The Sovereignty of God
We hear about the sovereignty of God frequently don’t we? To be sovereign means to have ultimate or absolute power. We know through scripture that God is omnipresent, Psalm 139:7-12 says Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night," even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you. He is also omniscient, all knowing, Hebrews 4:13 says “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” God is omnipotent, all powerful. Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” We talked about this a little bit in our study in Ephesians chapter 1 talks about His power, Jesus was raised to from the dead through the power of the Father and the Holy Spirit and was given all the power and authority before He ascended back into the heavens. Could you imagine speaking and something just appearing out of nothing? Bottle of water! Ice Cream cone! (hold out hand) Didn’t work, we as humans do not have power like that. There are those who use optical illusion and make things appear out of nothing, but it is slight of hand not creation. "Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible' (Matthew 19:26). “'I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?'" (Jeremiah 32:27).
We see the hand of God in many instances of the Old Testament, He knows everything, he knows who to call on to accomplish His will on earth. Some may say that we have free will, which means we have control over things we can make decisions, and they are not wrong. Do you also know that God knows our thoughts? He knows our hearts. God has placed everyone exactly where He needs them to be. You are not here by accident. As we have been reading through Jonah and also through Daniel, we see just how well God uses us in obedience and disobedience. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego were the great example of how God can use you in obedience. We have heard their stories and how they were used to bring non-believers to belief in God. Standing firm in their faith Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego refused to bow down to the idol created by the king. I’ll show you said the king, no I’ll show you said the King of Kings God is the King above all Kings. Daniel on the other hand was put in the lion’s den against the king’s wishes, he loved Daniel and didn’t want harm to come his way. The King protected Daniel in that den of lions. Once again bringing more people to know the true God because of obedience. Looking at Jonah, the disobedient one, we find that Jonah doesn’t want to go to Nineveh, matter of fact, he doesn’t want to go so bad that he sets off in a different direction. When we were in our study Thursday, we re-discovered how God still uses us in our disobedience if it is for His glory. Those sailors on the ship that Jonah chose to run from God on learned who the true God is. Jonah 1:14-16 'Then they called on the Lord and said, “We earnestly pray, O Lord , do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O Lord , have done as You have pleased.” So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. ' In Jonah’s disobedience sailors were brought to the feet of the True God. He could have stopped Jonah before he got on that boat, He didn’t because there were people that might not have heard about Him if this didn’t happen.
God is in control of all things. And yet we still have free will. He is a gentleman and will not force himself on anyone.
Do you know why there was a king over Israel? People rejected God as their king. They couldn’t see Him. They didn’t seek Him. They couldn’t hear Him, they weren’t listening for him. People wanted a king because they didn’t trust God’s power. Sounds a lot like the situation we are in today doesn’t it? God told Samuel the judge over Israel at the time, that the people were not rejecting him (Samuel) but they were rejecting God Himself. God said Samuel, tell them what the consequences of their choice will be. Samuel told them this is what is going to happen if you have a king over you. 1 Samuel 8:11-18 'He said, “This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen and they will run before his chariots. He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his officers and to his servants. He will also take your male servants and your female servants and your best young men and your donkeys and use them for his work. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants. Then you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” 'Even so the people said, we want a king to be over us to judge us, to fight battles for us that we will be like other nations. Careful what you wish for right? The people rejected God because they didn’t trust in His power to judge them, to fight the battles for them, they wanted to be like other nations when they didn’t know how good they had it having the King of Kings doing these things for them.
There has been a lot of talk lately about fearing for our world. I have often said I fear for my country when I look at some things… Sarah and I were in the waiting room at the Van Wert Hospital cardio unit waiting for her tests the day before inauguration and there was conversation about fearing for our country and what bad things would be coming down the pike… I’ve heard this phrase a few times, perhaps you have too… If God is sovereign, why would we fear? and why is it that we look at the bad things that could happen instead of praying for the good things that could happen? Do we really believe that God is sovereign? We had a conversation that almost got me on my soapbox, but at the end of the day I shared that if we believe God is sovereign and in control, where do we find our hope? Is it in the president? Is it in congress? Is it in the supreme court? No, none of these, it is in the creator of the heavens and the earth. It is in the One who provides everything we need to survive. He may not always give us what we want, but we always have what we need. Paul, the new creation that once was Saul the persecutor of Christians shared in Philippians 4 that he learned how to be content in all circumstances, in lack and in plenty. In prison and as a free man. His hope was not found in who held the earthly power, but in the one who holds the ultimate power.
People in leadership have power because God allowed them to. There is no one in the history of God’s story that rose to power and shocked God. Again, He has placed everyone exactly where He needs them to be to accomplish His will. Let’s see where we can prove this. We can go back to Abraham, we can go back to Pharaoh, we can look at Jonah, in the New Testament we read that at just the right time Jesus was born. Galatians 4:4-5 says 'But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. ' In the fullness of time, when everything was in the right place, when everyone who was to be in power was in power. When those who would come did. When those who would doubt did. When those who would reject did. When those who would betray did. Everyone was exactly where they needed to be for God’s plan, His story to continue as it was written before time began for us. We may have some doubts about how things may go in the next 2-4 years, we may have some fears about the changes that are going to come down the pike. However, at the end of the day if we remember Romans 8:28 we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. That doesn’t say some things, that says ALL things. This includes elections, this includes the storms that come our way, this includes all that comes at us in life. Will you trust Him today? Not just with some things that you think are easy to trust Him with but with EVERYTHING? Or will you be like the Israelites and deny your true King? The choice is yours. Are you ready for the living water that can quench your thirst forever? Are you willing to empty yourself so that God can fill you with all you need? We’re going to sing Fill My Cup Lord as we prepare to close out our time today. Are you here needing to let go and let God? Are you here today holding on to things that are keeping you from reaching your full potential in God? Are you here today while living in disobedience? God is able and will use you if you even if you think you aren’t going to allow Him to. Trust Him. He is in control! His will be done! Let’s stand as we sing.
