20] But it's certainly, Something real, That we, Ask the heavenly father, And he's pleased, To hear prayer, And embrace, The prayer of his, Willing people, In the way, That he runs the world, And there's a miracle, Itself, Isn't it?

[34:40] So, I've put there, Six, Answers to the question, How does God, Rule the world? By working directly, By use, By unusual, Unusual use, Of existing means, By unseen use, Of secondary causes, By using the wicked deeds, Of evil people, And, The willing, Offering of his people, Including their prayer, Well I've got some, Objections to that, So here's some, Objections, So somebody is saying, Well I've come along, To church this morning, But I know perfectly well, That despite all, All the words, That this chap has been saying, Actually it all happens, By itself, Of course you've only got, To turn on the BBC, And you can tell, Things happen by themselves, Things happen anyway, Water is always wet, You don't have to pray, For water to be wet, Gravity always pulls down, It happens by itself,

[35:42] To which, The Christian answer is, Well water is always, Wet, And gravity does always, Pull down, But it's like that, Not by itself, But because, That's the way, God likes, Water to be, So actually, God had a lot to say, About water, When he made the world, And he likes water, To be the way it is, And, That's why it's wet, So it doesn't happen, It happens by itself, It happens by God, That's, So I don't know, Whether I convince you, By just making that statement, But that's the correct answer, Well here's another question, I thought God, Was only active, On the rare occasions, Of miracles, So I remember, A dear, A dear, Believing lady, Saying to me, In our church, Such and such a time, Was somebody who was ill, And we prayed, And they were healed, God's still in business, Well amen, That's wonderful, If God answers prayer, And heals, People,

[36:43] But it isn't, That God is only in business, When he does miracles, God's always in business, Full stop, God is constantly at work, If you like a little, Illustration of it, Here's a little, Picture, Of a juggling act, You've got two people, In this juggling act, And they're, Throwing balls across the air, To one another, Blah blah blah blah blah blah, And the other person, Is going, Da da da da da da da da, And he might look at it, And he's saying, Well it just happens by itself, And you think, Well actually it doesn't happen, By itself, There's a lot of thought, Being put in, And a lot of effort, All the time, And if one of those jugglers, Was to say, I'm not bothered anymore, Then the whole thing, Would fall to pieces, And it's like that, With the way God, Runs the world, It says in Hebrews 1, 3, Jesus sustains all things, By the word of his power, And if Jesus, Were to stop upholding, If God were to stop, Upholding all things, It would just become nothing, God is constantly at work,

[37:47] And then, A last, A last, Objection, But, Even though I think, I've tried to answer this question, Twice already, But doesn't this mean, That God is to blame for evil, So, You think, We talked about, Judas Iscariot, We talked about Pharaoh, We talked about Nebuchadnezzar, And the Assyrians, And all sorts of things like this, And all I can say is, That, Although to us, We might say, Now, If God rules everything like this, He must be to blame, The Bible just says, It doesn't work like that, God rules the nations, Including, The bad things that they do, And yet, He himself was without blame, And there's an example, In Isaiah 10, Verses 5 to 16, Which is quite, A long passage to read, At this stage, So I'll leave that for you, If you'd like, To have a look at,

[38:48] Here's a wonderful thing, God rules the world, He does, And he rules it, According to his purposes, And yet, In so doing, He doesn't remove, The reality of personal, Choices, Decisions, And relationships, It's a very wonderful thing, So, Number three, Does God rule?

[39:16] Yes he does, How does God rule? In many wonderful ways, Number three, Why does God rule? Why does God rule? Why does God rule?

[39:27] Answer number one, Because he's God, And he's the sort of God, Who rules, And not all the gods, In the world rule, Some of them, Are thwarted, You think of the stories, Of the Greek and Roman gods, They try to do things, And somebody tricks them, And somebody else stops them, And they get frustrated, And angry, But the God of the Bible, Does whatever he pleases, That's the sort of God he is, And that is a reason, For us to praise him, As we saw in all those psalms, The Lord reigns, Why does God rule?

[40:05] Because he's God, Number two, Why does God rule, For his own glory? And here's an interesting thing, If you or I do stuff, For our own glory, It's not a very commendable thing, Because we're not God, But God, Rightly, Does things for his glory, And with God, It's not conceit, Or foolishness, It's just being honest, About who he is, So you remember that bit, With Pharaoh, Excuse me, Why did God raise up Pharaoh?

[40:41] To show Pharaoh, God's power, And so that God's name, Would be great in all the earth, Or words to that effect, God does things, So that we would say, He's a great God, So that the nations would say, He's a great God, So that one day, When the whole story is told, We will say, What a wonderful God he is, Have you ever been and looked at, Go and looked down, At some of the things in Brighton Museum, Some wonderful, Craftsmanship there, Some wonderful pieces of, Stuff that have been made, I quite like the furniture, Have you ever been down to, Brighton Museum, Looked at the furniture, There's some wonderful, Inlay work, And formation of things, And you think, Look what that guy made, This person, Whoever they were, That's really fantastic, And it, The thing that's made, Gives praise, To the maker,

[41:41] And at the end of, History, History, When we see, What God has done, With very unlikely material, And formed a whole new people, For his praise, And a whole new people, Redeemed by the blood of his son, We'll look at that, And say, That's fantastic, To the praise, Of the glory, Of his grace, It says in Ephesians, And that praise, And glory, Will be focused, Clearly, And for all to see, In Jesus Christ, On the last day, That's something worth, Looking forward to, Why does God rule, For his own glory, Number three, Why does God rule, He rules, So as, To bring sinners, To repentance, And I don't know, Whether you remember this, From Acts 17, The other time, When he says, Why does God put different people, In different places, Well he's put them, In different places, The exact, Times, And boundaries, Of their habitation, So that they would,

[42:43] Seek God, Though he's not far, From each one of us, Why does God, Do it the way he's done it, So that you would, Seek God, Why did God put you, In that family, So that you would, Seek God, Why did God put you, In that place, So that you would, Seek God, Why did God bring, That person into your life, So that you would, Seek God, He rules to bring, Sinners to repentance, Did you hear about, The tower of Siloam, It fell on some people, In Jerusalem, They say to Jesus, They must have been, Pretty bad people, Mustn't they, And Jesus says, I tell you, That those people, In the tower of Siloam, They weren't any worse, Than anybody else, But, This happened, But unless, You repent, You too, Will likewise perish, Says what, The lesson you're supposed to learn, From the way God ruled, In that disaster, Is that life, Is fragile, Life is short, We're not right with God, We need to be put right with God, Repent, Turn to the Lord, Or think of the, The seven plagues, In the book of Revelation, And God sent,

[43:45] And, It's all sort of, Sort of figurative, Isn't it, Locusts, And hail, And things like he did, To the Egyptians, And he says, And after he'd sent, All that, People still did not turn, From worshipping gods, Of wood and stone, And iron, They still did not repent, And God runs the world, On a huge large scale, Saying to this, The people of this world, Get right with God, You haven't got it right yet, Have you, Turn to God, And maybe if you're sitting, Listening, That's the message to you, You've been hearing about, How God rules, And the application point is, He does this, And he's brought you here, This morning, So that you should, Turn to him, Point number four, Why does God rule, For the deep, True, Good, Of his people, So Romans 8, 28, Is a text,

[44:47] Worth memorising, In whatever is your favourite translation, I think I tend to, Remember it in not, This translation, But I'll read what it does say, And we know that in all things, God works, For the good, Of those who love him, Who have been called, According to his purpose, In how many things, Does God work, For the good, Of those who love him, Answer, In all things, God works, For the good, Of those who love him, Why does God work, He asks, For the good, Of those who love him, And that is a very, Very powerful, Statement of scripture, And, Well worth, Applying, When we think, Things are out of control, Things have all gone, Haywire, I can't see, How I can get out of the situation, That I'm in, I don't know how, I managed to get in the situation,

[45:49] I'm in, I'm in a complete pickle, And to remember, That God, Is big enough, And wise enough, And good enough, To work, Even that, Situation, That perhaps, Brings you, To the, End of your tether, He will bring, Good, Out of it, God, Works for the good, Of those who love him, Called according to his purpose, In all things, And five, Why does God rule, He rules, So that we might learn, To trust him today, Because that's, Where the rubber hits the road, On how we live today, Doesn't it, God's rule, We can do two things, With the truth of God's rule, We can sing about it, Or we can sin, We can sing, Or we can sin, We can say, That's great, We can sing the songs, That we've been singing, Or we can sin, And say, I'm not having this God, I'm not doing what he tells me,

[46:50] I'm not falling in, With his plan, My plan, My own personal plan, For my life, Is much better, Than his, That's rebellion, At the deepest level, And that's a wrong reaction, To this, We can trust, Or we can rebel, And what will you do, As you've been thinking about this, Will you trust, And say, I'm so glad to hear, Of the rule of God, It fills me with wonder, Because I don't really understand, How he can do that, But it fills me with wonder, And it fills me with comfort, To know that, I am in the hands, Of the God, Who holds the whole world, In his hands, We can trust, Or you can rebel, And either way, God rules, Let's sing together,