HF120 - His Sovereignty Rules Over All
To: Hebraic-Foundations@yahoogroups.com
From: "Pastor Buddy Martin" <Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org>
Date: Tue, June 1, 2004
Subject: Bible Study HF120 - His Sovereignty Rules Over All
Hebraics,
The apostle said all things are from Him, and through Him, and to Him, to God be the glory forever. (Rom11:36)
Kathie asked that I do a study on issues that our members from a Pentecostal background may be dealing with. Her concerns were:
> I think those of us with Pentecostal backgrounds especially struggle with this issue. Whether you've been trained to view God as a "sugar daddy" who sends surprise "gifts" of gold dust in services to impress us with his love for us; or trained to believe that the promises in the Bible need to be "named and claimed" and that if you are really giving it your all - praying, fasting, and sacrificing enough - then God will guarantee the circumstances of life will be favorable to you - or that he'll rescue you from disaster - all of those types of pentecostal beliefs are confusing.
She then adds,
> Buddy - it might be really helpful to a lot of people to do some studies directly addressing these types of beliefs.. and how they get in the way of our ability to stop fighting against the "shaping" - so that we can learn to actively (even enthusiastically!) participate in the work He does in our lives.
Since Kathie's area of concern is especially broad I think it would be better at this point to simply address those issues in open dialogue. However, the greatest need of all believers is to come to a better knowledge of our salvation in Jesus Christ. What I'll do in this study is deal with one aspect of that truth. Perhaps this area will help our members from a Pentecostal background. (The study connects closely with HF119 - The Mystery of the Other Sheep.)
Let's look at it....
This is Bible Study HF120 - His Sovereignty Rules Over All.
When I first came to the saving knowledge of Jesus, it took me but a short time to read the Bible through in its entirety. Seems the Lord wanted to baptize me in His Word. And to this day that thirst to know and walk with the living God has never diminished. I continue to have a fascination with God's Word. It is like a treasure chest filled with the most awesome gems. (I'm sure I speak for all of you.)
But you would think that after 40 years of ministry I would have seen all there is to see in God's treasure chest. Well, it doesn't work that way. God's book is alive. Every morning in my devotion something new from the Scriptures will send out a ray of light that I had never seen before. Another sparkling gem. What an awesome treasure, God's book.
Anyway, I said all that to share something the Lord gave me to understand about His book. It was in 1976. We had just moved to Boyce, Louisiana, to raise up a training ministry that would have its own uniqueness. Here we were, my wife and my three children. No sponsoring agency. No congregation. No funds to fall back on. All I had was this 'unction'. How can I describe it other than 'divine purpose.' I just knew the Lord was in it.
Then it happened. I'm laying in bed thinking about where we were. Dreadful thoughts began to fill my mind. "How will I take care of my family?" "What am I doing here?" "There is no one to help me." "Did I really hear from the Lord?" "Am I going to fail?" "Is the Lord going to make some kind of example out of me?" "Who am I to think that I can raise up a ministry without any help?"
In the midst of my struggle I suddenly have this strong urge to get up, that the Lord had something to say to me. So I did. There sitting at the kitchen table I opened my Bible. It fell open to the book of Psalms. This is when the Lord began speaking to my heart.
He explained to me His purpose for that book. He designed it to teach His people how to think, what to believe, how to pray, how to praise, and so on. The Lord shared how the book of Psalms is designed to help shape the inner life of His children. What of my dreadful thoughts? They were nowhere to be found.
When my time of visitation was over, I got up, refreshed, and totally ready for whatever the Lord had in store. He had counseled me with His eye on me. (Cf. Psa32:8) All I can say about that experience was 'sovereign grace.' Jesus interposed on my fears. His perfect love brought me to Himself.
And so out of that experience I could say with the Psalmist, "My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. You are fairer than the sons of men; grace is poured upon Your lips; Therefore God has blessed You forever." (Psalm 45:1,2 - Concerning Messiah.)
To me the book of Psalms became like the garden of the Lord. When I walk through it, the Lord's presence is with me. It is as if I can sense His holy fragrance. And, no, I've never stopped reading the Bible, Psalms and all. I have found it to be 'the' meeting place whenever I need to hear from the Lord. (Which is every day.)
This brings me to our study title. Psalm 103 is a Psalm that the Lord has often brought me back to. It speaks of God's blessings upon His people. But it also gives us a view of throne life. In verse 19 we read, "The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all."
[I encourage members to take time to read Psalm 103 along with this study.]
First we need to get a grasp on the term sovereignty. Hebrew term 'malkuth' speaks of the outflow of power from a royal reign. God's sovereignty speaks of His absolute right to do all things according to His own will, and for His own purpose, and for His own pleasure. Did you know it was God's good pleasure that saved you?
Moses gained some insight into God's sovereignty when he sought for the Lord to show him His glory. The Lord said to him, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion." (Exodus 33:19)
When Paul reflects on this passage, he says, "So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy." (Rom9:16) This is really a hard one for our natural thinking. It seems that God is partial. Not so says the apostle. We simply need to accept that God's ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts our thoughts.
But out of this comes a second factor about sovereignty. Not only is the almighty God sovereign over all of creation, but He is also our heavenly Father. This means that in all God does, we can be sure that His children are at the center of His doings. Actually it seems from the Scriptures that the total of creation had the children of God in view. Paul intimates this when he said, "For all things belong to you ... and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God." (Cf. 1Co3:21-23)
So we are children of the Great King. Thus we hear John say, "See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is." (1Jn3:1,2)
John was careful to point out that we don't have all the answers. And while we do not yet know exactly what we will be, we do know that we will be like Jesus. After all He is the firstborn of many brothers. (Brothers is inclusive of sisters.)
Paul gives us the center piece of our purpose before God. He said, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us." (Rom8:28-31)
How often we have camped around this truth that says, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." This is probably the most 'settling' truth that a believer can hold to. God Himself is the cause and the effect in our lives. Jesus alone is the author and finisher of our faith. He alone is our goal that we are to fix all our hopes on.
Back to the sovereignty of God. Someone asked a brother to write a book on why his church became so successful in numbers. They wanted to know 'how' he did it. In a round-about way the brother simply said that he had not done anything. It was a sovereign act of God. Now I call that brother a wise man.
Are we wise men and women? Isn't it amazing all the hype we hear today about how to accomplish things for God. Books galore are written on church growth. Conferences are held. Prophets and apostles gather their followers together to teach them how to be prophets and apostles. I wonder about all this.
Afraid I'm not much for those things. I'll just continue to believe in God's sovereign grace. There has never been a time in my life where I could not say, 'The Lord was there.' Even in the midst of my dreadful thoughts, and my deepest trials, God was there.
Perhaps David said it best: "How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with you." (Cf. Psalm 139:17, 18)
The study is open. Feel free to respond or ask questions. Also feel free to address any of the concerns that Kathie spoke of.
Blessings,
Buddy
Lawrence E. (Buddy) Martin, HF Host
email: Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org
Web: http://www.christianchallenge.org/
"See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb12:15)