Sermon: "In God We (Nearly) Trust"
Normally we don’t think about snow in August, but that’s what we are going to do this morning. I want to take you back to a Sunday morning when snow was falling.
It was Sunday morning, February 12, 2006. It is very early in the morning. Some of the pastors are at the church. Soon a decision must be made as to whether or not to cancel church. If we choose to have church we know we are obligating nearly one hundred and fifty people to get out in the snow. That’s the number of volunteers who serve at the church each Sunday. We also know that some people don’t mind driving on snow covered roads and that still others think you should never cancel church and let those who want to come, come and those who want to stay home, stay home.
Who is going to make the decision? The pastors work together, but ultimately the pastor who is serving as Chairman of the Church Board makes the decision. On that occasion Pastor Ray was the Chairman and he made the decision to cancel all services.
I trusted Ray’s decision. Why? Because I knew Ray gathered all the information he could. He drove on the roads. He checked the radar on the Internet. He talked to others who had been out on the roads. He had listened to various weather forecasts. And because I knew Ray cares about all our volunteers, and indeed, about all of the people who attend our church, I trusted him to do what he felt was the best thing to do.
I wonder if you can make that same statement concerning God? Do you really trust God?
Most of you are carrying around some money on which you will find the words – “In God We Trust.” Many Christians would get upset if the government would remove that phrase from our money, yet they live their lives as if the phrase says – In God We “Nearly” Trust.
This morning we are going to begin a three week series of messages called – “THE MIGHTY ONE, GOD, THE LORD.” When you believe in and worship a God who is the mighty one, who is Lord of Lords, and who loves you, it is much easier for you to not nearly trust him, but to completely trust him.
You can completely trust God as you come to understand both his sovereignty and his goodness.
Everyone understands goodness but before we begin let’s define ….
SOVEREIGN – above all others; supreme in power; holding the position of ruler.
If God is, indeed, sovereign and good, shouldn’t you trust him completely?
Let’s take a moment and look at …
I. UNDERSTANDING THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
First we see that …
A. EVERYTHING COMES FROM GOD
Listen to our scripture lesson.
ACTS 17:24-28 – 24The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, “We are his offspring.”
God, the Mighty One, made everything. He is the rightful owner, proprietor and possessor of everyone and everything.
He not only breathed life into the first human being, he still gives each of us life and breath. God also determines the time we come into the world, where we shall live, and when we shall die.
Those are not words most of us like to hear. Some how they don’t fit into our concept of free will and fairness. I understand that. It is just like children not understanding why their parents make them do certain things or not allow them to do certain things. They do not think their parents are being fair.
It comes down to accepting the truth that God is the Supreme Ruler. This means …
B. HE DOES AS HE DESIRES
Listen to what the Bible says …
PSALM 115:1-3 – 1Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. 2Why do the nations say, “Where is their God?” 3Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.
“He does whatever pleases Him” … that is quite a statement. It says a lot about the Mighty One who is our God. Listen to some other scriptures that speak of his power and authority.
ISAIAH 46:10 – I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.
EPHESIANS 1:11 – In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.
We serve a God who has made everything, who does what he pleases and …
C. NO ONE CAN REVERSE HIS ACTIONS
Listen to what God told the Children of Israel through the prophet Isaiah.
ISAIAH 43:13 – Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?
Those are the words of a Mighty God. No one can stop him from doing what he determines to do. That is why the writer of Hebrews gave the following warning to those who refused to obey the teachings of Jesus.
HEBREWS 10:31 – It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Why is it dreadful? It is dreadful because once God pronounces judgment no one can reverse the decision or free the guilty one from God’s hand. When God determines something there is no Court of Appeals to which you can turn if you don’t like his judgment.
D. WHAT HE PLANS WILL HAPPEN
This is sometimes hard for us to understand. Why did God allow Satan to tempt Eve? Why did he allow Jesus to die on the cross? There it appears as if Pilate had control over whether Jesus lived or died and Jesus was God. But listen to what Jesus said to Pilate …
JOHN 19:10-11a – 10“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” 11aJesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.”
God is sovereign. God is in control of his creation at all times. Jesus was crucified according to God’s predetermined plan. Peter, in his sermon on the day of Pentecost said …
ACTS 2:23 – This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
The Jewish leaders thought they were in control when they sent Jesus to the cross but …
E. NOTHING CAN HAPPEN WITHOUT GOD’S PERMISSION
Jeremiah was one of God’s prophets who was severely mistreated by the very people he was trying to warn. Listen to some of his statements…
- I am the man who has seen affliction.
- I became the laughingstock of all my people.
- I have been deprived of peace.
- I have forgotten what prosperity is.
Yet he knew the people could not have done those things to him without God’s permission because he wrote …
LAMENTATIONS 3:37-38 – 37Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? 38Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?
Nebuchadnezzar the great King of Babylon came to this same conclusion. For a period of time he lost both his power and his sanity. Listen to the account.
DANIEL 4:33 – Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.
Now listen to what he said when he recovered.
DANIEL 4:34-37 – 34At the end of that time, I Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
35All the people of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?”
36At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. 37Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
Hopefully, you can see why this series of lessons is called – “The Mighty One, God, the Lord.”
Next, we see that God’s sovereignty touches us in a very personal way because …
F. GOD DETERMINED THE LENGTH OF YOUR LIFE BEFORE YOU WERE BORN
Our scripture lesson, which we read earlier, touched on this truth. It says …
ACTS 17:26 – From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.
The psalmist spoke more directly to this truth when he wrote …
PSALM 139:16 – Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
The Bible clearly teaches that God is sovereign. That he is the Mighty One. That brings us to a very important question when it comes to us trusting a God who is so mighty, who is in complete control of his creation? Here is the question.
II. CAN GOD BE BOTH SOVEREIGN AND GOOD?
As believers our first reaction is to say, “Of course God is good.” But if God is really in control and is good, why do we see so much pain and suffering in the world? Let’s begin to tackle this question by looking at something we touched on earlier.
A. BOTH GOOD AND BAD THINGS ARE UNDER GOD’S CONTROL
God declared this truth in a very clear, straight-forward way through the prophet Isaiah. Here is what he said …
ISAIAH 45:7 – I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things.
That is a tough statement for us to accept. God says he creates disaster. You and I know that thousands of people die in earthquakes and storms each year. It is difficult to see a good God in disasters if we only focus on the disaster.
The book of Ecclesiastes also teaches us that both good and bad things are under God’s control. It says …
ECCLESIASTES 7:14a – When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other.
One of the reasons we struggle in seeing a God who is in control of all things being a good God is because …
B. WE SOMETIMES HAVE A WRONG AGENDA
We make people (including ourselves) our number one priority instead of God’s glory.
It is hard for us to remember that we are the created and God is the Creator. As the created we are to glorify the Creator. The Bible says …
PSALM 19:1 – The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
As people we are to do the same. The prophet Isaiah wrote …
ISAIAH 63:14b – This is how you guided your people to make for yourself a glorious name.
The book of Romans has some very strong words on this subject.
ROMANS 9:16-24 – 16It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raise you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
19One of you will say to me; “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” 20But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ ” 21Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
22What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath – prepared for destruction? 23What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory – 24even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?
Those are hard words for us as humans to accept, but if you are going to truly see the goodness of our God who is so mighty, you must begin by focusing on why God created all of creation – to glorify himself.
At first even that is difficult for us to accept, but it becomes much easier as you come to understand and accept the following truths.
C. GOD BRINGS GOOD OUT OF EVIL
The Bible says …
ROMANS 8:28 – And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
This truth was illustrated in Joseph’s life. His brothers sold him into slavery. That was evil. But as a result Joseph was later able to save their lives, and thus, allow the Jewish nation, from which the Messiah would come, to become a reality. Here is what Joseph told his brothers about their actions.
GENESIS 50:20 – You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
God can make evil be his servant.
Another truth about God that we need to accept in order to see his goodness along side his sovereignty is that …
D. GOD DOES NOT ABANDON YOU
You will go through hard times in life. You will see, and perhaps even endure, some disasters. Through it all you need to cling to these words from God.
HEBREWS 13:5b – “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
ISAIAH 43:2-3a – 2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. 3aFor I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
The final truth about God that can help you see his goodness comes from our scripture lesson. The truth is that …
E. GOD WANTS YOU TO SEEK HIM
Our scripture lesson says …
ACTS 17:26-27 – 26From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is nor far from each one of us.
God desires for mankind to seek him to reach out to him. God wants us to find him and have a relationship with him. Sometimes we seek him the most when things are the most difficult for us.
CONCLUSION
This morning’s lesson was designed to get us to the point where no matter what is happening to us, around us or anywhere in the world we can, with confidence, say …
- I KNOW GOD KNOWS WHAT IS BEST.
- I KNOW I DON’T.
and
- I KNOW HE CARES.
In other words, it was designed to help us have complete trust in God.
We can have complete trust in God because he is sovereign. He is mighty. He is supreme. He is in control of all things … and he is good.
When you can say without a doubt – “In God I Trust” it makes life much easier to enjoy, accept, and yes, at times endure.
Listen to what Margaret Clarkson wrote about the sovereignty of God in her book, Grace Grows Best in Winter.
“The sovereignty of God is the one rock to which the suffering human heart must cling. The circumstances surrounding our lives are no accident: they may be the work of evil, but that evil is held firmly within the mighty hand of our sovereign God … All evil is subject to Him, and evil cannot touch His children unless He permits it.”
When we understand God’s sovereignty it makes it possible for us to truly say – IN GOD WE TRUST. “In God We Trust” becomes a foundation for our lives instead of just a nice phrase on our money.
I want to close with a poem written by John Oxenham. It’s called …
GOD’S HANDWRITING
He writes in characters too grand
For our short sight to understand;
We catch but broken strokes, and try
To fathom all the mystery
Of withered hopes, of death, of life,
The endless war, the useless strife, -
But there (heaven), with larger, clearer sight,
We shall see this – His way was right.
-- IN GOD WE TRUST --