The Sovereignty of God and What Lies Ahead

Whatever my God ordains is right, His holy will abideth. I will be still whatever He doth, And follow where He guideth. He is my God, though dark my road, He holds me that I shall not fall, Wherefore to Him I leave it all. Whatever my God ordains is right, He never will deceive me, He leads me by the proper path, I know He will not leave me. I take content what He hath sent, His hand can turn my griefs away, And patiently I wait His day.

Whatever my God ordains is right, Though now this cup in drinking May bitter seem to my faint heart, I take it all on shrinking. My God is true, each morn anew, Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart, And pain and sorrow shall depart. Whatever my God ordains is right, Here shall my stand be taken, Though sorrow, need, or death be mine, Yet am I not forsaken. My Father's care is round me there, He holds me that I shall not fall, And so to Him I leave it all.

Amen. A wonderful message and song that goes hand in glove with the theme of our message tonight. The sovereignty of God and what lies ahead. I want to read a brief introduction as we get into the message. The sovereignty of God is a theme that runs from Genesis 1-1 to Revelation 22-21.

It's a truth so grand and complex that it leaves those who study its depths in awe. The Apostle Paul reminded Timothy that in the last days perilous times will come. I'm sure we all agree that the year 2020 has showcased violence, corruption among our leaders, and uncertainty as to the future. One thing's for sure, 2021 is certain to have this in common with 2020, and that is that the perfect will of God who is sovereign is going to be accomplished in every detail. In this message tonight we're going to consider different aspects of God's sovereignty that I believe will offer hope and confidence to each of us.

And I want to just share two texts by way of introduction before we get into the message. One perhaps unfamiliar to you, but it offers a very sobering truth and that's found in Lamentations 3, 37 and 38 if you listen. Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass when the Lord has not commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that woe and well-being proceed? That'll test your faith.

Listen to that last sentence or question. Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that woe and well-being proceed? It's when we do not understand what God is doing that we have to trust who God is.

A New Testament passage that I'll read is very familiar to all of you, Romans 8, 28 through 31. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose, for whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed of the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called. Whom He called, these He also justified. Whom He justified, these He also glorified.

And then this final sentence. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? The first thing that we want to share with you tonight is the principle of God's sovereignty that is definitive.

What do we mean by that? Definitive means serving to provide a final solution or to end a situation, authoritative and apparently exhaustive. That's the sovereignty of God.

Serving to provide a final solution or to end a situation, authoritative and apparently exhaustive. Listen to Ecclesiastes 7, 13 through 14, I think it says this well. Consider the work of the Lord, for who can make straight what He has made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider. Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other so that man can find out nothing that will come after him.

Let me read that last portion again. Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other so that man can find out nothing that will come after him. We don't know what the future holds, but we know who molds the future. And that is such a source of encouragement and peace in the life of a Christian. The sovereignty of God is not merely that God has power and right to govern all things, but that He does so always and without exception. In other words, God is not merely sovereign in principle, but He's sovereign in practice.

A.W. Penck gives kind of a heavy quote, but it's filled with truth. He says, subject to none, influenced by none, absolutely independent, God does as He pleases, only as He pleases, always as He pleases. None can thwart Him, none can hinder Him. So His own word expressly declares, my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. He does according to His will in the army of heaven and in the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay His hand.

A.W. Penck goes on to state, divine sovereignty means that God is God in fact as well as in name, that He's on the throne of the universe directing all things, working all things after the counsel of His own will. Beloved, the principle of God's sovereignty is definitive.

He provides the final solution. And as I said earlier, when we do not understand what this great Almighty God is doing, we can rest in who He is. The second thing we want to consider tonight is the preeminence of God's sovereignty is determined by His character. The preeminence of God's sovereignty is determined by His character. Theologian Lorraine Bettner states, although the sovereignty of God is universal and absolute, it's not the sovereignty of blind power. It's coupled with infinite wisdom, holiness, and love.

And this doctrine, when properly understood, is the most comforting and reassuring one. And then he states this, who would not prefer to have his affairs in the hands of a God of infinite power, wisdom, holiness, and love, rather than to have them left to fate or chance or irrevocable natural law or to short-sighted and perverted self? Those who reject God's sovereignty should consider what alternatives they have left.

Fatalism. I have often been in a situation where I have wondered how I'd make it if I did not believe in the sovereignty of God. That is a gift that we as believers have that the world just does not have. Now, if we're to put this in layman's terms, in layman's terms, it is the character of our God that guides his conduct. A study of his names or his attributes fosters confidence, contentment, and consecration in all who love and fear him. He is the self-existent I am that I am. He's the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity. He is almighty God. He's the father of mercies and the God of all comfort, all powerful, all knowing, and everywhere present.

Point number three that we're going to look at will take up the bulk of our message and will be very practical, I think. It's going to show us the areas that God is sovereign in. We know that his sovereignty is definitive. What he determines is going to take place.

We know that it's preeminent because of his character. And now we want to look at the panoply. That means the big picture. I like to think of it as standing on the Blue Ridge Mountains and just getting an overview of the expanse before you, the panoply of God's sovereignty. It's displayed in every area of life.

And the first two that we'll look at, A and B, are the most critical because everything else is really meaningless apart from these. The first one, God is sovereign over the passage of individuals from birth to death. God is sovereign over the passage of individuals from birth to death. I've shared this passage from this pulpit before. Job asked, In whose hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind? And then he answers his own question a few verses later. Speaking of mankind, he says, Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with you, you have appointed his limit so that he cannot pass. Theological Word Book of the Old Testament states this word limits means prescribed portion or task. In other words, beloved, God has ordained the day that each of us is going to die.

Sometimes you'll hear well-meaning people say, Well, he died too soon. Well, maybe from a human standpoint, but not from God's standpoint. David ended up writing, Your eyes saw my substance, yet being unformed, and in your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. Again, Theological Word Book gives this definition. The word fashion means to frame, preordain, or plan.

To frame, preordain, or plan. That verse is found in Psalm 139, verse 16. Paul reminded the intellectuals in Athens that God gives to all life, breath, and all things, and that in Him we live and move and have our being, Acts 17, 25, and 28. And then God Himself said, Now see that I, even I am He, there is no God beside me. I kill and I make alive, I wound and I heal, nor is there any who can deliver from my hand. Deuteronomy 32, verse 29.

The second one is the longest one, and probably the most crucial. Although, obviously, unless God and His sovereignty has us born, there's not a need for salvation, for lack of a better way of putting it. His sovereignty over our birth and death, and then His sovereignty over the predestination of individuals to salvation. Ken Collier at the Wiles has this little quip, Only two choices on the shelf, pleasing God or pleasing self. Well, I am going to ask this question, only two choices on the shelf, is God sovereign or myself?

Let me read that again. Only two choices on the shelf, is God sovereign or myself? And I think that we'll see by the time we're done with this that, indeed, God is the one who's sovereign. Question, is God a reactor to the sovereign will of man who musters the faith to do what 1 Corinthians 2, 14, says that the natural man cannot do and will not do because he sees the things of God as foolish? Folks, just reading it as it is, natural man cannot and will not bow the knee to the sovereign God because spiritual things are foolishness to him.

Listen carefully to this next statement. This view sees man as ultimately determining his eternal destiny. The notion that the common grace of God enables all men to go against their sin nature is incompatible with this text and others like it. If all natural men can decide to bow the knee to King Jesus, then there are no natural men because Paul says the natural man cannot and will not do this. Another verse that says this plainly is Romans 3 verses 10 and 11. Paul is quoting Psalm 14, 2 and 3 when he writes, As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.

There's none who understands. There's none who seeks after God. 1 Corinthians 1, 18 states that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. But to us who are being saved, it's the power of God.

Beloved, all natural men are perishing. All natural men look upon the preaching of the cross as foolishness. So we ask this question, Is God a reactor to the sovereign will of man who musters the faith to do what the Bible says he cannot and will not do?

Or a second question, Is man a reactor to the sovereign will of God who chose before the foundation of the world to regenerate individuals who by nature are children of wrath and spiritually dead? Friends, all you have to do is read Ephesians chapter 2 and it jumps off the page to you, the pronouns referring to what God does on behalf of natural men that they might believe. Ephesians 1 is written to saints and faithful in Christ Jesus. Repeatedly, this chapter presents God as the great initiator and enabler of salvation by grace alone to faith alone and Christ alone for the glory of God alone. It declares plainly that God's sovereign grace is never aided or threatened by the corrupted will of men. There is no spark of divinity within the human heart that can be fanned into the flame of eternal life by the will or the work of individuals.

Can I say that again? There is no spark of divinity within the human heart that can be fanned into the flame of eternal life by the will and work of mankind. Jesus came to save those given to him before the foundation of the world. And I've mentioned, read Ephesians 2. Beloved, if you read John chapter 10 and John chapter 17, John 17 being Christ's high priestly prayer, you will gratefully bow the knee to God's sovereign grace in your life. Speaking of that, familiar verses, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 state for by grace you've been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast.

John MacArthur offers this insight. The phrase not of yourself refers to the entire previous statement of salvation, not only the grace but the faith. Although men are required to believe for salvation, even that faith is part of the gift of God which saves and cannot be exercised by one's own power. He goes on to say God's grace is preeminent in every aspect of salvation.

And again, just recall, if you would, what the Bible says about the natural man. He cannot and he will not understand the things of the Spirit. Repentance is a gift. Repentance is a gift. Acts 11, 17 and 18 speaking to the Gentiles, Peter wrote, If therefore God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God? When they heard these things, they became silent, and they glorified God, saying, Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life. In those two verses, God gave them the same gift as he gave us when we believed, and then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life. Repentance is a gift of God. Secondly, though, faith is a gift. Acts chapter 14, verse 27, Now when they, Paul and Barnabas, had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and notice this, that he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. There was a time in my life that I did not believe that faith was a gift. I believe, like many in the church, that all I had to do was decide to follow Jesus, and I decided one day that I was going to start at ground zero and study what the Bible had to say. I so much respected the teaching that I received from this pulpit when I first got into that personal study. So much respected it, and I can remember many of the sermons that Pastor Bergman shared with the congregation as we began, if I can put it this way, inching toward embracing the doctrines of grace. But beloved, if you will, with an open mind, read John 6, John 10, John 17, Ephesians 1, Ephesians 2, you can't help but see that God is the great and gracious initiator, the quickener to spiritual life.

There's no question about that. The first two areas that we've considered have to do with God's sovereignty is it relates to physical and spiritual life. And as I said at the start, without these, the other areas are meaningless.

But the third area that we want to look at is this. God is sovereign over personal characteristics of individuals. God is sovereign over personal characteristics of individuals. Personal ability, Exodus 4.10. And notice I have two examples, Moses and Paul. But notice this, what it says about Moses. Moses said to the Lord, oh my Lord, I'm not eloquent. Neither before nor since you have spoken to your servant.

I am slow of speech and slow of tongue. We're talking about personal ability being under the sovereign control of God. And Moses saw himself as slow of speech and slow of tongue, but he led hundreds of thousands out of Egypt.

2 Corinthians 10.10, they're speaking of Paul in this verse, and it says, For his letters, they say, are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible. You know, when you embrace the sovereignty of God, you embrace the abilities that he has given you. You are what he wanted you to be. He has given you the talents and abilities that he would have you to have so that you can perform his will. A second area, though, is not just personal ability, but providential disability.

Providential disability. Exodus 4.11, So the Lord said to Moses, Who has made man's mouth? Who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, the blind? Have not I the Lord? John 9 records the man born blind so that he might glorify God years later on a specific day at a specific time in a specific place. We can read John 9, that account, and marvel at it without really plummeting the depths of that, that a baby was born blind in the sovereign providence of God who one day would be on the side of a road when Jesus happened to be coming along and Jesus healed him for one purpose, that God would be glorified. That gives me great hope. That gives me great peace.

I think most of you who would be listening to me tonight know that we have special needs grandsons. When you embrace the fact that God is sovereign, you embrace the fact that they're exactly as he would have them be for his purposes. And when we as a family look and see how God has used those providential disabilities, if you would, those special needs in the lives of other people, it becomes clear to us. He has his purposes for it. He has his purposes for it. I don't know that I'll say this exactly right, but a friend of mine has cancer and submits to the sovereignty of God.

There's no doubt about this. This lady does. And I made the comment on Facebook. I private messaged her because she's about to go into some therapy. And I end up saying that God will use this in your life and he will use you in this. God will use this in your life and he will use you in this. What do you mean by that? We can comfort others with the same comfort that God comforts us with. There's no question.

He makes no mistakes in perceived providential disabilities. And then this third one, perceived tragedy. And I give you a couple of illustrations. As a baby, Fanny Crosby was blinded by an incompetent doctor. She was asked at one time if she had one wish, would she wish to see?

And her reply was, no. Now the first face that I see when I get to glory will be the face of my Savior. Perceived tragedy, no. And then I think most of you are familiar with Johnny Erikson Tada.

She was paralyzed in a diving accident and because of that she has an international ministry that has reached multiple thousands of people. God is sovereign over personal characteristics of individuals. A fourth area that we want to consider is God is sovereign in the preparation and polishing of his servants.

David's talents were the harp and sling prepared him for his role in the palace and the battlefield. Think about that for a while. And I like to, as I've said before, I like to visualize what would it have been like to be David?

No, not standing there facing Goliath, not yet. Sitting there watching stupid sheep. Pastor, that's rather unkind.

It may be, but I have done it. And they have about as much sense as a rock. And just sitting there day after day after day after day watching those sheep, yet while he was watching those sheep on the path of duty, he polished his skills with a sling and with a harp. And we know the rest of it. The sling was used against Goliath. The harp was used to calm Saul.

David's talents with a harp and a sling prepared him for his role in the palace and the battlefield. 2 Corinthians 12, 7 through 10 will not read it, but it talks about Paul's thorn in the flesh, and that was designed by God to keep him humble and dependent and, I might add, useful. And then 1 Corinthians 1, 27 through 29. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise. God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen and the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are.

And why does he do that? That no flesh should glory in his presence. I want to be very careful in how I say this.

I might have mentioned this before from the pulpit, but when we talk about God being sovereign in preparation and polishing of his servants, just think back in your life and just note some of the mile markers on your life and in your life that God used to prepare you for where you are now. When I was 16 years of age at 5, 3, and 112 pounds, a kid with the kids, a lean, mean, fighting machine, I had no earthly idea, as I've said before, that I would ever play the game of soccer, albeit intramural. If it wasn't intramural, I never would have played it. If it was intercollegiate, I never would have played it. It was intramural.

I played it. I never dreamed that going to Elkton, Maryland, as the art teacher, I would be asked to coach the JV soccer team and play the varsity soccer game, and the rest is history. But, folks, I look back on that in my life, and I see how God used that, if I can put it this way, prepared me and polished me for what I believe was a very important ministry in my life. I will say this. Before I came on staff, I had the conviction when I taught Couples Serving Christ that every man should try to live up to the qualifications of a pastor with the exception of being apt to teach. That's something that God gives. But as far as character, I believe every Christian man should seek to live up to the requirements of pastor, elder, deacon. You never know the leading of the Lord down the road.

And, again, God is sovereign over the preparation and polishing of His servants. I will just mention this to you. When I attended Bob Jones as an art major, you go down there with stars in your eyes and ready to roll, and you're ready to conquer the world, and then you find out you're not so hot. Everybody down there was pretty decent in their art department in the little old high school. And then you find out that there are 60 of you, and you're going to have to go through what they call a sophomore check.

I did not know I was going to get into that before I went to Bob Jones. I thought I'd just major in art. I'd go four years, give the degree, and in the providence of God, teach. I could either go straight art and be a commercial artist or teach. And, quite honestly, looking at a foreign language over here kind of swayed me not to go straight art. It swayed me to go more teaching. And, again, the rest is history.

But I say this as honestly as I know how. We started out with 60, and at the end of the first year, there were 29 left. And then came the dreaded sophomore check. They had it in speech. Sue Ann, I'm sure, went through that in speech. They had it in music.

Some of our young people have probably done that or will. And they had it in art. And it was a three-phase test. I don't know that I'll remember the order, but the first was a written test. And we went from 29 down to 18 after that first written test.

And I was still breathing. The second test was your portfolio. They looked at all of your work that you supply.

We went from 18 down to 12. The third part of that test was unbelievable for me because it was an interview. And Sue Ann Phillips' dad was one of the interviewers.

I will never forget that. And one question that they asked of all of us was this. If you don't pass this test, what will you do? If you don't pass this test, what will you do? I'd never considered doing something drastic, but the bottom line is I only had a couple of options, change my major or change schools.

That's it. And I answered with this, if I don't pass this test, I'll probably major in Bible. Well, I walked out, and some of the art majors that might not have been, let's just say as spiritually minded as they might could have been, said, how did you answer that? And I said, I told them if I didn't pass this, I'd probably major in Bible. And I can still remember two girls saying, you idiot.

Don't you know they want to build their preacher boy's glass? You're done. Well, it went from 29 to 18 to 12 to 7, and one didn't come back. And I say this, and my wife knows that I'm serious when I say this, I did not at any time and to this day do not consider myself one of the six better art majors out of those 60. Why do you think you made it?

In the prophets of God, there's no question. The discipline. My senior year, before my senior year, during the summer, I worked for my wife's uncle during the day and did watercolors at night to prepare for my senior show. They had my work in this room, and there were three groups of my pieces. And I had no idea which group they picked. You had to have a certain number. Well, if you've ever been in our house, I've got a drawing that I did of an old prospector. That was over here. And that had one first place in the county fair in Greenville, so I thought, well, maybe that's the group. But I thought maybe that painting would have made it.

I'm just agonizing. How is this going to work? And then the three of them came in, Bob, Blair, and Coons. Sounds like a law firm. And I loved all three of them. They pointed to the smallest group.

That's the group that they picked. And I cried. I felt helpless.

I felt absolutely helpless. My show had to be up first. It was just the luck of the draw. And how did God use that in polishing me and preparing me? Because I have the tendency to want to please other people to the point that I overwork things.

It's true. I overworked my paintings. I couldn't overwork my paintings after that. I had to get them done. And this is kind of a neat aside, and I think it's part of God's sovereignty.

I do with all my heart. I had my stuff ready for my show, and the rejects in art history, there was this art show called the Salon de Refuse. I'm sure I'm butchering the French. But it was a group of rejects that common people could buy their stuff.

And I sold my Salon de Refuse, the rejected paintings, and that's how I paid to frame the stuff that made it in my show. Now, I didn't mean for that long mile marker in my life, but I think you can tell at age 70, I was 20-some at the time, that impacted me. That impacted my life. And folks, I can't take more time to get into this, but I see how that projected out in other mile markers in my life down the road.

And you can say the same thing, I'm sure. The fifth thing I want to share. God is sovereign over the provision and prosperity of individuals. The provision, Matthew 6, 31-34, you've read many times. Therefore, do not worry, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. That's easy for us to read that.

There are some people in our country that are experiencing that right now. What shall we eat, or what shall we drink? Are you prepared? Am I prepared spiritually for God to put us to the test?

Because it could come. In Old Testament text, I Chronicles 29, David prayed, Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty. For all that is in heaven and on earth is Yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might. In Your hand is to make great and to give strength to all. Now, therefore, our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious name. But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given You. God is sovereign over the provision and prosperity of individuals.

A couple more. God is sovereign over the political leaders whom He puts into power. You can say amen to that. But just knowing when we don't understand what God is doing, we trust who He is. God is sovereign over the political leaders whom He puts into power. Daniel 2.21 states, And he changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings and raises up kings. And we see God's sovereignty over governments in Daniel chapter 4 with Nebuchadnezzar, who eventually praised God. And in the very next chapter, Daniel 5, with his blasphemous son, Belshazzar. God is sovereign over political leaders.

In Isaiah 45, 4-7, God declares to Cyrus, king of Persia, I have even called you by your name, though you have not known me. I am the Lord, and there is no other. There is no God beside me. I will gird you, though you have not known me, that they may know that from the rising of the sun to its setting, there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create calamity. I, the Lord, do these things.

Beloved, there is no point in fretting who our leadership is of this country. We can trust the sovereignty of God who will put them in place. And then we see that God is sovereign over the preservation and protection of His own. God is sovereign over the preservation and protection of His own. Job 1-9, so Satan answered the Lord and said, Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not made a hedge around him and around his household, around all that he has on every side?

You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. God has his hedge of protection about His own. Psalm 34-7, the angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him and delivers them. And then finally, Hebrews 13-5b, if you were to read that in the Amplified, it's like saying, There's absolutely no way whatsoever that I will ever, ever leave you.

There are several negatives for emphasis in Hebrews 13-5b in the original. God is sovereign over the preservation and protection of His own. And the last area that we want to look at, God is sovereign over the perseverance of those He has given to Christ. John 6, I've mentioned, read John chapter 6, read John chapter 10. I've chosen two verses from each of those passages. John 6-37, All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out. The angel told Joseph, You shall call His name Jesus, because He shall save His people from their sin. John 6-37, All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out. And then John 10, 27-29, listen carefully. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give them who?

My sheep. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. We're secure in Christ.

The last thing briefly that we want to look at is this. Job is an example of displaying and developing trust in God through extended, extreme trials. Folks, in visiting some of our Beacon members, we have some that have gone through extended, extreme trial, and they're trusting in the sovereignty of God. Joseph is an example of God's ultimate control over the affairs of individuals, families, and nations. Paul is an example of how God turns enemies into sons to accomplish His will. We all are children of wrath by nature, and he has basically turned each of us who are in Christ into sons who are enemies.

And then finally, Christ is the example of victorious submission. Now, you may be sitting there, even though I had a PowerPoint, and you're saying there's no way on God's green earth I can remember all of that. I can't either. But what I can do is this. Understand that when I don't know what God is doing, I can trust who God is, the sovereign ruler of the universe, the sovereign ruler of the universe. I want you to take heart in the panoply of God's sovereignty as we enter the uncertainties of 2021.

I want you for a second just to imagine being on that overlook and look at what God's sovereignty covers. The passage of individuals from birth to death, the day of birth and the day of death are appointed by God. The predestination of individuals to salvation, pray and witness with full reliance upon the God of salvation. We are a missions-minded church. We are a soul-sensitive church, burdened for the souls of loved ones.

And my wife has mentioned it before, and I'll say it. We pray for our grandchildren by name every single day, sometimes more than once. God is sovereign over the predestination of individuals to salvation, but we honor Him when we pray for His grace and His mercy.

We honor Him when we witness to them. God is sovereign over the personal characteristics of individuals. Be content with how God has made you to do His will.

Don't be looking over the fence at somebody else's green or grass. Be content with how He's made you. God is sovereign over the preparation and polishing of His servants. Make the most of divine opportunities to do your best for Him. He brings circumstances into your life, and some of them are not pleasant.

This year, our family has gone through some unpleasant circumstances, and yet God has stretched us and grown us, strengthened our faith through this, the preparation and polishing of His servants, the provision and prosperity of individuals. Be content with and grateful for God's blessing, the political leaders whom He puts in power. Do not fret over who God chooses to lead this nation and others.

He knows what He's doing. The preservation and protection of His own. Personally embrace the truth of Romans 8.28, that God is working all things together for good in your life because He loves you and has called you according to His purpose. And then the perseverance of those whom He has given to Christ. Rest in the eternal security that we have in Christ. Beloved, we close with this statement. When we rest in the sovereignty of God, we can know that the best is yet to come. Please bow for the benediction. Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, according as His divine power is given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue. Amen.