A Sure and Certain Decree #2

Welcome to The Truth Pulpit with Don Green, Founding Pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Hello again.

I'm Bill Wright. It is our joy to continue our commitment to teaching God's people God's Word. Today, Don is continuing with the second part of a message we started last time. So let's get right to it.

Open your Bible as we join Don now in The Truth Pulpit. Imagine this, beloved. Imagine this.

Imagine a ridiculous scenario like this. We take for granted the fact that God establishes and sustains the orbits of the planets, the orbits of the stars, the orbits of galaxies around one another, the infinite deep recesses of the universe. We take that for granted. And because God is faithful, it's fixed, and you know, these things, you know, we can plan our day around when the sun is going to rise and when it's going to set because God fixes these things.

We take it for granted. But have you ever contemplated the wisdom that it takes to do that? Imagine for a moment something totally ridiculous, that you were standing before God and God said to you, in 15 seconds, it will be your responsibility to keep all this going. You must keep the stars going, keep the universe spinning. Don't let anything slip. Don't let anything fall. It's all up to you in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

You're on. Everything collapses because you don't have the first idea on what to do. Now, beloved, take that position of impotence and ignorance that is so evident and obvious in that homely example and realize that God does not struggle with that. God knows exactly what to do, and in fact, God knew what to do and established it before any of them even existed. Who taught him that? How did he know that?

It's eternal knowledge in an eternal being who is absolutely sovereign over everything. He didn't have to ask for advice. He didn't consult with anyone. No one taught him. He didn't gain knowledge from outside himself. He always had all of this, not just in the operation of the universe but in principles of law and justice and righteousness and principles of grace and mercy and a planned redemption in the Lord Jesus Christ.

It's all the outworking of his great infinite divine mind. So much so that Scripture says to God, nations are like a drop in the bucket. You see the way people fawn over world leaders.

Everybody gets riled up when the King of England's around for, heaven forbid, when Taylor Swift is in town. Understand, beloved, that to God, nations are as insignificant as a drop of water in a bucket. How much more so an individual even of by human standards recognized, someone with celebrity recognized, how utterly insignificant every single person and every single self-exalting man or woman is in the presence of a God like what we're just talking about here today. Less than nothing. Go to the King of England and say, you run the universe for five minutes and let me know how it goes.

You guys couldn't even beat 13 colonies. No one taught him the path of justice. No one taught God anything. No one showed him the way. He just knew, and he established it according to that great knowledge of his. And so, beloved, what that means is that God decided what would happen based entirely on what would please him.

It's exactly what he wanted. He had no obligation to man. He did not consult with man. He did not consult with angels.

He didn't consult with anyone. He just did what he pleased. Now, last time we talked about how this works itself out in the realm of redemption and God in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4 says that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Do you realize, beloved, that the fact that God established who would be saved before the foundation of the world means that if you are in Christ, you have nothing to boast about. There was nothing about you or what you would do or could do that would cause God to show favor to you.

If you are in the body of Christ, if you have been saved by God, it is solely and only because it pleased God to purpose that before the beginning of time. And that means that all boasting is excluded. It means that I did not do anything to earn favor from God. My so-called faith was not what he saw and then chose me for.

He chose me just because it pleased him to do so. And as it says in Romans chapter 3, therefore, boasting is excluded. We're saved by grace through faith, that not of yourselves, not as a result of works lest anyone should boast. We are humbled before a holy, sovereign God.

And we live in a universe that he appointed and that he will bring to a conclusion in his good time, utterly free in everything under no obligation to anyone. Now, fifthly, we said that the decree is diverse yet won. The decree is eternal. The decree is fixed. The decree is free.

Fifthly, and these things start to overlap a little bit, the decree is certain. The decree is certain. What God has decreed is certain to occur. There is nothing that God intends that will not come to pass.

You could say the 25-cent word that is used to describe this is the decree is efficacious. It will certainly happen. It is sure. And with that in mind, let me invite you to turn to a familiar verse, a familiar passage in Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. And here we're going to see, again, the plurality and the singularity of the things that we are discussing.

We're going to see how these things give us enormous comfort in everything in life. Romans 8 verse 28 and 29 and 30. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. All things plural, singular, his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified.

And those whom he justified, he also glorified. Beloved, all things comprehensively, exhaustively, without exception, work together for good to those who are in Christ. The reason that that statement can be made in Scripture is because it is premised on the reality that God oversees all events that occur. He ordained them all. All events are linked together in his wise, good, sovereign, loving decree.

It's all linked together. Nothing falls outside his will. Nothing falls outside his eternal purpose. God gathers it all in.

Now, many, many, many times you have gone to that verse and found comfort in it. All things work together for good, and you're encouraged by that as well you should be. Understand the theological reality that undergirds that is that God purposes things to come into your life. And from the beginning, he had a good purpose for everything that comes to you. And that good purpose, we will look at this in future weeks when we talk about, you know, God, providence, and sin and evil. We'll talk about all of those things.

We're not addressing them now in this message for the sake of clarity. But God's purpose even includes the outworking of the way that you have sinned and the way that people have sinned against you. God did not make you sin. It was not God's moral will for you to sin.

It was not his revealed will for you to sin. But his secret will, his eternal purpose encompasses everything from the first moment of creation to the fall of Adam and all of the consequences that worked out to the redemption that Christ accomplished on the cross and the glorification of his people in heaven and all points in between. God comprehensively has it all planned from the beginning so that when we pray, we're not giving him information that he doesn't already have. We're submitting to a will that we're seeing work out in real time. Father, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

God works all things together for good because he purposed everything to accomplish what he wanted, what pleased him. So these things are certain to come to pass. Beloved gods and those of you that are wrestling with an uncertain future, discouraged as life seems to just spin in place like a hamster on a little wheel, it seems like I'm not getting anywhere here. All my plans have turned to dust.

What's going to happen to me now? What's going to happen to those loved ones who are so evidently rebelling against Christ? If you only think about them from your perspective and the purpose of what you want, those things collapse on you and overwhelm you pretty quickly, don't they?

It's heavy because life matters, and we love these people, and we have plans that we want to see take place, and we have goals and dreams and all of that. And yet, it doesn't seem like we're getting anywhere. Beloved, understand that even those times of being stalled, of being delayed, of being disappointed, somehow in a way that we don't understand is part of a far greater purpose that God is working out that is certainly good for you if you are in Christ. He will certainly cause all things to work together for good because this is what He planned from the beginning. And so rather than worry and disappointment and despair and discouragement and fear, what this doctrine of the divine decree found in Scripture teaches is that you can have confidence even in those times. God, I don't see any of this working out, but I know who you are, and I trust you completely.

I don't need to see anything. I walk by faith, not by sight, and I believe in a sovereign God who loved me at the cross of Jesus Christ, and I can trust the love that sent Christ to the cross. I can trust the love that bore my sin in His body, even if I don't see it. And though I am weak, you're strong. In my weakness, you perfect your strength. As I struggle with my health, as I struggle to make ends meet, as loved ones and friends disappoint and betray me all around, Lord, I trust you to be working out a purpose that is perfect, that is comprehensive, and that is good and that will be shown to be so in the end. Friends, do you have any of that operating in your mind in your response to life? This is the privilege, the prerogative and the responsibility of those who are Christians to learn, develop, be convinced of these things and to live accordingly.

This is part of having a Christian mind. Now, sixthly, the decree is comprehensive. The decree is comprehensive.

I've been talking around this. I want to just give you three passages real quick to just show you in a macro sense, in a micro sense, in a visible sense, an invisible sense, in a physical realm, in the spiritual realm, in time, in eternity, everything is included in this decree. Everything is included in this decree. I think, well, go back to Isaiah chapter 40. I'm just going to illustrate this with three different aspects of God's sovereign direction of the universe. We already looked at Isaiah chapter 40 verse 17, but let me go there with you again. What's included in the divine decree?

The rise and fall of nations. We could have gone to Daniel and seen this. We're just sticking with Isaiah because we're already there. Isaiah chapter 40 verse 17, all the nations are as nothing before him. They are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. I think I will read from Daniel here just briefly. In Daniel chapter 2 verse 44, it says, in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people.

It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end and it shall stand forever. Oh, oh, in Daniel chapter 2 verse 20, blessed be the name of God forever and ever to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons. He removes kings and sets up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness and the light dwells with him. Kingdoms, light and darkness, all included in his plan, all rising and falling, heaving up and down like the waves of the sea, operating according to precisely what he purposed to bring to pass.

What's our response? Daniel 2, 23, to you, oh God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise. And Daniel goes on and gives him thanks for the help in interpreting the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar that follows. But this decree is comprehensive, nations included in it. Now, that could seem a little abstract.

It's so big and massive it's hard to get our minds around. Look at the Gospel of Luke chapter 12. Look at the Gospel of Luke chapter 12 and see how this informs courage in Christian living. We need not fear the face of man. If God is sovereign, God is in control, God has appointed things, then there's nothing to be afraid of in any man that we face. No man has authority over us except that God has first given it to him.

That was true even of Christ before Pilate. Luke chapter 12 verse 4, Jesus says, I tell you my friends, do not fear those who kill the body and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear. Fear him who after he is killed has authority to cast into hell.

Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, you are of more value than many sparrows. The decree of God, fall of birds.

Bird falls over dead, no surprise to God. He appointed that to occur. The hairs on your head, all numbered in his plan.

Beloved, this is all comprehensive nations, details. Let me take you to one more in Acts chapter 4. As we come more particularly to the heart of the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the events that led to his crucifixion and his resurrection.

We've seen nations under the decree, details under the decree. Now we see Christ in our redemption under the realm of the decree. Acts chapter 4 verse 23. When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. This is Peter and John after they were released from prison. They had been commanded not to speak in the name of Christ anymore.

But command didn't work out too good. When they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. Who through the mouth of our father, David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed. For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel. Now look at verse 28. All of these enemies of Christ gathered together. Peter is now speaking after the resurrection, after the ascension, looking back and then under the influence of the omniscient Holy Spirit, he is interpreting what just happened in real time, space and history just a short few months ago.

What happened? What did those people do? All of those enemies of Christ, what was it that they were doing? Verse 28, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. God, they acted according to the wicked impulses of their own heart and they sinned as they did it, but you had a plan to use that in order to bring about the crucifixion of Christ which you would use in a way that they did not intend you would use in far greater ways to be the fulcrum of the redemption of all of your people throughout all of the ages. They were just being wicked.

God, you were working it for good. Genesis 50 verse 20, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good and our redemption flows out of what God predestined and planned to occur. It's breathtaking. It's far above us. These are things that we know not because we can reason them out from what we observe. We know these things by faith and what God has revealed in Scripture to be true.

And it is premised on the Word of God, it is premised on the truth that he has revealed and therefore it is more certain than what will happen to us tomorrow. What was the purpose of all of this? Why did God do it this way? Why did God establish a decree and work out, plan everything in advance? If he had a plan, watch this, stay with me here, we're almost done here, sadly. If he had a plan, which he did, we see that, that's undeniable from Scripture, he had a plan and what was the goal of the plan? What was the purpose of all of this? What was the purpose of the plan? What was the outcome designed to accomplish?

Doesn't that question matter? I think that's important to know. Well point number seven, point number seven brings it all together in a glorious, wonderful way. The decree is for the glory of God. The purpose of the divine decree was for a display of the manifestation of the glory of God. God's decree was a means to display his glory throughout all of eternity. That there would be a redeemed people and holy angels that observe and see and understand and ascribe to him glory for the majesty of his wisdom, the majesty of his greatness, the majesty of his goodness, the majesty of his grace. And for those of us that are in Christ, he has graciously, without compulsion, included us in that realm of beings that would be able to see this and rejoice in it and join in the worship throughout all of eternity. Listen as I read Romans chapter eleven, verses thirty-three through thirty-six. Oh, the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid for from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever.

Amen. In Revelation chapter four verse eleven, that great scene in heaven, oh, beloved, we get a glimpse. It's like God has given us a peephole that we can look through and see portions of what is to come. See glimpses of it to heighten our sense of anticipation for what awaits us in heaven.

There will be gathered around the throne those who are proclaiming his excellency and scripture says this is what they will say, worthy are you our Lord and God to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they existed and were created. Your will, oh God, was that by which they were created. It is your will that by which they existed and it's all so that you would receive the glory that is now yours in the scene in heaven. Beloved, what can we walk out of with this great doctrine of the divine decree? First of all, this doctrine completely humbles us. God is great and we are small.

This doctrine comforts us. A great and good God is directing all things to accomplish his purpose. If you are not a Christian, this doctrine calls you and it warns you. We read in Luke chapter 12, fear him, fear him, fear him, fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. Understand that your rebellion against God is a completely untenable way to live and the outcome is catastrophic for you. God is sovereign over all. Your pipsqueak rebellion does not inflame him, but it would seal your doom if you would not repent. You cannot possibly survive as a rebel to the will of God. And so why not embrace the call of Christ to come to him and be saved and reconciled through his shed blood while there is still time? You could not walk up to a rolling bulldozer and stop it.

It would flatten you quickly in the process. It's a terrifying thought, being sucked into a grinding machine. Beloved, that's what lies ahead spiritually for you is a certain destruction of your soul unless you turn to Christ and seek forgiveness by the shed blood in his sacrificial death. For the rest of us, we have a duty here. We have a responsibility. Our supreme duty in life, in light of this teaching, is to submit ourselves unreservedly to him. How glad we should be that we are in the hands of God and that he determines our ways.

He is good. He is kind to restrain our ways. He is kind to direct our steps for the best. Beloved, let us bow before his majesty, worship him in silence, and give all the glory to God alone. Let's pray together. Our Father, from you and through you and to you are all things, including the undivided worship of our chastened and humbled hearts. To you be the glory forever.

Amen. That's Don Green here on The Truth Pulpit, and here's Don again with some closing thoughts. Well, thank you, Bill. And just before we close, my friends, I just want to let you know that this podcast is made possible for you by the generous support of many friends of our ministry. We're grateful for that, and if you have supported us, I want to say a special word of thanks to you for all that you've done to make this possible. And if you would like to join in the support of our ministry, you can do that so easily by going to thetruthpulpit.com.

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Know that our love and prayers are with you. Thank you for joining us. We'll see you next time as we continue to study God's Word together here on The Truth Pulpit. That's Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Thank you so much for listening to The Truth Pulpit. Join us next time for more as we continue teaching God's people God's Word.