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020 - Ch 12 The Value of this Doctrine · Sovereignty of God

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Speaker 1: Chapter twelve of Sovereignty of God. This is a LibriVox recording.
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Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
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Speaker 1: by General Mundo. Sovereignty of God by Arthur Pink, Chapter twelve.
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Speaker 1: The value of this doctrine. All scripture is given by
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Speaker 1: inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
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Speaker 1: for correction, for instruction, in righteousness, that the Man of
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Speaker 1: God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished, and to all good works.
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Speaker 1: Tewod Timothy, chapter three, verses sixteen and seventeen. All scripture
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Speaker 1: is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine,
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Speaker 1: for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness, that the
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Speaker 1: Man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished, and to
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Speaker 1: all good works. Second Timothy, Chapter three, Verses sixteen and seventeen.
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Speaker 1: Doctrine means teaching, and it is by doctrine or teaching
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Speaker 1: that the the great realities of God and of our
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Speaker 1: relation to Him of Christ, the Spirit, Salvation, grace, glory,
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Speaker 1: are made known to us. It is by doctrine, through
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Speaker 1: the power of the Spirit that believers are nourished and edified,
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Speaker 1: and where doctrine is neglected, growth in grace and effective
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Speaker 1: witnessing for Christ necessarily cease. How sad then that doctrine
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Speaker 1: is now decried as unpractical, when in fact doctrine is
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Speaker 1: the very basis of the practical life. There is an
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Speaker 1: inseparable connection between belief and practice. As he thinketh in
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Speaker 1: his heart, so is he Proverbs chapter twenty three, verse seven.
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Speaker 1: The relation between divine truth and Christian character is that
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Speaker 1: of cause to effect. And ye shall know the truth,
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Speaker 1: and the truth shall make you free. John chapter eight,
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Speaker 1: verse thirty two, free from ignorance, free from prejudice, free
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Speaker 1: from error, free from the wiles of Satan, free from
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Speaker 1: the power of evil. And if the truth is not known,
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Speaker 1: then such freedom will not be enjoyed. Observe the order
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Speaker 1: of mention in the passage with which we opened all
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Speaker 1: scripture is profitable first for doctrine. The same order is
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Speaker 1: observed throughout the epistles, particularly in the great doctrinal treatises
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Speaker 1: of the Apostle Paul. Read the Epistle of Romans, and
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Speaker 1: it will be found that there is not a single
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Speaker 1: admonition in the first five chapters in the Epistle of
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Speaker 1: the Phesians, there are no exhortations. Still the fourth chapter
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Speaker 1: is reached. The order is first doctrinal exposition and then
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Speaker 1: admonition or exhortation for the regulation of the daily walk.
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Speaker 1: The substitution of so called practical preaching for the doctrinal
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Speaker 1: exposition which it has supplanted is the root cause of
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Speaker 1: many of the evil maladies which now afflict to the
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Speaker 1: Church of God. The reason why there is so little depth,
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Speaker 1: so little intelligence, so little grasp of the fundamental verities
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Speaker 1: of Christianity, is because so few believers have been established
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Speaker 1: in the faith through hearing expounded and through their own
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Speaker 1: personal study of the doctrines of grace. While their soul
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Speaker 1: is unestablished in the doctrine of the divine inspiration of
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Speaker 1: the Scripture, their full and verbal inspiration, there can be
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Speaker 1: no firm foundation for faith to rest upon. While the
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Speaker 1: soul is ignorant of the doctrine of justification, there can
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Speaker 1: be no real and intelligent assurance of its acceptance in
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Speaker 1: the beloved. While the soul is unacquainted with the teaching
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Speaker 1: of the Word. Upon sanctification, it is open to receive
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Speaker 1: all the crudities and errors of the perfectionists or holiness people.
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Speaker 1: While the soul knows not what scripture has to say
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Speaker 1: upon the doctrine of the new birth, there can be
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Speaker 1: no proper grasp of the two natures in the believer,
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Speaker 1: and ignorance here inevitably results in the loss of peace
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Speaker 1: and joy. And so we might go on right through
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Speaker 1: the list of Christian doctrine. It is ignorance of doctrine
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Speaker 1: that has rendered the professing Church helpless to cope with
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Speaker 1: the rising tide of infidelity. It is ignorance of doctrine
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Speaker 1: which is mainly responsible for thousands of professing Christians being
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Speaker 1: captivated by the numerous false isms of the day. It
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Speaker 1: is because the time has now arrived when the bulk
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Speaker 1: of our churches will not endure sound doctrine Tewo Timothy,
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Speaker 1: chapter four, verse three, that they so readily receive false doctrines.
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Speaker 1: Of course, it is true that doctrine, like anything else
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Speaker 1: in scripture, may be studied from a merely cold intellectual viewpoint,
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Speaker 1: and thus approached doctrinal teaching and doctrinal study will leave
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Speaker 1: the heart untouched and will naturally be dry and profitless.
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Speaker 1: But doctrine properly received doctrine studied with an exercised heart,
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Speaker 1: will ever lead into a deeper knowledge of God and
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Speaker 1: of the unsearchable riches of Christ. The doctrine of God's sovereignty, then,
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Speaker 1: is no mere metaphysical dogma which is devoid of practical value,
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Speaker 1: but is one that is calculated to produce a powerful
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Speaker 1: effect upon Christian character and the daily walk. The doctrine
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Speaker 1: of God's Sovereignty lies at the foundation of Christian theology,
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Speaker 1: and in importance is perhaps second only to the divine
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Speaker 1: inspiration of the Scriptures. It is the center of gravity
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Speaker 1: in the system of Christian truth, the sun around which
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Speaker 1: all the lesser orbs are grouped. It is the golden
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Speaker 1: milestone to which every highway of knowledge leads, and from
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Speaker 1: which they all radiate. It is the cored upon which
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Speaker 1: all other doctrines are strung like so many pearls, holding
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Speaker 1: them in place and giving them unity. It is the
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Speaker 1: plumb line by which every creed needs to be measured,
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Speaker 1: the balance in which every human dogma must be weighed.
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Speaker 1: It is designed as the sheet anchor for our souls
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Speaker 1: amid the storms of life. The doctrine of God's Sovereignty
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Speaker 1: is a divine cordial to refresh our spirits. It is
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Speaker 1: designed and adapted to hold the affections of the heart
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Speaker 1: and to give a right direction to conduct. It produces
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Speaker 1: gratitude in prosperity and patience in adversity. It affords comfort
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Speaker 1: for the present and a sense of security respecting the
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Speaker 1: unknown future. It is and it does all and much
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Speaker 1: more than we have just said. Because it ascribes to God, Father, Son,
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Speaker 1: and Holy Spirit the glory which is his due, and
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Speaker 1: places the creature in his proper place before him in
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Speaker 1: the dust. We shall now consider the value of the
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Speaker 1: doctrine in detail. One, it deepens our veneration of the
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Speaker 1: divine character. The doctrine of God's sovereignty, as it is
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Speaker 1: unfolded in the scriptures, affords an exalted view of the
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Speaker 1: divine perfections. It maintains his creatorial rights. It insists that
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Speaker 1: to us there is but one God, the Father of
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Speaker 1: whom are all things, and we in Him, and one
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Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things and we
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Speaker 1: by him. Frist Corinthians, chapter eight, verse six. It declares
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Speaker 1: that his rights are those of the potter who forms
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Speaker 1: and fashions the clay into vessels of whatever type, and
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Speaker 1: for whatever use he may please. Its testimony is thou
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Speaker 1: hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are
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Speaker 1: and were created. Revelation, Chapter four, verse eleven. It argues
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Speaker 1: that none has any right to reply against God, and
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Speaker 1: that the only becoming attitude for the creature to take
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Speaker 1: is one of reverent submission before him. Thus, the apprehension
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Speaker 1: of the absolute supremacy of God is of great practical importance,
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Speaker 1: for unless we have a proper regard to his high sovereignty,
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Speaker 1: he will never be honored in our thoughts of him,
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Speaker 1: nor will he have his proper place in our hearts
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Speaker 1: and lives. It exhibits the inscrutableness of his wisdom. It
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Speaker 1: shows that while God is immaculate in his holiness, he
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Speaker 1: has permitted evil to enter his fair creation. That while
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Speaker 1: he is the possessor of all power, he has allowed
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Speaker 1: the devil to wage war against him for six thousand
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Speaker 1: years at least. That while he is the perfect embodiment
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Speaker 1: of love, he spared not his own son. That while
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Speaker 1: he is the God of all grace, multitudes will be
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Speaker 1: tormented forever and ever in the lake of fire. High
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Speaker 1: mysteries are these scripture does not deny them, but acknowledges
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Speaker 1: their existence. Oh the depths of the riches both of
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Speaker 1: the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his
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Speaker 1: judgments and his ways past finding out Romans chapter eleven,
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Speaker 1: verse thirty three. It makes known the irreversibleness of his
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Speaker 1: will known unto God are all his works from the
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Speaker 1: beginning of the world, Acts chapter fifteen, verse eighteen. From
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Speaker 1: the beginning God purpose to glorify himself in the church
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Speaker 1: by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages world without end Ephesians
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Speaker 1: chapter three, verse twenty one. To this end, he created
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Speaker 1: the world and formed man. His all wise plan was
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Speaker 1: not defeated when man fell, for in the lamb slain
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Speaker 1: from the foundation of the world. Revelation chapter thirteen, verse eight.
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Speaker 1: We behold the fall anticipated. Nor will God's purpose be
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Speaker 1: thwarted by the wickedness of men, since the fall, as
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Speaker 1: is clear from the words of the Psalmist. Surely the
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Speaker 1: wrath of man shall praise thee the remainder of wrath,
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Speaker 1: shalt thou restrain Psalm seventy six, verse ten. Because God
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Speaker 1: is the Almighty, his will cannot be withstood. His purposes
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Speaker 1: originated in eternity, and are carried forward without change to eternity.
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Speaker 1: They extent all his works and control all events. He
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Speaker 1: worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
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Speaker 1: doctor rice. Neither man nor devil can successfully resist him.
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Speaker 1: Therefore is it written, the Lord reigneth, let the people tremble,
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Speaker 1: Psalm ninety nine, Verse one. It magnifies his grace, Grace's
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Speaker 1: unmerited favor. And because grace is shown to the undeserving
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Speaker 1: and hell deserving to those who have no claim upon God.
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Speaker 1: Therefore is grace free and can be manifested toward the
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Speaker 1: chief of sinners. But because grace is exercised toward those
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Speaker 1: who are destitute of worthiness or merit, grace is sovereign.
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Speaker 1: That is to say, God bestows grace upon whom he pleases.
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Speaker 1: Divine sovereignty has ordained that some shall be cast into
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Speaker 1: the lake of fire, to show that all deserved such
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Speaker 1: a doom. But grace comes in like a dragnet and
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Speaker 1: and draws out from a lost humanity a people for
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Speaker 1: God's name to be throughout all eternity the monuments of
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Speaker 1: his inscrutable favor. Sovereign grace reveals God breaking down the
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Speaker 1: opposition of the human heart, subduing the enmity of the
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Speaker 1: carnal mind, and bringing us to love Him because He
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Speaker 1: first loved us. Two, It is the solid foundation of
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Speaker 1: all true religion. This naturally follows from what we have
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Speaker 1: said above under the first head. If the doctrine of
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Speaker 1: divine sovereignty alone gives God his rightful place, then it
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Speaker 1: is also true that it alone can supply a firm
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Speaker 1: base for practical religion to build upon. There can be
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Speaker 1: no progress in divine things until there is the personal
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Speaker 1: recognition that God is supreme, that he is to be
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Speaker 1: feared and revered, and he is to be owned and
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Speaker 1: served as Lord. We read the scriptures in vain unless
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Speaker 1: we come to them earnestly desiring a better knowledge of
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Speaker 1: God's will for us. Any other motive is selfish and
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Speaker 1: utterly inadequate and unworthy. Every prayer we send up to
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Speaker 1: God is but carnal presumption, unless it be offered according
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Speaker 1: to His will. Anything short of this is to ask amiss,
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Speaker 1: that we might consume upon our own lusts the thing requested.
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Speaker 1: Every service we engage in is but a dead work
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Speaker 1: unless it be done for the glory of God. Experimental
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Speaker 1: religion consists mainly in the perception and performance of the
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Speaker 1: divine will, performance both active and passive. We are predestinated
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Speaker 1: to be conformed to the image of God's Son, whose
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Speaker 1: met it, ever, was to do the will of the
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Speaker 1: one that sent him, and the measure in which each
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Speaker 1: saint is becoming conformed practically in his daily life is
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Speaker 1: largely determined by his response to Our Lord's word. Take
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Speaker 1: my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I
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Speaker 1: am meek and lonely in heart. Three. It repudiates the
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Speaker 1: heresy of salvation by works. There is a way which
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Speaker 1: seemeth write into a man, but the end thereof are
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Speaker 1: the waves of death Proverbs, Chapter fourteen, verse twelve. The
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Speaker 1: way which seemeth write, and which ends in death, death eternal,
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Speaker 1: is salvation by human effort and merit. The belief in
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Speaker 1: salvation by works is one that is common to human nature.
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Speaker 1: It may not always assume the grosser form of Popish penances,
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Speaker 1: or even of Protestant repentance, as in sorrowing for sin,
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Speaker 1: which is never the meaning of repentance. In Scripture, anything
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Speaker 1: which gives man a place at all is but a
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Speaker 1: variety of the same evil genius. To say, as alas
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Speaker 1: many preachers are saying, God is willing to do his
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Speaker 1: part if you will do yours is a wretched and
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Speaker 1: excuseless denial of the gospel of his grace. To declare
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Speaker 1: that God helps those who help themselves is to repudiate
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Speaker 1: one of the most precious truths taught in the Bible,
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Speaker 1: and in the Bible alone, namely that God helps those
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Speaker 1: who are unable to help themselves, those who have tried
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Speaker 1: again and again, only to fail to say that the
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Speaker 1: sinner's salvation turns upon the action of his own will
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Speaker 1: is another form of the god dishonoring dogma of salvation
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Speaker 1: by human efforts. In the final analysis, any movement of
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Speaker 1: the will is a work. It is something from me,
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Speaker 1: something which I do. But the doctrine of God's sovereignty
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Speaker 1: lays the axe at the root of this evil by declaring,
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Speaker 1: it is not of Him that willeth, nor of Him
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Speaker 1: that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Romans, Chapter nine,
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Speaker 1: verse sixteen. Does someone say such a doctrine will drive
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Speaker 1: sinners to despair? The reply is, be it so? It
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Speaker 1: is just such despair The writer longs to see prevail.
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Speaker 1: It is not until the sinner despairs of any help
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Speaker 1: from himself that he will ever fall into the arms
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Speaker 1: of sovereign mercy. But if once the Holy Spirit convicts
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Speaker 1: him that there is no help in himself, then he
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Speaker 1: will recognize that he is lost and will cry, God,
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Speaker 1: be merciful to me as sinner. And such a cry
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Speaker 1: will be heard if the author may be allowed to
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Speaker 1: bear personal witness. He has found during the course of
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Speaker 1: his ministry that the sermons he has preached on human depravity,
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Speaker 1: the sinner's helplessness to do anything himself, and the salvation
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Speaker 1: of the soul turning upon the sovereign mercy of God
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Speaker 1: have been those most owned and blessed in the salvation
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Speaker 1: of the lost. We repeat, then, a sense of utter
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Speaker 1: helplessness is the first prerequisite to any sound conversion. There
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Speaker 1: is no salvation for any soul until it looks away
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Speaker 1: from itself, looks to something, yet to someone outside of itself.
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Speaker 1: Four it is deeply humbling to the creature. This doctrine
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Speaker 1: of the absolute sovereignty of God is a great battering
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Speaker 1: ram against human pride, and in this it is in
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Speaker 1: sharp contrast from the doctrines of men. The spirit of
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Speaker 1: our age is essentially that of boasting and glorying in
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Speaker 1: the flesh. The achievements of man, his development and progress,
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Speaker 1: his greatness, and self sufficiency are the shrine at which
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Speaker 1: the world worships today. But the truth of God's sovereignty,
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Speaker 1: with all its corollaries, removes every ground for human boasting
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Speaker 1: and instills the spirit of humility in its stead. It
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Speaker 1: declares that salvation is of the Lord of the Lord,
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Speaker 1: in its origination, in its operation, and in its consummation.
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Speaker 1: It insists that the Lord has to apply as well
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Speaker 1: as supply, that he has to complete as well as
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Speaker 1: begin his saving work in our souls, that he has
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Speaker 1: not only to reclaim, but to maintain and sustain us
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Speaker 1: to the end. It teaches that salvation is by grace
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Speaker 1: through faith, and that all our works before conversion, good
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Speaker 1: as well as evil, count for nothing towards salvation. It
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Speaker 1: tells us we are born not of the will of
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Speaker 1: the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
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Speaker 1: God John Chapter one, verse thirteen. And all this is
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Speaker 1: most humbling to the heart of man who wants to
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Speaker 1: contribute something to the price of his redemption and do
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Speaker 1: that which will afford ground for boasting and self satisfy faction.
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Speaker 1: But if this doctrine humbles us, it results in praise
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Speaker 1: to God. If in the light of God's sovereignty we
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Speaker 1: have seen our own worthlessness and helplessness, we shall indeed
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Speaker 1: cry with the Psalmist all my springs are in thee
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Speaker 1: Psalm eighty seven, verse seven. If by nature we were
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Speaker 1: children of wrath and by practice rebels against the divine government,
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Speaker 1: and justly exposed to the curse of the law, And
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Speaker 1: if God was under no obligation to rescue us from
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Speaker 1: the fiery indignation, and yet notwithstanding he delivered up his
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Speaker 1: well beloved son for us all, then how such grace
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Speaker 1: and love will melt our hearts, How the apprehension of
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Speaker 1: it will cause us to say an adoring gratitude, not
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Speaker 1: unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name,
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Speaker 1: Give glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake.
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Speaker 1: Psalm one hundred and fifteen, Verse one. How readily shall
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Speaker 1: each of us acknowledge, by the grace of God, I
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Speaker 1: am what I am. With that wondering praise shall we exclaim?
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Speaker 1: Why was I made to hear His voice? And enter
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Speaker 1: while there's room. When thousands make a wretched choice and
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Speaker 1: rather starve than come, twas the same love that spread
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Speaker 1: the feast that sweetly forced us in else we had
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Speaker 1: still refused to taste and perished in our sin. Five.
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Speaker 1: It affords a sense of absolute security. God is infinite
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Speaker 1: in power, and therefore it is impossible to withstand his
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Speaker 1: will or resist the outworking of his decrees. Such a
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Speaker 1: statement as that is well calculated to fill the sinner
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Speaker 1: with alarm. But from the sate it evokes not but praise.
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Speaker 1: Let us add a word and see what a difference
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Speaker 1: it makes. My God is infinite in power, then I
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Speaker 1: will not fear what man can do unto me. My
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Speaker 1: God is infinite in power. Then what time I am afraid?
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Speaker 1: I will trust in him. My God is infinite in power.
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Speaker 1: Then I will both lay me down in peace and sleep,
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Speaker 1: For Thou Lord only makest me dwell in safety. Psalm
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Speaker 1: for at verse eight, write down the ages. This has
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Speaker 1: been the source of the saint's confidence. Was not this
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Speaker 1: the assurance of Moses, when in his parting words to Israel,
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Speaker 1: he said, there is none like unto the God of
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Speaker 1: Jeshuron Israel, who rideth upon the heaven and thy help,
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Speaker 1: and in his excellency on the sky. The Eternal God
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Speaker 1: is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Deuteronomy,
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Speaker 1: chapter thirty three, verse twenty six and twenty seven. Was
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Speaker 1: it not the sense of security that caused the Psalmist,
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Speaker 1: moved by the Holy Spirit, to write, He that dwelleth
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Speaker 1: in the sacred place of the Most High, shall abide
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Speaker 1: under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to
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Speaker 1: the Lord, he is my refuge, in my fortress, my God.
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Speaker 1: In him, will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee
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Speaker 1: from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
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Speaker 1: He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings.
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Speaker 1: Shalt thou trust His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
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Speaker 1: Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night,
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Speaker 1: nor for the arrow that flieth by day, nor for
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Speaker 1: the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction
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Speaker 1: that wills it that noonday, a thousand shall fall at
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Speaker 1: thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand. But
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Speaker 1: it shall not come nigh thee. Because thou hast made
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Speaker 1: the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most high
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Speaker 1: thy habitation. There shall no evil befall thee Instead, all
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Speaker 1: things will work together for good. Neither shall any plague
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Speaker 1: come nigh Thy dwelling Song ninety one, verses went through seven,
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Speaker 1: and verses nine through ten. Death and plagues around me
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Speaker 1: fly till he bid. I cannot die. Not a single
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Speaker 1: shaft can hit till the God of Love sees fit.
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Speaker 1: Oh the preciousness of this truth. Here am I a poor, helpless,
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Speaker 1: senseless sheep. Yet am I secure in the hand of Christ?
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Speaker 1: And why am I secure? There? None can pluck me. Thence,
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Speaker 1: because the hand that holds me is that of the
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Speaker 1: Son of God, and all the power in heaven and
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Speaker 1: earth is his. Again, I have no strength of my own.
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Speaker 1: The world, the flesh, and the devil are arrayed against me.
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Speaker 1: So I commit myself into the care and keeping of
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Speaker 1: the Lord, and say with the Apostle, I know whom
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Speaker 1: I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able
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Speaker 1: to keep that which I have committed unto him against
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Speaker 1: that day Two Timothy, Chapter one, verse twelve. And what
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Speaker 1: is the ground of my confidence? How do I know
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Speaker 1: that he is able to keep that which I have
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Speaker 1: committed unto him. I know it because God is almighty,
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Speaker 1: the King of kings and Lord of lords. Six. It
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Speaker 1: supplies comfort and sorrow. The doctrine of God's sovereignty is
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Speaker 1: one that is full of consolation and imparts great peace
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Speaker 1: to the Christian. The sovereignty of God is a foundation
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Speaker 1: that nothing can shake, and is more firm than the
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Speaker 1: heavens and earth. How blessed to know there is no
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Speaker 1: corner of the universe that is out of his reach.
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Speaker 1: As said the Psalmist, whither shall I go from Thy spirit?
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Speaker 1: Or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I
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Speaker 1: ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make
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Speaker 1: my bed in hell, behold thou art there. If I
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Speaker 1: take the wings of the morning and dwell in the
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Speaker 1: uttermost parts of the sea, even there sh shall thy
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Speaker 1: hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
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Speaker 1: If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, even
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Speaker 1: the knight shall be light about me. YEA, the darkness
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Speaker 1: hideth not from thee, but the knight shineth as the day.
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Speaker 1: The darkness and the light are both alike to thee
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Speaker 1: Psalm one thirty nine, verses seven to twelve, How blessed
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Speaker 1: is it to know that God's strong hand is upon
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Speaker 1: every one in everything. How blessed to know that not
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Speaker 1: a sparrow falleth to the ground without his notice. How
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Speaker 1: blessed to know that our very afflictions come not by
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Speaker 1: chance nor from the devil, but are ordained and ordered
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Speaker 1: by God. That no man should be moved by these afflictions.
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Speaker 1: For yourselves know that we were appointed thereunto first Thessalonians
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Speaker 1: Chapter three, verse three. But our God is not only
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Speaker 1: infinite in power, he is infinite in wisdom and goodness too,
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Speaker 1: And herein is the preciousness of this truth. God wills
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Speaker 1: only that which is good, and his will is irreversible
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Speaker 1: and irresistible. God is too wise to err, and who
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Speaker 1: loving to cause his child a needless tear. Therefore, if
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Speaker 1: God be perfect wisdom and perfect goodness, how blessed is
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Speaker 1: the assurance that everything is in his hand and molded
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Speaker 1: by his will according to his eternal purpose. Behold, he
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Speaker 1: taketh away who can hinder him? Who will say unto
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Speaker 1: him what dost thou job Chapter nine, verse twelve. Yet
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Speaker 1: how comforting to learn that it is He and not
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Speaker 1: the devil, who taketh away are loved ones. Ah, what
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Speaker 1: peace for our poor frail hearts to be told that
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Speaker 1: the number of our days is with him Job Chapter seven,
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Speaker 1: verse one and Chapter fourteen, verse five, that disease and
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Speaker 1: death are his messengers, and always march under his orders.
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Speaker 1: That it is the Lord who gives and the Lord
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Speaker 1: who takes away. Seven It begets a spirit of sweet
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Speaker 1: resignation to bow before the sovereign will of God is
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Speaker 1: one of the great secrets of peace and happiness. There
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Speaker 1: can be no real submission with contentment until we are
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Speaker 1: broken in spirit, that is, until we are willing and
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Speaker 1: glad for the Lord to have his way with us.
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Speaker 1: Not that we are insisting upon a spirit of fatalistic acquiescence.
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Speaker 1: Far from it. The saints are exhorted to prove what
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Speaker 1: is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God? Romans,
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Speaker 1: Chapter twelve, Verst. Two. We touched upon the subject of
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Speaker 1: resignation to God's will in the chapter upon our attitude
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Speaker 1: toward God's sovereignty, And there in addition to the supreme pattern,
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Speaker 1: we cited the examples of Elion Job. We would now
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Speaker 1: supplement their cases with further examples. What a word is
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Speaker 1: that in Leviticus, chapter ten, verse three, And Aaron held
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Speaker 1: his peace, look at the circumstances, and Nadab and Abihu,
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Speaker 1: the sons of Erin, took either of them his censer,
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Speaker 1: and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered
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Speaker 1: strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not.
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Speaker 1: And there went out fire from the Lord and devoured them.
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Speaker 1: And they died before the Lord, and Erin held his peace.
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Speaker 1: Two of the high Priest's sons were slain, slain by
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Speaker 1: a visitation of divine judges, and they were probably intoxicated
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Speaker 1: at the time. Moreover, this trial came upon Erin suddenly,
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Speaker 1: without anything to prepare him for it. Yet he held
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Speaker 1: his peace, precious exemplification of the power of God's all
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Speaker 1: sufficient grace. Consider now an utterance which fell from the
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Speaker 1: lips of David. And the king said, unto Zadok, carry
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Speaker 1: back the ark of God into the city. If I
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Speaker 1: shall find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he
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Speaker 1: will bring me again and show me both it and
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Speaker 1: his habitation. But if he thus say I have no
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Speaker 1: delight in thee behold here am I let him do
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Speaker 1: to me? And seemeth good unto him Second Samuel, Chapter fifteen,
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Speaker 1: verses twenty five and twenty six. Here too, the circumstances
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Speaker 1: which confronted this speaker were exceedingly trying to the human heart.
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Speaker 1: David was sore pressed with sorrow. His own son was
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Speaker 1: driving him from the throne and seeking his very life.
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Speaker 1: Whether he would ever see Jerusalem and the Tabernacle again,
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Speaker 1: he knew not. But he was so yielded up to God,
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Speaker 1: he was so fully assured that his will was best, that,
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Speaker 1: even though it meant the loss of the throne and
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Speaker 1: the loss of his life, he was content for him
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Speaker 1: to have his way. Let him do to me as
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Speaker 1: seemeth him good. There is no need to multiply examples,
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Speaker 1: but a reflection upon the last case will be in place.
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Speaker 1: If amid the shadows of the Old Testament dispensation, David
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Speaker 1: was content for the Lord to have his way. Now
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Speaker 1: that the heart of God has been fully revealed at
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Speaker 1: the cross, how much more ought we to delight in
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Speaker 1: the execution of his will. Surely we shall have no
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Speaker 1: hesitation in saying, ill that He blesses is our good,
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Speaker 1: and unblest good is ill, and all is right that
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Speaker 1: seems most wrong, if it be his sweet will. Eight
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Speaker 1: it evokes a song of praise. It could not be otherwise.
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Speaker 1: Why should I, who and by nature, no different from
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Speaker 1: the careless and godless throngs all around, have been chosen
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Speaker 1: in Christ before the foundation of the world, and now
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Speaker 1: blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heaven leason him.
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Speaker 1: Why was I that once was an an alien and
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Speaker 1: a rebel singled out for such wondrous favors? Ah, that
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Speaker 1: is something I cannot fathom. Such grace, such love passeth knowledge.
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Speaker 1: But if my mind is unable to discern a reason,
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Speaker 1: my heart can express its gratitude and praise and adoration.
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Speaker 1: But not only should I be grateful to God for
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Speaker 1: his grace toward me in the past, his present dealings
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Speaker 1: will fill me with thanksgiving. What is the force of
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Speaker 1: that word? Rejoice in the Lord all way? Philippians, Chapter four,
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Speaker 1: verse four. Market is not rejoice in the Savior. But
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Speaker 1: we are to rejoice in the Lord as Lord, as
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Speaker 1: the master of every circumstance. Need we remind the reader
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Speaker 1: that when the apostle penthees words, he was himself a
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Speaker 1: prisoner in the hands of the Roman government. A long
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Speaker 1: course of affliction and suffering lay behind him. Perils on
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Speaker 1: land and perils on sea, hunger and thirst, scourging and
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Speaker 1: stoning had all been experienced. He had been persecuted by
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Speaker 1: those within the church as well as by those without.
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Speaker 1: The very ones who ought to have stood by him
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Speaker 1: had forsaken him. And still he writes, rejoice in the
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Speaker 1: Lord alway, What was the secret of his peace and happiness?
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Speaker 1: Ah had not this same apostle written? And we know
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Speaker 1: that all things work together for good to them that
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Speaker 1: love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.
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Speaker 1: Romans chapter eight, verse twenty eight. But how did he
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Speaker 1: and how do we know that all things work together
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Speaker 1: for good? The answer is because all things are under
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Speaker 1: the control of and are being regulated by the Supreme Sovereign,
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Speaker 1: And because he has not but thoughts of love toward
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Speaker 1: his own, then all things are so ordered by Him
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Speaker 1: that they are made to minister to our ultimate good.
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Speaker 1: It is for this cause we are to give thanks
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Speaker 1: always for all things unto God and the Father, in
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Speaker 1: the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians chapter five,
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Speaker 1: verse twenty Yes, give thanks for all things, for, as
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Speaker 1: it has been well said, our disappointments are but his
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Speaker 1: appointments to the one who delights in the sovereignty of God.
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Speaker 1: The clouds not only have a silver lining, but they
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Speaker 1: are silver all through the darkness, only serving to offset
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Speaker 1: the light. Ye, fearful saints, fresh courage, take the clouds,
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Speaker 1: ye so much dread, are big with mercy, and shall
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Speaker 1: break in blessings er your head. Nine. It guarantees the
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Speaker 1: final triumph of good over evil. Ever since the day
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Speaker 1: that Cane slew Abel, the conflict on earth between good
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Speaker 1: and evil has been a sore problem to the saints.
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Speaker 1: In every age, the righteous have appeared to defy God
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Speaker 1: with impunity. The Lord's people, for the most part, have
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Speaker 1: been poor in this world's good, whereas the wicked and
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Speaker 1: the temporal prosperity have flourished like the green bay tree.
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Speaker 1: As one looks around and beholds the oppression of believers
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Speaker 1: and the earthly success of unbelievers, and notes how few
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Speaker 1: are the former, and how numerous the latter. As he
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Speaker 1: sees the apparent defeat of the right and the triumphing
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Speaker 1: of might and the wrong. As he hears the roar
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Speaker 1: of battle, the cries of the wounded, and the lamentations
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Speaker 1: of the bereaved, as he discovers that almost everything down
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Speaker 1: here is in confusion, chaos and ruins. It seems as
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Speaker 1: though safe and we're getting the better of the conflict.
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Speaker 1: But as one looks above instead of around, there is
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Speaker 1: plainly visible to the eye of faith a throne, a
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Speaker 1: throne unaffected by the storms of earth, a throne that
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Speaker 1: is set stable and secure, and upon it is seated
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Speaker 1: one whose name is the Almighty, and who worketh all
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Speaker 1: things after the counsel of his own will Ephesians, Chapter one,
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Speaker 1: verse eleven. This, then, is our confidence. God is on
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Speaker 1: the throne, the helm is in his hand, and being almighty,
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Speaker 1: his purpose cannot fail, for he is in one mind,
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Speaker 1: and who can turn him? And what his soul desireth
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Speaker 1: even that he doeth Joke Chapter twenty three, verse thirteen.
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Speaker 1: Though God's governing hand is invisible to the eye of sense,
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Speaker 1: it is real to faith, that faith, which rests with
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Speaker 1: sure confidence upon his word, and therefore is assured that
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Speaker 1: he cannot fail. What follows below is from the pen
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Speaker 1: of our brother, mister A. C. Gabeline. There can be
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Speaker 1: no failure with God. God is not a man that
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Speaker 1: he should lie, neither the one of man that he
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Speaker 1: should repent. Hath he said, and shall he not do it?
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Speaker 1: Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it?
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Speaker 1: Good Numbers Chapter twenty three, verse nineteen. All will be accomplished.
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Speaker 1: The promise made to his own beloved people to come
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Speaker 1: for them and take them from hence to glory will
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Speaker 1: not fail. He will surely come and gather them in
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Speaker 1: his own presence. The solemn words spoken to the nations
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Speaker 1: of the earth by the different prophets will also not fail.
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Speaker 1: Come near, ye nations, to hear and hearken, ye people.
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Speaker 1: Let the earth hear, and all that is therein the world,
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Speaker 1: in all things that come forth of it. For the
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Speaker 1: indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his
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Speaker 1: fury upon all their armies. He hath utterly destroyed them.
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Speaker 1: He hath delivered them to the slaughter. Isaiah Chapter thirty four,
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Speaker 1: Verses one and two. Nor will that day fail, in
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Speaker 1: which the lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and
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Speaker 1: the haughtiness of man shall be bowed down, and the
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Speaker 1: Lord alone shall be exalted Isaiah chapter two, verse eleven.
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Speaker 1: The day in which he is manifested, when his glory
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Speaker 1: shall cover the heavens and his feet will stand again
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Speaker 1: upon this earth will surely come. His kingdom will not fail,
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Speaker 1: nor all the promised events connected with the end of
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Speaker 1: the age and the consummation. In these dark and trying times,
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Speaker 1: how well it is to remember that he is on
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Speaker 1: the throne, the throne which cannot be shaken, and that
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Speaker 1: he will not fail in doing all he has spoken
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Speaker 1: and promised. Seek ye out the Book of the Lord
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Speaker 1: and read no one of these shall fail Isaiah, chapter
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Speaker 1: thirty four, verse sixteen. In believing blessed anticipation, we can
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Speaker 1: look on to the glory time when his word and
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Speaker 1: his will is accomplished, when through the coming of the
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Speaker 1: Prince of Peace, righteousness and peace comes at last. And
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Speaker 1: while we wait for the supreme and blessed moment when
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Speaker 1: his promise to us is accomplished, we trust in him
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Speaker 1: walking in his fellowship, and daily find afresh that he
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Speaker 1: does not fail to sustain and keep us in all
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Speaker 1: our ways. Ten. It provides a resting place for the heart.
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Speaker 1: Much that might have been said here has already been
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Speaker 1: anticipated under previous heads. Seated upon the throne of heaven,
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Speaker 1: the one who is governor over the nations, and who
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Speaker 1: has ordained and now regulates all events. Is infinite, not
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Speaker 1: only in power, but in wisdom and goodness as well.
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Speaker 1: He who is lord over all creation is the one
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Speaker 1: that was manifest in the flesh. First Timothy, chapter three,
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Speaker 1: verse sixteen. Ah. Here is a theme no human pen
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Speaker 1: can do justice to the glory of God consists not
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Speaker 1: merely in that he is highest, but in that being high,
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Speaker 1: he stooped and lowly loved to bear the burden of
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Speaker 1: his own sinful creatures. For it is written God was
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Speaker 1: in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. Second Corinthians, chapter five,
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Speaker 1: verse nineteen. The Church of God was purchased with his
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Speaker 1: own blood, Acts Chapter twenty, verse twenty eight. It is
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Speaker 1: upon the gracious self humiliation of the King himself that
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Speaker 1: his kingdom is established, Oh wondrous cross. By it, he
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Speaker 1: who suffered upon it has become not the lord of
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Speaker 1: our destinies he was that before, but the Lord of
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Speaker 1: our hearts. Therefore, it is not an abject terror that
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Speaker 1: we bow before the Supreme Sovereign, but in adoring worship
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Speaker 1: we cry worthy is the lamb that was slain to
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Speaker 1: receive power and riches, and wisdom, and strength and honor.
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Speaker 1: And glory and blessing Revelation, Chapter five, verse twelve. Here, then,
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Speaker 1: is the refutation of the wicked charge that this doctrine
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Speaker 1: is a horrible calumny upon God and dangerous to expound
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Speaker 1: to his people. Can a doctrine be horrible and dangerous
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Speaker 1: that gives God his true place, that maintains his rights,
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Speaker 1: that magnifies his grace, that ascribes all glory to him,
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Speaker 1: and removes every ground of boasting from the creature. Can
32:35
Speaker 1: a doctrine be horrible and dangerous which affords the saints
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Speaker 1: a sense of security and danger, that supplies them comfort
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Speaker 1: and sorrow, that begets patience with them in adversity, that
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Speaker 1: evokes from them praise at all times. Can a doctrine
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Speaker 1: be horrible and dangerous which assures us that the certain
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Speaker 1: triumph of good over evil, and which provides a sure
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Speaker 1: resting place for our hearts, and that place the perfections
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Speaker 1: of the Sovereign himself. No, a thousand dimes know, instead
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Speaker 1: of being horrible and dangerous, this doctrine of the sovereignty
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Speaker 1: of God is glorious and edifying, and a due apprehension
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Speaker 1: of it will but serve to make us exclaim with Moses,
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Speaker 1: who is like unto thee O lord among the gods,
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Speaker 1: who is like thee glorious in holiness, fearful in praises,
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Speaker 1: doing wonders. Exodus, chapter fifteen, Verse eleven, end of chapter twelve.
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Speaker 1: Recording by genre Mundo