The Sovereignty of God and Man's Responsibility: Part 4

Below is but a small measure of revelation that my father had received from the Lord. I hope this will be a blessing to you. All that is written below are the words of my father.

March 9, 2020

In loving memory of my father
Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett
July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023

In our previous message we shared about the sovereignty of God through several scriptural examples. One of those examples was that each chapter in the Book of Isaiah is ordered chronologically. Moreover, Chapters 40-66 are prophetic of the last days ... the time in which we live. In this message we want to share with you some specifics from the Book of Isaiah, who is often thought of as the greatest of the writing prophets. We also want to emphasize that as we look at some of the Book of Isaiah, or any scripture for that matter, we should always ask our self, "What does this mean for me today?" I am personally not too interested in just learning some historical facts.

Another question ... why is your and my belief in the sovereignty of God so very important? because when we have absolute trust in the sovereignty of God, that builds our faith, and without faith it is impossible to please God. Paul said,

2 Timothy 1:12, "For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day."

What have I committed unto Him? My whole life and being.

7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.

8 The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands. Psalm 138:7-8

What are the "works of thine own hand"? you and me and all of God's chosen people. However, those verses do NOT imply that therefore I can just sit back, relax, and do nothing. We must cooperate with the Lord. 

But first, to set a background ... the Book of Isaiah is preeminently about the holiness of God and the sovereignty or greatness of God. If we have a holy life then nothing will offend us. But there is only one holy life and that is the life of Christ ... Christ in you, the hope of glory.

The expression, "the Holy One" or "the Holy One of Israel," a title for God, appears 14 times in Chapters 1-39 and 16 times in Chapters 40-66. Outside of Isaiah it appears only six times. The phrase, "in that day" appears 42 times in Isaiah, Chapters 1-39 and only once in Isaiah 40-66.

As a generality, "in that day" speaks of the second coming of the Lord. It is very important to understand that the Book of Isaiah is not simply about the time of the carrying away of Judah to Babylon. Actually, that exile of Judah to Babylon started at least 100 years after Isaiah 39. All of the Book of Isaiah is about our day; it is current events.

We know from Isaiah 1:1 that Isaiah ministered to Judah and Jerusalem in the days of four kings, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, but apparently to no other king after Hezekiah. In the first five Chapters of the Book of Isaiah, only the words of the Lord are recorded. No mention is made in those five chapters about Uzziah or any other king of Judah. However, Isaiah is credited with writing a history of the reign of King Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:22), although that document has been lost.

Now let us consider a few verses from Isaiah, Chapter 3.

4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

5 And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.

12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

Where are the godly women who are praying that their husbands come forth in spiritual authority as the Lord ordained?

In Isaiah 6, we see an awakening of Isaiah, who is allowed to see the glory of God and the uncleanness of himself (first) and then the uncleanness of all the people. Compare that to our day when many move in a gift of prophecy and many can give good teachings but few have progressed in the spiritual realm to the level that the Lord is after. Many Christians believe that Paul was perhaps the most mature, spiritual man who ever lived, other than Jesus of course. But listen to what Paul said to Timothy (and to us) in

2 Timothy 4:16-17, "At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion."

So a good question is, "Who wants the applause of men and who wants the applause of God?" The Lord is not overly concerned with our ministry or our church. That may be important but it is most certainly not the number one priority in our life. The Lord is much more interested in making us into a man (or woman) of God. I once heard Leonard Ravenhill, a highly respected 20th century evangelist, preacher, and author say, "You can't lay hold of God if your hands are full; you can't learn of God if your head is full; and you can't love God if your heart is full." The Bible is full of paradoxes. The way up is down; if we lose our life for the gospel's sake, we find it. If we keep our life, we lose it. Paul also said, in 2 Corinthians 6:10, "As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things." Ravenhill also said, "Today the Church in America possesses all things but has nothing."

Isaiah says nothing about Uzziah except that he died; Isaiah says nothing about Jotham except that he was the son of Uzziah. Isaiah says very little about Ahaz, a "bad" king, except in Isaiah 7. Isaiah records a fair amount about Hezekiah, in Chapters 36-39. We should note that up until Isaiah 38, Hezekiah was one of the very best kings of Judah. But Isaiah says much about the Lord, all throughout the Book of Isaiah.

In 2 Kings 18, we read about Hezekiah,

4 He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. [a mere piece of brass]

5 He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.

6 For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.

7 And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.

In Isaiah 38:1, Isaiah told Hezekiah to set his house in order because he would die and not live. Then Hezekiah pleaded with the Lord to let him live longer and the Lord granted Hezekiah 15 more years. A good question is, "Why did Hezekiah desire to live longer?" to glorify God? or did he have a personal motive? Only the Lord knows. But could he have been afraid of natural death? If so, contrast that desire with that of Paul, who had a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better (Philippians 1:23). Hezekiah had no son at that time so that could have been part of his motivation to live. But three years after his recovery Manasseh was born to Hezekiah. Manasseh became a curse upon the earth and an abomination in the sight of the Lord. That led to the exile of Judah to Babylon. It might have been better for Judah if Hezekiah had died without an heir. Perhaps Hezekiah's sin began when he was not willing to go to heaven when God sent for him. There are several lessons for us in that example, not the least of which is we must trust the Lord in all things. Fear of death will keep us in bondage all our lifetime (Hebrews 2:15) unless we trust in the Lord.

In Isaiah 39, Hezekiah lost favor with God because of pride, vanity, and self-sufficiency. He became obsessed with his household treasures. He showed the ambassadors of Babylon everything in his house.

2 Chronicles 32:25-26, "But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem. Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah."

Jesus said, in Matthew 7:6, "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."

5 Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts: 

6 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.

7 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. Isaiah 39:5-7

Note that Isaiah prophesied that Hezekiah would have sons (plural) but their destiny would not be a favorable one. This is another example of Psalm 106:15, "And He gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul." Isaiah also prophesied the coming exile of Judah to Babylon.

2 Chronicles 32:31, "Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that He might know all that was in his heart."

And what was in Hezekiah's heart? From Isaiah 39:8, 

"Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days." 

How sad! King Self, that great pretender, rears its head once more. Why did Hezekiah say that the judgment of the Lord was good? because it did not affect him personally. But it greatly affected all of Judah. Sin never ends with the leader committing it.

Although Isaiah 40 on the surface seems to refer to the time of the exile of Judah to natural Babylon around 605 B.C., in reality that chapter also speaks of the time in which we live. Surely spiritual Judah is in captivity to spiritual Babylon even now. That is why we read in 

Revelation 18:4-8, "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her." 

From Isaiah 40, the prophecies address Judah as though the prophesied Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 39:5-7), were already a present reality, though that captivity did not begin until about 100 years later.

Isaiah, Chapters 40-66 speak of the greatness of God ... the sovereignty of God ... the mercy and faithfulness of God. We could say that the theme of Isaiah 40 is that only God is great. One of the greatest hymns ever written is "How Great Thou Art." Two of those verses are the following:

Oh Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder 

Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made. 

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder 

Thy power throughout the universe displayed 

Then sings my soul My Savior God to Thee 

How great Thou art, How great Thou art.

When Christ shall come, With shouts of acclamation 

And take me home What joy shall fill my heart 

Then I shall bow, in humble adoration 

And there proclaim, "My God, how great Thou art!" 

Then sings my soul My Savior God to Thee 

How great Thou art, How great Thou art.

Psalm 145:3, "Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable." 

Isaiah 40 falls naturally into three sections: Verses 1-11 (God is greater than our sins), Verses 12-24 (God is greater than our circumstances), and Verses 25-31 (God is greater than our feelings). Let us look at Isaiah 40:1-11, which says that God is greater than our sins. Also in these first 11 verses, we see pardon, preparation, promise, and pity (or compassion).

1 Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God.

"Comfort ye" appears twice, for emphasis. Comfort greatly! Don't give up hope! Our hope is in the Lord. "My people" refers to the people of God over all of time who are in a covenant relationship with Him. The phrase "My people" appears 12 times in chapters 1-39 and 15 times in chapters 40-66. The only true comfort that any of us have, is through the Spirit of God. Jesus promised to send us the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit. That promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost.

Notice, that God has not abandoned them or us. He also says that He is their God and our God. He will not let His people down. We must trust in Him. I once heard someone say, "Trust and obey or rust and decay." We cannot and probably will not trust someone that we do not know.

Jesus said, in John 10:4-5, concerning His sheep, 

"And when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers." 

After 30 years of ministry, Paul said, "That I might know Him." What is our major goal, as Christians? to know Him and to walk with Him daily.

2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins.

Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, or literally, speak to the heart. Jerusalem was/is the capital of Judah. Jerusalem seems to imply the leaders or pastors of the Church.

Isaiah 53:6, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

Jeremiah 50:6, "My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace."

So leaders in the Church receive double for all her sins ... first as an individual and second as a leader. But our iniquity was laid on Jesus at Calvary. Iniquity means perversity, lawlessness, or unrighteousness. 

3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

As I shared earlier in a series of messages, our responsibility is to prepare the way of the Lord. After we prepare the way of the Lord in our heart, in our whole being, then the Lord will restore everything back to what was in His heart and mind for us before the foundation of the world.

5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Whatever the Lord has spoken, He will accomplish. This Verse will be fulfilled only with His second coming. 

6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:

7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.

8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

Verses 7-9 declare basically the same truth that is recorded in Isaiah 6, when the Lord allowed Isaiah to see the holiness of God.

9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

Note first of all the four voices in these 9 verses: The voice of God, in Verse 1; the voice of the spiritual John the Baptist, in Verse 3; the voice of the Lord in Verse 6; and the voice of Jerusalem, in Verse 9. Note also that both Zion and Jerusalem bring good tidings. But Zion (overcomers) are exhorted to get up into the high mountain whereas Jerusalem is told to speak to all of Judah. In Scripture, mountains speak of kingdoms, but Zion is not told to get up to any high mountain ... only to THE high mountain, which is the Kingdom of God. There is a difference between being or becoming (Zion) compared to speaking, teaching, vocal gifts, etc.

10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him: behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.

11 He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

From Verse 10, what is the reward that is with Him? That question is answered in Genesis 15:1, when the Lord told Abram, "I am your shield and your great reward." In these first 11 verses, Isaiah is looking beyond the Babylonian captivity. He says that Jerusalem has received forgiveness, or even better, total pardon. God had allowed terrible warfare to bring them closer to the knowledge of the fact they needed Him. The payment of double was all the trouble they had. 

Isaiah is speaking as if this has already happened, because of the certainty of the prophecy. Note where their trouble had really come from. It was from the LORD, to cause them to repent. Praise God, there is a Light at the end of the tunnel for His people! They are not forsaken of God, they are forgiven.

"The Lord's arm", Right Hand etc., all are speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. The work that was before Him was the work of His 6 hours on the cross, when He purchased our salvation. As a result, He will reap a great harvest of souls in the last days. "His arm" is a picture of God's omnipotence. The same arm that powerfully scatters the Jews all over the earth in judgment is to overcome Israel's oppressors (Verse 10), and to tenderly feed and lead His flock.

22 It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

Isaiah 40:12-24 - God is greater than our circumstances. He is sovereign! In fact He will even order our circumstances to help us to return unto Him. That truth is made very clear in what we call the parable of the prodigal son, as recorded in Luke 15. That is a mystery! The Bible speaks of several different mysteries, but in Revelation 10:7, we read, 

"But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the prophets."

Amos 3:3-8, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed? Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing? Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all? Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it? Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets. The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?"

12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught Him?

14 With whom took He counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and shewed to Him the way of understanding?

15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, He taketh up the isles as a very little thing.

16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.

17 All nations before Him are as nothing; and they are counted to Him less than nothing, and vanity.

18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto Him?

19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.

20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.

21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?

22 It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:

23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and He shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

25 To whom then will ye liken Me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.

26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: He calleth them all by names by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one faileth.

Isaiah 40:27-31 - God is greater than our feelings or emotions.

27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?

I feel forsaken, weak, tired, and faint. Sometimes I can't even think straight. And no one seems to care about all my problems. I just don't feel like praying. I tried that and nothing seemed to happen to help me. That sounds like the LORD doesn't know about all of my problems and my sufferings or perhaps He doesn't care. What a tragic statement to make! So some Christians run from one church to another church, from one pastor to another pastor, from one big conference to another conference, hoping to get a word from the Lord and an answer to their most pressing problems. It is like a religious roller coaster. But the very hairs of our head are numbered and not one sparrow shall fall to the ground except He knows it. I am very grateful that the Lord made me to be a very unemotional person concerning things of the world or circumstances. That has been a boon for me to help me to discern between things of the soul and things of the Spirit. 

28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of His understanding.

29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength.

30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Today most folks, even some Christians are too busy to wait. We want solutions to our problems now. We are looking for a quick fix. But there is virtue, or spiritual excellence in waiting for the Lord. Then Verse 31 shall flow like a river.

Amen and Amen.

The Sovereignty of God and Man's Responsibility: Part 3

Below is but a small measure of revelation that my father had received from the Lord. I hope this will be a blessing to you. All that is written below are the words of my father.

March 2, 2020

In loving memory of my father
Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett
July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023

In our previous two messages we have been sharing with you about the sovereignty of God and man's responsibility ... how the two go together. In addition, one attribute of God jumps out as we look at the lives of the men and women in the Bible who were chosen by God. That attribute is the sovereignty of God. A multitude of examples of the sovereignty of God at work within His chosen people are recorded in the Bible. We will look at only a few of those examples.

Job

The Book of Job, among other things, is pre-eminently about the sovereignty of God. After all of the discourse between five men (Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and Elihu) which occupies Chapters 3-37 of the Book of Job (or 35 of the 42 chapters), the Lord comes on the scene to announce His sovereignty. In four Chapters (Chapter 38-41) the Lord speaks only to Job. That has significance because Job was called and chosen by the Lord. It is good to go back and read those four chapters, which begin with Job 38. We will read only a small part of those verses.


1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

2 Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou Me.

4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

19 Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof,

20 That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?

21 Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great?

24 By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?

25 Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;

26 To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;

27 To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?

34 Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?

35 Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?

36 Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?

A New Testament counterpart of those verses could be,

And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. 1 Corinthians 8:2

We could add: Who caused the flood in the time of Noah? Who created the heavens and the earth, everything in it, and man? Who closed the mouth of the lions when Daniel spent the night in the lions' den? Who preserved the three Hebrews when they were thrown into the fiery furnace? Who parted the Red Sea? Who helped to bring Jesus Christ on the scene at precisely the right day? Our Heavenly Father did it by Himself. Was the world ready for Jesus to arrive? Did they have the stage set for Christ by their extensive preparation? From whom did the Lord seek permission to pour out of His Spirit upon the believers on the day of Pentecost? No one!

Will our God need our help or permission to do the quick work which He has promised to do in the near future? He will do it Himself! He will get the job done, with or without any help or permission from either you or me. Our God is All in All!

27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:

28 For He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. Romans 9:27-28

Also from Romans 9, Verses 13-24,


13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.

15 For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew My power in thee, and that My name might be declared throughout all the earth.

18 Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will he hardeneth.

19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth He yet find fault? For who hath resisted His will?

20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

22 What if God, willing to shew His wrath, and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:

23 And that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had afore prepared unto glory,

24 Even us, whom He hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

Those verses clearly show the sovereignty of God at work.

Abraham

One of my favorite examples of the sovereignty of God is the life of Abraham, which could easily occupy a complete book. He was uncompromising and was willing to obey the Lord by separating from his country, his kindred, and his father's house. However, after Abram undoubtedly told his father, Terah, that he was leaving, Terah said that he was going with Abram and they would also take Lot, Abram's nephew. After all, Lot's father had already died so Lot had no one left in his family. That was nice, logical reasoning, but from Isaiah 51:2, the Lord called Abraham alone. The Lord never called Abraham's father and never called Lot. But the sovereignty of God was still at work. Terah, Abraham's father, died halfway to Canaan. Later, Abraham had to separate himself from Lot, who represents a carnal Christian.

When Abraham first entered the land, he pitched his tent at Bethel, which means "house of God" (Genesis 12:8). He left that place for Egypt, which became a "house of slaves." Now he was back in Bethel (13:3), a wiser man than before. He has retraced his steps to recover the lost ground of going to Egypt. The Lord told Abram, in Genesis 13:17-18, "Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord." He then dwelled in Mamre, which means "vision" and pitched his tent in Hebron, which means "joined together" or "communion." At Bethel, Abraham had worshipped; at Hebron he knew true fellowship with God. Thus faith moves on to greater faith.

Now who can argue with vision and communion with God? Yet Abram slipped once more, and very subtly this time. Why? because the Lord had told Abram to "walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it" (13:17). Instead, Abram pitched his tent and settled in comfortably in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar to the Lord. Very admirable, but that was NOT what the Lord told Abram to do. "To obey is better than sacrifice" (1 Samuel 15:22). But God is sovereign. He will still have His will fulfilled.

And so God, in His sovereignty, stirred up the first war recorded in the bible, involving perhaps hundreds of thousands of men, for what purpose? to get Abram to do what Abram had neglected to do. Abram, in order to rescue Lot, had to walk from Hebron, in the southernmost part of the land, all the way up to Dan, in the extreme northernmost part, and over eastward close to Damascus. In doing so, Abram finally fulfilled the word of the Lord to him.

Genesis 14:1-12 tells of that war between four kings and five kings. The four kings represent the "good guys." They were descendants of Shem. Amraphel, the first "good" king mentioned, was king of Shinar, which was in the fertile plain of Babylon. Amraphel has been identified historically to be Hammurabi. The code of laws which Hammurabi set forth were indeed "good" and included nearly 300 paragraphs of legal provisions concerning commercial, social, domestic, and moral life. Many have compared Hammurabi's code with the Mosaic law, and indeed there are many similarities. Just as with Lot, this code was the best that man had to offer.

The five kings in verse 2 represent the "bad guys" and included the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah. They were descendants of Ham. The five kings had served Chedorlaomer for 12 years (14:4), and they should have, for God had pronounced the curse of servitude upon them through Noah. In the 13th year they rebelled.

The important point here is that Abram was part of NEITHER. He was not associated with the good guys or the bad guys. There are three parties in view ... the world, the flesh, and the man of faith. Abram remains set apart from both the good AND the evil, even as God told Adam and Eve that they were not to partake of the tree of knowledge of GOOD and evil. The good and the evil will always war against each other, but we must be careful not to get pulled into their war, which is at a carnal level. The world (the good guys) wants to enlist the man of faith as an ally, but the true man of faith will not join the world in its efforts to subdue Sodom, nor will he join Sodom in its efforts to throw off the yoke of the world. The man of faith has no place even in moral controversies that occupy much of the thought of the world. The world cannot understand why the true pilgrim will not join in the fight against evil. The moral victory of the religious world must not be confused with the spiritual victory of the man of faith. The spiritual man must remain aloof, misunderstood by all but God.

In that first big war, the good guys won (14:10) and took captive not only all of the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah but Lot as well. Note that Abram, the man of faith, did not move until his fellow believer was in danger. Now Abram COULD have said, "It served him right"; or "He had it coming to him." After all, Abram had allowed Lot to come with him all the way from Ur; Abram was undoubtedly the reason why Lot had prospered and accumulated much riches; and then Lot, stirred on by his desire for earthly riches, had been the cause of great strife between the herdmen of Lot and the herdmen of Abram. But the man of God is a man of compassion. And so when Abram heard that Lot had been taken captive by the good guys, he armed his 318 trained servants and pursued the good guys unto Dan (14:14). Abram was a spiritual man and set out to restore Lot in a spirit of meekness. The yielded believer cannot have within him a root of bitterness. Even though Lot had been the source of great anguish and strife to Abram, Abram returned good for evil. Nothing marks a man as being like Christ more than his genuine love for someone who has been the cause of a deep wrong.

There are at least two significant points about Abram's pursuit of the good guys in order to rescue Lot. The first is that Abram had only 318 trained servants, and they pursued at least tens of thousands of the good guys. The second is that Abram had made no attempt to rescue Lot from the bad guys in Sodom prior to this war. Does that indicate that the good guys are more of a threat to us as believers than are the bad guys? I believe so. Why? because the ways of the world (the good guys) are so subtle and so hard to distinguish from the ways of the Lord. That is why we must exercise our [spiritual] senses to be able to discern BOTH (NOT between) GOOD and evil from the path of the just (Hebrews 5:14). It is not too difficult to discern evil. Discerning between good and the ways of the Lord is the hard part. It takes vision and a communion with the Lord.

So Abram in his compassionate rescue mission, "pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus" (14:15). And "Abram brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods" (14:16). How does the meek and lowly Abram, who had yielded his rights to Lot, suddenly display such courage, initiative, and tenacity? And how did Abram, with only 318 men, slaughter armies probably hundreds or even thousands of times larger than his own (Genesis 14:17)? The answer, of course, is that all of his resources were in God.

3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;

8 And five of you shall chase an hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. 

Leviticus 26: 3, 8

A hundred shall put ten thousand to flight. This is a ratio of 1 to 100. Therefore, it should be NO surprise if Abraham and his 318 men chased an army of 31,900 (319 times 100). So after his amazing victory and rescue of Lot, two kings came out to meet Abram. The first was the king of Sodom ... the second was the king of Salem ... Melchizedek. This is one of many examples of the false emerging before the true, a topic which we hope to expand upon in a later message. Some people might have their heads turned by worldly recognition from a worldly king, but not Abram. Spiritual insight or discernment made Abram aware of the difference between these two kings. Before the king of Salem, Abram was humble and deferential; before the king of Sodom, he was firm and uncompromising.

Abram refused to take any of the spoils or eat any of the food that had originally belonged to the king of Sodom (14:23, 24). Abram said,

I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: Genesis 14:23

Joseph

Jesus is Lord over every detail of every circumstance in both the seen and the unseen realms. Another good example of the sovereignty of God is seen in the life of Joseph: 

Genesis 45:5-8, "Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt." 

Genesis 50:19-20, "And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?

But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive."

Peter, Paul, John

The number "three" symbolizes divine completeness or perfect testimony (or witness). Examples of sets of three in the Bible are too numerous to mention.

If we think about the New Testament, twenty-two of the twenty-seven books were written or heavily influenced by three apostles ... Peter, Paul, and John. (The other five are the books of Matthew, Luke, Acts, James, and Jude.) This "twenty-two" includes the Book of Hebrews (written by Paul) and the Gospel according to Mark. It is generally agreed that John Mark was a close associate of Peter, from whom he received the things said and done by the Lord. Mark, in writing his Gospel, recorded Peter's recollection of his Lord. These truths came to Mark as the preaching of Peter directed to the needs of the early Christian community. Mark accurately preserved this material. It is also thought that the man Peter mentions as "Marcus, my son" (1 Peter 5:13) is this same Mark.

The lives of Peter, Paul, and John reflect not only unique ministries, but also a chronological emphasis or order ordained by God which clearly shows the development of the Church from its first beginning with Peter (at Pentecost), then to its development through Paul, and finally to its restoration through John. Each of the three apostles brings his own fresh and timely emphasis to fulfill God's timetable for the Church.

Peter and his brother Andrew were called to be "fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19). That is the work of an evangelist and that was Peter's initial distinctive task. He was to bring men, quickly and in great numbers, into the Kingdom. Peter was later called to a pastoral ministry of "feeding His sheep." Jesus told Peter, "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven." A key implies an entry, a beginning. The burden of Peter's message was salvation, not a salvation for its own sake but always with a view of the Kingdom in fullness, with Jesus as its exalted King. When Peter stood up with the eleven on the Day of Pentecost, he opened the door to the Jews. When later he preached Christ in the Roman home of Cornelius, he opened the door for the Gentiles.

Whereas Peter initiated things, Paul's task was to construct ... to help to build God's Church into fullness. Paul was a tent-maker (or tent-builder). The word, "tent," can also be translated as "tabernacle." Paul was chosen to build up the tabernacle of the congregation (Old Testament wording) or the tabernacle of the soul of the body of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:1, 4). The special ministry of Paul was to build believing souls together according to the heavenly vision which God had given to him. Paul was a prophetic teacher who undoubtedly received more revelation than any other man in history, other than Jesus of course. The ministry of Paul was the necessary complement and addition of that of Peter. But at the end of Paul's amazing ministry came many set-backs and disappointments. In Philippians 2:21, Paul tells us why: "For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's." Has anything changed today?

At this point, God calls in John. John's is the last of the four Gospels; John's Epistles are the last of all of the Epistles; his Revelation is the last of all of the books in the Bible. Up until this point, John has remained in the background. The Book of Acts never records one word that John spoke. Although Peter and John are always seen together in the first eight chapters of Acts, we never see Peter and John mentioned together anymore. That is not to say that they never saw each other anymore; it just is not recorded in the Bible. But now with both Peter and Paul gone, the Lord brings to light another vessel of ministry with a fresh emphasis to meet a new need.

Doctrinally, John has nothing to add to the revelation given through Paul. Then what further ministry is needed after Paul? John and his brother James were "mending their nets" when Jesus called them. (Matthew 4:21). When we mend anything we bring it back to its original condition. John is always bringing us back to God's original intention. The ministry of John was primarily restorative in nature ... to restore all things back to what was in the heart and mind of God before the foundation of the world. What distinguishes John, whether in his Gospel, his epistles, or in the Apocalypse (Revelation) is his concern to bring the people of God back to a position they have left or lost. One of the distinctive marks of the Book of Revelation is "to him that overcometh," which is a message with an accompanying promise to each of the seven churches. But there is one more conditional promise in Revelation 21:7, "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son."

The practical outworking of the pattern those three apostles illustrate is that it takes the complementary and inter-related ministries of all three to make the Church perfect (but by the power of the Holy Ghost, of course). Peter was a mouth; Paul was a renewed mind, full of revelation knowledge; John was a heart. Who can deny that we need all three of these ministries today? As a generality, Evangelicals today are striving to duplicate the "Peter" ministry or "go out and get them saved." Of course that is not exactly the correct motivation because Jesus never told us to do that. Jesus said to preach the gospel and make disciples AFTER the Lord saves them. Charismatics today are heavily focused on the "Paul" ministry of vocal gifts ... teaching, prophecy, etc. But that has not got the job done either. But the third ministry of restoration is the greatest need of all in these last of the last days. Enter the sovereignty of God once more. He has been silently building His Church; He has been silently raising up His "John" ministry ... the overcomers, the remnant ... the priests, the ministers of the Lord who will weep between the porch and the altar (Joel 2:17) ... the priests, the sons of Zadok, who will minister to the Lord and who will "teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean." (Ezekiel 44:23)

Isaiah

Every Christian probably knows that the Bible contains 66 books ... 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. Likewise the Book of Isaiah contains 66 chapters. The first 39 chapters in the Book of Isaiah are primarily about the judgment of God. Thirty-nine is three times 13. "Thirteen" in the Bible speaks of rebellion or apostasy (Genesis 14:4), so thirty-nine speaks of perfect or complete rebellion. Some have called the last 27 chapters of the Book of Isaiah the "Book of Comfort," perhaps because the first words in Isaiah 40 are "comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God." "Twenty-seven" is three times three times three, where three is the number of Divine completeness or perfect testimony.

About 12 years ago the Holy Spirit seemed to quicken to me that the last 27 chapters in the Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40-66, represent a chronological, prophetic, time-order of events in the history of God's chosen people, starting with the time just prior to the birth of Jesus. When I shared that thought with Marion Fretwell, a precious, mature brother in Christ, who lived in Yakima, Washington, he quickly responded that he had received that same revelation in the year 2006. I have no idea how many others received that same revelation, although I have never read or heard that said through any other believer. Without going into a lot of detail, the primary significance of a few of the last 27 chapters is as follows:

Chapter 51: Conditions in the land just prior to the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus Chapter 52: The ministry of John the Baptist 

Chapter 53: Calvary

Chapter 54: Pentecost

Chapter 55: Call of the Gentiles

Chapter 56: Rise of a mixed multitude within the Church

Chapter 57: Persecution of the righteous and the rise of traditions of men

Chapter 58: Voice of the Spirit through the Reformation 

Chapter 59: Denominational strife

Chapter 60: The dawn of spiritual Zion's glory (overcomers)

Chapter 61: Beginning of the harvest

Chapter 62: The restoration of spiritual Zion

Chapter 63: Destruction of evil

Chapter 64: Repentance in the Church 

Chapter 65: Overcomers and the new earth

Chapter 66: God's final victory and the glory of the Church

If all that is true, and I am fully persuaded it is, then what Chapter of Isaiah do we live in today? I believe we live on the verge of the fulfillment of Isaiah 59:19, "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him." No one can doubt that the world, particularly the United States, is going from darkness to gross darkness. Likewise, the enemy has been coming in like a flood for several years. But Chapters 60 through 66 of Isaiah can be fulfilled rapidly.

Now you may have noticed that I have said nothing about Isaiah, Chapters 40-50. That has been by design because in our next message I want to devote everything to Isaiah, Chapter 40.

Scientists have estimated that there are trillions of galaxies, some of which have 100 trillion stars. If we consider the vastness of what God has created and His infinite greatness and majesty, "What is man that Thou art mindful of him?" (Psalm 8:4) Compared with what God has made and compared with our indescribable God, we individuals seem smaller than a pinhead in size. And yet, even the hairs on our heads are all numbered and not one sparrow shall fall to the ground except He knows it. Amazing! That is enough to keep us humble before Him for all eternity!

The Sovereignty of God and Man's Responsibility

Below is but a small measure of revelation that my father had received from the Lord. I hope this will be a blessing to you. All that is written below are the words of my father.

February 10, 2020 

In loving memory of my father
Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett
July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023

This is the first of several messages about the sovereignty of God and how His sovereignty and man's responsibility relate to each other. If you have ever seen a commercial on TV about the company called Farmer's Insurance, you know that their spokesman always says, "We know a thing or two because we have seen a thing or two." Likewise, I know a thing or two because I have seen and personally experienced a thing or two about the sovereignty of God. The word "sovereignty" does not appear in the Bible; neither does the word "sovereign." But make no mistake ... God is sovereign. It is God who does all things by His Spirit. Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord! He will have His way with or without you and with or without me.

Shortly after the Lord sovereignly apprehended me, He stressed two things to me. The first was the sovereignty of God. The Lord has chosen to deal with me very sovereignly from the very beginning and still does so. My experience has been very much like that of Paul, who said,

11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
13 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:
14 And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.
15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace,
16 To reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. Galatians 1:11-16

Every person since Adam who is born naturally is separated from his/her mother's womb. That is a known fact, but I do not believe that is what Paul talks about in those verses. I believe that Paul is referring to the realm of the Spirit; namely that the Lord sovereignly separated him from the Jews religion, Judaism, which was his spiritual mother's womb. The Lord sovereignly separated Paul from the traditions of his fathers.

Not long before the Lord sovereignly apprehended me, we were going to a Methodist church about 2 miles from where we still live. One day I heard about a couple who also attended that church who were doing some "funny things" like speaking in tongues. When I heard that I became very angry; I was furious! I have seldom, if ever, been so angry in all of my life! I told my wife that if they wanted to do "funny things" like that, then they should get out of the church! A few months later, after the Lord sovereignly apprehended me, I was doing those same "funny things." We knew that we had to leave that church because even the pastor was not born again and the pastor's wife led séances in the church building every Saturday night. But we had to wait for the timing of the Lord, which came between one or two years later. Then the Lord put us into a New Testament house church for about 12 years. I still maintain that house church, which grew to about 80 adults, was the most spiritually mature local church I have ever seen. However after 10 years that church began to go downhill and we saw a repeat performance of what we experienced in the Methodist church, only at a much higher spiritual level. Again we knew that the Lord was calling us out of the New Testament house church, but again we had to wait for the timing of the Lord, which came about 2 years later. So the Lord sovereignly separated us from our mother's womb twice. It is not possible for me to explain or describe to you the new found sense of freedom and liberty that I sensed then, which has continued to this day. But now I ask you an important question ... has the Lord separated you from your mother's womb? from the religion and traditions of your fathers? I do not speak of being born again and baptized with the Holy Ghost.

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 

Revelation 18:4

That is a commandment, with the alternative of being a partaker of her sins and receiving of her plagues. Note that exhortation is addressed to the Lord's people, not to heathens. Three times in that verse we see the word "her." Do you know what "her" refers to? I believe it clearly refers to "our mother's womb" or the traditions of our fathers that Paul addresses in Galatians 1. I could expound on that at length but I strongly suggest that you ask the Lord what is YOUR mother's womb, now that you have been born from above.

I found out many years ago that the Lord can do all things by Himself. He can save people all by Himself; He can heal people all by Himself; He can deliver people all by Himself; He can reveal His word all by Himself. How do I know? Because He did all of those things in my life in the first six months after He sovereignly apprehended me. And no man was involved. From the time that the Lord apprehended me, He has emphasized to me His sovereignty. He sovereignly apprehended me. I do not recall ANY man who ever told me about Jesus. No man ever suggested to me that I should read Romans 10:9-10 or pray the so-called "sinner's prayer." Neither can I say that I was seeking Him. He just sovereignly touched my life, and in a way that I did not at first understand. But I knew that something good had happened. I had two, initial, overwhelming sensations. It was like I had entered a world that I never knew existed (which was a fact), and I remember saying to myself, "Surely this is the peace that passes all understanding."

A few weeks after the Lord apprehended me, He sovereignly delivered me from smoking. NO man went through any deliverance ministry. NO man even suggested that I needed to be delivered from smoking. NO man prayed for me. No man laid hands on me. It was an instantaneous, sovereign work of God, in the same manner that He had earlier apprehended me. Even the desire for nicotine immediately and instantaneously left me. I have never smoked another cigarette since. I have never even held one in my hand! A few years later I shared with another elder all the details of how and when the Lord sovereignly delivered me from smoking. That elder, who had a ministry of deliverance, told me that I had not been delivered because no man with a ministry of deliverance had been involved. Well, I know that the Lord can do things all by Himself! It is like the man in John 9 who was born blind. The Pharisees were very skeptical that Jesus had opened the eyes of the blind man. The man born blind said,

Whether He be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. John 9:25

A few weeks after the Lord sovereignly delivered me from smoking, He sovereignly healed me of a sinus condition. Just prior to that sovereign healing, a Spirit-filled medical doctor had just told me that he could do nothing for me. My wife has had several sovereign, instantaneous healings of more serious physical disorders and no man was involved, not even me.

The Lord has also continued to sovereignly reveal more of His word to me. I will never forget the first occurrence, in early 1968. As I was reading Matthew 5:13-16, the Spirit of God revealed part (I dare not say all!) of the significance of those verses. I got so excited that I called another brother and drove over to his house to relate what the Lord had just revealed to me. The Lord has continued to reveal His word to me even to this day.

To hear some Bible teachers, particularly those on television, we might begin to wonder who is running the show. Many leaders are mustering all the support possible for the particular project which has captured their attention at the time. They each want us to drop everything else and run to their support. Each of them believes that they are the one whom God has designated to thwart the attacks of the enemy, and they must have our help (particularly our money) immediately. However, let us hear what the word of God says.


9 Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself: 

10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him:

11 In Whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will:

Ephesians 1:9-11

Ephesians, Chapter 1, is full of the words, He, Him, His, and Himself. Note that in the three verses above, those words occur eight times, plus three other times that refer to the Lord (Christ, Whom, and Who). It is good to read all of Ephesians 1, emphasizing He, Him, His, and Himself.

Whatever God has purposed, God will perform. He does not need any help. We found out many years ago that He can do things all by Himself. His purposes will be accomplished. It will be completely on His schedule. Most of the fruitless endeavors we engage in (in the Name of the Lord) are caused by us trying to do what only God can do. That produces only wood, hay, and stubble.

21 There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand. Proverbs 19:21

38 And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: Acts 5:38

Who helped to bring Jesus Christ on the scene at precisely the right day? He did it by Himself. Was the world ready for Him to arrive? Did they have the stage set for Him by their extensive preparation? From whom did He seek permission to pour out of His Spirit upon the believers on the day of Pentecost? NO ONE!

Will He ask for, or need, our help or permission to do the quick work which He has promised to do in the near future? He will do it Himself! I am sure He will be able to get the job done, with or without any help or permission from either you or me. That is the God we worship.

God can do all things! He is all seeing, all knowing or omniscient, all powerful or omnipotent, and omnipresent. He lives in eternity. Despite all of the failures of man, God will have that which He purposed before the foundation of the world!

God is omniscient and omnipresent. 

1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, Thou hast searched me, and known me.

2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou understandest my thought afar off.

3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, Thou knowest it altogether.

5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid Thine hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

7 Whither shall I go from Thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?

8 If l ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there.

9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

10 Even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.

12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee.

13 For Thou hast possessed my reins: Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.

14 I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

15 My substance was not hid from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in Thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. Psalm 139:1-16

God is also omnipotent. After the resurrection of Jesus, we read, 

18 And Jesus came and spake unto them [the eleven disciples], saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.

19 Go ye therefore, and teach [disciple] all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world [age]. Amen.

Matthew 28:18-20

Some more of the many verses that speak of the sovereignty of God are the following.

Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure: Isaiah 46:10

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

Philippians 2:13

Daniel 2:21, "And He changeth the times and the seasons: He removeth kings, and setteth up kings: He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:

This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. Daniel 4:17

Twenty-six times in the Book of Ezekiel the Lord says that He will do specific things "that they shall know that I am the Lord."

However, man can frustrate the working in his life of the sovereignty of God.

7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. Psalm 20:7

In David's day, a horse was about the most powerful thing they knew about. They were fast and agile on their feet. A good war horse was also relatively fearless - the epitome or quintessence of military power in the time of David. But in the Spirit, David was caused to write that the Lord took no delight in the horse and its strength. It was also vain to trust in the strength and ability of the horse. The present day equivalent of the horse in the United States could easily be nuclear power or our great military might.

What is the horse for us as Christians? our knowledge of the Bible? our anointed sermons? our good works? our church? our pastor? our ministry? our family?

God needs none of these things for His plans and purposes. Rather, the Lord takes note of and takes pleasure in those who fear Him and hope in His mercy.

Too many of us are keenly aware of our position in the things of the Lord and His Church. We try to maintain a high standard of righteousness and holiness ... believing that it will get us favor with the Lord when the goodies are passed out. Without realizing what we are doing, we tend to compare our degree of attainment with that of other people ... usually putting ourselves a bit higher on the scale than we do them.

It is a very subtle deception we indulge in, for a good percentage of what we call righteousness or holiness is cosmetic only, applied when we are going out to church or to other functions. The standards which are enjoined and encouraged have become a measuring device by which we gauge ourselves and others. Can it be that this has become a horse to us?

The most important thing that we can do is to repent. This does NOT necessarily mean that there is known sin in our life; it does not mean that we have committed some dastardly deeds. Rather, there should be an overwhelming sense of an inability to muster up righteousness or holiness within ourselves. We cannot depend on our knowledge of the word, nor the fact that we have ministered the word for many years, nor the glory that we experienced in years past. Those may be good, but they do not pay the bill.

There is no record that Isaiah had done anything "wrong" when he saw his total unworthiness in Isaiah, Chapter 6. There is no record that Daniel had done anything "wrong" when he identified with his people by saying, "we have sinned" (Daniel 9). There is no record that Nehemiah had done anything "wrong" when he identified with the children of Israel and confessed that "both I and my father's house have sinned" (Nehemiah 1). There is no record that Ezra had done anything "wrong" when he wept, prayed, and confessed his sins and those of the people (Ezra 9:10-10:1).

We must come to actually embrace with joy being made low at His feet. It brings a sense of completeness that correct doctrine can never do. My righteousness and holiness are likewise totally inadequate to bring the sense of completeness.

Matthew 5:4: Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.

Repentance is the essence of mourning over the inability of my flesh and my will to produce the kind of righteousness and holiness we may think that we have. The righteousness and holiness which He looks for is that which only His Spirit can produce in our lives. It is not anything of our own making, which is mostly external in nature.

Repentance is the Lord leading us into mourning because of our inability to produce the true fruit of righteousness and holiness. My efforts will never satisfy God because they were produced more for the eyes of man than for the eyes of God.

God delights in and has pleasure in those who fear Him and hope in His mercy.

If my horse is inadequate, the only thing left for me to do is to repent and hope in His mercy.

Every Sunday morning, hundreds of thousands of professing Christians recite what men call the Lord's Prayer, which ends with, "For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory." To what degree is that a tradition of men as compared to what has been made real in their heart?

6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 1 Corinthians 3:6-7

God is certainly moving today in a sovereign way. But it is largely a hidden work, in the hearts of a faithful remnant, which is being purified by fire in the wilderness ... in the desert. That remnant is called overcomers.

The real key is the Lord Himself. The only horse for us is the Lord Himself! He is our shield and our exceeding great reward. It is only by the grace and mercy of God that we can do anything. We cannot even take our next breath, except by the grace of God. All we really can do is to cry out to the Lord, Help, Lord!

In all of Paul's epistles to the various churches he starts off with "Grace and peace be unto you." But when he addresses individuals, like Timothy and Titus, Paul adds an extra word of salutation. He says, "Grace, mercy, and peace to you." We as individual believers need the mercy of God.

In the beginning, God. In the end, God. Everywhere in between the beginning and the end, God.

Corinthians 15:28, "And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all."

Further, God even arranges all of our circumstances to help us to cry out to Him. There will be a repeat of great persecution and tribulation among His people from without, just as recorded in Acts 8. That will leave the Church no alternative except to cry out unto Him from the depths of our being. Jesus is the way when there is no way. May the word and call of the Lord in this hour burn within the very depth of our heart.

In our next several messages, prepare to be amazed at the sovereign work of Divine order in all things.