Proverbs 16

I had my plans all made. When I graduated high school, I graduated with a full Marine Corps scholarship. I was going to be a gyrene. I was headed to the Citadel, and I didn't just want to be a gyrene. I was going to fly jets.

I was going to land on those aircraft carriers. I love that stuff, man. taken off, just appealed to me. But then I took the physical at the Citadel, just as I was getting ready to start the Citadel. And they have one of these tests that they give you as part of a physical.

It's a little book that has all of these colored dots in a little circle. And within those circles, you are supposed to be able to see numbers. It's a color test. perfect color vision. And when I walked up to the table to read my numbers out of the book, the man said, read the number out of the book. I thought it was a trick because there was no number in the dots. I said, there's no number there. You know, you don't have to know much to go to the Citadel. I just, you know, is there a number? Is there not a number? Can you count to four?

You're admitted. He flipped the page. He said, what's that number? No number.

He kind of laughed. And I found out for the first time in my life at age 18 that I was partially colorblind. I'm not completely colorblind. I can tell major colors, but I have red, is it called red-green deficiency. Some shades of colors I can't see, and for some reason when you fly jets, they're concerned that you be able to tell colors.

You know, they flash some of those off of aircraft carriers when you're landing. became pretty apparent as I talked to the folks that my dream, my plan to fly jets wasn't going to happen. So then I had another plan. I was going to be a lawyer. Went to law school, trained, got with a large firm, perfectly positioned for the upward move. And then my son died and God changed direction. This morning we want to have some plain talk about life and the sovereignty of God and we're going to be looking at some foundational truths about who is in control. Let's pray as we begin.

Lord, this day we come before you as we prepare to discuss an important topic, one that sometimes is laced with difficulty for our human minds because we can't grasp it fully, and because we rebel against it. but I pray Lord I pray Lord that this day that in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in life that in whatever condition we are that whatever we are experiencing and whatever we will yet experience that we will leave this day convinced persuaded that we serve a God who is in control For it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.

I've given you today, on the back of your handout, if you flip over, you should have a lot of verses. And I apologize for them being so small. There are more verses that could have been on this sheet, but I just had to get all of these on there. So this morning, as we look at some of these foundational truths about life and the sovereignty of God, flip over your page to read some of these verses with me because I want you to see that the truths we talk about today are not the notion of David Rogers. These are not invented by me.

I will submit and I will press us that these truths come directly from the heart, mind, and hand of God and these truths are recorded in his scripture. So let me first cover foundational truths. Secondly, I'm going to cover some of the difficulties with those truths. And then I'm going to close with some lessons for life. So here we go.

First foundational truth. God is the great director and writer. God is the great director and writer.

I didn't bring my glasses so I'm really going to have a hard time reading this but God is in control alright let's now look at some verses with me flip over I want you to read I'm going to tell you the ones I want to read right now first Proverbs 20 24

a man's steps are directed by the Lord how then can anyone understand his own way Proverbs 21.1 The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. He directs it like a water course wherever he pleases. Psalm 139.16 Your eyes saw my unformed body. Talking about seeing the baby in the womb. All the days ordained for me were written in your book.

before one of them came to be. Isaiah 37, 26. Have you not heard? This is God talking through Isaiah. Long ago I ordained it.

In days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone. Isaiah 46, 10 to 11. I make known the end from the beginning From ancient times what is still to come. I say my purpose will stand and I will do all that I please.

From the east I summon a bird of prey. From a far off land a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that I will bring about. What I have planned, that I will do.

C.S. Lewis in his book God in the Dark writes this. in the play Hamlet by Shakespeare, a branch breaks and Ophelia is drowned. Did she die because the branch broke or because Shakespeare wanted her to die at that point in the play? Hear the question?

Did she die because the branch broke or because Shakespeare wanted her to die at that point in the play? Here's C.S. Lewis' answer. whichever you prefer, the alternative suggested by the question is not a real alternative at all. Once you have grasped that Shakespeare is making the whole play.

In other words, the events in Hamlet occur because the author of the play directed and wrote it that way. the point Lewis is making and I think the point that these passages of scripture make is that things happen in life because the author of the play has directed and written that it will be so foundational truth number two

the final result and outcome of all human plans

In an ultimate sense, God's purpose always prevails. All right, more verses.

You ready? Proverbs 16, 1. To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the reply of the tongue. In other words, the writer of Proverbs is saying, you know, the point he's making is that the final outcome is God's direction. Proverbs 16, 9.

In his heart, a man plans his course. I'm going to be a fighter pilot. I'm going to be a lawyer. But the Lord determines his steps. Proverbs 19, 21.

Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. In Daniel 5.21, one of my great passages, my favorite passages where Daniel is talking about the king, where he says, He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal. He lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes. In other words, Nebuchadnezzar was crazy like an animal until he finally acknowledged that God was the sovereign, the Most High, and ruled over the affairs of humanity. foundational truth number three this is where it starts to get harder even the evil acts of evil people are under God's control Proverbs 16 4

the Lord works out everything for his own ends even the wicked, for a day of disaster. Genesis 50-20. This is Joseph speaking. Do you remember the story of Joseph in the Old Testament? His brothers didn't like him because he was daddy's favorite.

So they decided that they were going to get rid of him. They thought about killing him, but then decided to sell him as a slave into Egypt. but then one day the brothers meet Joseph again during a famine. Joseph now rules in Egypt and has been the one preparing to save the people from famine and now his family, his brothers who sold him into slavery come to get food to eat and when his brothers realize who it is they're terrified. They didn't recognize Joseph at first but they're terrified because he's now a powerful man in Egypt.

They're afraid of what he will do to them tells them, Genesis 50-20, it's on your handout, you, he tells his brothers, intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Do you hear that? Joseph knew that his being sold into slavery was an act under the sovereign providence of God and though it was an evil act by his brothers it was designed to ultimately accomplish God's purposes Acts 2 22 men of Israel listen to this Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles wonders and signs which God did among you through him as you yourselves know this man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge You with the help of wicked men put him to death by nailing him to the cross. And go to the next passage in Acts. Indeed, Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.

They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.

Do you hear what he's saying? evil acts of Herod and Pontius Pilate and putting Jesus to death. At one level, evil acts by evil people. But they accomplished exactly what God had beforehand said would be accomplished, the putting the death of Christ on the cross to save humanity.

How about Osama bin Laden?

Is God just a helpless spectator? Unable to do anything at all to stop evil people? No. But while the act done was evil, it's part of a bigger plan. One I can't fathom.

but can we not begin to see even in that terrible horrible evil the hand of god at work how many times has the name of jesus christ and god been lifted up before this nation as a result of this event we don't know the stories of all the families and friends who were affected by that we don't know what horrible evil may have been prevented by this tragedy because of this tragedy we are more astute at routing out these evil despicable people and maybe the loss of about 3,000 people will save the loss of 300,000 in some nuclear attack by a dirty bomb who knows you know what seems bad to us

may often be good though we can't see it all sometimes

this is not a true story but it's a story designed to make us learn something there's a story about a man in China who raised horses for a living and here's how the story goes when one of his prized stallions ran away his friends came to him and mourned his great loss of the stallions. After they expressed their concern, the man asked the question, How do you know whether what happened is bad or good? A couple of days later, the runaway horse returned with several strays following close behind. All those friends who had mourned with him the day before came over and said, Oh, this is great. We can now celebrate. You now have more horses.

The man said, but how do I know whether it's good or bad? That very afternoon, the horse kicked the owner's son and broke the young man's leg. The crowd came again to express their grief and sorrow over the incident. But how do I know if this is good or bad, asked the man. Only a few days later, war broke out.

The man's son, however, was exempted from military service because of his broken leg. You guessed it. came over again to celebrate. You see how the story goes. My dad, young man, World War II's going on, training to be a fighter pilot.

I thought maybe like father, like son. He was in training. He's in a track meet. Breaks his left arm in the track meet. Crushes him because he can't continue the training with his fellow aviators, crushes them.

He doesn't get to go fight the Japanese in the Pacific where many in his squadron were killed.

Broken arm, a bad event, or a good event? It's hard for us to discern often, is it not?

Next truth.

Even random, seemingly insignificant events are under God's direction. Even random, seemingly insignificant events are under God's direction. Proverbs 16.33. Look at your verses. Proverbs 16.33.

The lot, that's sort of like the dice. the dice is capped into the lap but it's every decision is from the Lord and then go down and look at Matthew 10 29 down toward the bottom of the page are not two sparrows sold for a penny yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your father

two verses talking about what seems like a random event or an insignificant event. A sparrow, tiny little bird falls to the ground. You roll the dice, comes up a certain number. I think the scriptures are pressing us to see that even these small, what seem to us random, insignificant events are under God's control. There's a great story about George Washington.

in the French and Indian War. Many of the officers in his unit were killed. George Washington even had bullets through the holes of his, bullet holes in his coat where he was nearly hit, but he was missed. Why was George Washington not struck and killed like nearly every other officer in that battle? How is it that the bullets just barely missed him?

Oh, well, they just didn't shoot as well at him.

or is there a God in control of even flying bullets? A friend of mine sent me a note this week. His great-grandfather was in the Battle of Sharpsburg. For you Yankees, that's Antietam. The bloodiest single day in the battle, in the war.

And when we're in the South, we say the war. You know what we mean. The description says that in the cornfield, know your history know there was a battle in a cornfield it says the corn stalks in that battle it appeared after the battle as if someone had come in with a scythe and a blade and cut the stalks down they were so perfectly cut to the ground by all the bullets that were flying my friend's great-grandfather was in that battle men all around him falling and dying and my friend said, I've often wondered why my great-grandfather wasn't killed in that battle. He says, of course, had he been, I wouldn't even be here to speculate about it.

Random event, the sovereignty of God.

Lastly, last foundational truth, nothing that humans being do or fail to do will succeed in thwarting God's plan. Proverbs 21 verse 30. There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord. The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory rests with the Lord. it matters not how large your army if god is not on your side and then isaiah 46 10 to 11 i make known the end from the beginning from ancient times what is still to come i say my purpose will stand and i will do all that i please from the east i summon a bird of prey from a far off land a man to fulfill my purpose what i have said that i will bring about what i a plan, that I will do.

Judas

betrayed Jesus. Did it thwart God's plan, that evil wrong act? No. Satan, I am sure, and his legions were celebrating the death of the Messiah.

But you see, that's the sovereignty of God. Every evil act of evil humanity just plays right into God's hand in an ultimate sense. His ultimate plan cannot be forwarded.

Well, let me talk about the difficulties.

Now listen to me on this point, just before I talk about the difficulties. Scripture, I submit, teaches the absolute sovereignty of God. It is designed to be a doctrine, a teaching that gives us comfort. Because the great I am is in charge and not just feeble humanity. The reality is this doctrine gives a lot of us a lot of ulcers as we begin to think about it.

Because it does present difficulties to our human mind. us. How can God be sovereign over everything? It also presents difficulty when it comes to the issue of human freedom. Some of us rebel against the notion of sovereignty because we want to be in charge. But the reality is we are not. Now, but what about human freedom?

on the string? No. We can do whatever we want to do.

But we will never defeat God's plan. Now, there are obviously things God prefers that we do. He gives us his teachings about what is right and what is wrong. But we are free as human beings to do whatever we want to do. You know what the real mystery

why is it that certain things we like to do and other things we don't like to do why is it that certain foods we eat we like some we dislike others why is it certain things we drink we like some we don't like others who gave us this want to

yes human beings can do whatever they want to do but there's a sovereign Lord who made you

who gave you certain desires, likes, dislikes. And in his sovereignty, he's got everybody where he wants them at the right time, at the right moment. He knows how sinful humanity acts, too. We have a sin nature that inclines us in certain directions.

So, yes, are we free? in the sense we can do whatever we want to do but what do we want to do? Who knit us together or how are we put together that makes us want to do certain things? That's where the real mystery is, I think. Well, another problem is why do anything if it's going to happen anyway? God's in control so maybe I just lie in bed all day.

well God's plan includes our actions the God who has ordained the end has ordained certain means to get to that end so the God who ordained that Jesus would die on a cross ordained that certain things would happen that would lead to that cross the God who wishes humanity to be saved from their sins has ordained that certain people go We're part of that.

There's nothing inconsistent in saying, trust God and keep your powder dry. There's nothing inconsistent in saying, let's pray, now pass me the ammunition. There's nothing inconsistent in Nehemiah saying to his men, let's pray before we go repair the wall of Jerusalem. Let's pray that God will protect us. And now that we've prayed, get your spears and get on the wall.

because all of what I'm trying to drive here is that trusting God knowing he's sovereign does not eliminate the need for human action because he's even ordained the human action so he's ordained having the spear there as a means of protection so when I pick up my spear when Nehemiah told his soldiers to pick up the spear to protect that he believed God wasn't sovereign of course not he just knows that sometimes God gives you a spear in his sovereignty when Oliver Cromwell told his soldiers before they went into battle, trust God, but keep your powder dry. When he said keep your powder dry, did he think God was no longer sovereign? If you know Oliver Cromwell, you know that's not true. He knew God was absolutely sovereign. But he knew God ordained means and ways to accomplish his purposes.

And one is, don't get your powder wet.

Another problem or difficulty is this. Is God the author of human sin? if he's in control of what happens with evil people.

God is never the immediate cause of someone sinning. It's their own sinful nature. But God is in control of that event so that it accomplishes his purposes. And he uses even evil people who do evil things to accomplish his purposes. Why does God permit evil and evil people?

and pain.

A real mystery. Why did those 3,000 die in the 9-1-1 attack and not us? Why did God let that happen, permit that to happen? It's hard for us to know because we don't see everything. We see about this much.

God sees everything, everywhere for eternity. As George MacDonald said, don't measure God's mind by your own. And the fact that we may only see a second of eternity and can't conceive why this or that happened, God sees the big picture. He sees how the whole tapestry is weaving together. and people who rail against God allowing pain or evil are people who have, like me, minds that can't see but so far.

One other point to make on that is God usually only tells us our own story. Sometimes we can see when pain or difficulty enters someone else's life, sometimes God lets us get a glimpse of why.

but usually often God doesn't explain even in our own lives he doesn't often tell us but if he's going to tell us a story it's usually about ourselves C.S. Lewis illustrated this in one of his chronicles of Narnia called The Horse and the Boy let me just read you a brief portion of this and then I'm going to close with final thoughts about a girl named Shasta. This is in, everybody know the Chronicles of Narnia series of about six books that C.S. Lewis wrote. They're often read to children, but they're great for adults.

And there's one of the books called The Horse and His Boy. And in this particular scene, Shasta has been chased by lions and she's been terrified. And then this great voice from an unseen person tells her there was only one lion. How do you know, demanded Shasta. I was the lion, said the voice.

The lion is Christ in the story. I was the lion who forced you to join your companion. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the horses the new strength of fear chased them for the last mile so that you should reach King Loon in time. I was the lion you don't remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight to receive you.

You hear that? Shasta was put in a boat as a child about to die, and a lion, unbeknownst to her, gives the boat a shove, and it winds up at shore where a man is sitting at midnight. Very unusual for a man to be there at midnight, right? Sovereignty. Shasta responds, Then it was you, Mr. Lion, who wounded Aravis, her friend.

It was I, said Aslan. But what for, asked Shasta. Child, said the voice, I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own. Who are you, asked Shasta.

And the lion responded, myself, myself, myself. Sounds like I am, I am, I am. Do you hear what he's saying?

Let me close with these final thoughts.

Number one, plan. Plan. God wants us to use ordinary means to accomplish purposes in life. So plan. Plan for your children.

Plan for yourself. That's good. Secondly, plan contingently. Let's recognize that there is a sovereign writer and director. And let's be cautious that when we plan to go be fighter pilots, read and that God, the sovereign writer and director, may have a different turn in the road for us.

So plan, but plan contingently. Thirdly, trust God.

Recognize that we are, in any significant respects, helpless and not in control. of events. But He is.

Fourth lesson. Relax.

If one thing, if there's one thing that this notion of the sovereignty of God has finally done for me, and I'm still learning, but I've learned a lot in 20 years, particularly since Joshua died, is that God really is sovereign.

That He really is paying attention. He really is in control.

And I can sort of let out my breath and say, okay, the great master is at the helm. I don't have to believe it all is in my hands. some of the pressure is off. Not that I'm to be inactive. I'm not to be inactive.

I'm to be doing. But it's sort of like the child who has a father or a mother along on a trip through the woods at night. As long as I can hold on to daddy or mama's hand, I'm okay because they will protect me and make things okay. And the child can relax. Some of us just need to relax.

Fifthly, come what may, remember it's all part of the big plan.

Sixthly, for the believer, this is hard truth, but it's true. God causes all things to work together for good. Romans 8.28, that's the reference there, Romans 8.28. I know in this class there are some who have suffered difficult, difficult, painful circumstances. I empathize.

I remember the deep hurt when Joshua died.

Trust, trust what Scripture says. God will use it ultimately for good. And last, when the valley is dark, hang on to the hand of the shepherd.

Let's pray.

Oh Lord, you are great and majestic, glorious and sovereign. it is beyond our ability to fully comprehend what all of that means. But for myself and for everyone in this class, I pray that you will give us a grander vision of your greatness and your sovereignty. And in a world that often seems to us from our limited perspective, out of control in lives that we live that often seem out of control. May we step back, lift our eyes upward, and see who sits on the throne.

I pray that we will walk and live each day knowing that the King of kings and Lord of lords reigns and rules.

and that because we are a child of the King, we can trust Him to preserve us and keep us through every dark valley and difficult circumstance. Lord, it is in Christ's name we pray. Amen.