Our Sovereign God
By John G. Reisinger

The following was message was given at the
International Baptist Conference in Toronto in 1988.

I would like to read two portions of Scripture as a background for my message. The first is Psalm 115:1-3-- Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy, And because of Your truth.Why should the Gentiles say, "Where now is their God?" But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases. Psalm 115:1-3

 As we read the second passage, Daniel 4:30-37, I want to give you a sermon outline on these verses. I could easily use this section as the basis for my entire message, but I feel constrained to take another direction.  However, we will get a clear view of "Our Sovereign God" in these verses. I am indebted to Pastor John Weaver of Jessup, Georgia for this outline.  This could be entitled "The Testimony of a Pagan King to the Absolute Sovereignty of God."

I.v. 30 - God's Sovereignty Ignored and Rejected. The king spoke saying, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty"?

You can feel the pride and arrogance of this pagan king. He has no thought of God but only his own self appointed importance.

II.v. 31-33 - God's Sovereignty Experienced. While the word was still in the king's mouth, a voice fell from heaven:"King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken:the kingdom has departed from you!And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field.They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever he chooses."That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagle's feathers and his nails like bird's claws.

Today people say, "Oh, God would never do anything so cruel as that." However, if such treatment was the essential means necessary to bring this proud king to a knowledge of God, then it was a gracious act and not cruel at all.

III.v. 34a - God's Sovereignty Gladly Acknowledged. And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me:and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever....

There are three things in this verse that always go together, and they always follow the same order:

1. "I lifted up my eyes" - A right view of God.

2. "My understanding returned" - A right understanding of reality.

3. "I blessed...praised...honored..." - A right attitude of worship.

You will immediately think of Romans one showing how the exact opposite is true.

1.Instead of looking up to God, Paul says that men have deliberately turned their eyes away from God and rejected His revelation (Romans 1:18-20).

2.Their foolish hearts were darkened because their mind had become vain and, like Nebuchandnezzar, they were given over to senseless insanity in morality and life style (Romans 1:21-32).

3.They refused to "glorify God" and "thank Him," but instead they exalted the creature and boasted about themselves and their own power (Romans 1:21,22).

Either the three things in Nebuchandnezzar's experience or the three things in Romans one will always occur. Every person fits one of these two descriptions. There is no neutrality.

IV.v. 34b-37 - God's Sovereignty Described.

1.v.34b - The Superiority of His Kingdom.
For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom is from generation to generation.

2.v.35a - The Insignificance of His Creatures.
All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing.

3.v.35b - The Sovereignty of His Will.
He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, "What have You done"?

4.v.36 - The Sureness of His Purposes.
At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me.My counselors and nobles resorted to me, I was restored to my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me.

5.v.37a - The Supremacy of His Person.
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven...

6.v. 37b - The Singleness of His Character.
...all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice.

7.v. 37c - The Strength of His Position.
And those who walk in pride He is able to abase.

That, my dear friend, is the God of the Bible!
That is the God that you and I must face in eternity!
That is Our Sovereign Holy God!

Several year ago I spoke at a conference where the sermon titles given to the evening messages were stated in terms of God Himself. My topic was "Our Sovereign God." We are on solid Biblical ground when we talk about God Himself instead of speaking only of doctrines about Him. I think it was A.W.Pink who said, "To speak about the 'Sovereignty of God' is to be theological, but to speak of a 'God Who is sovereign' is to be Biblical." The goal of our conference is not to know things about God, it is to know God Himself.

We must not get lopsided and think of God in terms of only one attribute.Our sovereign God is also a most gracious God.His grace sweetens His sovereignty and His sovereignty makes certain that His grace will accomplish its intended purpose.

Our study is not going to cover the ground so familiar to those who glory in the truth known as "Calvinism." I do not hesitate to own myself a "Calvinist" simply because I believe the great truths set forth under that name.However, I have often found that many men and women, who rejected the sovereignty of God when it was set forth in theological terms, would bow in worship and praise to a sovereign heavenly Father when they were in affliction.I hate to admit it, but my pastoral experience has convinced me that Godly Arminians often exhibit more practical submission to "Our Sovereign God" than the Calvinist who can win all of the theological arguments about "the sovereignty of God versus free will." Calvinists have a tendency to have a better grasp of the "logic" of theology than they have of the grace and love of God Himself!

I am assuming that you have read Pink's book on "The Sovereignty of God." If you have not, then I urge you to do so as soon as possible.I am sure you know that Romans nine is not only in the Bible, but you also know that it clearly teaches that our God is indeed a most sovereign God.I am also assuming that you accept without question that God has "mercy upon whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden" (Romans 9:18).

My goal is more pastoral and is aimed at encouraging the heart.I have a sermon on Romans 8:28 entitled "A Soft Pillow for a Weary Head and a Sorry Heart."¹ God has used this particular message to bring help and hope to many suffering sheep. There is no sweeter Balm in Gilead to a true sheep of Christ than the knowledge that his God is the "Sovereign God" who controls the whole universe.This is especially true when God's providence turns our personal world upside down.It is then that we must be able to say with David, "My times are in thy hands" (Ps.31:15)). The hymn writer has caught the truth we long to experience:

Daniel 4:34 expresses what I pray might happen to all of us during this week.Notice again the three specific things that happened to Nebuchadnezzar, and be sure that you catch the sequence in which they occur.

(1) "I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes to heaven," and when he did that, he saw a Sovereign God sitting on a throne.Nebuchadnezzar describes just how sovereign God is in the next few sentences.

(2) "..... and my sanity was restored." The most insane thing a man can do is look toward himself instead of up to God.Just as Nebuchadnezzar's insanity was directly related to his pride and exalting himself, so the return of his sanity was related to his humility and repentance in "raising his eyes to heaven." What a lesson for the egotistical "me first" society in which we live.

(3) "Then (note well the connection) I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified Him who lives forever." You cannot see God as He is and not want to honor and praise Him, and you cannot turn away from Him without seeking to honor and praise yourself.A right sight of God will always give you a right sight of yourself.

I trust we are beginning to see how firmly these three things are tied together and cannot be separated.You will notice, of course, the similarity of this passage with the words of Stephen, the first martyr.

Stephen.....looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God...."Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." Acts 7:56

Whenever you see "heaven open," you will always see a sovereign Saviour at the "right hand of God," and when you see the exalted Saviour you will always see the "glory of God." When we really get that into our heart with a living faith, then we will be enabled to fall on our knees and pray for the people throwing the stones.That is the kind of power we need to experience in our personal lives as we think about "our Sovereign God." We need to know experimentally in daily life what we can argue so effectively in debate.

Several years ago I preached in a large church in Detroit.After the service a young couple came up to me and showed me a copy of an old Sword and Trowel, a magazine I began, and which I edited for several years.²The young lady gave me an autographed copy of a book she had written.She said, "You will recognize some of your own material in this book." The name of the book was Yet Will I Trust Him and her purpose in writing the book is my purpose tonight.The back cover says: "Yet Will I Trust Him is a practical, provocative guide showing how to yield to God's control and experience His peace and victory, no matter what!"

That is the kind of attitude we need this week as we study together.We cannot afford to come together just to confirm our theological convictions.We do not want to "hold fast our theology", we want our theology to hold us fast in real life.I fear that too often we pass the test in the classroom of theology and then flunk the test in the classroom of life.It is a hollow victory for us as Calvinists if we can write better books and preach better sermons than Arminians but can not live more contented and joyful lives than they do.

Peg Rankin had just been witnessing to a girl friend involved in divorce proceedings.The girl was bitter, frustrated, and left in anger. Yet will I Trust Him was probably conceived in Peg's mind in the next few moments.

As I walked back into the kitchen, I answered the jangling phone.It was a friend."Did you hear about Bob?" she queried.

"No, what?" I asked.I had seen Bob in the hall at the church on Sunday.We had chatted awhile about a mutual friend who was giving up a lucrative job to become a missionary.

"That's what I'd like to do someday," Bob had said, "become a missionary.I guess one of these days I'll just have to take the bull by the horns and do it.I'm not getting any younger, you know.Just turned 40 last week."

With the conversation only a couple of days old, I expected my friend to announce that Bob had come to a decision to give his life to Christ in a full-time missionary effort.But it was not to be.The voice on the phone shattered my thoughts.

"Bob was struck by a car and killed on his way to work this morning," it said, hesitating between the phrases."His wife is stunned.And the kids, they're so young to be without a daddy.What will they do?"

"They will have to cope with the crisis," I philosophized, startling myself with the starkness of what I was saying, "and go on from there.What else is there to do?"

As I hung up the phone, I had the same helpless feeling that I had experienced when dealing with the family whose rebellious daughter had just run away from home.Then I thought of Shirley and her divorce.Problems seemed to be multiplying everywhere.

Someone has said, "when your world is badly shaken, start with what you know you believe and build upward from there." I decided to put the advice into practice.

I thought, "I know that God is in control of all things.I believe that His plan for our lives is perfect.At least that is what the Bible says.But how can I toss such a platitude to someone caught in the maelstrom of a crisis?Especially when I'm not even sure that I have a hold of it myself?"

I was confronted with what I felt has to be accomplished in my own life and in the lives of many others.Somehow we Christians have to get the sovereignty of God out of the closet and into the mainstream of living.But how do we go about doing it?Victory on the mountain peaks is easy.It is a natural result of success.But if Christianity doesn't work in the valleys, it isn't worth having at all, is it?

From: Yet Will I trust Him, by Peg Rankin,
Gospel Light, pages 12,13.

Shortly after this Mr. and Mrs. Rankin were asked to team teach an adult class in Daily Vacation Bible School on the subject "The Sovereignty of God In Family Crises." Their first preparation consisted in listing all of the crises that their family, and all the families they knew, had faced or were facing.Their first reaction was, "All of life seems to be a crisis." They began to study and prepare for the course in dead earnest.

With anticipation, we tossed out the questions that would be covered during the course of study:

1.Who is this God I'm trying to serve?
2.Where is He when I need Him most?
3.Why are there crises in my life?
4.What do life's crises accomplish?
5.How can I have victory in the midst of crises?

We know teachers cannot integrate truth without spending hours in disciplined study.So before we laid our heads on our pillows that night, we pledged ourselves to God afresh to be diligent in our searching of His Word.Then we reaffirmed our faith in a God who controls all things, working them for His glory and to His children's good. Ibid, page 15

One of the things I enjoyed about Yet Will I Trust Him was the authors' definition of the sovereignty of God.In fact, I quoted all of the foregoing just to get to this definition:

Several years ago, Lee and I taught a class of very sharp young married couples.We imparted to them the same truth that we impart to every class we teach:God is sovereign in the lives of men.We examined His sovereignty in creation, proceeded with His sovereignty in history, and looked with detail at His sovereignty in salvation.The entire course took a year to cover.We ended with a challenge to the students that if they would surrender their lives daily to the will of the King of kings, no limit could be placed upon their spiritual victory.

Then we said to them, "OK, you've sat for a year in a course entitled The Sovereignty of God, now you define God's sovereignty." I will never forget the statement that came from Tom, a doctoral candidate in the field of physics.Although he had not anticipated the question, he was thoroughly prepared for the answer.He said, "The sovereignty of God means that God can do any thing He wants to do, any time He wants to do it, any way He wants to do it, for any purpose He wants to accomplish."

Ibid, page 23

Wow! What an answer!

Now you and I must realize that "any thing, any time, any way" includes any and every person as well as all events. More specifically, it actually means you and me and all of my loved ones and everything that pertains to them. Normally, this truth would be learned at conversion. However, with the current distortion of the gospel of grace in modern evangelism, many sincere Christians are ignorant of this awesome fact.

The heart of a sinner's rebellion to God is the sinner's implacable hatred of God's sovereign authority, and the essence of true repentance and faith is confident submission to God Himself as absolutely sovereign.The Psalmist put it beautifully when he said, "Be still, and know that I am God..." (Ps.46:46).I think it was Moffitt who translated that "Give up, and admit that I am God." The contest since the Garden of Eden has been, "Who is really God?" Are we the master of our fate, our own god?Or is the God Who "made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that in them is" really the Sovereign Ruler of everything, including you and me.

I remember buying a book of Poems compiled by a famous preacher. The poems were supposed to be "great aids in getting decisions." One of the preacher's favorite poems that he urged his readers to use when the altar call was being given was entitled The Invictus. Because of his theology, this man used the poem as if it were solid truth.He saw it as embodying the "right way to appeal to the free will of man." Apparently the man never checked up on either the origin of the poem or the author's intention in writing it.

The author of The Invictus, W.E.Henley, was a militant humanist who hated the Christian faith.The word invictus means "unconquered" in Latin, and the author's intention in the poem was to shake his fist in defiance at the very thought of a sovereign God ruling over him.We could well entitle the poem "The Rebel Sinner's Banner." The use of this particular poem during an altar call was actually reinforcing in a sinner's mind the very thought that must be destroyed before he can ever truly be saved. Henley's poem is pure blasphemy. The evangelist who advocated using it in alter calls may be excused for not knowing who Mr. Henley was, but he cannot be excused for not recognizing blasphemy when he hears it stated so clearly.

 Around 1900 a young lady that had been greatly enamored with Henley and his humanism got soundly converted to Christ. She wrote a response to Henley's blasphemy, and set forth the correct attitude of a child of God toward the sovereignty of God. Here is her poem:

I trust we are beginning to see that the essence of true Christian faith involves a submission to God as sovereign, and the essence of unbelief is deliberate rebellion to God as sovereign.It is essential we learn at conversion that a life of faith is nothing less than joyfully "giving up, and admitting that God is God." The word joyfully is very important in that sentence.A believer does not grudgingly acknowledge that God is sovereign, he does so with joy and confidence.The two parts of Romans 11:36 show this fact:

"For from him and through him and to him are all things:to whom be glory forever!Amen." Romans 11:36

There are three different Greek prepositions in that verse.They show the truth of God's absolute and total sovereignty. The verse states that all things, without any exception are:

1. from (The Greek is ek and means "out of, or out from") God;

2. all things are through (The Greek is dia and means "by means of, or because of") God; and

3. all things are to (The Greek is eis and means "into") God.

In other words, all things have their source in God's decrees or purposes, and all things that happen do so only because God's power has brought them to pass, and finally, everything that God plans and then brings to pass will ultimately bring glory to him since they all move into him or unto him as their final end.Now that is the Biblical truth about our sovereign

God.That is acknowledging that "God can do any thing He wants to do, any time He wants to do it, any way He wants to do it, for any purpose He wants to accomplish." However, the response of faith is not to grit our teeth and submit to that truth because God is stronger than us and we can do nothing about it (implying that we would if we could).No, no, the child of God bows his head in worship and says "To whom be glory forever." We can do this because we know that Romans 8:28 is just as true as God Himself is true.

The unbeliever gnashes his teeth and cries, " I am the master of my fate, and I am the captain of my soul." The cry of the rebels in Luke 19:14 is the real heart attitude of every lost person; "But his subjects hated him.....(and said) 'We will not have this man to reign over us.'"

Brethren, it is the preaching of God as sovereign that brings man's hatred of God to the surface.C.H. Spurgeon was dead right in the following quotation:

The householder says, "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?"and even so does the God of Heaven and earth ask this question of you this morning, "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?"

There is no attribute of God more comforting to His children than the doctrine of Divine Sovereignty.Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe troubles, they believe that Sovereignty has ordained their afflictions, that Sovereignty overrules them, and that Sovereignty will sanctify them all.There is nothing for which the children of God ought more earnestly to contend than the dominion of their Master over all creation; the throne of God, and His right to sit upon that throne.

On the other hand, there is no doctrine more hated by worldlings, no truth of which they have made such a football, as the great, stupendous, but yet most certain doctrine of the Sovereignty of the infinite Jehovah. Men will allow God to be everywhere except upon His throne. They will allow Him to be in His workshop to fashion worlds and to make stars.They will allow Him to be in His almonry to dispense His alms and bestow His bounties.They will allow Him to sustain the earth and bear up the pillars thereof, or light the lamps of Heaven, or rule the waves of the ever-moving ocean; but when God ascends His throne, His creatures gnash their teeth; and when we proclaim an enthroned God, and His right to do as He wills with His own, to dispose of His creatures as He thinks well, without consulting them in the matter, then it is that we are hissed and reviled, and then it is that men turn a deaf ear to us, for God on His throne is not the God they love. They love Him anywhere better than they do when He sits with His scepter in His hand and His crown upon His head.But it is God upon the throne that we love to preach.It is God upon His throne whom we trust.It is God upon His throne of whom we have been singing this morning; and it is God upon His throne of whom we shall speak in this discourse.

From a sermon by Charles H. Spurgeon on Matthew 20:15.

The last vestige of old Adam that we are willing to give up is our fancied "free will." The last truth that we will submit to in heart felt worship is God's absolute sovereignty over us. The greatest obstacle in man's conversion is his conviction that his free will alone is "Master of his fate." Is it not tragic that so many sincere but misguided preachers confirm and harden that folly in the sinner's heart. To tell a lost man that God "has done all He can do and it is now totally up to you," is to point the poor sinner to his own dead heart as the only ground of hope. It is telling the sinner that his power of will is stronger and more powerful than God.

There has probably never been a more classic illustration of the foregoing truth than the conviction and conversion of David Brainerd.The one exception would be the great Apostle Paul, especially if we understand the words concerning "kicking against the pricks" (Acts 26:14) to mean that he really knew in his heart that Jesus was the true Messiah. David Brainerd's biography is one of those books that it would be good to read once a year.Here is his own words describing the rebellion that went on in his mind and heart when he was under real conviction of his lost estate:

The many disappointments, great distress, and perplexity I met with, put me into a most horrible frame of contesting with the Almighty; with an inward vehemence and virulence finding fault with his ways of dealing with mankind.I found great fault with the imputation of Adam's sin to his posterity; and my wicked heart often wished for some other way of salvation, than by Jesus Christ.Being like the troubled sea, my thoughts confused, I used to contrive to escape the wrath of God by some other means.I had strange projects, full of atheism, contriving to disappoint God's designs and decrees concerning me, or to escape his notice, and hide myself from him.But when, upon reflection, I saw these projects were vain, and would not serve me, and that I could contrive nothing for my own relief; this would throw my mind into the most horrid frame, to wish there was no God, or to wish there were some other god that could control Him, etc.

These thoughts and desires were the secret inclinations of my heart, frequently acting before I was aware; but, alas!they were mine, although I was affrighted when I came to reflect on them.When I considered, it distressed me to think, that my heart was so full of enmity against God; and it made me tremble, lest his vengeance should suddenly fall upon me.I used before to imagine, that my heart was not so bad as the Scriptures and some other books represented it.Sometimes I used to take much pains to work it up into a good frame, an humble submissive disposition; and hoped there was then some goodness in me.But, on a sudden, the thoughts of the strictness of the law, or the sovereignty of God, would so irritate the corruption of my heart, that I had so watched over, and hoped I had brought to a good frame, that it would break over all bounds, and burst forth on all sides, like floods of water when they break down their dam.

Works of Jonathan Edwards, Banner of Truth Trust, Vol II, pp. 317-18.

Brainerd graphically describes four specific truths that made him exceedingly angry while he was under conviction of sin. Men today hate the same truths, but these very truths are the only hope that poor sinners have. This is why a necessity is laid on us to preach these specific truths. Unless we preach God on a throne of holiness and sovereignty, we will only be stirring up the dust and not really helping poor sinners at all. We will never see men on their knees seeking mercy until they see God on His throne of sovereignty and holiness.

And while I was in this distressed, bewildered, and tumultuous state of mind, the corruption of my heart was especially irritated with the following things.

1.The Strictness of the divine Law. For I found it was impossible for me, after my utmost pains, to answer its demands.I often made new resolutions, and as often broke them.....I was extremely loth to own my utter helplessness in this matter:but after repeated disappointments, thought that, rather than perish, I could do a little more still; especially if such and such circumstances might but attend my endeavors and strivings.....This hope of future more favorable circumstances, and of doing something great hereafter, kept me from utter despair in myself, and from seeing myself fallen into the hands of a sovereign God, and dependent on nothing but free and boundless grace.

As you can see, at the bottom of every objection and problem in Brainerd's mind, the sovereignty of God was always the center. He could not bear the thought of putting himself solely into the hands of a sovereign God and trust in nothing but "free and boundless grace." Herein lies the heart of every sinner's problem and most modern-day preachers compound that problem instead of helping it.

2.Another thing was, that faith alone was the condition of salvation; that God would not come down to lower terms, and that he would not promise life and salvation upon my sincere and hearty prayers and endeavors.That word, Mark 16:16, "He that believeth not, shall be damned," cut off all hope there:and I found, faith was the sovereign gift of God; that I could not get it as of myself, and could not oblige God to bestow it upon me, by any of my performances, (Eph.2:1,8.) This, I was ready to say, is a hard saying, who can bear it?I could not bear, that all I had done should stand for mere nothing, who had been very conscientious in duty, had been exceeding religious a great while, and had, as I thought, done much more than many others who had obtained mercy.

3.Another thing was, that I could not find out what faith was; or what it was to believe, and come to Christ.....

4.Another thing to which I found a great inward opposition, was the sovereignty of God. I could not bear that it should be wholly at God's pleasure to save or damn me, just as He would.

That passage, Romans 9:11-23 was a constant vexation to me, especially verse 21.Reading or meditating on this, always destroyed my seeming good frames:for when I thought I was almost humbled, and almost resigned, this passage would make my enmity against the sovereignty of God appear.When I came to reflect on my inward enmity and blasphemy, which arose on this occasion, I was the more afraid of God, and driven further from any hopes of reconciliation with Him.It gave me such a dreadful view of myself, that I dreaded more than ever to see myself in God's hands, at His sovereign disposal, and it made me more opposed than ever to submit to his sovereignty; for I thought God designed my damnation.....

It was the sight of the truth concerning myself, truth respecting my state, as a creature fallen and alienated from God, and that consequently could make no demands on God for mercy, but must subscribe to the absolute sovereignty of the Divine Being; the sight of the truth, I say, my soul shrank away from, and trembled to think of beholding. Ibid, page 318

How can sinners be humbled before the mighty hand of God when preachers are telling them that their "free will" is more powerful than God? Why should men bow and seek grace from a God who "has done all he can do" and whose "hands are tied" until sinful man decides to "give him change?" It is little wonder that we see so few believers today like David Brainerd. The God before Whom Brainerd bowed in saving repentance and faith is almost unknown in our land. We must declare Romans nine to proud, self sufficient sinners, but we must be certain that we do it in the spirit of Romans 10:1,2. The God Who is sovereign is also most gracious. We must seek to drive men to despair in their own efforts only as a means of bringing them to hope in the gospel of God's sovereign mercy.

Strange as it may seem, some of the people that appear to be the most humble and earnest about their soul are really the most self sufficient. David Brainerd is a classic example of this fact. He would have been looked upon as an "earnest and most sincere man seeking after God." However, his own testimony reveals his deep-seated hatred of God.

What should we say to the poor soul who weeps and says, "I am too wicked to be saved"? We must tell them that they are lying through their teeth! If they really believed they were helpless they would fall at the feet of sovereign mercy. They are still trying to change and save themselves on their own terms. Their tears of "hopelessness" are really an expression of their unwillingness to put themselves entirely into God's hands. Their vaunted humility is like Brainerd's before he was ready to admit to the awful truth that he was both hopeless and helpless in himself and his own strength. False humility is nothing but back-handed self-righteousness.

If we really want to see sinners converted and saints edified, we must confront them with the truth of God's awesome sovereignty. We must tell them, as Rolfe Barnard did, "Son, all you need to do to be saved is bow to Jesus the Lord." We must assure people that no sinner who ever bowed to Christ in repentance and faith was ever turned away. He was welcomed into the arms of grace. However, we must also tell them that the only way they can come to Christ is with a heart that is ready to submit to Him as the only Lord. The Sovereignty of God and the Lordship of Christ is not only the one safe and sure place for a saint to rest, it is also the one and only safe and sure place for a poor lost sinners to rest.

Let me close with a quotation from a great preacher blessed by God in bringing many souls to a living faith in Christ:

The fact, that conversion and salvation are all of God, is a humbling truth. It is because of its humbling character that men do not like it. To be told that God alone must save me if I am to be saved, and that I am in his hand, as clay is in the hands of the potter, "I do not like it," saith one. Well, I thought you would not; whoever dreamed you would? If you had liked it, perhaps it had not been true; your not liking it is an indirect evidence of its truthfulness. To be told that "he must work all my works in me," who can bring me so low as that? Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? The law of works? No, but the law of grace. Grace puts its hand on their boasting mouth, and shuts it once and for all; and then it takes its hand off from the mouth, and that mouth now does not fear to speak to man, though it trembles at the very thought of taking any honour and glory from God. I must say; I am compelled to say; that the doctrine which leaves salvation to the creature, and tells him that it depends upon himself, is the exaltation of the flesh, and a dishonouring of God. But that which puts in God's hand man, fallen man, and tells man that though he has destroyed himself, yet his salvation must be of God, that doctrine humbles man in the very dust, and then he is just in the right place to receive the grace and mercy of God. It is a humbling doctrine.

Again, this doctrine gives the death blow to all self-sufficiency. What the Arminian wants to do is to arouse man's activity; what we want to do is kill it once and for all, to show him that he is lost and ruined, and his activities are not now at all equal to the work of conversion; that he must look upward. They seek to make the man stand up; we seek to bring him down, and make him feel that there he lies in the hand of God, and that his business is to submit himself to God, and cry aloud, "Lord, save, or I perish." We hold that the man is never so near grace as when he begins to feel that he can do nothing at all. When he says, "I can pray, I can believe, I can do this, and I can do the other," marks of self-sufficiency and arrogance are on his brow. But when he comes to his knees and cries,

"Oh, for this no strength I find,
My strength is at thy feet to lie,"

then we think that God has blessed him, and that the work of grace is in his soul. O sinner! Think not that thy own unaided arm can get the victory. Cry unto God, and beg him to take your soul in hand, for you cannot be saved unless he doeth it for you. Bless him for the promise that says, "Him that cometh unto me, I will not cast out." Oh! Cry to him, "Lord, draw me by thy grace, that I may run after thee; work all my works in me, and bring me to thyself and save me!" Not to your self do we bid thee look, nor to your prayers, nor to your faith, but to Christ and to his cross, and to that God who is "able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him." (From: CH Spurgeon, Newpark Street Pulpit, Vol 6, p258.)

Maybe, just maybe, if we understood and preached the gospel of a sovereign God as Spurgeon did, God would be pleased to convict and convert sinners under our ministry as He did under Spurgeon's ministry. Maybe, just maybe, if believers today really understood just how sovereign and gracious God really is, the counseling couches would be empty and the prayer and praise meetings would be full.

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