God Is an Absolute Sovereign

The Need for Ballast: Truths for the Uncharted New Year

0:00 I know that some of you have had the privilege of visiting Plymouth, Massachusetts, and you have seen the replica of the kind of town that our pilgrim forefathers built and in which they lived in the 1600s after arriving on these shores from Great Britain. And most likely, those of you who have been to Plymouth went aboard the Mayflower II, an exact replica built from the very original plans, the original drawings of the Mayflower I. And if you did a thorough tour of that ship with a guide or on your own, you went down into the belly of that ship, and there you saw a strange sight. You would have seen a number of oak barrels standing rim to rim all throughout the lower part of that ship, and if your guide was explaining things or if you read one of the explanatory plaques somewhere posted there, I was trying to reconstruct that from my memory, and I'm not sure, but I believe it had an explanatory plaque somewhere near to the visual site of those barrels, you would have found out that they were performing a very necessary function in that very hazardous transatlantic journey

1:25 in that ship. Thank you. A ship that we now wonder how in the world did 120 people make that journey for weeks cooped up in that thing and land safely on our shores. Well, what you would have found out about those barrels is that they were essential to that journey.

1:43 Before they took the journey, they filled them with potable, good drinking water, the water that they would use for their cooking and for their refreshment, that commodity without which they could survive. They could not have lived in that journey. But then every time one of those barrels was emptied of the drinking and cooking water, they filled it with seawater because the barrels filled a second function. They were ballast there in the bowels of that ship.

2:15 Now, you kids know what ballast in a ship is? That's heavy weight put in the lower part of the ship to give it stability once it gets out to sea and meets something more than little rippling waves. Then it begins to know something of the turbulence of the sea without ballast. The ship could be capsized.

2:35 It would be difficult to keep it on course. And the ballast, that weight down in the belly of the ship is what enables it to make its way through the turbulent sea to keep on course and to arrive safely at its destination. Well, for some reason, as I was prayerfully considering what to bring as an appropriate, a little bit, you know, this was an image. Well, the ship is now in a boat.

2:57 last of the year and New Year's meditation, the imagery of ballast came so forcibly to my mind. What do you need and what do I need as we, in a few hours, will set out on what for us is the uncharted sea of the coming year? When those people left Britain to come to Plymouth, they at least had what we would now regard as crude navigational charts, but they had some clear sense of direction, some definite sense of what they were doing when they cast off and made their way to the new world. But you and I are embarking upon an uncharted sea. The Scripture says we don't even know what one day will bring forth. Boast not yourself of tomorrow, for you know not what a day will bring forth, let alone 365 days. And as we are let loose in a few hours and go out to sea in this journey that

4:11 is the new year before us, I want to lay before you the principle that we desperately need those old oak barrels. There in the bowels of our souls. And we need them for the same two reasons that those pilgrim forefathers needed them. If the seas are smooth and not at all turbulent, I don't care how fair the weather, how smooth the seas, you're going to need water to live. And these are the truths that the child of God must constantly drink into his soul if he is to live in any way that approximates the life of God. The Bible describes what the Bible would describe as a spirit-filled life. And then it is certain that for most, if not all of us, the coming year will hold some period of a turbulent sea. And we know that because Jesus said, in the world you shall have tribulation. And

5:15 the Apostle Paul, in exhorting young believers, Acts 14, said that through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom. And when we hit those turbulent seas, if we don't have ballast in our hull, we're going to capsize, we're going to be moved off course, and it's too late to get your ballast when you're in the midst of the turbulent sea. It's time to fill up the barrels now, before you set out in this uncharted sea. And what I propose to do, because I'm not a monk, I'm not a monk, I'm not a monk, I'm not a monk, I'm not a have not preached the sermon on barrels of ballast in the belly of your soul. I think we'll cover two of those barrels tonight and then two of them next Lord's Day as a communion meditation. And what are those biblical truths? Nothing new to many of you, but as Peter said, I think it neat to stir you up by way of remembrance, perhaps expressing them in a different way. God will enable us to lay hold of them with fresh dimensions of understanding

Barrel One: God is an Absolute Sovereign

6:28 and of the response of faith. Well, into barrel number one goes this very refreshing, substantial, essential truth, and I'm stating it this way. God is on his throne governing all things in this universe as an absolute sovereign. What truth?

6:52 Do you have to have deep in the depths of your soul as you embark upon this coming year? I'm saying this is the most foundational of all truths, that God is on his throne governing all things in this universe as an absolute sovereign. Now let me take a moment to explain the choice of several of those key words. The word universe refers to the totality of all things that exist, the cosmos. From the subatomic particles in every cell of your body, right out to the particles in the farthest star in a yet undiscovered galaxy, God is on his throne governing all things in this universe. The universe. That is, everything that exists outside of himself. Every created reality, from the macrocosm out there to the microcosm within. And that's what I mean by asserting God is on his throne

8:12 governing all things in this universe as an absolute sovereign. And I'm using the word absolute in its first and second meanings. In the dictionary, absolute is that which is perfect and complete. I came into a room and I found the room in absolute silence. What do you mean? There wasn't any noise of any kind whatsoever. We say in some situations, excuse me, the silence was deafening. All you can hear is nothing. If someone were to snap a match, you'd hear it. Absolute silence.

8:53 That's what I mean by silence. If someone were to snap a match, you'd hear it. Absolute silence. That's what I mean by silence. If someone were to snap a match, you'd hear it. Absolute silence.

8:55 Total silence. Complete silence. And I'm using it also in the second sense, not limited or restricted. We speak of an absolute monarchy. What do we mean? It is a rule in which the king has total authority and power. There's no parliament with which he must consent. There is no populace whose consent of the governed he must wait upon before he executes his will and sends out his decrees. And what I'm asserting is that the Bible teaches and we must grasp as a present reality facing the coming year that God is on His throne governing all things in this universe and that as an absolute sovereign, one who is supreme in rank, power, and authority. Now that's what we're talking about. Now that's

9:54 That's what I mean by saying this is what needs to go in to the barrel of your soul and mine and must remain in there. And when it begins to be used up or leaks out, don't fill it with seawater. Fill it again with this pure, refreshing truth from the Word of God. Now let's look, having spent a few moments on the meaning of the key words, at a sampling of the biblical witness to this fact.

Biblical Witness to God's Absolute Sovereignty

10:20 Now in our working through the book of Psalms, Lord's Day Mornings, we've come into that section of the Psalter that men have designated as the kingship section of the Psalter. The reign of God is celebrated as a dominant theme in these particular Psalms. And I want you to look with me now at four of these simple assertions with respect to God's absolute sovereignty.

10:51 Psalm 93. Psalm 93 begins with the simple words, the Lord reigns, Jehovah reigns. Now notice what it says. It doesn't say Jehovah reigned, past tense, but we don't know who's in charge now.

11:08 Jehovah shall reign, future, so we have hope, but we sure don't know what's going on now. Nor does it say Jehovah may reign. It's not subjunctive. It's not past tense.

11:21 It's not future. It's indicative. Jehovah reigns. Now you don't need to be a philosopher or a theologian to understand those two words.

11:32 Jehovah, the one true and living God who says I am that I am. I am that I will be. All that I have ever been I am, and all that I am I ever shall be, I reign. Jehovah reigns.

11:48 Now notice how that simple assertion is picked up. Several more times in these psalms. Psalm 96 in verse 10. This is not a truth to be whispered in the corner when you're in the presence of people that understand and believe the doctrines of grace.

12:08 It's contraband good. You know, you only share it with the right people.

12:13 No. Notice what the psalmist says. Psalm 96, 10. Say among the nations, the Lord reigns.

12:24 Same assertion. And this is not something to be whispered in secret with the initiate. This is something to be heralded among the nations. But you say, Pastor, people don't like to be told God's in charge.

12:38 That doesn't make any difference. The reality is God is in charge. And let every single human being in the world get together if they could in one place and vote to assert that something else or someone else reigns. It doesn't change reality.

12:54 Say among the nations, Jehovah reigns. Psalm 97, 1. Jehovah reigns. And what is to be the response to this?

13:06 Some kind of a poor, trembling spirit of bondage? No. Let the earth rejoice. There's nothing to rejoice in.

13:15 If there's no sovereign holding the reins of the universe, how do we know that some meteor will not come, crashing upon earth and knock this little planet into a billion pieces? Because there's a God who reigns and says as long as the earth remains, there should be seed time and harvest, summer and winter. And this earth as we now know it will remain until Jesus comes and in flaming fire takes vengeance on his enemies and God renews this world by fire. And ushers in the new heavens and the new earth.

13:57 Jehovah reigns. Psalm 99, 1. He says it again. Jehovah reigns.

14:04 Now the call is not to rejoice, but let the people tremble. There is a darker side to this reality. God is in charge, not you.

The Throne of God in Revelation

14:18 Let your whole life be witness to the fact that you believe in the depths of your soul that it is. It is indeed Jehovah that reigns. And then the two passages, the two chapters that we read together from Revelation 4 and 5, we go back to them for just a few moments. I've already hinted at their significance.

14:40 Before John is given to see visions and hear voices with respect to things that are and are to come, he is given this vision in which the throne is. He is sent from. As soon as heaven is opened and that voice has summoned him, come up hither. Now notice verse 1 of chapter 4.

15:05 I'll show you the things that must come to pass. And what does John see of things that are to come to pass? Nothing.

15:17 The text says, Straightway I was in the spirit, and behold, there was a throne.

15:25 Before the things, the things that come to pass, John is given this magnificent vision of a throne. And on the throne is not some impersonal force, but the majestic, glorious, living God, Jehovah, sits upon that throne. The God celebrated by the psalmist in those kingship psalms. John sees Him here.

15:52 And as I mentioned, in this chapter and in the next, seventeen times, the phrase, The throne, the throne, the throne, the throne, the throne, the throne, the throne, the throne. John, I want the seven churches to get the message. You're sending to them my word. In two cases, no word of condemnation, but only commendation.

16:16 In five cases, greater or lesser degrees of rebuke and condemnation, as well as calls to repentance, and the all, the whole picture of the life of those churches, is the picture of churches beset with the enemies of false doctrine, of heterodoxy, of people turning the grace of God into license, of opposition, of persecution. And what's the first thing God wants these churches all to know? After the risen Lord has given His specific word to each one, He says, I want you to see a throne. Whatever is to come, it's administered.

16:57 It's administered by one who is an absolute sovereign. A throne, a throne. That's what John sees. And so as we seek to peer, as it were, into the new year, and we see that all is shrouded in uncertainty, the unknown, like a ship that's set out to sea and suddenly is enveloped in fog, can get no bearings from the pole star, no sense of east, west, north, south.

17:27 What direction are we going? You and I need to have a new sense of confidence that every single thing that transpires in the coming year, at the end of the day, it's very simple, it will be the revelation of God's secret decree as a result of His sovereign action. Everything that unfolds in the coming year will be nothing more or nothing less than the revelation of His secret decree. As a result of His sovereign action.

God's Sovereignty Over All Things: From Kings to Sparrows

18:11 And there are text upon text in Scripture that cover the whole gamut. And I want you to just look at several with me here. There is that well-known statement in Daniel 4 and verse 35, covers activity in heaven and upon earth, spoken by a king who thought that he was an absolute sovereign. He walks by the grandeur of his Babylonian kingdom and he swells with pride and spreads his peacock-like feathers in his soul.

18:50 And God says, I'm going to humble this man and let him know who the real boss is. And so God deals with Nebuchadnezzar. And at the end of his lengthy period of madness, when he lived like an animal in the open field and his fingernails grew like bird's claws, the Scripture says, look at Daniel 4.34, And at the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes unto heaven, and my understanding returned unto me.

19:21 And I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored Him that lives forever. For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom from generation to generation and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And He does according to His will in the army of heaven those unseen heavenly creatures, angels, cherubim, seraphim, archangels. He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, even the proud, boastful Nebuchadnezzars.

20:04 Nebuchadnezzars, who think somehow at least they have some niche on some sphere of independent sovereignty. No, no, my understanding has come back to me. I now see reality. It is Jehovah God, the one true and living God, who does according to His will among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay His hand, literally strike His hand, when God stretches out His hand to do what His decree has purposed.

20:34 Who can slap God's hand and say, hands off? Don't you touch that person? Don't you touch that nation? Don't you touch that economy?

20:42 Don't you touch that person's looks? Don't you touch that person's health? Don't you? Who can strike God's hand and say, hey, no, no, no, you don't do that, God?

20:51 Nebuchadnezzar asked a rhetorical question, the answer of which is obvious. None can stay His hand or say unto Him, what are you doing? That's a statement of God in His posture upon His throne, administering and governing all the affairs of the universe as an absolute sovereign. And you have the sweeping declaration of the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 46.

21:24 And this is only a teaser. These are only some of the biblical testimonies. And I was embarrassed with riches. Which one shall I read and barely quote upon?

21:34 And which ones to pass over? Isaiah 46, verses 9 to 11. Remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is none else. I am God and there is none like Me.

21:50 And then He's going to say wherein His uniqueness consists. There is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done. Why can God infallibly predict the future? Because He plans and executes what to us is future.

22:16 He is the God who from ancient times, things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, I will do all My pleasure. And then there's a specific expression of that. Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man of My counsel from a far country. God describes the instrument of judgment upon His people in terms of a ravenous bird, the man of His counsel from a far country.

22:50 I've spoken. I will bring it to pass. I've purposed and I will do it. Very simple.

22:57 God says it is in My heart to do it and I will accomplish what I purpose to do. And then you have the ordering of the elements. Why did we get dumped with that pile of snow? Well, the meteorologist on channel 2 and 4 and 5 and 7 and 9 will say because there was a moist weather system forming down off the Carolina coast and because of the movement of the jet stream, etc.

23:24 and the vapors rising from the ocean, it was drawn up this way and then there was a cold front coming in from the northwest and that all met and it hung over us. Yes, yes. I fully understand that. I've seen your weather maps.

23:37 I've heard your explanations. But Mr. Weatherman, I've got a question. Why did that bit of moisture get formed?

23:45 Oh, that's because it went and it went. Yes, fine. And why was it there to do this? And ultimately, you see, you're driven back and back and back till you say, it just happens.

23:59 Or you think biblically. And to think biblically is to bring our minds to a passage like Psalm 135. Psalm 135, verses 5 to 7. It's a psalm.

24:16 It begins with a call to praise the Lord. Those who stand in the house of God, in the courts of God, sing praises to His name. Verse 4, because of His sovereign love to His people. Verse 5, I know that the Lord is great and that our Lord is above all gods.

24:35 Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that He has done in heaven, in earth, in the seas, and if I've missed anything, in all deeps. And how does He do it? Does He do it like the God of the deist? He just put certain forces and laws and principles and wove them into the texture of the world and walked away and lets it work out itself?

24:58 No. Look at how specific He gets. Who causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth? Who makes lightnings for the rain?

25:09 Who brings forth the wind out of His treasures? You say, that's poetic language. Yes, it is. But it's poetry not conveying nonsense and non-truth, but reality.

25:22 Why is it that the clouds are forming from vapors rising from the earth? God causes it to do so. The Scripture says that our Lord Jesus upholds all things by the word of His power. And in Colossians, in Him, all things literally not consist, but adhere.

25:42 They hold together with all of that potential energy in every atom. Why doesn't it just break off and cause perpetual atomic explosions? In Christ, they are held together. These are not distant, detached laws of nature that operate on their own.

26:04 God is imminent and active in the exercise of His absolute sovereignty in His world. The expansive statement of Daniel, the sweeping declaration of Isaiah, the ordering of the elements, right down to that little bird that is flying and thinks your picture window is open space. And he hits it, breaks his neck, and falls dead in your shrubs. Where was God?

26:36 Turn to Matthew 10. Matthew 10. And verse 29. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?

26:47 And not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father. You mean God was there superintending the flight of that bird? Allowing that little bird's brain to think this is open space when all the while it was double-paned glass? Yes.

27:11 Rule God out of the sphere of that bird, then you can rule God out of the sphere of anything. God is either sovereign over all the universe in all that makes it the universe, or you will eventually exclude Him from the whole. Even the most wicked deed ever perpetuated by mankind was sovereignly directed by Almighty God. He is not responsible for the sin, but the sin did not operate in the no-man's land.

God's Sovereignty Over Evil and Wicked Deeds

27:47 What was the most wicked deed ever perpetrated upon earth? It's the deed for which you and I are most thankful. The crucifixion of our blessed Lord. And how did the people of God view that most wicked of all deeds?

28:05 Well, we see how they viewed it when they prayed in Acts chapter 4. The servants of God have been opposed and threatened, and they return to their company, either the company of the apostles, it's not definite, or all of the people of God, or a group of the people of God, and they have a prayer meeting. And their prayer meeting begins not with this laid-back conversational so-called prayer. Hey Lord, we've got a little bit of trouble.

28:32 Thank you. You hear us? No, no. Their prayer had the elements that a lot of people would say was stuffy and formal.

28:38 It began with high theology. Look at it. Verse 23 of Acts 4. They being let go, came to their own company, reported all the chief priests had done.

28:47 And they, when they heard it, lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said, O Lord, now notice, You made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that in them is. We come to You as the mighty Creator of all that exists in this universe. You are the God who by the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David, did say, and then they quote from Psalm 2, verse 27, For of a truth, in this city against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You did anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together to do whatsoever the devil stirred them up to do. And Lord, there's nothing You could do about it.

29:32 No, to do whatsoever Your hand and Your counsel for or did. For ordained to come to pass. God's hand and God's counsel for ordained what wicked Herod did and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel. False accusations, mockery, spittle on his face, buffeting him, bruising him, taunting him.

30:07 Yes, not one hand could have been raised to strike him. Not one hand not one nail could have been placed on his hand and driven through. If God's hand and counsel had not for ordained that it come to pass. That's in your Bibles, fucker.

30:25 Don't give this any human label. Oh, you're preaching something isn't. No, no. This is what our Bibles teach us.

30:32 And this must become something more than a theological tenet to which we occasionally point and say, oh yes, I believe that. It must be in the soul like the barrels of water in the bowels of the ship. So that no matter where we are taken in the will of God, in what to us is a sea shrouded in mist and fog, we can say at any point God is on his throne. God is governing everything in his universe as an absolute sovereign.

31:12 And then we bring that to bear upon the specifics of our own circumstances. And I was struck in my recent reading and then listening on the treadmill to the book of the Revelation. One of the most striking passages turned to Revelation 17. Here in this passage, those forces that are likened to a beast and to the scarlet woman, the combined forces that are to oppose Christ and his people, we read in verse 13 of Revelation 17, these have one mind and they give their power and authority to the beast.

31:54 Now notice, these shall war against the Lamb. These combined forces of evil come to one mind in their insidious, demonic determination to war against the Lamb. And we are told the Lamb shall overcome them for he is Lord of lords and King of kings and they also shall overcome that are with him, called and chosen and faithful. I've got to preach a sermon on that sometime.

32:21 All his people are the ones effectually called. And why are they called? Because they've been chosen. And how do we know they are called and chosen?

32:28 Because they are faithful. And he said, the waters that you saw where the harlot sits are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw in the beast, these shall hate the harlot and make her desolate and naked and eat her flesh and burn her utterly with fire. Now why do they do all of this?

32:47 These evil powers doing evil things. Look at verse 17. God did put it in their hearts to do his mind and to come to one mind and to give their kingdom unto the beast until the words of God should be accomplished. Are you offended at that?

33:07 God did put it into their hearts to do his will. To do his mind. God says, I'm running the show. And at this point in the unfolding of the drama, I want you and you and you and you to get your powers all together and see what you can do to defeat my son.

33:30 Now does God create the evil disposition? No. He cannot be tempted with evil neither tempted he any man. He is a purer eyes and a look upon iniquity.

33:40 We guard the statement with the rest of scripture. But I will not blot out this and say there must be a wrong translation. God stood back and let them know it said God put it into their hearts to do his mind by allowing their evil powers to cut a given course. God is putting it into their hearts to do his mind and to accomplish his will.

Practical Effects of Settled Faith in God's Sovereignty

34:06 If you don't have a God who's in charge of evil and the devil, I wouldn't want to trade places with you. He's sovereign. He's sovereign even in these matters. So my dear brethren, as you and I set out to sea, may I exhort you as I exhort myself, fill the barrel of your heart with this basic conviction.

34:32 God is on his throne governing all things in his universe as an absolute monarch. Now what practical effect will the settled faith in him produce? Now notice I didn't say faith in this doctrine. That's impersonal.

34:49 I said the settled faith in him. Faith in the God who is is faith in the God who is on his throne. And he's not on his throne to give the appearance of a monarch. He's on his throne administering his will in absolute sovereignty.

35:11 So what's the difference? What's the big deal? Well let me suggest several things. First of all, under God this will produce stability in the face of the most radical upheavals and disruptions around you and in the world.

35:27 Under God it will produce stability in the face of the most radical upheavals and disruptions. I commend to you Psalm 46. God is our refuge and strength, the very present help in trouble. What God?

35:42 The God whose hands are tied, the God who must always be wringing his hands wishing and hoping he could do something, but because he must respect man's so-called freedom he cannot touch the situation. Now read Psalm 46. The Psalmist says even though the mountains begin to play hopscotch or leapfrog one another and end up in the sea, he said I'm going to say to myself be still, know that he is God. He's on his throne.

36:16 That's why we don't go around nervously biting our nails, nervously biting our nails. What will the President's next cabinet appointment be? Will they get approved? If they get approved, then my friends, loosen up.

36:33 He may be present, but I got news for you. The White House doesn't hold the monarch of the universe. No, he doesn't. And the people that meet in the halls of government, Congress, the House of Representatives, the House of Representatives, the Senate, they don't hold the reins of government nor does Putin, the earthly monarch.

36:53 We know who the monarch is. And while we in obedience to the Scriptures pray that there be stable governments, we pray that God will end the horrible oppression of these dictators in these countries that thought that independence from colonial powers would be something next to heaven and they've had a living hell for decades. Millions slain, people starving. And we cry to God, oh God, end this horrible stuff.

37:22 Bring stability. 1 Timothy 2. Yes, that's our prayer and our yearning for the end of the day, folks. Whatever may collapse, whatever looks like a mountain today that ends leapfrogging another mountain and ends up buried in the sea, God's throne hasn't twitched a bit.

37:35 And God's not scurrying about for plan B. All that has come, all that happens in history is but the exegesis of God's decree administered by his own sovereign authority. And that's what God's throne is all about. And that's what God's throne is all about.

37:53 God's throne is all about. God's sovereign sovereign power. You see, that stability of a Christian in the midst of the crises that impinge upon all men around us is a marvelous testimony to the fact that the God we know and whom we profess to serve is not the little God that can be stuck in your hip pocket, but he's the awesome, glorious, all-powerful God of the Scriptures. Secondly, it will produce submission in the face of crushing negative providences.

38:28 I didn't know how else to describe them and make sense with you. No providence is a negative one. We know all things are working together for good. But you know what I mean when I talk about crushing negative providences.

38:44 I was stunned when a couple of years ago I listened to a sermon I preached at a Ligonier conference in February of 1997. They had asked me to preach the sovereignty of God over nature. Opened up a number of passages. He hath his way in the whirlwind of the storm and the clouds of the dust of his feet.

39:08 Some of these passages in the Psalms. And then when I got to application, one of the applications I made said, now what's part of nature? Your physiology, your body with the seeds of death in it, that's part of nature. And part of the result of the fall is that there are expositions to certain diseases and then there are certain toxins and all of the rest.

39:32 And I said, what are you going to do? And you go to the doctor and you've had that biopsy. A few days later you hear the dread C word. Little did I know that three months later I would have the biopsy and I would hear the C word.

39:48 What do you do? What do you do if you don't have in the belly of your soul this barrel full of the ballast? God was not vacating His throne when that strange influence caused these aberrant cells to begin to multiply. Either God was there or He's nowhere.

40:18 Child of God, this has got to touch you at the deepest level of the darkest providence that may break upon you in the coming year. Or you're never going to sit with Job. Ten kids dead in a day. All your accumulated wealth gone in a day.

40:41 And it says, He fell upon His face and worshiped saying, The Lord gives. The Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. I'd rather have a universe ruled by God even when that God orders the death of my ten children, takes away all the universe at the mercy of pure chance.

41:06 Child of God, is this where you're living? You'd better be set out to the sea with that conviction and you will be a monument of God's stability in the midst of upheaval and disruption, submission in the face of crushing providences. Romans 8, 28 will be something more than a plaque on the walls. I want to bear upon you that seem to drip with the smell and the flavor in the sight of evil for you to look at all of that as a man or woman of faith and say, all things are working together for good. My loving sovereign Father has brought this upon me for good. it. That's why I have no sympathy for this health, wealth, and prosperity nonsense. Misrepresents

42:17 God and misrepresents what the life of faith is like. And then confidence in the face of danger. What is it that gives a child of God confidence in the face of danger? In that passage we quoted from Matthew 10.29, that comes right on the heel of Jesus telling these men whom he has commissioned, you're not going to go out and be welcomed as citizen of the year everywhere you go. In fact, there may be some who threaten to kill you. In fact, some of you may actually be killed. So what are you to do? Matthew 10.28, don't be afraid of them that kill the body but are not able to kill the soul. Fear him who's able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Well, who is he? He's the God who doesn't allow one sparrow, insignificant as it is, to fall to the ground without his sovereign will.

43:11 And his sovereign purpose for that little sparrow. That takes the most timid, shy, fearful man or woman and makes him a rod of courage. That's what happened with Paul in Acts chapter 18. He knew what the Jews would do when they got angry with him and rejected his gospel.

43:35 And he comes to Corinth and sure enough they're there and they are opposing and blaspheming. And Paul shakes out his raiment. And says in Acts 7.18.6, your blood be upon your heads. I'm clean. I go to the Gentiles.

43:50 He goes to the house of one Titus Justice. Crispus, a ruler of the synagogue, believes. And the Lord knows his servant. And he comes to him in verse 9. The Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, don't be afraid. Speak and hold not your peace for I am with you. No man shall set on you to harm you. Now let me ask you something. If God is not sovereign, over all the plottings and over all of the plans of evil men with their evil intentions, how can he make such a promise as this? No man, no man shall harm you. I've got gospel purposes. So Paul with gospel boldness stays on for another year and a half ministering the word of God in that city. Confidence in the face of danger. Boldness and largeness

44:43 of petition at the throne. Grace. If the God to whom we pray is indeed on his throne governing everything in his universe as an absolute sovereign, then he can say, call upon me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you know not. Behold, I am the God of all flesh, he says to the prophet Jeremiah. Is there anything too hard for me? That's what gives us hope for some of you sat here hard as flint for another whole year. And the gospel has been taught and preached and you've been pleaded with and with holy cajoling and urgency and in every way we sought to bring you to Christ. Why don't we just say, phooey on you. Go to hell if you want to. No. We pray to a God that can take all your smugness and

45:38 all your smart-alecky indifference and God can break it in a moment of time. So we pray to him. We pray to a God. Who holds the hearts of men in his hands. We pray to a God who can restrain the most adamant, evil-minded man or woman purposing to harm the child of God. It's a simple, some may call it a trite statement, but I find great comfort in it. As a Christian, I'm invincible until my work is done. And I don't want to stay around three seconds beyond the time my work is done. There aren't enough demons in hell. There aren't enough evil men on earth.

46:20 I can't do it. To thwart the child of God from fulfilling the will of God against the purposes of God. I can't do it. And that's the source of boldness and confidence in the face of danger. Boldness at the throne of grace. We pray when we pray. Jesus said, when you pray, say, our Father who is in the heavens. What's the significance of being in the heavens? Psalm 115, 3, our God is in the heavens. He has done whatsoever he has done. We believe that he has done whatsoever he has done to us. We witness that he hasет our prophets in His kingdom. We listen to our Father who is in the heavens. We pray to him. We pray to pleased. He's in the heavens, not as a king who simply got a crown and a scepter but doesn't wield any authority. He is in the heavens. He does whatsoever. He is pleased. Those are

Barrel Two: Christ Shares the Throne as Administrator

47:07 just a few of the implications. You see, this truth that God is utterly, absolutely, pervasively sovereign in his world is not an abstract philosophical concept. It is not a detached theological proposition. It's the ballast in the soul of the child of God. And may God grant that the oaken barrel of your soul will be filled afresh. Now, very briefly, let me take the second barrel because much of what we've already established pours into this second barrel. And it is this. The crucified, risen, and exalted Lord shares that throne as the administrator of all things leading to a glorious consummation. The crucified, risen, and exalted Lord shares that throne,

48:09 that throne on which God sits as an absolute sovereign governing everything in his universe. The crucified, risen, and exalted Lord shares that throne as the administrator of all things leading to a glorious consummation. And where do I get that idea? Well, from a number of passages. We go back to the Revelation passage. John is given this vision of God upon his throne. Creator, sovereign, holy, eternal. And then in chapter 5, John says, I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne. He sees some being upon the throne that is God. He has in his right hand, we poor lefties always get bad shrift, had in

49:04 his right hand a book written within and on the back, close sealed with seven seals. I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a great voice, who's worthy to open the book and loose the seals. No one is found in all the created universe. And John weeps. No one is found worthy to open the book or even to look thereon. Until the elders, one of those elders, who they are, I don't know. Commentators differ. But one of them says, don't weep, John. Behold, now notice, the lion that is of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath overcome to open the book and the seven seals thereof. The person who is worthy is

49:52 identified with God. He is the one who is worthy of the book. He is the one who is worthy of the book. He is identified as the lion of the tribe of Judah, a lion, the king of beasts, the root of David. He is of the line of David. He is David's root as well as David's stock, David's Lord as well as David's son. He has overcome to open. There was an overcoming that uniquely qualifies him to open this book and the seven seals. And then John sees in the midst of the throne, and of the four living creatures, in the midst of the elders, a lamb standing as though it had been slain. What a strange vision. When you try to conjure up in your mind, what did John see?

50:35 What does a lamb look like that's standing, but it's a lamb standing as if it had been slain? Well, apparently, it's stained with blood. Maybe there's a gaping wound on its throat. I mean, it's grotesque when you try to actually, visualize what John is describing here. A lamb standing as though it had been slain, having seven horns, seven eyes. What a grotesque looking lamb. You'd never take that home or say, Mary, here's a little lamb that you can take and follow you wherever you go. No, seven horns, seven eyes, which are the seven spirits or the sevenfold spirit of God sent forth to all the earth. And now the lamb comes and takes it. How did he do it?

51:23 Well, most likely, if the lamb takes something, he'd have to take it in his mouth. Now, it doesn't say the mouth, but trying to listen and see what John is describing, I see a lamb as though it had been slain and it's standing. And then that lamb that's in the midst of the throne comes to the very right hand of the one upon the throne and he takes that scroll that is sealed out of the right hand of him that sits on the throne. And as soon as he takes the book, the four living souls, he takes the book, the four living souls, and he takes the book, living creatures, the four and twenty elders, they fall down before the Lamb, each one having a harp. Lenski suggests the term zither, but one thing is clear, there's going to be instrumental music in heaven. Each one of them, a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints, and they sing a new song, say, here's the ones who have been singing and worshipping Him who sits on the throne, holy, eternal. This is the one who has created all things. He did it because of His own will and for His glory. Now they

52:30 are caught up and they're singing a new song. Worthy are you, addressed to the Lamb, to take the book, open the seals, for this is what constituted Him worthy, to open the seals of that book. You were slain and you purchased unto God with your blood men of every tribe and you were slain. And made them to be unto our God a kingdom and priest and they reign on the earth. And then he sees all of these other creatures taken up in the praise. Worthy is the Lamb that has been slain. Verse 13, and every created thing in all realms of reality are caught up in praise. Now notice, unto Him that sits on the throne and unto the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.

53:18 All of the worship that is focused upon the enthroned God in chapter 4 is now focused equally upon God and the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne. What is God saying to us? Well, whatever else He is saying to us and whatever our peculiar conviction may be about the precise significance of this book written within and on the back, close sealed with seven seals, as you see the Lord Jesus. Opening up seal upon seal, verse 1 of chapter 6, and when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, it is evident that it is the outworking of God's purposes in the great redemptive scheme of things in this constant warfare between the devil and the Lamb and the people of God and the enemies of God. It is Christ as the Lamb who was slain, who conquered, who now in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is slain. And His exalted position has this unique responsibility. This is why I use the terminology of being the administrator of all things leading to a glorious consummation. Because

Christ's Authority and Reign Leading to Consummation

54:36 He was willing to humble Himself and become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, God has highly exalted Him, giving Him a place at His right hand and not just a position to be admired. But God has deposited in Him this unique privilege and responsibility of being the administrator of His sovereign will and purpose leading to a glorious consummation. That's why Jesus could say, subsequent to His crucifixion and resurrection, just before His ascension, all authority has been given unto Him. Not all authority has been mine as the eternal word. That's true. But that's not what He says in Matthew 28. He says, all authority has been delivered unto Me in heaven and upon earth. With what reference in particular? Going therefore, make disciples of all the

55:40 nations, baptize them, teach them, and lo, I am with you even to the consummation of the age. All authority in heaven and in earth deposited in Jesus, the resurrected Christ, the soon-to-be-exalted Christ, with peculiar reference to administering the purposes and plan of God leading to the consummation. Ephesians chapter 1, a similar emphasis. Paul says he's praying for these Christians that God would give them understanding and illumination and insight.

56:17 He's praying concerning three specific things, and one of those things he identifies with this language. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 19. He's praying that they might come to know the exceeding greatness of the power of God to us who are to believe. And what is the measure, the standard of that power? According to the working of the strength of His might which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, made Him to sit at His right hand, and to sit at His right hand, and to sit at His right hand, and to sit at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church. You see, Christ is given this particular administrative responsibility with reference to His church, and in the interest of the

57:25 cause of His church, He is given a place of sovereignty over all things. And what is that consummation towards which His administration is leading? Well, turn to 1 Corinthians 15 for a specimen passage. We could look at many passages, but here's one that is explicit.

57:48 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 20. But now has Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them that are asleep. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive, that is, all who are in Christ, but each in his own order. Christ the firstfruits, then they that are Christ, it is coming. Then comes the end. And now notice, when He shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when He shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power, for He must reign till He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be abolished is death. For He put all things in subjection under His feet, but when He says, all things are put in subjection, it is evident that He is accepted who did subject all things unto Him. And when all things have been subjected unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself

59:00 be subjected to Him that did subject all things unto Him, that God may be all in all. And I don't have time to attempt to open up the significance of that last verse. I know if your mind fastens on it, but get the overall picture. Christ must reign. He is reigning.

59:19 And He shall reign until the last enemy is destroyed. And what is the last enemy with reference to His people? It's death. Death that has taken them to the grave. Grave that has taken them to dust. Dust that has been interred in the earth and has nourished plants and flowers. Bodies eaten by lions. And you can think of all of the things, but the grave doesn't have the last word. Christ is reigning with a view to the consummation. When that which He secured in His resurrection, He did not die as a private person. He wasn't buried as a private person. He was not raised as a private person. He was not exalted as a private person. As Adam was a public person, He stood as representative and head of all humanity. So Christ was head of all of His seed, all of His people. And He was God's elect. And as surely as Christ died, and in His death was their death, death

60:26 to the condemning power of the law, death to the dominion of sin and the power of the devil. So when He was raised, His resurrection not only secured their spiritual resurrection, Romans 6, but their literal, physical resurrection. And as surely as Joseph's borrowed tomb was empty, Easter morning, Easter night, Easter day, Easter night, Easter day, Easter day, Easter day, Easter day, Easter day, Easter day, Easter day, Easter day, Easter day, Easter day, when you put me in my grave, say to that grave, you're going to cough him up someday.

60:57 As sure as Christ is at the right hand of God, I must be raised. I must be raised. Then shall come to pass the saying, O grave, where is your victory? Don't ever quote that at a funeral. The grave does have a temporary victory. It swallows up the remains of our loved ones, those dear to us. It wrenches them away from us. But it doesn't have the last word. It doesn't have the last word. And it doesn't have the last word because the crucified, risen, and exalted Lord shares that throne of sovereignty. He must reign. And He shares it as the administrator of all things leading to a glorious consummation. And that consummation for us is God's people.

61:53 It will be the resurrection. For this world, in the language of Romans 8, I've gone too long already. Romans 8, this whole creation will be delivered from this bondage to which it was subject because of our sin. And it yearns and groans, waiting for the adoption, Paul says, that is the redemption of our bodies. And then Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3 that the returning Christ will purify the existing cosmos. By fire. And there will be ushered in the new heavens and the new earth. And we will then join the chorus which we've read about in Revelation 5. Worthy, worthy is the Lamb.

Conclusion: The Certainty of Christ's Victory

62:37 Child of God, this has got to become the stuff in the barrel of your soul as we face the coming year. Not only to be persuaded afresh and to remind myself every day that God is on his throne. And on that throne he is governing all things in his universe as an absolute sovereign. But that the crucified, risen, and exalted Christ shares that throne as the administrator of all things leading to a glorious consummation. I close with this simple illustration.

63:19 I'll tell you what the next two barrels are going to be that we're going to try to fill. That the enthroned God is our all-knowing, loving, patient, and principled Father. And the enthroned Christ is our intercessor, advocate, indwelling life, and constant companion. So we're going to go back to the throne, but view that relationship in its more interpersonal dimensions.

63:41 But the order in which I've given them is the right order. You start with an enthroned God and an enthroned Christ. Then you draw some comfort from the relationship of Father, advocate, intercessor, and companion. But that will have to wait, God willing, until next week.

63:57 I want to close with this simple incident that I read in a book that I hope a number of you will get.

64:03 You'll only get a batch of them in the bookstore. I had the privilege of reading it and filling out the recommendation form. It's a book on a very straightforward, helpful, non-complicated commentary in the book of the Revelation by Dr. E. R. R. R.

64:19 by Dr. Verne Poitras. And in the introduction, trying to clear away the misconception that you've got to be some kind of an astute theologian and a great imagination and a lot of other things to even hope to begin to understand the book of the Revelation, he shared an incident with some seminary students. I think he said they were in a gym somewhere playing basketball.

64:41 And they saw a janitor over in the corner reading. So these Christians, they were seminary students, went over and said, Sir, what are you reading? He said, I'm reading my Bible. Now, where are you reading?

64:52 He said, well, I'm reading the book of the Revelation. They said, well, would you like some help to understand it? He said, no, I understand it very clearly. They said, you do?

64:59 He said, yes. Well, tell us, what is it teaching? He said, it's very simple. There's a war, and Jesus is going to win.

65:08 That's it. There's a war, and Jesus is going to win. That's what I mean by Christ is sharing that throne, all heading to the consummation. And unlike your favorite football team that you may want to watch and root for on Monday, the outcome of this one is already settled.

65:30 You don't need to wait for tomorrow's news to find out, do they make the next step in the playoffs? It's all settled.

65:38 And that needs to become the stuff that's in your soul. And when it appears that the devil and sin and wickedness are on the throne, you say, no, Christ is on the throne. He is raised. And the time is coming when the whole created order will be one united hallelujah chorus.

66:02 And my voice is going to be there with the second tenors, and yours is going to be there. And some of you that can't carry a tune in a bucket, you're going to sing like nightingales. And it's certain. Now, what in the world are we going around dragging our chins on the ground when God's given us this stuff?

66:22 This is not pie in the sky, buy and buy. This is the stuff of biblical reality. May God help us to fill up the barrel of our souls with it as we embark upon the new year. Let's pray.