Our Sovereign King

The Gospel of Luke chapter 7 will read the first 10 verses. Would you stand together with me for this reading from God's Word. When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum.

! There are centurion servants whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant.

When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him. This man deserves to have you do this because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue. So Jesus went with them.

He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him, Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you.

But say the word and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, go, and he goes. And that one, come, and he comes.

I say to my servant, do this, and he does it. When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him. And turning to the crowd following him, he said, I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.

Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well. Very soon, every one of you is going to appear before God personally.

And I want to tell you something about what he's like. I want to tell you who it is you're going to meet in that day. This one that we've been singing about all of our lives.

This one we've been talking about, preaching about. But I can't tell you anything other than what he has told me. Because that's what the Bible is.

It's the revelation of himself to us. And so we come to the Bible. And in this series, what we're doing is we're asking, what is God like? I'm going to meet him. Who will I meet face to face?

And we, as we come to the Bible with a heart to know the living God, it's not very long before we find out that he is a sovereign God. There's over 200 times that he's referred to under the title Sovereign Lord.

Hundreds of times more he's referred to as King. Ruler. The one who reigns. The one who rules. The one who governs.

The one who sits upon his throne. And so we come to think of the sovereignty of God this morning. And it simply means that God alone is King.

God alone is King. Many today will say that God is sovereign, but then flatly reject what the Bible says about the sovereignty of God. He's King, but he's not the kind of King that the Bible says he is.

Well, what does the Bible teach about our sovereign King? Well, that's the very first point then. I've given it away already. God alone is King. God alone is King.

Toward the end of Paul's first letter to Timothy, the Apostle speaks about the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time. And then he breaks into doxology.

God, the blessed and only ruler, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. And on he goes. It's not just that God is a King.

He is the King. The only King. The only ruler, he says. The only one really worthy of the title. Because he alone has absolute authority in himself.

All other so-called kings and lords and presidents and heads of state derived their authority from him.

You remember the governor Pilate. He was losing patience with his criminal. He wouldn't answer his questions. And so he said, Do you refuse to speak to me?

Don't you know I have authority either to free you or to crucify you? And Jesus said, You would have no authority. No authority over me if it were not given to you from above.

There is no authority. No father here that has authority. No husband here. No preacher here. There is no government official. There is no authority in this world.

In the universe. But that which is given from above. From the only King. The only ruler. That there really is. Where does the High King of Heaven get his authority?

From above? There is no one higher. No. It's what he is. It's his own nature. He has absolute authority inherently as God.

He alone is God. The only ruler. The King of kings. The Lord of the ones lording. Now we need to think carefully about this.

What do we mean? What does the Bible mean when it says that God alone is King? Well, we come then to our second point. God has absolute authority to do whatever He pleases. And don't believe it because I tell you.

Believe it because He tells you. Psalm 115 verse 3. Our God is in the heavens. He does whatever pleases Him. Psalm 135 6.

The Lord does whatever pleases Him in the heavens, on the earth, in the seas, and all their depths. The Lord goes on in that psalm, or the psalm goes on to praise God for all the things that God has done in the earth, in the skies, in the weather, the lightning, the rain, the wind, striking down the firstborn of Egypt, striking down many nations, killing mighty kings, Og and Sihon, giving their land as an inheritance to His people Israel.

Well, who gives Him the right to do this? To give the land here on earth to this people instead of this one. To shove these people out and to put others in. He has that right.

He's King. He does whatever pleases Him on the earth, in the heavens. He's the mighty King.

Jeremiah 27. God has a message for the kings of Edom and Moab and Tyre and Sidon and Judah. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says, With my great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it and I give it to anyone I please.

Now I'm going to hand it over to Nebuchadnezzar. You guys have had the land where you're living for some time? I'm going to give the land now to Nebuchadnezzar. Why? Because I want to.

Because I do whatever pleases me and I give the land to whomever I please. He claims that right. Remember Jesus' parable about the man who hired men one in the morning and he said, I'll pay you a denarius.

One mid-morning, I'll pay you a denarius. And someone late in the day, I'll pay you a denarius. And at the end of the day, he gave them all the same pay and the one who worked from the early part of the day complained.

I've worked longer. I've borne the heat and toil of the day. Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you.

Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? So our God has the right to do with wealth, to do with power, to do with us whatever is pleasing to himself.

And no one stands in a position to judge what he does. There is no higher court of appeal to say, God can't do that. No, he does whatever he pleases.

His word is law. There is no law above him. He's a law unto himself, answering to no one but himself. And woe to him who quarrels against his maker.

Jeremiah was sent to the potter's house. Kids, that's where the potter puts a hunk of clay on a wheel and starts spinning it and shaping it into something. Well, the potter is the one who determines what he's going to shape that piece of clay into.

And so Jeremiah is sent to the potter's house where the Lord is to give him a message. He goes and he sees the potter there working the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred by his hands so the potter formed it into another pot.

He took it and crushed it and put it back on the wheel and started forming again a different pot. And then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah as he's watching all this happening.

O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does? Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

Now, does the potter have more rights over the clay than God does over us? The potter didn't make the clay. He went and bought it. He went and dug it from the earth.

He didn't create it. But he has the right, doesn't he, to make of it what he wants. Does God have less rights than the potter? He made us. Does he not have the right to form us and to do with us as he pleases?

If I really believe in the sovereign rights of God, then my mouth will be shut from all complaining under his dealings with me. I have no rights. He has them all.

He's the potter. I'm the clay. Can you see from that why there's room, only room for one God in the whole universe? There's only room for one supreme ruler who does as he pleases.

Because if you had another doing as he pleases, there would be clash, wouldn't there? And you know there's only room for one God in your heart. one supreme ruler who does as he pleases.

And it's either the living God or it's yourself. And that is the very nature of sin. To want to un-God God and to put ourselves in his place.

And to do whatever we please rather than what he pleases. Well, have you personalized the sovereignty of God? God. It's not just that he has absolute power to do as he pleases.

The reality of that is that he has the right to do with you as he pleases. Does that come home to you? It's not just the sovereignty of God on paper, in theory.

No, this is the living God and he deals with us and he has the right to do whatever he pleases with us. He has the right to command. It's not true of kings.

They issue laws. And our king has issued laws and forces them. No sooner had Adam received life from this king than he received commands from this king.

He learned very early that this king is sovereign over him. Don't eat from that tree. Why? Is it poisonous? No. Just because I said so. I am king.

You're my subject. Don't eat from that tree. You can eat from all these. But you can't eat from that one. He's king. He gives commands. He has a right to demand worship from you.

He has the right to set aside one day in seven to be set aside from our normal work that we might give it to him in a special way for his worship. Does he want to give someone else good health and give you ill health?

He has that right. Does he want to give riches to one and poverty to another? Talents to one that he doesn't give to another? Spiritual gifts to one he doesn't give to another?

Success? Influence? The parents you have. Does God not have the right to give you the parents that you have? The place where you live in this world who lives who dies when we die how we die he establishes the number of our days beyond which we cannot go and if he wants Peter to die a martyr's death and John to live until he returns does he not have that right as king of glory?

Because after all he never takes from us anything but what's his as we read in Psalm 24 the earth is the Lord's and everything in it he never takes a life that he's not given first and given to fulfill the purpose that he wants it to fulfill well if you're feeling pretty small by now before this sovereign God you're meant to you're meant to how awesome is the Lord most high the great king over all the earth God alone is king God alone has absolute authority to do as he pleases the right to do with us as he pleases and now thirdly as king he rules as king he rules and he rules over all and here we see how expansive is his rule sometimes nations conquer more land than they can really rule and they get into trouble and they get spread themselves too thin that's not true of our God his kingdom is everything heaven and earth psalm 103 verse 19 the Lord has established his throne in heaven and his kingdom rules over all there's his rule his reign he rules over all and he really rules he really exercises his right to do with all as he pleases he's not just a figurehead king such as

England's monarchy no he really rules over all he's sovereign in all his works let's consider them his works in creation and his works in providence this morning he was sovereign as creator there he is and he's going to create he didn't have to create you know he no one imposed there was no obligation for him to create well why did he create anything because it pleased him to create Colossians 1 16 all things were created by him and for him and so he decides to create a world a universe and he decides exactly how he wants it to be and how he wants it to operate and so he sets out and he creates he didn't consult with anyone he created it all just as he wanted and so the frog cannot complain that it's not a cat he may croak and complain but it gains no traction with God because God creates sovereignly whatever he wants is how he made things does not the potter have power over the clay you see to make it as he wants and it's that way with you

God made you and he made you just the way he wanted to make you and so not is there not only room for complaining no room for complaining this helps you to know who to thank but he didn't make you a mosquito somebody just goes like that and it's over why I mean God makes mosquitoes God makes people God made you what he wanted you to be sovereign God it creation and so the angels and those creatures in heaven fall down before him who sits upon the throne and who sits on thrones kids kings and what do they cry you are worthy our Lord and God to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they were created and have their being he wanted to and so he created think of God's works in providence his sovereign rule over all he's made not only did he make it now he rules it he governs everything that's creation's amazing think of controlling everything now that he's made this is

God's sovereignty he governs everything as he pleases there are the angels they're called he is called the lord of hosts lord of the angelic hosts so they stand by his side and they receive commands from him and they run and they come back and they go on errands the holy angels he's he's sovereign over the demons they know who he is the son of the most high and they cannot lift a finger without his permission and so they're ever seeking!

permission! To touch Job to touch his house to go into these pigs only at the will of the king of glory do they move or do anything he's sovereign over them the animals ravens you go feed my servant Elijah whale you go swallow this man floundering in the ocean Jonah he's sovereign over the animal kingdom he's sovereign over inanimate objects the weather the sun stand still so my servants can destroy their enemies go backwards ten degrees on the dial the sun obeys he's sovereign over inanimate objects he sends rain on one city and none to another sends lightning bolts and hail stones that hit their targets every time he's sovereign over inanimate objects I form the light and create darkness I bring prosperity and create disaster

I the Lord do all these things isn't it something that theologians and preachers and men who are supposed to know most about God often want to distance God from disaster when disaster strikes be it hurricanes some force of nature we want to keep God safely distant when God himself says I bring prosperity!

I create disaster I the Lord do all these things and men are of the cloth are running to try to say he doesn't do any of these things earlier this year a 50 year old let me say this we're going on to the next subject what does he rule over he rules over men good and bad just as he rules over angels good and bad he rules over men good and bad and often disastrous things come from evil men don't they he rules over evil men earlier this year a 50 year old father of five was stabbed to death in the Chicago area and the paper quoted the priest's words at the funeral quote the killer or killers decided to use their free will to vent their anger to allow evil to take over to commit a heinous crime God is unable to stop people from exercising their free will even when the result is like all the tragedies we read about now friends that's simply not the

God of the scripture it's not the God who reigns in heaven God is able to stop people from exercising their free wills in the way that they would set themselves he didn't have any trouble in stopping Haman from destroying the Jews in his day did he didn't have any trouble Haman is going to exercise his free will and hang Mordecai and destroy all the Jews God didn't have any trouble!

removing Haman he rules over wicked men he foils the plans of the nations he thwarts the purposes of peoples but the plans of the Lord stand firm forever the purposes of his heart to a thousand generations I say my purpose will stand and I will do all I please whatever I have planned that I will do the Lord works out everything for his own ends!

even the wicked for a day of disaster Proverbs 16 4 the Lord is working out his hands with wicked men he makes the wrath of men to praise him and the rest he restrains he holds it back yes he has his plans for disasters think of the wicked men in the nations surrounding Israel they're in Palestine they once occupied that land it was once theirs they once tilled the ground and planted the vineyards and reaped their harvests and now they're on the outside looking in this people came sweeping in there and drove them out now here they are looking at Israel they often send their raiding bands in to destroy their crops to just rape the women and take the crops and kidnap children and these nations around

Israel like a hawk circling its prey does God reign over such wicked people listen to the promise of the sovereign Lord in Exodus 34 three times a year all your men are to appear before the sovereign Lord the God of Israel I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your territory and no one will covet your land when you go up three times each year to appear before the Lord your God here's an opportune time for these nations to pounce to plunder to kill to destroy when three times a year when all the adult males!

to go up to the capital to the place of worship boy those border towns are vulnerable aren't they just the women and children left behind God says I have such control over the wicked that not only will they not come in and harm and steal they will not even covet the land during that time God is sovereign over the hearts of men the king's heart the most powerful of men his heart is in the hands of God Proverbs 24 1 and he turns it God turns king's heart you watch in the news and you hear the president of this nation and king of that making pronouncements but we don't see the unseen hand of God turning his heart changing his thoughts but he does he does he determines the time set for every nation of men and the exact places where they should live

Acts 17 in his heart a man plans his course but the Lord determines his steps I'm making a plan in my heart but where I put my steps is of the Lord Proverbs 16 9 I dare not say I'm going to live and go to such and such a city and buy and sell and make profit and do this and do that I don't even know live and do this or that because he controls all these events in my life whether I live die make a profit in business he's intimately in control of all that he has made he really rules sovereign over all has his way in the very outcome of wars and this isn't just the wars in the Old Testament it's the wars being fought today the horses made ready for the day of battle but victory rests with the

Lord Proverbs 21 31 he has his way in every election every change of leadership of the nations he brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing he brings one down and exalts another he has his way in what women go barren for life and what women have children he opens!

the lot is cast into the lap but it's very decision it's every decision is from the Lord Proverbs 16 33 Jesus says not a hair can fall from my head apart from the will of my father in heaven his control his governing of all that he has made is just that precise just that personal so I'm taught if I understand the sovereignty of God to look behind every second cause every third cause every fourth cause on down the line to see the first cause God this God of heaven this king of heaven has decreed what will happen in his universe what will happen in your life and in my life and he's working out his will he works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will Ephesians 1 11 everything must conform to that blueprint his will his plan that's how glorious and almighty this sovereign lord is even the vilest acts of men crucifying the lord of glory that too was in conformity with the purpose of his will indeed herod and pontius pilot met together with the gentiles and the people of israel in this city here in jerusalem to conspire against your holy servant jesus whom you anointed they did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen and so when they condemned him when they beat him when they spit upon him when they nailed him to the tree when they mocked him they did nothing but what god the king of glory had decided beforehand should happen look it up it's acts chapter four and verses twenty seven and twenty eight now this is the universe we live in this is existence this is reality it's a place where the plan of the king most high is daily and hourly and moment by moment being worked out the lord reigns i want to seek several applications from this doctrine of the sovereignty of god is god sovereign and what is your response to this truth how do you respond to this maybe some of you are scared that's scary to think of someone with that kind of power to govern things in my life that's specifically we don't have time this morning but everything that's true of god that we've seen in other weeks and what we'll see in the future is true of his sovereignty in other words his sovereignty is wise he never makes a foolish decision so breathe a little easier okay his sovereignty is just he's never unfair in any of his dealings his sovereignty is right sovereignty is controlled by his power by his love by his goodness never violates himself in his exercise of his sovereignty but if we really believe that god is sovereign then our response should be number one praise and worship hallelujah our lord god omnipotent reigns do you have a hallelujah in your heart this morning as

I've described something of what the bible says about our great god is there something in you that says praise the lord hallelujah he reigns it's well for us that he rules think much about his sovereignty and give him the praise that is due him you see that means that in everything we must see the first cause of it that raise that came to you this past week that good business deal that this or the other well that came from my god no it came from this guy yes but behind it all we see god and so we bring him praise and thanks in all of our dealings we look for that unseen sovereign god and receive it as from him yes it is to his praise that he is sovereign did you know that god wants the nations to know that he is sovereign psalm 96 verse 10 he exhorts us to promote his honor by saying among the nations the lord reigns jehovah reigns we're to go to the nations well they have their gods fine go to them what should we tell them they think that their gods give them good things will you go tell them that i reign and so we go into the nations and what do we proclaim we say jehovah god the lord reigns he's sovereign he's in control it's to his great glory and he wants the word to be out so you say well it's really not that important to me whether or not god is sovereign oh it must be important to you it's very important to god you say oh i don't want to get involved in anything controversial well you can forget following christ there is no more controversial person than jesus the king the whole universe divides into two groups upon meeting him the king of glory what do you do with him oh i hate him oh i love him so it must be important to us it has to do with the praise of our god he wants the whole world to acknowledge that he is the most high and sovereign over the kingdoms of man daniel for and one day every knee will bow and every tongue that ever wagged will confess that jesus christ is king of kings lord of lords to the glory of god the father and so praise and worship is our first response to the sovereignty of god our worship should be different because our god is sovereign worship should look different feel different be different because god is sovereign it should there should be a distinct note of reverence and awe among those who believe god is sovereign how awesome is the lord most high the great king over all the earth and the fact that he is most high and the fact that we believe him to be this great king over all the earth should have its echo in our worship the lord is the great god the great king above all gods come let us bow down in worship let's find our place before this god and i'll tell you it's low it's down he's high we must get low could it be that the reason there's such lightness and flippancy and frivolity in worship today because there's so little awareness of the sovereignty of god little reverence and worship because we've got a little god in heaven the god of the bible is sovereign

and it ought to strike reverence and awe into our worship our god is a god to be feared jeremiah 10 no one is like you oh lord you're great and your name is mighty and power who would not fear you oh king of the nations can't imagine anyone not fearing this great god well when we forget the greatness of our king our worship suffers judah had forgotten the greatness of their king and the symptom was is that their their worship became flippant and light malachi chapter one and they started treating the worship of god with contempt and so they brought their crippled diseased lame animals for sacrificing to god cursed cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the lord for i am a great king says the lord almighty and my name is to be feared among the nations matthew 1 14 malachi 1 14 you've forgotten who i am folks you've forgotten that i'm a great king and the great king is to be worshiped with worship that's befitting of him and so i bring my best offerings i bring my heart to him here's my heart oh take and seal it for your courts above here's my here's my life here's my possessions here's all my hopes and dreams it's yours oh lord we bring in the best offerings we we listen to the word as the word from this great king great king sends out his messengers they unroll the scroll hear the word of the monarch and everybody in the town gathers and it's hush what does the king say do we tremble at his word isaiah 66 to we ought to he's a great king his word is coming to us it's not the neighbor boy who speaks in the bible it's the ruler of all the sovereign lord so may god give us a sight of his glorious throne so that our worship might reflect this reverence and all and then if you really believe in the sovereignty of god then your response will be humility that's already been seen in worship but it has application here as well remember when

Mephibosheth the lame son of jonathan was called before the great king david word went out down to lodibar where Mephibosheth was the king wants to see you and so he comes into the presence of the king this poor lame man what is your he prostrates himself before king david what is your servant that you should notice a dead dog like me now if that's the response of a man before his fellow mortal who is a king on a throne what should our response be before the king of glory should be lowliness humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of god that he may lift you up in due time see how low job bows in chapter 42 when god's sovereignty over creation is set forth he can't put his hand over his mouth fast enough except to open it to confess what a fool he'd been humility becomes those who believe in a sovereign god oh for pride withering views of god's sovereignty we saw it this morning what is our great problem in pleasing people it's our pride oh how can i kill my pride here's another one to add to that list of five things get clearer views of god's sovereignty of the king most high going along and we look out and we see a strange sight there's a there's a herd of cattle grazing and we look and we see that one of them is a man and we look closer and yes it's a man and his hair is grown out like the feathers of an eagle and his fingernails like the claws of a beast and we look closer and we recognize him it's nebuchadnezzar he used to be the king of the greatest empire in the world he used to live in a palace now he's living in the field with cattle he used to eat food fitting of a king he's now eating grass with a beast and he has the mind of a beast what's going on here daniel chapter four tells us what's going on god's teaching him a lesson on who is king who's king nebuchadnezzar said i'm king and i've built this great empire by my power and for my glory and god says let me teach you who really is king there's only one ruler only one potentate and it's not you nebuchadnezzar so he strips him of his sanity and he strips him of his kingdom until you acknowledge that the most high is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that heaven rules who rules nebuchadnezzar says i rule god says i rule and you'll be like a beast in the field until you acknowledge that heaven rules strange sight this god knows how to make his point clear he's good at teaching the lesson and nebuchadnezzar later praises and honors the most high saying his dominion is an eternal dominion his kingdom

endures from generation to generation all the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing he does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth no one can hold back his hand or say to him what have you done that's a pagan idolater whom god has taught a thing or two who rules who reigns and the last words from his mouth are these now i nebuchadnezzar praise and exalt and glorify the king of heaven because everything he does is right and all his ways are just and those who walk in pride he is able to humble able to humble humility is befitting for all subjects of the king of heaven thirdly is god sovereign then my response ought to be obedience obedience is the way we show respect for god's sovereignty in more than words the king of glory says why do you call me lord and do not the things that i say why don't you obey me that's that's how you show you respect my authority as lord and king this is his right as king to have the obedience of his subjects and by obeying him you're saying lord i recognize your authority over me and i am your servant john the apostle tells us all sin is law breaking that when we sin we're breaking the law first john three verse four so every time we sin we thumb the king's authority there is something of rebellion in all sin we show contempt for his sovereignty now some of you are happy to have god anywhere but on his throne because you want to be on the throne you want to be a law unto yourself you don't want anyone telling you what to do god included that's the rebellious nature it's in every sinner every one of us were born with that nature and some of you are still in it you still not bow the knee to jesus and you don't like the fact that he's on the throne in fact if you had your way you'd shove him off and you'd be there but but he's not ready to abdicate the throne he's not ready to move over in fact he's ready to enforce his laws upon all of his lawbreakers and we'll see that in future studies on the justice of this sovereign but those who have been humbled by sovereign grace show it by willing joyful obedience to their sovereign lord they can't imagine thumbing him they can't imagine dissing him who was so gracious to them as to give his own son the king of glory killed the prince of life that we might live what a person the higher a person being served the more honor there is in serving them queen of sheba said oh how wonderful are the servants of solomon he's so great that it elevates his servants what is our privilege that the king most high has saved us and called us to serve him now what a privilege so we gladly serve him we gladly obey him obedience is the way that we show respect for god's sovereignty fourthly submission a sweet submission to his will of providence a sweet

resignation to all he sends my way to all that he puts in my cup and says drink it first samuel three remember children when samuel was just a boy he went to live with eli the priest there in the temple and one night samuel's laying there and he hears a voice and he thinks it's eli and he runs over you called master and eli says oh it wasn't me i didn't call you go back to bed and that happens three times and the third time old eli the old priest starts to figure it out if it's not me calling him and there's only him and me in the temple it could be that god is beginning to speak to the next prophet priest of israel samuel go back and the next time you hear the voice say speak lord for your servant is listening so he goes and he lays down and again samuel samuel he says speak lord for your servant is listening and out of the darkness of the night the voice spoke a word of judgment upon eli's household why because eli had failed to restrain the wickedness of his two sons who were priests in the temple and so god decreed judgment upon all his descendants they would all die in the strength of their manhood and it would start with his two sons they would die on the same day the little boy samuel we don't read but i wonder if he got any sleep that night the next morning eli says so what did the lord tell you my son and oh samuel didn't want to tell him what he had told him but eli!

made him you must you must tell me samuel what did god tell you so samuel told him everything hiding nothing from him and so eli has woken up to a new day to hear judgment upon his household what's his response he is the lord let him do what seems right to him it's because of who he is it's his right to do with me whatever he wants to do submission is not because you can't avoid it it's because of who he is he's the lord let him do what is best to him so when difficulties come when they continue when they increase it's the sovereignty of god that helps us identify that they come from the lord and when i know they come from the lord rather than quarreling and arguing and murmuring and complaining against him i bow in humble submission it is the lord he is king he has this right over me and i submit sweetly submit to my sovereign you see to murmur and complain is to tell god he doesn't have the right to do with you as he pleases it's to deny his sovereignty have you ever thought of that all of your murmuring and complaining is a denial of god's sovereignty you see we're asking do i really believe in the sovereignty of god there are many days in the week many times in our lives when we flatly deny the sovereignty of god whatever we claim on our statement of faith may the lord help us it is the lord let him do as he pleases the lord gave and the lord has taken away and blessed be the name of the lord and be thankful that you had it so long rather than murmuring that you had it no longer confess that you didn't make the best use of it while you had it that you didn't thank god enough for it while you had it but do not murmur against the sovereign who does as he pleases among the inhabitants of the earth oh there are many applications i want to close on this one if god is sovereign then there ought to be comfort there will be comfort for the child of god spurgeon says there's no attribute more comforting to his children than that of god's sovereignty because under the most adverse circumstances in the most severe trials they believe that sovereignty has ordained their afflictions that sovereignty overrules them and that sovereignty will sanctify them all so you have in lamentations that weeping prophet jeremiah setting forth the desolation of israel under the judgment of god things unimaginable are happening in jerusalem the judgment the plague is so bad at the very end of the book you have this hook of hope and what is it that jeremiah would hang his hope upon in the midst of judgment lamentations 519 you oh lord reign forever your throne endures from generation to generation whatever's happening around me god is still on the throne he's still on the throne dear christian that ought to be a comfort that ought to

be a sweet medicine to you and the the hardest things that you face he's still on the throne he's sovereign over all indeed that's the good news that's sent to the people of israel at their lowest point isaiah 52 7 how beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news who proclaim peace who bring good tidings who proclaim salvation what's the good news who say to zion your god reigns we need to know that we need to say it to ourselves we need to say it to each other we need to say it to him he reigns over all your enemies they draw their next breath from him he reigns over all that concerns you not a square inch in the whole universe but he reigns over it the whole world is at his command he reigns over your affliction it's timing it's strength it's length it's removal god can say to the surging waters thus far and no further he can say that of your trial all authority and power is jesus in jesus hands isn't that a beautiful story in the gospels that was read for us this man that comes with his sick servant at home jesus you don't have to come to my house for him to be healed just speak the word and my servant will be healed how did he put that together he says because i'm a man under authority and i have authority over others and he's a centurion he's got a hundred soldiers and when he says go they go and when he says come they come and this man sees that jesus christ the nature of the universe is that jesus christ has authority over all things he's the king he rules and he says to disease go and it goes and he says to health come and it comes so just speak the word jesus all authority and power is yours is that not a comfort dear sister dear brother my times are in his hands those hands that were pierced out of love for me that is the hand that is the throne that is the king that rules all that concerns me so that when i pour my heart out in prayer i can i can know that whatever in any far-flung place in the universe or the world that i have concerns he reaches that place and reigns over it he can do something about it comfort he can dismiss your enemies he has worms to eat herod he has a red sea to swallow pharaoh he has an earth to open up and swallow those that rebelled against moses he can cause fire not to burn not even to singe the hair this sovereign god is our god what a blessed comfort in the midst of our trials so he came this king of glory he came he came in human form taking on our likeness and all creation acknowledged the king and demons recognized his voice and fled diseases and sicknesses all responded to him only man vile man refused to acknowledge that he was king and they said we will not have this man to reign over us and so they crucified him and in crucifying him they fulfilled the very plan of the king eternal and then he rose from the dead because he reigns over death you know death in Hades

or the key to death in Hades it's in his hand he's coming again to judge the world in righteousness and then forever and ever Jesus shall reign he reigns now in the midst of his enemies he will reign then with all of his enemies having been put under his feet so what is the sovereignty of God to you it's either good news or it's bad news if you're still a rebel under this king it's bad news it's unspeakably bad news it's as bad news for you as it is good news for the believer I trust you're seeing that about every attribute every attribute is great news for you if you are in Christ every attribute works against you if you're out of Christ so with this one for the Lord reigns forever he has established his throne for judgment and whoever fights against this king will lose he now calls all men to repent all men everywhere to repent that's you if you're still out of

Christ he calls on you to repent to turn from your sins and to trust in the great king for all salvation could we pray talk to this great sovereign you talk to him there and I'll pray in my own heart and then I'll close let's all pray Lord Father forgive us for our slight views of your sovereignty this is so far above us as the heavens are higher than the earth this is so high above our thoughts to think that you control things in our lives that no one even has a care about but that you do forgive us then for every murmuring every complaining forgive us for not praising not worshiping not obeying not submitting and for not even receiving the comfort that is ours in this truth and oh

Lord have mercy upon these who are still rebels under your reign turn them if you can turn the king's heart you can turn our children's hearts that are still going their own way you can turn the lost to seek the Lord in truth and we ask you Lord Jesus to sway the scepter to exercise your authority to save sinners and bring more and more glory to your sovereign grace we ask it all for the honor and praise of Jesus Amen