Well, we take up this morning the glorious topic of what has been called the doctrines of grace.
! That is how it is that God saves sinners.
And these truths are to the saints of God of sweetest savor.
They furnish a display of the glory of God arrayed in its most ravishing vestment and vesture.
To view these unfolding is to cry out with the apostle,
Oh, the depths of the riches!
And while we might begin our view from any number of its gleaming facets,
I think it fruitful first to frame these truths of God's gracious work of salvation
in the wider view of His supreme sovereignty.
That is, God's all-encompassing rule and governance over all and in all,
the vast realm of His creation.
All that was, is, and is to come is ruled by the scepter of His pleasure
and follows infallibly the dictates of His will.
And here the setting fits the gem it holds,
His general sovereignty, His sovereignty and salvation.
The frame, almost as much as the portrait it encloses,
is a wonder to behold.
So we shall proceed by unfolding this glorious truth of God's all-encompassing sovereignty
as witnessed in the scriptures.
And like travelers upon a scenic path,
who on occasion cannot but pause
on some outlook to take in the rapturous vista
and burst forth in wonder and praise,
we'll sprinkle our path
with some reactions
of fellow travelers
who behold these truths like sparkling stars
in the firmament.
So, embarking,
let us entrust ourselves
to our sure guide.
Let's pray.
Come Holy Spirit
and soften our hearts
as we open Your Word.
Settle our convictions
and so strengthen our comfort
and deepen our joy
that Christ,
the Alpha and Omega,
might be exalted.
Amen.
So one,
Scripture's witness
and saints' wonder.
To enter Scripture
is to inhabit a world
in which God reigns
and His purposes prevail.
Where all reflects
the unfolding of His will.
The unwavering conviction
is woven through Scripture's fabric
from beginning to end.
For from Him
are all things,
writes the Apostle
in Romans 11.
That is to say,
all things
find their ultimate source
in God.
All things
issue ultimately
from His will
and good pleasure.
God, we are told,
works all things
after the counsel
of His own will.
Ephesians 1, 11.
All things?
I mean,
as in every single thing?
Yes.
Consider things
first in the realm
of inanimate nature.
Now, no Hebrew
worshiper of Yahweh
would ever say,
hey, look,
it happened to rain.
for all knew
that God
sends the rain
and that the snows
fall by His command.
As Elihu testifies,
for the snow,
he says,
falls on the earth.
Likewise,
the downpour
is His mighty downpour.
Job 37, 6.
By the breath of God,
the ice is given
and the broad waters
are frozen fast.
He, God,
loads the thick clouds
with moisture.
The clouds scatter
His lightning.
They turn around
and around
by His guidance
to accomplish
all that He commands them
on the face
of the inhabitable world.
Job 37, 10 through 12.
The forces of nature
in their observed regularities
are not operating
simply out of some law
intrinsic to them.
They move by the command
of the Most High.
The sun,
the moon,
the stars
act in accordance with,
as Scripture says,
a fixed order
that God has established
by His own covenant.
The Lord of hosts
has established it.
Jeremiah 31, 35,
33, 20,
and on and on
throughout the Scriptures.
Thus it is
in the realm
of inanimate nature.
So also
in the realm
of animate nature.
Isaiah 46, 11 says,
He, God,
calls the bird of prey
from the east.
Even the two
for a penny sparrows,
Jesus reminds us,
that not one
will fall to the ground
without your Father's will.
Matthew 10, 29.
And remember the story
of Jonah.
God appointed
the great fish,
117,
and appointed
the worm
to eat
the shade-giving
gourd
which God had
appointed
to grow
and spring up.
Such appointment
also orders
the rise
and fall
of nations.
All the intricacies
of the flux
of national territory,
which imperial power
prevails
and which people
is consumed.
God, quote,
determined
their appointed times
and their boundaries
of their habitation.
Acts 17, 26.
And from the great surges
of geopolitical realms
to the most trivial,
seemingly random events,
nothing springs
!
Nothing springs
from chance.
Even the numbers
we roll on a die,
God's wisdom
determines.
Proverbs 16, 33.
The lot
is cast
into the lap,
but the decision
is wholly
from the Lord.
It was not random
that Achan,
Saul,
Jonah,
Matthias
drew the short straw.
It reflected
God's determination.
And this reality
of God's
ordaining
all things
encompasses
all human
choices
also.
Proverbs 16, 9.
The heart of a man
plans his way,
but the Lord
directs his steps.
Proverbs 20, 24.
A man's steps
are ordered
by the Lord.
I know,
O Lord,
says the prophet Jeremiah,
that the way of a man
is not in himself,
that it is not in man
who walks
to direct his steps.
Jeremiah 10, 23.
Now,
the heart
in Scripture
means the
affectional,
volitional
center
from which spring
our attractions,
our aversions,
all of our choices.
The heart
determines
what we desire
and abhor,
and hence
is the seat
of all action.
And it is
precisely here
that God
exercises
sovereignty.
Psalms 33,
14 through 15
tells us,
God looks down
from his throne,
quote,
on all the
inhabitants
of the earth
and fashions
the hearts
of them
all.
Why,
even the one
who you would
think to have
maximal autonomy,
to make
unconstrained
choices,
a king.
Of such
an emblem
of independence
and power,
we are told
the king's heart
is as a stream
of water
in the hand
of the Lord.
He,
the Lord,
turns it
whatever way
he will.
Proverbs 21, 1.
Again,
this is
throughout
scripture,
Ezra 6, 22,
the Lord
turned the heart
of the king
of Assyria.
Again and again,
we could multiply
examples.
And of course,
the king
is simply
a paradigm
case
of what is
true
of all.
Many are the
plans of a man's
heart,
but the counsel
of the Lord,
it will stand.
Proverbs 19,
21.
So utterly
does God
control the
hearts of mankind
that he can
tell the Israelites
that if they
obediently appear
before him
in the sanctuary
of Jerusalem,
leaving their
lands unprotected
and vulnerable
to looting
and conquest,
he would
preserve them.
And how
would God
accomplish this?
By making
it such
that their
enemies
would not
eye their
land with
envy.
and seek
to seize
it in this
golden opportunity.
He would
displace
covetousness
with contentment
and malice
with goodwill
in their
enemies'
hearts.
Exodus 34,
23 and 24.
John Calvin
writes in his
commentary on
this verse,
this was a
remarkable proof
of God's
providence.
Another word
for sovereignty
basically.
for how
could it be
that their
enemies,
who were
ever watching
for opportunities
of plunder,
should remain
quiet when
they knew that
all the men
were gone
from home?
The only
answer is that
God restrained
their cupidity
and by his
secret power
bridled their
lusts so that
they dared
not move.
Here,
therefore,
we see how
the Lord holds
the hearts of
men in his
hand and
bends them
according to
his will.
Stephen
Charnock,
the author of
that great,
The Existence
and Attributes
of God,
echoes this
conviction.
He writes,
God is present
in every
motion,
yet distinct
from every
creature.
He orders
all,
directs all,
and none
can move a
hand or
tongue without
his permission.
So,
the uniform
testimony of
Scripture is
that all
things are
ordered and
governed by
the sovereign
will of God,
from the
movement of
the spheres
in their
vaults above
to the hidden
impulses of
the human
heart within.
It is
truly an
awesome
truth.
I believe,
proclaimed Spurgeon,
that every
particle of
dust that
dances in
the sunbeam
does not
move an
atom more
or less
than God
wishes.
That every
particle of
spray that
dashes against
the steamboat
has its
orbit as
well as
the sun
in the
heavens.
That the
chaff from
the hand of
the winnower
is steered
as the
stars in
their courses.
the
creeping of
an aphid
over the
rosebud
is as
much fixed
as the
march of
the
devastating
pestilence.
The fall
of seer
leaves from
a poplar
is as
fully
ordained
as the
tumbling
of an
avalanche.
Jonathan
Edwards
agrees
and asserts
the same
degree of
minute
granularity
to God's
sovereign
decrees.
He writes,
not one
mote of
dust
errs
from the
path that
God has
appointed
it.
Whoa,
whoa,
okay,
but what
if that
mote of
dust
goes in
your eye?
And
Spurgeon
mentions,
as you
know,
that part
of God's
sovereign
disposals
involves
pestilence
and avalanche.
Are you
saying that
God decrees
even the
bad things?
The Chicago
fire,
the Lisbon
earthquake,
the collapse
of the
Twin Towers?
Unflinchingly,
Alex,
you have plenty
of room
anywhere you
want.
Unflinchingly,
the scriptures
do not
taper
God's
sovereign
will,
even a
whisker's
breadth,
when it
concerns
such
calamities.
Does evil
befall a
city unless
the Lord
has done
it?
declares
Amos the
prophet,
3, 6.
I am
the Lord
and there
is no
other.
I form
light,
I create
darkness,
I make
welfare,
and I
create
woe.
I am
the Lord
who does
all these
things.
Isaiah
45, 7.
Wait a
minute,
you protest.
There's a
lot of
carnage
that comes
from evil.
I mean,
think of
Gaza.
Babies
and small
children
were won
with hunger.
Yes,
the scriptures
are no
stranger to
that reality.
Jeremiah
writes with
horror and
sorrow.
My eyes
are spent
with weeping.
My soul
is in
tumult.
My heart
is poured
out in
grief because
infants and
babies faint
in the
streets of
the city.
Lamentations
2, 11.
Yet he
knows even
here God
is supremely
sovereign.
He
continues,
who has
commanded
and it
came to
pass unless
the Lord
has ordained
it.
Is it
not from
the mouth
of the
Most High
that good
and evil
come?
Lamentations
3, 37
and 38.
But let's
go straight
to the
limit
case.
What
would you
say has
been the
most utterly
horrendous
evil ever
perpetrated
on this
earth?
The
Holocaust?
Ethnic
cleansing?
The wholesale
commercial
slaughter of
babies in
the womb?
God
sends his
son to
seek and
save us
and we
hate him
and kill
him.
Away with
him.
Crucify him.
our evil
does not
extend
beyond that.
But did
God's
sovereignty
determine it
to be so?
Yes.
And Peter,
as Peter
told the
Jerusalem
crowd,
this man,
Jesus,
delivered up
by the
predetermined
plan and
foreknowledge
of God,
you nailed
to the
cross.
Acts 2, 23.
Not even
evil is
exempt from
the grip of
God's
sovereign sway.
His
governance is
all
comprehensive.
For
from him
are all
things.
Romans 11.
He works
all things
after the
counsel of
his own
will.
None of
the trials
and sufferings
that befall
fall outside
God's
reign.
All
events
are under
the control
of providence
or sovereignty,
writes Spurgeon.
Consequently,
all of the
trials
of our
outward life
are traceable
at once
to the
great
first cause.
out of
the golden
gate of
God's
ordinance,
the armies
of trial
march forth
in array,
clad in
their iron
armor and
armed with
weapons of
war.
Or as
Thomas
Watson
tersely
puts it,
whoever
brings
an affliction,
it is
God
who
sends
it.
So
there's
scripture's
witness
and
saints
wonder.
Persisting
puzzles
properly
pondered.
Now,
in the
presence of
this
truth of
God's
all
encompassing
sovereignty,
scripturally
revealed,
worshipping
minds have
wondered,
how could
these
things be
so?
For
by very
natural,
for some
very natural
puzzles
appear for
the thoughtful
who seek to
bring together
in harmony
the truth
of God's
sovereignty
with other
verities to
which scripture
bears witness.
It's good to
have an
integration
instinct.
They are
perhaps
percolating
in your
minds
already.
two
perhaps
are most
prominent
and pressing
and deserving
of passing
at least
comment.
First,
if God
is sovereign
over all,
how is
he not
implicated
in evil?
And,
second,
if God
is sovereign
over us,
how have
we the
freedom
for moral
agency?
Now,
there is a
right way
to raise
these questions
and a
wrong way.
The right
way is
that of
Mary at
the angel's
revelation
that she
would bear
a son,
God's
Messiah.
How can
these things
be?
It was
asked out
of a heart
of faith
and submission.
There was
no rejecting
disbelief.
not so
with
Zachariah.
His words
were exactly
the same
as Mary's,
but not
his heart,
for his
was an
unbelieving
heart for
which he
was rebuked.
So,
let us
proceed in
our puzzles
with the
submissive
humble
heart of
Mary.
So,
first,
if all
comes about
at God's
decree,
how is
he not
implicated
in evil?
How are
we to
think of
God's
ordaining
evil?
Surely
this is
out of
character
with a
good and
holy God
who is
light and
in whom
there is
no darkness,
1 John
1.5.
The
scriptures
have not
one whisker
of ambiguity
as to
God's
utter
unblemished
goodness.
He is
never
the
accomplice
to evil.
As
Moses sang
to the
assembled
Israel
in
Deuteronomy
32,
3,
and 4,
ascribe
greatness
to our
God the
Rock.
His
work is
perfect
and all
his ways
are just.
A
God of
faithfulness
without
iniquity,
just
and
upright
is he.
Or
the
prophet
Habakkuk
in
1.13.
You,
God,
are of
purer
eyes
than
to
see
evil
and
cannot
look
upon
wrong.
In the
sense of
look with
complacency,
that's
okay,
no problem.
The
sixth-wing
cherubim
who,
covering
their
eyes in
God's
presence,
call to
each
other
perpetually,
holy,
Isaiah
6.
The
assembled
host of
heavens
swell
with the
chorus,
Revelation
15.3,
great and
amazing are
your deeds,
O Lord
God
Almighty,
just and
true are
all of
your ways.
So,
in light
of this
brilliant
splendor
of unadulterated
goodness and
unsullied
uprightness,
we naturally
find ourselves
arrested
to read,
is it
not from
the mouth
of the
Most High
that good
and evil
come?
And I
form light
and I
create
darkness,
I make
well-being
and I
create
calamity,
I am
the Lord
who does
all these
things,
Isaiah
45.7.
How are
we to
understand
these
statements?
I don't
know,
I'll see
it at
no price.
Well,
the beginning
of wisdom
here,
I believe,
is to
recognize
a vital
distinction.
It's
indicated in
the remarkable
utterance
of Joseph
recorded
in Genesis
50.20.
Referring
to his
brothers
selling him
into slavery
and his
ending up
in Egypt,
he states,
you intended
it for
evil,
but God
intended
it for
good.
So,
notice how
in Joseph's
mind,
the action
was brought
about both
by his
brothers
and by
God.
But,
and this
is vital,
the differentiated
actors had
different
motives and
purposes in
and for
the action.
The brothers
intended it
for evil,
God intended
it for
good.
Now,
this duality
is instructive
in guiding
our thinking.
In each
action,
we must
see a
dual
reference.
There is
an intention
with respect
to the
creature,
the created
ones,
who is
acting,
whoever the
created one
is acting,
Satan,
villains,
sinners,
often
perfidious,
which may
or may
not prevail.
But,
there is
also an
intention
of the
creator,
whose
intentions
and purposes
will always
obtain.
His
intentions
are always
and necessarily
good and
holy and
glorious,
reflecting
his character.
As
Jonathan Edwards
writes,
it's a
little
archaic
grammar,
but you'll
get the
point.
Men
will,
sorry,
men do
will
sin
as
sin.
And so
are the
authors and
actors of
it.
They love
it as
sin
and for
the evil
ends and
purposes.
God
don't
will
sin
as
sin
or
for
the
sake
of
anything
evil.
Though
it be
his
pleasure
so
to
order
things
that
he
permitting
sin
will
come
to
pass,
he
doeth
it
for
the
sake
of
the
great
good
that
by
his
disposal
shall
be
the
consequence.
Now
that's
Edwards,
it's a
little
bit
dense.
Maybe
I'll
just
read
it
again
because
this
is
really
helpful
distinction
to have.
Men
do
will
sin
as
sin
and
so
are
the
authors
and
actors
of
it.
They
love
it
as
sin
and
for
evil
ends
and
purposes.
But
God
doesn't
don't
will
sin
as
sin
or
for
the
sake
of
anything
evil.
Though
it
be
his
pleasure
so
to
order
things
that
he
permitting
sin
will
come
to
pass
for
the
sake
of
the
great
good
that
by
his
disposal
shall
be
the
consequence.
Get that?
Very
helpful.
Very
helpful.
It's
from his
Freedom of
the Will,
page 408
and 9.
Long
book,
but worth
it.
Now
what can
make some
of the
language
about
this
jarring
is that
the
outcomes
of
these
dual
intended
acts,
Joseph
being
sold
as
a
slave
and
sent
to
Egypt,
are
described
from
the
vantage
point
of
our
experience
of
them.
We
experience
them
as
evil
and
they
are
rightly
so
described.
Joseph
being
sold
by his
brothers
was
evil.
They
intended
it
for
evil
and
Joseph
experienced
it
as
evil.
So
it
makes
sense
that
we
would
call
it
evil.
As
indeed
it
is.
What
else
would
we
call
it?
And
what
other
vantage
point
would
we
have
to
describe
it
than
our
own?
And
we
see
and
experience
it
as
affliction,
calamity,
and
evil.
But
God
is
in
it
and
so
we
may
and
must
say
does
fire
consume
a
city
and
do
not
I
God
do
it?
God
is
in it
and
ordains
it
but
in
his
case
for
good.
See
the
coming
together
of
the
dual
actors
think
of it
this
way
I
I'm
trying
to
remember
which
Puritan
he
talks
about
God
uses
Satan
as
his
drudge
imagine
Satan
there
it
says
I
hate
God's
elect
I
am
going
to
destroy
them
so
he
takes
the
flail
and
he
goes
after
God's
professed
people
with
a
flail
and
he's
just
flailing
away
and
aiming
to
destroy
them
and
we
feel
the
harsh
we're
under
the
flail
Satan
is
flail
but
in
doing
so
he
just
manages
to
achieve
God's
purpose
which
is
separating
the
grain
from
the
chaff
and
purifying
the
wheat
so
Satan
the
drudge
is
just
going
away
just
hammering
trying
to
destroy
and
that's
his
evil
intent
and
it's
evil
and
we
experience
it
as
evil
oh
my
goodness
I'm
being
battered
I'm
being
battered
I'm
under
the
but
God
is
achieving
his
good
purpose
of
refining
and
purifying
and
winnowing
the wheat
from the
chaff
so
these
things
come
together
so
there's
our
first
puzzle
hopefully
a little
bit
illuminated
our
second
puzzle
is
if
God's
sovereign
decree
ordains
all
things
including
human
actions
how
can
we
rightly
be
accountable
for
them
well
let's
take
for
guidance
in
this
puzzle
the
biblical
case
of
God's
ordaining
the
Assyrian
empire
to
scourge
apostate
Israel
for her
disobedience
God
describes
Assyria
as
vividly
Isaiah
10
5
the
rod
of
my
anger
the
axe
with
which
I
hew
the
saw
I
wield
that
is
God
manipulates
Assyria
as one
would
an
inanimate
tool
deploying
them for
his
errand
of
judgment
so you
can see
oh
how can
he
hold
that
if
he's
just
how
that
as
he
writes
against
a
godless
nation
I
send
him
Assyria
against
the
people
of
my
wrath
I
command
him
to
take
and
to
seize
and
to
plunder
and
to
tread
them
down
like
the
mire
in
the
streets
but
and
this
is
the
critical
point
to
recognize
God
does
not
need
to
sow
evil
into
the
Assyrian
hearts
for
them
to
act
in
this
role
their
hearts
are
already
remorseless
cruel
grasping
already
with the
disposition
to enact
cruel
rapacious
villainies
God
need
not
teach
the
Assyrians
new
tricks
to
use
them
cruelly
neither
get
them
to
act
contrary
to
their
habituated
evil
they
are
self
made
accomplished
experts
in
evil
as
the
next
verse
testifies
of the
Assyrians
verse
seven
it
is
in
their
heart
to
destroy
do
you see
that
and
so
after
using
Assyria
to
accomplish
his
purpose
of
disciplining
his
wayward
people
God
turns
and
judges
the
Assyrians
for their
pride
and
cruelty
when
I
or sorry
when the
Lord
has
finished
his
work
on
Mount
Zion
disciplining
his
people
he
the
Hebrew
says
I
the
Lord
will
punish
the
arrogant
heart
of the
king
of
Assyria
verse
12
and
God
rightly
judges
wicked
hearts
that
sin
willingly
it's
no
excuse
for
their
sin
that
God
used
them
to
accomplish
his
purpose
in
our
sin
we
make
real
choices
and
are
accountable
for
them
God
need
not
introduce
sin
into
our
actions
like
some
sort
of
exogenous
seed
our
sin
is
native
to
our
own
hearts
and
home
grown
when
we
sin
we
sin
heartily
our
whole
hearts
are
in
our
sin
and
I
think
we
know
in
our
honest
moments
that
our
choices
are
authentically
our
own
and
to
seek
to
wriggle
out
of
responsibility
by
blaming
God's
sovereignty
that's
mere
evasion
and
will
not
stand
in
the
judgment
now
there
is no
doubt
much
mystery
here
and
how
could
it
not
be
so
for
we
can
merely
grasp
the
fringes
of
his
ways
and
how
indeed
should
we
expect
otherwise
for
how
are
we
to
apprehend
let
alone
comprehend
the
way
of
an
infinite
person
relating
to
finite
persons
the
creator
with
his
image
bearing
creatures
if
there
were
no
mystery
here
it
would
not
only
be
surprising
I
think
it
would
probably
be
suspicious
the
regenerate
heart
shall
respond
in
a
resting
rejoicing
at the
supreme
sovereignty
and
all
governance
of
God!
It
is
perhaps
the
mark
of
the
unregenerate
if
the
response
is
one
of
rankling
and
rejection!
John
Paul
Sartre
writes
how
as
a
little
boy
he
hated
the
very
thought
of
God
as
one
whose
very
being
must
impinge
upon
his
own
absolute
sovereignty
and
utter
freedom
to be
the
supreme
dictator
of
his
life
as
he
later
expressed
it
in
a
syllogism
if
God
exists
I
am
not
free
but
I
am
free
therefore
God
cannot
exist
such
is
the
common
corrupted
heart
human
instinct
which
imagines
itself
enthroned
and
carrying
the
sovereign
scepter
in
its
mock
majesty
we
vainly
imagine
it
so
for
we
fancy
ourselves
the
center
of
all
with
all
else
orbiting
around
us
I'm
reminded
of an
incident
recounted
in
naval
lore
one
dark
night
a
battleship
is
plowing
through
the
open
sea
at
full
speed
ahead
when
a
light
appeared
approaching
dead
ahead
the
admiral
signaled
Change
your
course
ten
degrees
to
the
north
only
to
receive
back
the
signal
you
change
your
course
ten
degrees
to
the
north
taken
aback
the
commander
signaled
I
am
an
admiral
in
his
majesty's
royal
navy
change
your
course
ten
degrees
only
to
receive
back
the
signal
I'm
an
able
bodied
seaman
in
his
majesty's
navy
you
change
your
course
now
irate
at
the
impertinence
the
admiral
signaled
I
am
a
battleship
you
change
your
course
ten
degrees
to
the
north
back
came
the
signal
no
you
change
your
course
ten
degrees
to
the
north
I
am
a
lighthouse
some
realities
one
uniquely
in
virtue
of
what
it
is
and
cannot
but
be
the
supreme
reality
it
or let
us
say
he
does
not
adjust
to
us
we
adjust
to
him
it
could
not
be
otherwise
that
supreme
reality
the
all
governing
mighty
God
is
the
sovereign
ruler
of
his
creation
and
he
works
all
things
according
to
his
will
and
that
God
works
all
things
according
that
sorry
and
that
God
works
all
things
according
to
his
will
anchors
the
assurance
that
all
things
he
infallibly
works
together
for
the
good
of
those
who
love
him
as
Jonathan
Edwards
writes
every
atom
in the
universe
is
managed
by
Christ
so
as
to
be
most
to
the
advantage
of
the
Christian
isn't
that
wonderful
think
about
that
every
atom
in
the
universe
is
managed
by
Christ
so
as
to
be
most
to
the
advantage
of
the
Christian
and
the
good
in the
all
things
for
good
here
referenced
in
the
scripture
Romans
8
28
is
the
good
of
the
salvation
of
his
people
and
how
this
saving
good
unfolds
for
his
people
is
encompassed
in
the
doctrines
of
grace
to
which
we
shall
return
next
week
Lord
willing
when
we
shall
see
that
all
of
God's
sovereign
ways
end
in
saints
celestial
joys
all
of
God's
sovereign
ways
end
in
saints
celestial
joys
let's
pray
Lord
these
truths
are highly
exalted
and
deeply
mysterious
that we
have
dealt
with
here
we
ask
Lord
for
your
Holy
Spirit
to
render
them
unto
us
such
that
our
hearts
will
become
holier
which
is
your
greatest
pleasure
and
that
our
lives
too
would
become
holier
which
is
your
greatest
honor
and
we
ask
it
for
the
glory
sake
of
Christ
amen
I
think
team
we
have
probably
a few
minutes
for
any
questions
or
comments
that you
have
I
tried
to
go
as
long
as
I
possibly
could
to
avert
the
hazard
of
this
but
alas
here
we
are
I
got
excited
and
spoke
quickly
so
if
anyone
has
any
comments
I
be
happy
to
try
or
I
pled
with
Nick
to
be
in
the
back
just
in
case
I
come
up
!
Matt
already
fled
so
I
don't
know
if
it's
as much
a
question
how
would
you
describe
you
talked
about
how
even
the
particle
of
dust
is
in
control
and I
don't
think
any
of
us
doubt
that
but
eons
ago
God
set
these
things
in
motion
and
said
there
are
things
like
gravity
and
extremes
to
control
the dust
particle
and
rain
and
snow
and
ice
melt
so
how
would
you
kind
of
yeah
so
you're
right
Chris
it is
the fashion
to
think
about
these
dynamics
of nature
we
describe
them
as
laws
because
we
see
the
consistency
of
their
relation
and
operation
the
dynamics
and
it's
very
tempted
to
imagine
that
their
nature
and
power
and
dispositions
are
something
that is
simply
intrinsic
to
them
but
I
don't
think
that
this
is
the
way
the
scripture
talks
about
these
things
and
I
don't
think
that
it's
just
metaphorical
language
I
do
think
that
God
does
directly
ordain
all
things
so
the
scripture
thinks
about
these
things
as
covenant
relationships
so
imagine
God
having
a
covenant
relationship
with
every
atom
in the
universe
as
Jonathan
Edwards
talks
about
what
is
a
covenant
relationship
it's
where
there
is
one
that
commands
and
one
that
obeys
that's
a
covenant
relationship
so
I
think
the
Bible
thinks
about
this
as
actually
a
relationship
of
command
and
obedience
so
that's
a
little
different
isn't
it
now
things
on
the
surface
might
look
the
same
way
say
you
imagine
the
guard
in front
of the
tomb
of the
unknown
soldier
and
you
see
what
seems
to be
he's
marching
to the
north
and
then
spins
around
and
marches
to the
south
and
then
spins
around
and
you
might
describe
it
and
you've
worked
out
a
formula
and
you
might
think
well
this
is
governed
by
a
law
here
it's
absolutely
consistent
and
you
might
think
that
mechanistically
that
is
simply
expressing
the
nature
and
character
of
that
soldier
that
is
just
governed
by
a
law
and
you
could
be
forgiven
for
thinking
that
way
and
that's
a
good
description
but
actually
you'd
be
wrong
he
was
actually
doing
that
order
in
response
to
a
command
he
was
under
command
same
sort
of
motion
you
know
you're
not
going
to
see
the
difference
when
your
telescope
or
your
microscope
but
there
is
a
real
difference
so
that's
how
I
think
of it
I
do
not
think
that
there
is
any
efficacy
any
sort
of
autonomous
efficacy
in
anything
apart
from
God
sustaining
so
except
the
Lord
build
a
house
they
that
labor
in
vain
who
build
it
except
the
Lord
keep
a
city
and
except
you
keep
a
pilot
light
lit
in
my
furnace
it
will
not
light
so
does that
help
Chris
yeah
yes
yeah
huh
yeah
the most violent thing that ever happened in the universe when man first disobeyed God.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Everything followed.
Yes, interesting.
I see that in terms of the consequentiality of that act.
Absolutely, absolutely disastrous and devastating.
And yeah, one could argue.
I mean, maybe it's a little bit like, you know, the little kid grabs a toothpaste, you
know, interested in measuring things.
Well, I wonder how long the worm is inside the little toothpaste tube, you know, all
of the house.
It's really, and you know, it took a little effort to get the thing out.
But boy, to get it back into the tube, that's, maybe that's even a little bit harder too.
And, you know, so is redemption greater than the fall in terms of its consequentiality?
I don't know, we can debate that.
But I see your point.
You can't speak about the covenant of redemption.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I will.
That's coming up.
Yeah, that's coming up.
Yeah, Tyler.
Just to come for this, one of my favorite quotes from John Newton, who I love, is he said,
isn't it a comfort to know that hands that look pierced for you are the same hands that
God always does?
And the idea that, like, even in our own lives, we have these chance encounters where, like,
maybe there's like these random events, like we met someone who introduced us, someone
that shared a gospel with us.
And, you know, I can think of my own life or something like that.
Yeah.
I think that's kind of like God is providentially putting these things in our lives that, for
us, it just seems like, oh, it's some guy around the street.
And he invited me to a Bible study or something like that.
And, but all these things are like God bringing his people to himself.
And it is kind of a, it's a comfort to know, not only the good and the bad, but these things
that God is working on a lot.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
I think I, when I think of these issues, I think more about underneath everything is the
character and person of God.
And his, his original intention was to create creation and to be like that, you know, to join
this group of his life.
To give, just simply be a reflection of who he is.
And I think that underneath all of the problems of creation is this fundamental purpose in
the God that I think the end seems to be, what is his intention when I have an internal
family as well to reflect back, to enjoy the things that I want to share with him?
So I think that helps round out this issue of evil entering what was good.
And his intention is always to be accomplished, but that sin will be repeated and his original
purpose is good to be repeated.
His sovereignty.
Yes.
Amen.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Just to complicate what Ralph said a little bit, how do we account for God's sovereignty in
the fall of the man?
You know, I feel like, you know, there's solutions that are pretty glib, right?
Like, like for a while I was like, oh yeah, Felix Coulter, that pretty much covered it.
And I'm like, ah, there's a problem with that too.
You know, like, you know what I'm saying?
No, I've never thought of that problem before.
Say more.
No, no, no, no.
I'm dead.
Yeah.
What was he doing in the garden?
I know, I know, I know what you're saying.
Yeah.
Um, uh, uh, I, I, I think that that's, uh, one of the most difficult, difficult problems
to, to solve.
Uh, you just, um, uh, and, and, and I wonder if part of it, and this, this won't answer it
and it's going to take longer than we would have to do a decent job on that.
But, but one of the interesting things when we're trying to account for the origin of sin
and the way we think of an account means, um, you need to offer a rational explanation for
this thing.
That's what we think.
Well, that's what we mean when we say an account, give a satisfying account, give a rational
explanation, which is a little bit difficult.
Is it not?
When scripture among its themes is the, the ultimate irrationality of evil.
So that, you know, that, that, that kind of puts us trying to swim against a current that's
pretty, pretty fierce.
So, um, it's, I, I wonder if there's ever going to be an account that we could render here
below that is going to be satisfying to us.
Uh, you know, I feel like, as, uh, the woman of Samaria told you, the well is deep and you
have nothing to draw with, you know, the well is deep here and I have very little to draw
with.
Uh, uh, so, but yes, it's, it's worth raising that and we might do a whole series sometime
on that very question.
Yes, yes, yes.
Yes.
Yeah.
And, and then, and what you said about, you know, well, the most violent thing, right?
Uh, why did that things happen to good people?
Well, that only happened once and he volunteered.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So if, well, how will God not along with his only son give us all things, we have to trust
him.
Yeah.
No matter, it doesn't matter why so much to me anymore, why the tree is there, where
it comes from, as long as that has been on my side.
On my side?
Yes.
Right.
Yeah.
That's good, Josh.
Yeah.
Deuteronomy 24, 24.
The secret of the Lord remains with the Lord.
What he has revealed.
That is for us, our children and our children's children.
And what he has revealed is what is to make us wise unto salvation.
And that's where we're going to turn from here.
We should probably close at this point.
Thank you, team.
Lord willing, we'll see you next week where we will pick up with, um, uh, uh, uh,
a beginning before we had our beginning talking about God's everlasting or his eternal ancient
choice.
Uh, so see you next week if you're able to make it.
Thanks.
Uh, do we want to order these?
I just want everyone to move into the hallway so we have to reset this room up for children's
church.
So feel free, we've got a few minutes at those of our start and you guys can just get out
of the hallway or we'll rearrange this room for what's happening again.
Thanks.
Ah.
Thank you.