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017 - Ch 10 Our Attitude Toward His Sovereignty · Sovereignty of God

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Speaker 1: Chapter ten of Sovereignty of God. This is a LibriVox
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Speaker 1: according all LibriVox accordings are in the public domain. For
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Speaker 1: more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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Speaker 1: Recording by GENREI Mundo Sovereignty of God by Arthur Pink,
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Speaker 1: Chapter ten. Our attitude toward His sovereignty even so, Father,
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Speaker 1: for so it seemed good in thy sight Matthew, Chapter eleven,
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Speaker 1: verse twenty six. In the present chapter, we shall consider
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Speaker 1: somewhat briefly the practical application to ourselves of the great
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Speaker 1: truth which we have pondered in its various ramifications in
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Speaker 1: earlier pages. In chapter twelve we shall deal more in
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Speaker 1: detail with the value of this doctrine. But here we
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Speaker 1: would confine ourselves to a definition of what ought to
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Speaker 1: be our attitude toward the sovereignty of God. Every truth
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Speaker 1: that is revealed to us in God's Word is there
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Speaker 1: not only for our information, but also for our inspiration.
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Speaker 1: The Bible has been given to us not to gratify
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Speaker 1: an idle curiosity, but to edify the souls of its readers.
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Speaker 1: The sovereignty of God is something more than an abstract
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Speaker 1: principle which explains the rationale of the Divine government. It
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Speaker 1: is designed as a motive for godly fear. It is
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Speaker 1: made known to us for the promotion of righteous living.
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Speaker 1: It is revealed in order to bring into subjection our
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Speaker 1: rebellious hearts. A true recognition of God's sovereignty humbles as
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Speaker 1: nothing else does or can humble, and brings the heart
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Speaker 1: into lowly submission before God, causing us to relinquish our
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Speaker 1: own self will and making us delight in the perception
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Speaker 1: and performance of the Divine will. When we speak of
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Speaker 1: the sovereignty of God, we mean very much more than
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Speaker 1: the exercise of God's governmental power, though of course that
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Speaker 1: is included in the expression. As we have remarked in
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Speaker 1: an earlier chapter, the sovereignty of God means the godhood
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Speaker 1: of God in its fullest and deepest meaning. The title
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Speaker 1: of this book signifies the character and being of the
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Speaker 1: one whose pleasure is performed and whose will is executed.
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Speaker 1: To truly recognize the sovereignty of God is therefore to
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Speaker 1: gaze upon the Sovereign himself. It is to come into
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Speaker 1: the presence of the August Majesty on high. It is
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Speaker 1: to have a sight of the thrice Holy God in
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Speaker 1: his excellent glory. The effects of such a sight may
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Speaker 1: be learned from those scriptures which describe the experience of
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Speaker 1: different ones who obtained a view of the Lord God.
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Speaker 1: Mark the experience of Job, the one of whom the
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Speaker 1: Lord himself said, there is none like him in the earth,
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Speaker 1: a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God
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Speaker 1: and is sheweth evil. Job Chapter one, verse eight. At
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Speaker 1: the close of the book which bears his name, we
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Speaker 1: are shown Job in the divine presence. And how does
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Speaker 1: he carry himself when brought face to face with Jehovah
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Speaker 1: hear what he says. I have heard of Thee by
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Speaker 1: the hearing of the ear, But now mine eye seeth THEE.
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Speaker 1: Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.
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Speaker 1: Job Chapter forty two, Verses five and six. Thus a
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Speaker 1: sight of God God revealed an awesome majesty, caused Job
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Speaker 1: to abhor himself, and not only so, but to abase
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Speaker 1: himself before the Almighty. Take note of Isaiah in the
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Speaker 1: sixth chapter of his prophecy, a scene as brought before
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Speaker 1: us which has few equals even in scripture. The prophet
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Speaker 1: beholds the Lord upon the throne, a throne high and
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Speaker 1: lifted up above this throne stood the seraphims with veiled faces, crying, Holy, Holy, Holy,
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Speaker 1: is the Lord of Hosts. What is the effect of
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Speaker 1: this sight upon the prophet? We read, then said, I
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Speaker 1: woe is me, for I am undone, because I am
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Speaker 1: a man of unclean lips. For mine eyes have seen
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Speaker 1: the King, the Lord of Hosts. Isaiah chapter six, verse five.
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Speaker 1: A sight of the divine King humbled Isaiah to the dust,
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Speaker 1: bringing him, as it did, to a realization of his
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Speaker 1: own nothingness. One more, look at the prophet of Daniel.
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Speaker 1: Toward the close of his life. This man of God
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Speaker 1: beheld the Lord in Theophanic manifestation. He appeared to his
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Speaker 1: servant in human form, clothed in linen and with loins
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Speaker 1: girded with fine gold, symbolical holiness and divine glory. We
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Speaker 1: read that his body also was like the beryl, and
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Speaker 1: his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes
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Speaker 1: as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet
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Speaker 1: like in color to polish brass, and the voice of
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Speaker 1: his words like the voice of a multitude. Daniel then
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Speaker 1: tells the effect this vision had upon him and those
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Speaker 1: who were with him, And I Daniel alone saw the vision.
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Speaker 1: For the men that were with me saw not the vision,
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Speaker 1: but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they
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Speaker 1: fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone and
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Speaker 1: saw this great vision. And there remained no strength in me,
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Speaker 1: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and
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Speaker 1: I retained no strength. Yet heard I the voice of
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Speaker 1: his words. And when I heard the voice of his words,
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Speaker 1: then was I in a deep sleep, on my face,
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Speaker 1: and my face toward the ground Daniel, Chapter ten, verses
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Speaker 1: six through nine. Once more, then we are shown that
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Speaker 1: to obtain a sight of the sovereign God is for
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Speaker 1: creature strength to wither up, and results in man being
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Speaker 1: humbled into the dust before his maker. What then ought
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Speaker 1: to be our attitude towards the supreme sovereign? We reply, one,
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Speaker 1: one of godly fear. Why is it that to day
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Speaker 1: the messes are so utterly unconcerned about spiritual and eternal things,
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Speaker 1: and that they are lovers of pleasure more than lovers
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Speaker 1: of God. Why is it that even on the battle
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Speaker 1: fields multitudes were so indifferent to their soul's welfare. Why
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Speaker 1: is it that defiance of heaven is becoming more open
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Speaker 1: more blatant, more daring. The answer is because there is
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Speaker 1: no fear of God before their eyes. Romans chapter three,
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Speaker 1: verse eighteen. Again, why is it that the authority of
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Speaker 1: the scriptures has been lowered so sadly of late? Why
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Speaker 1: is it that even among those who profess to be
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Speaker 1: the Lord's people, there is so little real subjection to
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Speaker 1: his word, and that its precepts are so lightly esteemed
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Speaker 1: and so readily set aside. Ah, What needs to be
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Speaker 1: stressed to day is that God is a god to
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Speaker 1: be feared. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
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Speaker 1: of knowledge. Proverbs chapter one, verse seven. Happy the soul
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Speaker 1: that has been awed by a view of God's majesty,
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Speaker 1: that has had a vision of God's awful greatness, his
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Speaker 1: ineffable holiness, his perfect righteousness, his irresistible power, his sovereign grace.
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Speaker 1: Does some one say, but it is only the unsaved,
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Speaker 1: those outside of Christ who need to fear God. Then
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Speaker 1: the sufficient answer is that the saved, those who are
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Speaker 1: in Christ, are admonished to work out their own salvation
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Speaker 1: with fear and trembling. Time was when it was the
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Speaker 1: general custom to speak of a believer as a god
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Speaker 1: fearing man, that such an appellation has become nearly extinct,
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Speaker 1: only serves to show whither we have drifted. Nevertheless, it
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Speaker 1: still stands written like as a father pitieth his children,
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Speaker 1: so the Lord pitieth them that fear him Psalm one
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Speaker 1: hundred and three, verse thirteen. When we speak of godly fear,
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Speaker 1: of course, we do not mean a servile fear, such
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Speaker 1: as prevails among the heathen in connection with their gods. No,
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Speaker 1: we mean that spirit which Jehovah is pledged to bless,
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Speaker 1: that spirit to which the prophet referred when he said
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Speaker 1: to this man, will I the Lord look even to
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Speaker 1: him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and
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Speaker 1: trembleth at my word Isaiah chapter sixty six, verse two.
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Speaker 1: It was this the apostle had in view when he wrote,
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Speaker 1: Honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the
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Speaker 1: King First Peter, chapter two, verse seventeen. And nothing will
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Speaker 1: foster this godly fear like a recognition of the sovereign
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Speaker 1: majesty of God. What ought to be our attitude toward
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Speaker 1: the sovereignty of God? We answer again two one of
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Speaker 1: implicit obedience. A sight of God leads to realization of
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Speaker 1: our littleness and nothingness, and issues in a sense of
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Speaker 1: dependency of casting ourselves upon God. Or again, a view
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Speaker 1: of the divine majesty promotes the spirit of godly fear,
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Speaker 1: and this, in turn begets an obedient walk. Here, then,
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Speaker 1: is the divine antidote for the native evil of our hearts. Naturally,
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Speaker 1: man is filled with the sense of his own importance,
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Speaker 1: with his greatness and self sufficiency, in a word, with
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Speaker 1: pride and rebellion. But as we remark, the great corrective
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Speaker 1: is to behold the mighty God. For this alone will
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Speaker 1: really humble him. Man will glory either in himself or
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Speaker 1: in God. Man will live either to serve and please himself,
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Speaker 1: or he will seek to serve and please the Lord.
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Speaker 1: None can serve two masters. Irreverence begets disobedience, said the
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Speaker 1: haughty monarch of Egypt, who is the Lord, that I
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Speaker 1: should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know
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Speaker 1: not the Lord. Neither will I let Israel go. Exodus
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Speaker 1: chapter five, Verse two. To Pharaoh, the God of the
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Speaker 1: Hebrews was merely a god, one among many, a powerless
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Speaker 1: entity who needed not to be feared or served. How
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Speaker 1: sadly mistaken he was, and how bitterly he had to
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Speaker 1: pay for his mistake. He soon discovered. But what we
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Speaker 1: are here seeking to emphasize is that Pharaoh's defiant spirit
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Speaker 1: was the fruit of irreverence, and this irreverence was the
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Speaker 1: consequence of his ignorance of the majesty and authority of
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Speaker 1: the divine Being. Now, if irreverence begets disobedience, true reverence
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Speaker 1: will produce and promote obeid. To realize that the Holy
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Speaker 1: Scriptures are a revelation from the Most High, communicating to
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Speaker 1: us his mind and defining for us his will is
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Speaker 1: the first step toward practical godliness. To recognize that the
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Speaker 1: Bible is God's Word and that its precepts are the
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Speaker 1: precepts of the Almighty will lead us to see what
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Speaker 1: an awful thing it is to despise and ignore them.
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Speaker 1: To receive the Bible as addressed to our own souls,
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Speaker 1: given to us by the Creator himself, will cause us
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Speaker 1: to cry with the Psalmist incline my heart into thy testimonies,
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Speaker 1: order my steps in thy Word Psalm one hundred nineteen,
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Speaker 1: verse thirty six, and verse one hundred and thirty three.
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Speaker 1: Once the sovereignty of the author of the Word is apprehended,
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Speaker 1: it will not longer be a matter of picking and
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Speaker 1: choosing from the precepts and statutes of that word, selecting
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Speaker 1: those which meet with our approval. But it will be
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Speaker 1: seen that nothing less than an unqualified and wholehearted submission
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Speaker 1: becomes the creature what ought to be our attitude towards
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Speaker 1: the sovereignty of God. Three one of an entire resignation.
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Speaker 1: A true recognition of God's sovereignty will exclude all murmuring.
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Speaker 1: This is self evident. Yet the thought deserves to be
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Speaker 1: dwelt upon. It is natural to murmur against afflictions and losses.
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Speaker 1: It is natural to complain when we are deprived of
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Speaker 1: those things upon which we had such our hearts. We
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Speaker 1: are apt to regard our possessions as ours unconditionally. We
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Speaker 1: feel that when we have prosecuted our plans with prudence
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Speaker 1: and diligence, that we are entitled to success. That when
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Speaker 1: by dint of hard work we have accumulated a competence,
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Speaker 1: we deserve to keep and enjoy it. That when we
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Speaker 1: are surrounded by a happy family, no power may lawfully
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Speaker 1: enter the charmed circle and strike down a loved one.
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Speaker 1: And if in any of these cases, disappointment, bankruptcy, death
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Speaker 1: actually comes. The perverted instinct of the human heart is
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Speaker 1: to cry out against God. But in the one who,
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Speaker 1: by grace has recognized God's sovereignty, such murmuring is silenced,
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Speaker 1: and instead there is a bowing to the divine will
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Speaker 1: and an acknowledgment that he has not afflicted it as
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Speaker 1: sorely as we deserve. A true recognition of God's sovereignty
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Speaker 1: will avow God's perfect right to do with us as
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Speaker 1: he wills. The one who bows to the pleasure of
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Speaker 1: the Almighty will acknowledge his absolute right to do with
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Speaker 1: us as seemeth him good. If he chooses to send poverty, sickness,
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Speaker 1: domestic bereavements, even while the heart is bleeding at every pore,
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Speaker 1: it will say, shall not the judge of all the
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Speaker 1: earth do right? Often there will be a struggle, for
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Speaker 1: the carnal mind remains in the believer to the end
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Speaker 1: of his earthly pilgrimage. But though there may be a
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Speaker 1: conflict within his breast, Nevertheless, to the one who has
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Speaker 1: really yielded himself to this blessed truth, there will presently
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Speaker 1: be heard that voice saying, as of old it said
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Speaker 1: to the turbulent Genessereth peace be still, and the timeetrous
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Speaker 1: flood within will be quieted, and the subdued soul will
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Speaker 1: lift a tearful but confident eye to Heaven and say
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Speaker 1: Thy will be done. A striking illustration of a soul
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Speaker 1: bowing to the sovereign will of God is furnished by
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Speaker 1: the history of evil the High Priest of Israel and
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Speaker 1: First Samuel. Chapter three, we learn how God revealed to
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Speaker 1: the young child Samuel that he was about to slay
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Speaker 1: Eli's two sons for their wickedness, And on the morrow
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Speaker 1: Samuel communicates this message to the aged priest. It is
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Speaker 1: difficult to conceive of more appalling intelligence for the heart
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Speaker 1: of a pious parent. The announcement that his child is
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Speaker 1: going to be stricken down by sudden death is, under
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Speaker 1: any circumstances, a great trial to any father. But to
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Speaker 1: learn that his two sons, in the prime of their
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Speaker 1: manhood and utterly unprepared to die, were to be cut
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Speaker 1: off by a divine judgment must have been overwhelming. Yet
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Speaker 1: what was the effect upon Eli when he learned from
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Speaker 1: Samuel the tragic tidings? What replied did he make when
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Speaker 1: he heard the awful news, and he said, it is
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Speaker 1: the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good first Samuel,
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Speaker 1: chapter three, verse eighteen, And not another word escaped him.
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Speaker 1: Wonderful submission, sublime resignation, lovely exemplification of the power of
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Speaker 1: divine grace to control the strongest affections of the human heart,
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Speaker 1: and subdued the rebellious will, bringing it into unrepining acquiescence
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Speaker 1: to the sovereign pleasure of Jehovah. Another example, equally striking
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Speaker 1: is scene in the life of Job. As is well known,
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Speaker 1: Job was one that feared God and issued evil. If
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Speaker 1: ever there was one who might reasonably expect divine providence
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Speaker 1: to smile upon him, we speak as a man. It
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Speaker 1: was Job, Yet how fared it with him? For a
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Speaker 1: time the lines fell unto him in pleasant places. The
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Speaker 1: Lord filled his quiver by giving him seven sons and
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Speaker 1: three daughters. He prospered him in his temporal affairs until
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Speaker 1: he owned great possessions. But of a sudden the sun
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Speaker 1: of life was hidden behind dark clouds. In a single day,
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Speaker 1: Job lost not only his flocks and herds, but his
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Speaker 1: sons and daughters as well. News arrived that his cattle
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Speaker 1: had been carried off by robbers, and his children slain
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Speaker 1: by a cyclone. And how did he receive this intelligence?
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Speaker 1: Harket his sublime words, the Lord gave and the Lord
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Speaker 1: hath taken away. He bowed to the sovereign will of Jehovah.
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Speaker 1: He traced his afflictions back to their first cause. He
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Speaker 1: looked behind the sabian who had stolen his cattle, and
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Speaker 1: beyond the winds that had destroyed his children, and saw
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Speaker 1: the hand of God. But not only did Job recognize
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Speaker 1: God's sovereignty, he rejoiced in it too. To the words
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Speaker 1: the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, he added,
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Speaker 1: blessed be the name of the Lord. Job Chapter one,
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Speaker 1: verse twenty one. Again we say, sweet submission, sublime resignation.
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Speaker 1: A true recognition of God's sovereignty causes us to hold
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Speaker 1: our every plan in abeyance to God's will. The writer
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Speaker 1: well recalls an incident which occurred in England over twenty
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Speaker 1: years ago. Queen Victoria was dead and the date for
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Speaker 1: the coronation of her eldest son, Edward had been set
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Speaker 1: for April nineteen o two. In all the announcements which
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Speaker 1: were sent out, two little letters were omitted d V
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Speaker 1: deo volentde God willing planned were made in all arrangements
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Speaker 1: completed for the most imposing celebrations that England had ever witnessed.
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Speaker 1: Kings and emperors from all parts of the earth had
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Speaker 1: received invitations to attend the royal ceremony. The Prince's proclamations
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Speaker 1: were printed and displayed, but so far as the writer
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Speaker 1: is aware, the letters d V were not found on
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Speaker 1: a single one of them. A most imposing program had
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Speaker 1: been arranged, and the late Queen's eldest son was to
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Speaker 1: be crowned, Edward the seventh, at Westminster Abbey at a
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Speaker 1: certain hour on a fixed day. And then God intervened,
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Speaker 1: and all man's plans were frustrated. A still small voice
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Speaker 1: was heard to say, you have reckoned without me, and
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Speaker 1: Prince Edward was stricken down with appendicitis and his coronation
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Speaker 1: postponed for months. As remarked, a true recognition of God's
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Speaker 1: sovereignty causes us to hold our plan in abeyance to
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Speaker 1: God's will. It makes us recognize that the divine potter
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Speaker 1: has absolute power over the clay and moltsage according to
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Speaker 1: his own imperial pleasure. It causes us to heed the
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Speaker 1: admonition now alas so generally disregarded. Go to now ye
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Speaker 1: that say, to day or to morrow, we will go
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Speaker 1: into such a city and continue there a year, and
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Speaker 1: buy and sell and get gain, whereas ye know not
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Speaker 1: what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life?
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Speaker 1: It is even a vapor that appereth for a little time,
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Speaker 1: and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say,
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Speaker 1: if the Lord will, we shall live and do this
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Speaker 1: or that James, Chapter four, verses thirteen through fifteen. Yes,
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Speaker 1: it is to the Lord's will we must vow. It
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Speaker 1: is for him to say where I shall live, whether
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Speaker 1: in America or Africa. It is for him to determine
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Speaker 1: under what circumstances I shall live, whether in mid wealth
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Speaker 1: or poverty, whether in health or sickness. It is for
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Speaker 1: him to say how long I shall live, whether I
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Speaker 1: shall be cut down in youth like the flower the field,
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Speaker 1: or whether I shall continue for threescore and ten years.
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Speaker 1: To really learn this lesson is by grace to attain
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Speaker 1: into a high form in the school of God. And
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Speaker 1: even when we think we have learned it, we discover
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Speaker 1: again and again that we have to relearn it. What
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Speaker 1: ought to be our attitude towards the sovereignty of God
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Speaker 1: four one of deep thankfulness and joy. The heart's apprehension
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Speaker 1: of this most blessed truth of the sovereignty of God
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Speaker 1: produces something far different than a sullen bowing to the inevitable.
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Speaker 1: The philosophy of this perishing world knows nothing better than
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Speaker 1: to make the best of a bad job. But with
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Speaker 1: the Christian it should be far otherwise. Not only should
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Speaker 1: the recognition of God's supremacy beget within us godly fear,
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Speaker 1: implicit obedience, and entire resignation, but it should cause us
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Speaker 1: to say, with the psalmist, bless the Lord, O my
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Speaker 1: soul and all that is within me, Bless his Holy name.
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Speaker 1: Does not the apostle say giving thanks always for all
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Speaker 1: things unto God and the Father in the name of
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Speaker 1: our Lord Jesus Christ Ephesians, Chapter five, verse twenty AH.
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Speaker 1: It is at this point the state of our souls
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Speaker 1: is so often put to the test alas there is
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Speaker 1: so much self will in each of us. When things
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Speaker 1: go as we wish them, we appear to be very
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Speaker 1: grateful to God. But what are those occasions when things
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Speaker 1: go contrary to our plans and desires. We take it
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Speaker 1: for granted when the real Christian takes a train journey that,
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Speaker 1: upon reaching his destination, he devoutly returns thanks into God,
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Speaker 1: which of course argues that he controls everything. Otherwise we
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Speaker 1: ought to thank the engine driver, the stoker, the signal men,
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Speaker 1: et cetera. Or if in business, at the close of
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Speaker 1: a good week, gratitude is expressed into the giver of
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Speaker 1: every good temporal and every perfect spiritual gift, which again
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Speaker 1: argues that he directs all customers to your shop. So far,
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Speaker 1: so good. Such examples occasion no difficulty. But imagine the opposites.
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Speaker 1: Suppose my train was delayed for hours, did I fret
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Speaker 1: and fume? Suppose another train ran into it and I
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Speaker 1: am injured? Or suppose I have had a poor week
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Speaker 1: in business, or that lightning struck my shop and set
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Speaker 1: it on fire, or that burglars broke in and rifled it.
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Speaker 1: Then what do I see the hand of God in
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Speaker 1: these things? Take the case of job once more, when
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Speaker 1: loss after loss came his way, what did he do
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Speaker 1: own his bad luck? Curse? The robbers murmur against God? No,
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Speaker 1: he bowed before him in worship. Ah, dear reader, there
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Speaker 1: is no real rest for your poor heart until you
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Speaker 1: learn to see the hand of God in everything. But
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Speaker 1: for that faith must be in constant exercise. And what
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Speaker 1: is faith a blind credulity, a fatalistic acquiescence. No, far
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Speaker 1: from it. Faith is a resting on the sure word
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Speaker 1: of the Living God. And therefore says we know that
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Speaker 1: all things work together for good to them that love God,
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Speaker 1: to them who are the cult according to His purpose Romans,
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Speaker 1: chapter eight, verse twenty eight. And therefore faith will give
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Speaker 1: thanks always for all things. Operative faith will rejoice in
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Speaker 1: the Lord alway. Philippians, chapter four, verse four. We turn
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Speaker 1: now to mark how this recognition of God's sovereignty, which
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Speaker 1: is expressed in godly fear, implessan obedience, entire resignation, and
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Speaker 1: deep thankfulness and joy, was supremely and perfectly exemplified by
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Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus Christ in all things. The Lord Jesus
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Speaker 1: has left us an example that we should follow his steps.
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Speaker 1: But is this true? In connection with the first point
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Speaker 1: made above, are the words godly fear ever linked with
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Speaker 1: his peerless name. Remembering that godly fear signifies not a
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Speaker 1: servile terror, but rather a filial subjection and reverence, and
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Speaker 1: remembering too that the fear of the Lord is the
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Speaker 1: beginning of wisdom. Would it not rather be strange if
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Speaker 1: no mention at all were made of godly fear in
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Speaker 1: connection with the one who was Wisdom incarnate? What a
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Speaker 1: wonderful and precious word is that of Hebrews chapter five,
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Speaker 1: ver seven, who, in the days of his flesh, having
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Speaker 1: offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears
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Speaker 1: into him, that was able to save him from death,
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Speaker 1: and having been heard for his godly fear revised version,
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Speaker 1: What was it but godly fear which caused the Lord
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Speaker 1: Jesus to be subject and to marry and Joseph in
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Speaker 1: the days of his childhood? Was it godly fear a
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Speaker 1: filial subjection to and reverence for God, that we see
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Speaker 1: displayed when we read? And he came to Nazareth, where
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Speaker 1: he had been brought up, and as his custom was,
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Speaker 1: he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. Luke
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Speaker 1: chapter four, verse sixteen. Was it not godly fear which
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Speaker 1: caused the incarnate son to say, when tempted by Satan,
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Speaker 1: to fall down and worship him? It is written thou
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Speaker 1: shalt worship the Lord, thy God, and him only shalt
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Speaker 1: thou serve? Was it not godly fear which moved him
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Speaker 1: to say to the cleansed leper go thy way, show
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Speaker 1: thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses
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Speaker 1: commanded Matthew Chapter eight, verse four. But why multiple illustrations
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Speaker 1: footnote note how Old Testament prophecy also declared that the
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Speaker 1: spirit of the Lord should rest upon him, the spirit
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Speaker 1: of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,
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Speaker 1: the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
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Speaker 1: Isaiah Chapter eleven, Verses one and two end a footnote.
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Speaker 1: How perfect was the obedience that the Lord Jesus offered
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Speaker 1: to God the Father. And in reflect upon this, let
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Speaker 1: us not lose sight of that wondrous grace which caused him,
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Speaker 1: who was in the very form of God, to stoop
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Speaker 1: so low as to take upon him the form of
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Speaker 1: a servant, and thus be brought into the place where
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Speaker 1: obedience was. Becoming. As the perfect servant, he yielded complete
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Speaker 1: obedience to his Father. How absolute and entire that obedience was,
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Speaker 1: we may learn from the words he became obedient unto death,
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Speaker 1: even the death of the Cross Philippians, chapter two, verse eight.
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Speaker 1: That this was a conscious and intelligent obedience is clear
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Speaker 1: from his own language. Therefore, doth my father love me?
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Speaker 1: Because I lay down my life that I might take
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Speaker 1: it again? No man taketh it from me, but I
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Speaker 1: lay it down of myself. I have power to lay
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Speaker 1: it down, and I have power to take it again.
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Speaker 1: This commandment have I received from my Father? John chapter ten,
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Speaker 1: verses seven and eighteen. What shall we say of the
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Speaker 1: absolute resignation of the son to the Father's will? What
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Speaker 1: but between them there was entire oneness of a said he,
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Speaker 1: For I came down from heaven not to do mine
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Speaker 1: own will, but the will of him that sent me.
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Speaker 1: John chapter six, first thirty eight. And how fully he
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Speaker 1: substantiated that claim. All know who have attentively followed his
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Speaker 1: path as marked out in the scriptures. Behold him in gathsemone.
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Speaker 1: The bitter cup held in the father's hand is presented
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Speaker 1: to his view. Mark well his attitude. Learn of him
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Speaker 1: who is meek and lowly in heart. Remember that there
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Speaker 1: in the garden we see the word become flesh a
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Speaker 1: perfect man. His body is quivering at every nerve and
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Speaker 1: contemplation of the physical sufferings which await him. His holy
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Speaker 1: and sensitive nature is shrinking from the horrible indignities which
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Speaker 1: shall be heaped upon him. His heart is breaking at
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Speaker 1: the awful reproach which is before him. His spirit is
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Speaker 1: greatly troubled as he foresees the terrible conflict with the
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Speaker 1: power of darkness. And above all and supremely, his soul
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Speaker 1: is filled with horror at the thought of being separated
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Speaker 1: from God himself. Thus, and there he pours out his
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Speaker 1: soul to the Father, And with strong crying and tears
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Speaker 1: he sheds, as it were great drops of blood. And
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Speaker 1: now observe and listen still the beating of thy heart,
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Speaker 1: and hearken to the words which fall from his blessed lips. Father,
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Speaker 1: if thou be willing remove this cup from me, nevertheless,
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Speaker 1: not my will, but thine be done. Luke, Chapter twenty two,
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Speaker 1: verse forty two. Here is submission personified. Here is resignation
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Speaker 1: to the pleasure of a sovereign God, superlatively exemplified. And
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Speaker 1: he has left us an example that we should follow
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Speaker 1: his steps. He who was God became man and was
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Speaker 1: tempted in all points like as we are sin apart
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Speaker 1: to show us, how to where are creature nature? Above?
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Speaker 1: We asked, what shall we say of Christ's absolute resignation
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Speaker 1: to the Father's will? We answer further this that here,
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Speaker 1: as everywhere, he was unique, peerless in all things, he
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Speaker 1: has the preeminence and the Lord Jesus. There was no
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Speaker 1: rebellious will to be broken in his heart. There was
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Speaker 1: nothing to be subdued. Was not this one reason why,
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Speaker 1: in the language of prophecy he said, I am a
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Speaker 1: worm and no man Psalm twenty two, verse six. O.
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Speaker 1: Worm has no power of resistance. It was because in
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Speaker 1: him there was no resistance that you could say, my
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Speaker 1: meat is to do the will of him that sent me.
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Speaker 1: John chapter four, verse thirty four. YEA. It was because
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Speaker 1: he was in perfect accord with the Father in all
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Speaker 1: things that he said, I delight to do thy will.
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Speaker 1: Oh God, yea, thy law is within my heart Psalm forty,
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Speaker 1: verse eight. Note the last clause here, and behold his
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Speaker 1: matchless excellency. God has to put his laws into our
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Speaker 1: minds and write them in our hearts see Hebrews chapter eight,
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Speaker 1: verse ten. But his law was already in Christ's heart.
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Speaker 1: What a beautiful and striking illustration of Christ's thankfulness and
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Speaker 1: joy is found in Matthew chapter eleven. There we behold
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Speaker 1: first the failure of the faith of his forerunner Verses
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Speaker 1: twenty two and twenty three. Next we learn the discontent
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Speaker 1: of the people, satisfied neither with Christ's joyous message nor
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Speaker 1: with John Solemn one Verses sixteen through twenty. Third, we
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Speaker 1: have the non repentance of those favored cities in which
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Speaker 1: our Lord's mightiest works were done Verses twenty one through
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Speaker 1: twenty four. And then we read at that time Jesus
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Speaker 1: answered and said, I thank thee O, Father, Lord of
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Speaker 1: Heaven and Earth, because thou hast hid these things from
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Speaker 1: the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto Babes
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Speaker 1: verse twenty five. Note the parallel passage in Luke chapter ten,
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Speaker 1: verse twenty one opens by saying, in that hour Jesus
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Speaker 1: rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank thee et cetera. Ah.
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Speaker 1: Here was submission in its purest form. Here was one
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Speaker 1: by whom the worlds were made. Yet, in the days
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Speaker 1: of his humiliation and in the face of his rejection,
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Speaker 1: thankfully and joyously bowing to the will of the Lord
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Speaker 1: of Heaven and Earth, what ought to be our attitude
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Speaker 1: towards God's sovereignty. Finally, five, one of adoring worship. It
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Speaker 1: has been well said that true worship is based upon
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Speaker 1: recognized greatness, and greatness is superlatively seen in sovereignty. And
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Speaker 1: at no other footstool. Will men really worship J. B.
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Speaker 1: Moody in the presence of the divine King upon his throne,
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Speaker 1: even the seraphims veil their faces. Divine sovereignty is not
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Speaker 1: the sovereignty of a tyrannical despot, but the exercised pleasure
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Speaker 1: of one who is infinitely wise and good. Because God
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Speaker 1: is infinitely wise, he cannot err, and because he is
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Speaker 1: infinitely righteous, he will not do wrong. Here, then is
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Speaker 1: the preciousness of this truth. The mere fact itself that
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Speaker 1: God's will is irresistible and irreversible fills me with fear.
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Speaker 1: But once I realize that God wills only that which
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Speaker 1: is good, my heart is made to rejoice. Here, then,
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Speaker 1: is the final answer to the question of this chapter.
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Speaker 1: What ought to be our attitude toward the sovereignty of God?
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Speaker 1: The becoming attitude for us to take is that of
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Speaker 1: godly fear. Implicit obedience and unreserved resis ignation and submission,
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Speaker 1: but not only so. The recognition of the sovereignty of
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Speaker 1: God and the realization that the Sovereign himself is my father,
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Speaker 1: ought to overwhelm the heart and cause me to bow
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Speaker 1: before him in adoring worship. At all times. I must say,
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Speaker 1: even so, Father, for so it seemeth good in thy sight.
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Speaker 1: We conclude with an example which well illustrates our meaning.
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Speaker 1: Some two hundred years ago, the saintly Madame Guillon, after
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Speaker 1: ten years spent in a dungeon, lying far below the
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Speaker 1: surface of the ground, lit only by a candle at
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Speaker 1: meal times, wrote these words, a little bird, I am
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Speaker 1: shut from the fields of air. Yet in my cage
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Speaker 1: I sit and sing to Him who placed me there,
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Speaker 1: well pleased a prisoner to be, because my God, it
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Speaker 1: pleases THEE. Not have I else to do. I sing
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Speaker 1: the whole day long, And he whom most I love
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Speaker 1: to please, doth listen to my song. He caught and
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Speaker 1: bound my wandering wing, but still he bends to hear
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Speaker 1: me sing. My cage confines me round abroad. I cannot fly,
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Speaker 1: But though my wing is closely bound, my heart's at liberty.
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Speaker 1: My prison walls cannot control the flight the freedom of
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Speaker 1: the soul. Ay, it is good to soar these bolts
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Speaker 1: and bar above to him whose purpose I adore, whose
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Speaker 1: providence I love, and in thy mighty will to find
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Speaker 1: the joy the freedom of the mind. End of Chapter ten.
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Speaker 1: Recording by General Mundo