I wanted to talk to you about God's sovereignty because as I was going through God's omnipotence,
! mainly his strength and his power, so hard to not bleed into God's sovereignty.
!
And my hope in mind is that you guys would walk in sovereignty with peace and trust
and see this as a source of comfort and not fear.
Along with that, that you guys would be equipped as we're a church plant with a correct mindset
in evangelism, in God's sovereignty.
So with all that, I want to talk about rocks.
There's a...
I love rocks.
There's one of my favorite classes in public school was earth science.
And my favorite part was geology, which dealt with fossils and rocks.
And it was fascinating to learn about igneous rocks, the cooling of lava to create igneous
rocks, diamonds being created under pressure, and crystals in their beautiful formation.
And while I was obsessed with rocks, I was also obsessed with the question, can God create
a rock so big that he could not lift it?
And I was haunted and plagued by this question for years.
And if I answered yes, I was wrong.
If I answered yes, could God create a rock so big that he couldn't lift it?
It was a lie about who God is.
If I answered no, it was a lie about who God is.
I was like, what do I do?
Right?
It wasn't until later in life that I realized that this is just a stupid question.
It's a silly question.
It's a contradiction.
Because it's not the truth, you could get no answer to the truth of who God is.
Right?
Because we know that God truly is all-powerful.
And this insufficient folly of a question, though so trivial, helps me introduce God's
omnipotence.
Right?
Um, Deocarsen defines omnipotence as God being so powerful, he can do anything he chooses
to do.
Uh, we can say that we are not omnipotent because we cannot do anything that we choose
to do.
We could try, but we cannot.
Uh, and to talk about God's omnipotence, it is impossible to separate it from his omniscience.
Uh, that, that is, um, God knowing everything and his omnipresence, which is God being everywhere.
Um, and for that, uh, I wanted to us to turn to Psalm 139, which I think clearly lays out
all three of these things.
Um, so I'll, I'll give you a second to turn there if you want to read along with me.
I'll start in verse one and then go to verse 16.
Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I stand up.
You understand my thoughts from far away.
You observe my travels and my rest.
You are aware of all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue.
You know all about it, Lord.
You have encircled me.
You have placed your hand upon me.
This wondrous knowledge is beyond me.
It is lofty.
I am unable to reach it.
That there is God's omniscience.
His knowing everything.
As David says, before I say another word, God already knows of what I'm going to say.
And now his, his omnipresence.
Where can I go to escape your spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to heaven, you are there.
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I live at the Eastern horizon or settle in the Western limits, even there, your hand will
lead me.
Your right hand will hold on to me.
If I say, surely the darkness will hide me and the light around me will be night.
Even the darkness is not dark to you.
The night shines like the day.
Darkness and light are alike to you.
This speaks of God's omnipresence.
He's everywhere.
There is no dark corner of this world that we can go, that we can hide from God.
Nothing that we do could hide us from God.
And now his power.
For it was you who created my inward parts.
You knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made.
Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well.
My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in the secret.
When I was formed in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw me when I was formless.
Because all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began.
That speaks of his power.
Now, to bring them all together and why these can't be separated is because God, as the causer
of all things, can have nothing happen outside of his authority.
So, David says,
That's the same for all of us.
That's the same for all of God's creation.
God's power has created everything.
He has caused everything.
If God has caused everything, if God does everything, then there's nothing that God does not know will happen.
Hence his omniscience.
If God knows everything will happen, and he's an eternal being outside of time, and he can be everywhere all at once,
there is nothing that can hide from him because he has caused everything to happen.
He knows where everything is.
And so, that means that nothing can escape God's authority.
He knows where everything and everyone is because he ordains where they are and where they will be.
Now, with that in mind, we can more clearly think of God's sovereignty, right, with these three connected.
And there's three common wrong worldviews of how the world works.
It's not exhaustive, but just common.
Before we jump into God's sovereignty.
The first is atheism, right?
The natural man.
He only believes in what he can see, what can be measured.
Hypothesis, the scientific theory.
Scientific theory.
Seeing is believing.
Maybe even money makes the world go round.
Only what I can spend is truly my God.
That is one worldview.
The other is deism.
That God created this world, and he left.
He's the great watchmaker.
Like, Garvin created this watch.
I know the watchmaker, though.
God created this watch and threw it out there.
The universe, right?
And it keeps ticking and keeps ticking and just keeps going.
And God, you know, God's outside.
He's like, hands off.
That's the world, right?
The other worldview is what Carson calls the God of the gaps,
which is what a lot of Christians believe.
This is where the world is going.
It's not totally deism, but, you know, the watch goes out of whack sometimes,
and God sticks his finger in there.
Boom, miracle.
And another one is, God, I really, really, really, really, really need your help.
Please help me.
But other than that, you never think about God.
God, it's God.
God only fills the gaps where he is needed by you.
And those are three wrong worldviews of how the world works.
And it wants to think clearly and soberly about God's sovereignty.
So let's do a little brain exercise.
Today, there's a mom that just gave birth.
I know this.
My wife is after birth.
A couple just got married.
A dude just skipped church and caught a massive fish.
A raccoon got snared by Max and Charlie or Joey.
And so many other good things that are happening today.
It's all caused by God.
But also, there's a flip side.
There are parents who just lost their son, their daughter.
There's a woman who was raped.
There is a drunk driver who just died in a car crash.
There's someone who just lost the battle with cancer and died.
A family's death stated by divorce.
There's so many good things, but yet so many evil things.
And it comes to the question, what is God's sovereignty, though, with all these evil things?
Is God's sovereignty just a chessboard match with Satan?
And when God is losing, bad things happen?
That's not sovereignty.
God is in control at all times.
And we may think that he is not, but he is.
And I want us to take a look at the story of Job.
And Job gives, the story of Job gives a great picture of this.
So turn with me to Job 1, starting in verse 14.
Before this, Satan and God had a conversation.
And God gave Satan permission to afflict him in some of the most horrible ways.
Starting in verse 14.
A messenger came to Job and reported,
While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys grazing nearby,
the Sabians swooped down and took them away.
They struck down your servants with the sword,
and I alone have escaped to tell you.
So these people came down,
thieves, stole all of Job's oxen,
and murdered his servants.
A lot about God.
He was still speaking,
when another messenger came and reported,
God's fire fell from heaven,
it burned the sheep and the servants,
and devoured them,
and I alone have escaped to tell you.
Another devastation.
That messenger was still speaking,
yet another one came and reported,
The Chaldeans formed three bands,
made a raid on the camels,
took them away,
they have struck down the servants with the sword,
and I alone have escaped to tell you.
Another thieves,
murdered more servants.
He was still speaking,
when another messenger came and reported,
Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine
in their older brother's house.
Suddenly,
a powerful wind swept in from the desert
and struck the four corners of the house.
It collapsed on the young people,
so that they died,
and I alone have escaped to tell you.
Horrible.
Yet,
Job's,
Job's response is astounding.
Job stood up,
tore his robe,
shaved his head,
he fell to the ground,
and worshipped,
saying,
Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I will leave this life.
The Lord gives,
and the Lord takes away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
God is not in some cosmic chess board game with Satan.
And when he loses,
bad things happen.
No.
This shows God is ordating,
allowing,
and controlling
all of these different things
to go on all at once.
Now, you know,
I wonder if our first instinct is to worship.
That certainly is not my first instinct.
I do not have trials like Job.
I mean, I have,
I mean,
the most trials I have in my life
is my two kids.
You know,
Reuben is
three years old,
he's
going to sleep,
and then he's up for the tenth time like,
Kid!
Get to bed!
That's my greatest trial.
Can I get upset by that?
Obviously,
I don't have afflictions like Job,
but for many,
it's hard to believe
that God can ordain
such hard things.
But he has.
And you might say,
what about famine?
Yes.
He's ordained them.
What about wars?
Yes.
What about Hitler?
He murdered millions.
Women,
men,
children?
Yes.
What about,
what about,
what about
he has ordained them?
And in case of God's
ordaining
and his sovereignty,
we might think
with all those,
especially with
all these people
who do
all these evil things,
you know,
what about hell?
You know,
if God ordains
all these things
and ordains
all these people
to do all these things,
why is it fair
that people go to hell?
Right?
That doesn't make any sense.
I'd be hard-pressed
to answer this question
if Paul didn't already.
please turn with me
to Romans,
Romans chapter 9.
Romans 9,
starting in verse 14.
What then should we say?
Is there injustice
with God?
Absolutely not.
For he tells Moses,
I will show mercy
to whom I will show mercy
and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion.
So it does not depend
on human will
or effort
but on God
who shows mercy.
For the scripture tells us,
Pharaoh I raised up
for this reason
that I might display
my power in you
and that my name
may be proclaimed
in the whole earth.
So then,
he has mercy
on whom he wants to
and harden
whom he wants to harden.
And you will say,
therefore,
why then
does he find fault?
Or,
why does he find fault
to send people to hell?
For who can resist his will?
Who can,
who can choose
not to do
what he has already ordained?
Is what Paul asks.
If God has ordained it,
how can we choose
not to do it?
But who are you,
mere man,
to talk back to God?
Well,
what does form say
to the one who formed it,
why did you make me like this?
Or has the potter
have no right
over the clay
to make from the same lump
one piece
pottery for honor
and the other for dishonor?
And what if God,
wanting to display his wrath
and to make his power known,
endured with much patience
objects of wrath
prepared for destruction?
And what if he did this
to make known
the riches of his glory
on objects of mercy
that he prepared beforehand
for glory?
Even in God's
sovereignty,
he still
ordains
that men
who do sinful things
would go to hell.
And he is not responsible
in any way
for man's sin.
And some of you
might say,
really?
He ordained it.
How is that so?
Well,
I can say the word
ridiculous
and it be of my own
free will.
I can do anything
and be of my own
free will.
How does free will
and God's sovereignty
work together?
They're not opposed
to one another at all.
How are we held
accountable
yet God is not?
And I think
the closest analogy
that I've found
to this mystery
is in Psalm 139.
That God
has written
all of our lives
already.
I think
one of the
best analogies
is that of an author.
Consider with me
C.S. Lewis.
Lewis,
I don't know
that he's a sorcerer
and I don't know
that he's a murderer.
Yet he creates
the character
of the White Witch.
He creates
Aslan
to destroy her.
Yet
C.S. Lewis
receives
glory
for all
of these characters
and is not
responsible
for anything
that the White Witch
did.
It's mere
philosophy almost.
Or even
A.W. Tozer.
A.W. Tozer
didn't create
orcs
in this life
yet he creates
Sauron
to create
these things.
Tolkien,
sorry.
Thanks.
Tolkien.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Tolkien.
God-ordained it.
You're right.
Tolkien
creates Sauron
who's this evil
maniacal
fallen angel
in some sort of way.
Yet Tolkien
is not a murderer
nor does he create
orcs in that way
but yet
he receives
all of the glory
for his work.
And so
in a similar way
with God
God
has written
a story
of all of us
in this incredible
awesome way
yet we are still
responsible
for all of the actions
that we have done
and he receives
all of the glory.
Why are you in this story?
For his glory.
Lewis receives
the glory
for his book.
Tolkien receives
the glory
for his book.
God receives
the glory
for his book.
God
yet.
Yet.
This would be
really
this would be a really
really hard pill
to swallow
if we didn't
acknowledge that
God is also
good
and holy
and loving.
Right?
Like in Romans 8
you don't have to
turn there
I can just read it
it says
for we know
that God
in verse 38
for we know
that God
for we know
that all things
work together
for the good
of those
who love God
who are called
according to
his purposes.
God
is working
together
all things.
Right?
Or
another translation
says
God works
together
all things
for the good
of those
who love him.
Right?
he is doing
the working
because
he is good.
He can do
good things
because he is good.
This would be
awful news
if God
was a tyrannical
evil
maniacal God
but he is not.
And if we continue
in verse 31
it says
what are we
to say
about these things
if God
is for us
who is
against us
he did not
even spare
his own son
but offered
him up
for us
how will
he not
also with
him
grant us
everything.
Right?
In God's
love
his holiness
his goodness
he offered
up his
son
for us.
He ordained
that his
son
would die
for you
and for me.
This is
good news.
Is it good
news?
It is good
news.
He is so
good
to give
you his
son.
You do
not deserve
that.
Yet he
ordained
it.
And
not only
that
not only
is God
sorry
not only
is
God
good
holy
and loving
there
is no
deceit
found
within
God.
I believe
it is
sorry
I lost
my page
losing my
page here
there's
Psalm 92
15 that
says
the Lord
is just
he's my
rock
and there's
no
unrighteousness
in him.
yes
there's
unrighteousness
and wickedness
in the
world
but God
is good.
His purposes
are still
mysterious to
us but his
purposes are
still good.
All his
purposes and
his ways and
all his
ordaining are
still good.
And
of the
of man's
accountability
Jesus even
says before
he's about
to be
betrayed
of Jesus
he says
for the
man
the
son of
man
will go
away
as it
has been
determined
meaning
Jesus will
be
crucified
and hung
on a
tree
as it
has been
determined
as it
has been
ordained
sovereignly
but woe
to that
man by
whom he
is
betrayed
right
there is
God's
ordaining
yet man's
responsibility
in all
of them
and we
are
responsible
for
our sins
and
with
all
that
I
wanted
us to
just
really
consider
that
God
is
for
us
those
who are
in
Christ
God
is
for
us
he's
not
against
us
he's
good
faithful
holy
and loving
and I'm
not saying
all this
sovereignty
so that
we can
go outside
and look
at the
sky
and look
sky is
bluer
now
right
it is
to see
that
even
the grass
is clothed
by God
right
Jesus
in the
story
with
Peter
tells
him
to
go
and
throw
a
hook
and
a
coin
will
be
in
the
fish's
mouth
right
God
ordains
the
fish
not only
that
if we
grumble
against
the
weather
we
grumble
against
God
because
who's
in
control
of
the
weather
God
he
ordains
volcanoes
and
tornadoes
and
hurricanes
and
droughts
right
all
things
is
held
by
God
and
so
I
have
with
that
just
three
application
points
the
first
is
if
you
have
not
trusted
in
God
for
salvation
then
you
are
headed
for
hell
as
is
spoken
of
the
love
of
God
there
is
nothing
that
can
separate
us
nor
death
nor
famine
nor
things
to
come
and
for
those
who
are
not
in
Christ
there
is
nothing
that
can
separate
you
from
the
wrath
of
God
if
you
are
not
in
Christ
I
plead
with
you
trust
in
his
son
trust
in
his
son
for
salvation
he
sent
his
son
because
he
loves
you
the
second
thing
is
if
we
are
not
trusting
in
God's
sovereignty
and
that
his
purposes
are
good
then
we
will
fear
his
sovereignty
and
what
he
is
doing
this
would
look
like
random
things
happening
different
things
in
our
life
like
car
breaking
down
family
kids
whatever
happening
we would
just
start
having
anxiety
right
and we
fear
instead of
trusting
we must
be like
Job
when
God
took
everything
he fell
down
and
worshiped
we
must
remember
James
words
to
consider
it
pure
joy
in
various
trials
it
would
not
be
pure
joy
if
we
did
not
see
God's
hands
in
the
trials
that
we
are
receiving
are
you
in
trials
right
now
that
is
because
of
God's
ordaining
that's
not
by
any
other
means
consider
it
pure
joy
and
it's
good
as
James
says
not
only
for
perseverance
but
that
you
would
remember
that
it's
God's
hands
that's
in
your
life
and
even
in
discipline
we
must
remember
that
God
disciplines
those
he
loves
if
we
do
not
worship
God
and
in
his
sovereignty
in
both
the
good
and
the
bad
we
will
begin
to
grumble
and
blame
God
for
all
the
evils
in
our
life
and
we
will
start
boasting
ourselves
to see
that
oh
I
did
this
no
we
must
trust
him
wait
upon
him
we
must
have
faith
in
him
the
third
thing
is
if
we
do
not
see
that
God
is
sovereign
in
evangelism
that
he
is
the
means
and
the
ends
of
evangelism
then
all
of
the
pressure
will
be
upon
ourselves
God
has
ordained
all
things
right
as I've
said
throughout
this
entire
sermon
but
he
has
called
me
and
he
has
called
you
to
preach
his
word
right
some
might
say
well
if
God
has
ordained
everything
why
doesn't
God
just
save
everyone
or
do
I
really
need
to
go
and
preach
if
God
will
just
save
them
yes
you
do
need
to
go
and
preach
because
that
is
God's
ways
in
the
same
way
you
need
to
pray
also
because
in
God's
sovereign
decree
he
acts
by
your
prayers
and
he
saves
by
you
going
and
preaching
God's
ways
are
mysterious
but
there
should
be
no
pressure
that
you
put
upon
yourself
for
someone
being
saved
because
it
is
God
that
does
the
saving
now
a common
reason
that we
don't
evangelize
or
when
the
opportunity
is
preaching
we
feign
from
the
opportunity
is
because
of
fear
right
as
Christians
and
especially
as a
church
plant
the
worst
thing
that
we
could
do
in
evangelism
if
we're
preaching
the
true
gospel
is
do
nothing
failure
in
evangelism
is
doing
nothing
right
you
have
the
true
gospel
and
you
choose
to
do
nothing
with
it
you
choose
to
sit
with
it
that
is
true
failure
rejection
is
not
failure
in
evangelism
rejection
saying
maybe
the
next
one
we'll
hear
and
receive
right
and
so
I
encourage
you
as
we
are
church
blend
don't
preach
God's
word
he's
got
you
in
his
hands
quite
literally
and
with
all
that
I
want
you
guys
to
remember
that
the
sky
is
bluer
because
God
is
working
but
I
close
with
that