Let's open our Bibles together and be turning to Isaiah chapter 46. I want to encourage you to turn to Isaiah 46 this evening. We're going to begin our study in that passage. As you're turning there, let me just confess that structuring the remainder of The section that we're looking at has been a bit of a challenge. We are studying through the major doctrines of scripture as they are organized and summarized in the Westminster Confession of Faith. And for about three weeks, I think, we have been in Chapter 2, which pertains to the doctrine of God and the Holy Trinity. But for those three weeks or so, we have been entirely focused on the first half of the first paragraph. And that is because the doctrine that is being expounded here is so profound that even though we are only doing an introductory study of these ideas, nevertheless, it is challenging to get through very much, very quickly. So what I have decided to do is this evening pick up where we left off, and we'll be picking up with statements pertaining to the power, the holiness, and the sovereignty of God, relating those ideas together. And then, Lord willing, Next week, we will try to look at the remainder of this first paragraph with the twofold emphasis on the goodness of God as manifested in His covenant to love and on the justice of God as manifested in His wrath and His judgment. And I think we can deal with both of those ideas together. And if so, then that will allow us to move on to the doctrine of the Trinity proper, Yes, the following week. And then we will have a one week break on the fifth Sunday as we have a joint service planned with the brothers and sisters from Calvin. So tonight, I want to direct your attention to Isaiah 46 to kind of lay the framework, if you will, for a discussion of the sovereignty of God. One of the things that makes dealing with this subject in the confession challenging is the reality that several of the ideas being propounded in Chapter 2 of the Confession are actually developed in much greater detail in the following chapters. And in fact, if you read a study guide or a commentary on the Westminster Confession of Faith, very often what you will find is that a detailed exposition of these themes is delayed until the later chapters. So for instance, the sovereignty of God is going to be developed in much greater detail in chapter 3. But in reflecting on this and praying about this and studying these ideas, I have been persuaded, in my own mind at least, that our church would benefit from some basic teaching on these questions here and now. That if we understand that the sovereignty of God is really an outworking of the properties of God, the characteristics of God and his divine character, then we will be better prepared, I think, to understand how that sovereignty is exercised in the decree and in creation and in redemption. So that is the plan that is before us tonight, is to think about God's sovereignty as it relates particularly to God's properties, which is the way, in fact, that the confession summarizes it. So let's start here in Isaiah 46. I'm going to read the entire chapter. We won't spend very long here, but I do want to read the text and then offer some suggested points of emphasis from it that relate to our subject this evening. Bell bows down. Nebo stoops, their idols are on beasts and livestock. These things you carry are born as burdens on weary beasts. They stoop, they bow down together, they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity. Listen to me, O House of Jacob, all the remnant of the House of Israel who have been born by me. from before your birth, carried from the womb. Even to your old age, I am he. And to gray hairs, I will carry you. I have made and I will bear. I will carry and will save. To whom will you liken me and make me equal and compare me that we may be alike? Those who lavish gold from the purse and weigh out silver in the scales hire a goldsmith and he makes it into a god. Then they fall down in worship. They lift it to their shoulders. They carry it. They set it in its place and it stands there. It cannot move from its place. If one cries to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble. Remember this and stand firm. Recall it to mind, you transgressors. Remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times. Things not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose, calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken and I will bring it to pass. I have purposed and I will do it. Listen to me, you stubborn of heart, you who are far from righteousness. I bring near my righteousness. It is not far off and my salvation will not delay. I will put salvation in Zion for Israel, my glory. This is the word of the Lord. Now, if you can't tell, I love this chapter. This is a great chapter and it's set in the midst of a larger section where the Lord through Isaiah is really focusing the minds, the attention of the children of Israel on the doctrine of God and who the true God is as contrasted with the idols. At the point that Isaiah is writing, Israel is caught between two powers, Assyria in the north and Egypt in the south. And Assyria and Egypt are the dominant powers in the ancient world at this time. And Assyria and Egypt have their own gods, and they have their own kings, and they have their own armies. And Israel, as it were, is caught in the middle. And when Assyria seems strong, Israel is tempted to lean upon Egypt. And when Egypt seems to be carrying the day, the temptation is to lean upon Assyria. As if the children of Israel, and particularly the southern kingdom of Judah, with whom Isaiah is particularly focused, as if they could save themselves by some political maneuvering. In this section of Isaiah, the Lord is putting the idolatry of the nations in contrast with the religion of the true God. And he's saying, I am not like the gods of the Assyrians. I am not like the gods of the Egyptians. Indeed, I am not like any other god that any other nation serves. I'm the true God. And the way in which the Lord makes this point through Isaiah is often derided by critical Old Testament scholars who find it to be very offensive. In fact, it's interesting the way providentially in which Matthew 15 fell into our our scripture reading at the beginning of the service, and then here we are in Isaiah 46. In Matthew 15, did you notice that when Jesus turns the Pharisees' criticism back upon them, they say, you're not keeping the tradition of the elders. And he says, well, you're not keeping the law of God. After that exchange, the disciples and Peter come to Jesus and say, did you know the Pharisees were offended by that? Well, people deride these sections of Isaiah because they're offensive. It's not politically correct. It's not respectful. It's not compassionate. No, because I'm going to keep doing that tonight, aren't I? OK. Let's do that. All right. I couldn't move around a lot this morning, so I'm flailing tonight. No, it's because God is the true God. Yahweh is the true God. And so people who are worshiping idols are going to go to hell. We're not trying to coddle them into the kingdom. We're trying to call them to repentance. We are preaching to the children of Israel a message of salvation. And if they don't pay attention, they are going to be lost. So Isaiah is not concerned about offending pagans. What he is very concerned about is Israel understanding who is the true God. And how does the true God reveal himself to his people? Well, Isaiah 46 gives us some indicators of that. So, for instance, in the first seven verses, Yahweh points out that he is the only true God. And it is seen in the contrast that is so obvious between Yahweh and the gods of the nations. The gods of the nations are being carried around like baggage on the backs of animals. The gods of the nations are idols that are commissioned by a person with enough money to make an idol. And so the man takes the money to the goldsmith. The goldsmith, get this, makes God Then the man who purchases the God takes it home, sets it up, worships it. The God can't move. If the man moves from his house, he has to pick up his God and carry it off on his shoulder. And in this case, the nations are moving into captivity. The nations are being carried away by their enemies, and what can their gods do about it? Nothing. Yahweh is the only true and living God. And so in this section and in the larger section of Isaiah that this is set within, the Lord is emphasizing his true divinity by contrasting it with the folly of idolatry. The second thing that I want you to notice is in verse 10, one of the ways that God asserts his divinity is by declaring the end from the beginning. by announcing with perfect knowledge and predictive ability events that are yet future. Now, we need to understand, even false prophets sometimes get it right. If you make enough guesses, you're going to stumble upon the truth. This is one of the, I don't know why I have somewhat of a fascination with this, but for years I have enjoyed kind of observing or reading about modern day psychics and things like that, right? I think you have got to be a special kind of silly to think that there is any truth to that. But what's fascinating to me is to see how intelligent some of these people are. at manipulating others and how the most general, benign observation to a willing mind that is eager to have comfort, to have affirmation, to believe something. They're taking advantage very often of people who have gone through great grief, great pain. They're needing some solace. They're needing some encouragement. And through the most general, benign observation, suddenly that that must be it, that that that is exactly right. And sometimes the psychics and the mediums get it right, because if you make enough guesses, you will. But the standard of accuracy that God holds himself and his prophets to is perfect accuracy. Deuteronomy chapter 18, if a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh and the thing that he predicts does not come to pass, he is to be stoned. He is to be put to death. The Lord has not spoken by that man. He has taken the name of God in vain. Well, maybe he just made a mistake that time. There is no such a thing. There is no such a mistake for a prophet of God. That is how perfectly God can declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times, the things that have not yet been done. But not only is God's word infallible, It is determinative of the future. Look still in verse 10 and go on down into verse 11. He says, I have declared this saying my counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose. calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken and I will bring it to pass. I have purposed and I will do it. Now, there's two things I want you to notice here. One is the emphasis on I will do this. I will accomplish. I will save. As opposed to the idols that in the first half of the chapter couldn't do anything. They couldn't move. They couldn't speak. They certainly can't control the future course of events. The Lord says, I don't need your help. I don't need you to pick me up and put me where I'm supposed to go. I will do these things. That's one point of emphasis. The other point of emphasis is that when God speaks about the future, he's not merely foreseeing what will occur. He is foreordaining. He is decree. Now, we are going to deal with this in a lot more detail when we get to chapter three of the confession, but this is very important. Because some people's idea of the foreknowledge of God and the sovereignty of God basically views the perfect knowledge of God as consisting merely of passive knowledge of what will be. And then figuring out how to work around what will be. So if Adam and Eve had not eaten the fruit in the garden, that would have been plan A and we'd still all be in the garden, right? Which would be awkward if you just think about that for a second. But anyway, but since they ate, now we're on plan B, right? And then plan B was Jesus is going to come and the Jews are going to recognize that he's the Messiah. He's the son of David. They're going to put him on the throne. He's going to send it. He's going to reign over them. But then they rejected him instead. And so that but God foresaw that. And so now we're in a plan C at least. And God is foreseeing what will be and and working around it so that his purpose will ultimately prevail. But he is nevertheless subject to circumstances. But he knows what the circumstances are, and so he can plan in advance. Now, that is not the sovereignty of God. That is not the doctrine of divine foreknowledge. That is not remotely taught anywhere in Scripture. We are not on plan B. We are not on plan C. We are on plan A, which is why Peter would say that Jesus was a lamb slain from the foundation of the world. It was God himself who put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the midst of the garden. And when he speaks in Isaiah 46 about the future, he says, I am the one who is accomplishing by these events what I intend. When I call a bird of prey from the east, I'm not merely saying, hey, in the future, an enemy is going to come from the east and is going to bring judgment on this nation. He's saying, I am bringing the enemy from the east on this nation to judge this nation. There's a big difference. He says, I have purposed it. And I will do it. And that's how God knows what will be in the future. And then finally, verses 12 and 13. Listen to me, you stubborn of heart. Listen, you who are far from righteousness. I bring near my right. Do you know I do this? The idols can't do anything. I bring near my righteousness. I will bring it to pass. It will come. It will not delay. It is not a far off. Notice the end of verse 13. I will put salvation in Zion for Israel. My glory. Why does God act in the way that he acts? Why does God do the things that he does? He does it for his glory. You and I have to see sovereignty. We have to see the sovereignty of God first in the light of his divine perfections, his divine attributes. Because my fear is that you're going to think about the sovereignty of God as sort of a capricious exercise of power. That God ordains all that will be. And yet he's exercising his power in an arbitrary way and in a reckless way, in a damaging way, as if this is not what is good. This is not for the good that God intends. It's just it's just God doing things and bad things happen as if the world were out of control. And if that's the way that you see the sovereignty of God, you don't even begin to understand. What God is saying is I am announcing the future because I have ordained all that will be in the future. And as I ordain it and announce it, I will accomplish it. And here is the ultimate end toward which I am working. I am bringing my righteousness near to my people, saving my people because that glorifies me. That's the whole lesson for me. It's not the end of the lesson, but that's the whole lesson. He says, I know the future. Because I've ordained it, I will accomplish it. And the end of it is salvation and the glory of God. So we have to see these things in the light of who God is. God's sovereignty, his supreme power, control, jurisdiction over all that he has made is exercised as the necessary and natural outworking of who he is, of his divine being. And so I want to direct your attention now to the Westminster Confession of Faith. With that introduction, listen to the way this part of the confession reads. Westminster Confession of Faith. Chapter two, paragraph one, I'm going to read the entire paragraph, but we're going to focus just on the middle portion. There is but one only living and true God who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible without body parts or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will for his own glory. Most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, the rewarder of them that diligently seek him, and with all, most just and terrible in his judgments, hating all sin, and who will by no means clear the guilty. I hope you were able to notice the interweaving of these things that we've been seeing in Isaiah 46 as we read this part of the confession. So I want to just direct your attention for the next few minutes that are left to these particular attributes that are named. First of all, we pick up with the idea about midway through that paragraph that God is almighty. One of the great names for God in the Old Testament is El Shaddai. God Almighty. And over and over the Bible describes God's power as unlimited. He is omnipotent or all powerful. There are so many passages of scripture that we could look at that affirm that again and again and again. Let me give you just a few selected examples. Genesis chapter 18 and verse 14. You remember when the Lord and the two angels visit the tent? of Abram and Abraham at this point. And they announced that about this time next year, Sarah is going to have a son. And Sarah is listening on the other side of the tent door and laughs. Listen to what the Lord says. Genesis chapter 18 and verse 14. The Lord said to Abraham, why did Sarah laugh and say, shall I indeed bear a child now that I'm old? Is anything too hard for Yahweh? Well, is it? That's that's a rhetorical question. The answer is no, nothing is too hard for the Lord. The interesting thing to me is that that idea, that that seed that is sown in the early chapters of Genesis actually recurs. as we move through the canon of scripture. So, for instance, in Luke chapter 1 and verse 37, when the angel Gabriel visits the Virgin Mary and announces to her that she will conceive by virtue of the coming of the Holy Spirit, she will conceive and bear a son who will be the son of God and save God's people. Listen, listen to the response of the angel in verse 37, for nothing will be impossible with God. What is Mary thinking? How could this be? Nothing will be impossible with God. He is echoing Genesis 18. Do you realize that? Sarah's birth, Isaac's birth rather to Sarah is is a typological foreshadowing of Christ's birth. She's the barren woman. And this is the promised son. This is the beloved son who is later going to be sacrificed. You see any relationships between Isaac's birth and Jesus's birth? Scripture certainly draws a parallel. Mary is the barren woman. Why is she barren? Because she doesn't have a husband, because she doesn't know a man. And the angel comes and says, you're going to conceive and you're going to bear a child. And the natural question is, how can it be? Is anything too hard for Yahweh? No, nothing is impossible for God. Jesus himself, Matthew chapter 19, and in response to the disciples after the visit of the rich young ruler, you remember the rich young ruler comes and says, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus says, basically, Get rid of everything and follow me. Stop being an idolater and start being a disciple. And he walks away sorrowful. And Jesus, in response, says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And many of you have heard me explain this before, by the way, just as a quick aside. But I know that preachers and pastors for years have been using this illustration of the gate of Jerusalem called the needle's eye where the camels can't go through standing up. They have to kneel down. And it's a sign of humility. Only problem is there is no such gate in Jerusalem. That's just not true. Whoever made that up first was probably well intentioned, but it's just not simply true. What Jesus means is that it is easier for a camel, large, hairy creature with one or two humps, to go through the eye of a needle, very small place, than for a rich man to be saved. And that is why the disciples respond in the way that they do. They are incredulous. Verse 25, when the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, Who then can be saved? Sounds impossible. And do you realize that it is? It's impossible for you to be saved. I just want you to understand that. It's impossible for any of us to be saved. You cannot do it. That is a primary purpose of the law of God, is to convince us beyond a shadow of a doubt that we cannot be saved by our own strength, by our own work, through our own merits. And yet Jesus goes on to say, verse 26, with man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. He's echoing the language of Genesis. God can do the impossible and he does it again and again and again. Paul rhetorically asked the question during his defense in Acts chapter 26. Why should it be thought impossible to you that God could raise the dead? Why is this so hard? If God could make the heavens and the earth, why would we be surprised that he could raise Jesus the third day? Right. Nothing is impossible for God. Now, there is an important caveat to this idea of God being almighty that I think we need to note at this juncture. And that is it is not absolutely true that God can do anything. There are some things that are. impossible for God. And you may say, I thought that we just spent several minutes saying that nothing was impossible for God. Well, within the particular context that Scripture is speaking, then that's true. But God cannot perform logical contradictions. He can't make a square circle. He can't make a married bachelor. And in the same way, there are some things that he cannot do as a result of his very being and nature. For instance, Hebrews six and verse 18. It is impossible for God to lie. Not just God doesn't lie. You see, I've known people like that, that I would say of that person, he doesn't lie. You can trust him. You can trust his word. He never lies. That may be true. But that's not what's being said about God. It's a statement of ability. God cannot lie. Because for God to lie would be for God to cease being who He is. And He can't do that. Habakkuk asks the question in Habakkuk chapter 1 verse 13. He says, you are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and you cannot dwell with wickedness. It's not a matter of God's volition, God's will, God's just choosing. I don't really like sinners. It's not that kind of thing at all. I choose not to eat pickles, mainly because I think they're disgusting. But I could physically ingest one if my life depended upon it. You see, this is how many people, unfortunately, think about God's choices, God's holiness that we're about to talk about. They think that this is a matter of God's decision, as if God is saying, I choose not to lie. I choose not to have fellowship with the ungodly. But of course, I suppose if pressed, I could do otherwise. No, that's not what the omnipotence of God means. It doesn't mean that God is free to do evil. In fact, listen to how James says this in James chapter one. And he does this in order to correct some misconceptions about sin and about temptation. In James chapter one and verse 13, he says, let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one. He does not tempt anyone. Indeed, he cannot. Why? Because God cannot be other than who and what he is. This is why it is so important for us to study the doctrine of God. This should be encouraging. This should be comforting. This should be overwhelming to us. This should help us see the necessity of the cross. Because if you don't have this clear in your mind, then the cross may look like an arbitrary decision that God made. As if God is saying, I want to show my love and I want to show how angry I am at sin, so I'm going to torture my incarnate son to death just to make a rhetorical point. No. No, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. Why? Because the wages of sin is death. Because human life was given to humanity in the image of God, and we corrupted that image, we perverted it, we used God's gift for all kinds of unholy things, and God cannot simply ignore that. He cannot simply choose to dwell with wickedness. He cannot simply choose to set aside his truth and make his word a lie. God cannot violate his being. He cannot be unholy. He cannot do evil. He cannot lie. And that is very important for us to understand if we're going to properly understand the sovereignty of God. The next thing that the confession says is the Lord is most wise. In fact, scripture says in Psalm 147 in verse five, he is he is has wisdom that is beyond measure. In other words, again, it's a qualitative description, not a quantitative one. It's not just that God has more wisdom, although that would be true. It's that his wisdom is all together in a different category. He is the only wise God, Paul says in Romans chapter 16 and verse 27. In fact, he created the world by his wisdom and his wisdom is manifested in the work of redemption that he has accomplished in Christ. Go over to Ephesians chapter 3 for just a moment. Look at Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 10, which is a passage that we'll return to later as we look at the work of redemption. But I want you to notice in Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 10, the way in which the wisdom of God is connected to the redemption of the church. Sometimes this passage is misused as a proof text for evangelism, as a proof of the need to do evangelism. But that's not actually what this passage is about. As important as evangelism is, that's not what Ephesians 3 is saying. Ephesians chapter three, beginning at verse eight, Paul says to me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things so that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the rulers and authorities where? in the heavenly places. This is not about door knocking. This is not about sharing the gospel with your neighbor. This is not even about proclaiming the gospel from the pulpit or the music stand. This is about the church, by virtue of its very existence, demonstrating, displaying how wise God truly is and where to who. rulers, authorities, powers in the spiritual realm. The heavenly places is Paul's way of referring to the spiritual realm in the book of Ephesians. And in fact, it includes demons. Ephesians chapter six, he uses the same term to describe spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places. It's not just in heaven. It's in the spiritual realm. The church itself is a manifestation of the wisdom of God, because guess what? Satan thought there was a plan A and a plan B and that this is plan C. But after the resurrection, it becomes obvious plan C was plan A all along. This was always God's plan, and he hid it in plain sight. And now. The church itself displays how wise and how powerful God is. Wisdom is an essential characteristic of God's being. And I want you to understand how important that is. Wisdom is not an essential characteristic of our being, unfortunately. A person can be wise, but act foolishly. Solomon, wisest man on earth, behaves like a fool when it comes to his wives and to his kingdom. Wise men can act foolishly, but God is wise. It's not just that he has wisdom, it's that he is wise, and therefore he always acts according to his perfect wisdom. The confession goes on. The Lord is most holy. I think one of the most memorable stories about God's appearing to his people probably is the burning bush, right? Take your sandals off your feet for your standing on holy ground. You know that that actually happens twice, though, in the Old Testament. It's not just in Exodus three. It's also in Joshua, chapter five. Joshua goes out of the camp. They're getting ready for the Battle of Jericho. And he sees a man standing with a drawn sword. And Joshua says, Who are you with? Are you for us or for our enemies? And the man with the drawn sword says, No. Well, it wasn't a yes, no question. It was a multiple choice for us or for our enemies. He says, as the commander of the army of Yahweh, I have come to take your shoes off. That, I believe, was a manifestation of the pre-incarnate Christ, the angel of Yahweh frequently is in the Old Testament. This is not just an angel. This is the Lord manifesting himself, appearing, revealing himself to Joshua, who is a type of Jesus. And take your sandals off your feet. We won't be wearing shoes in heaven, right? We'll be on holy ground. God is light. And in him, there is no darkness at all. That's what John says in First John, chapter one in verse five. God is light. Now, he goes on in verse seven to say that we are to walk in the light. We walk in the light, which shows us there's a connection between God's holiness and God's law, God's being and God's will. What God commands of his people is the outflow, the revealing of who he is. Right. But we are called to walk in the light. God is the light. He is most holy. The call throughout the book of Leviticus is be holy. Why? For I, Yahweh, your God, am holy. And there's an important point here about God's holiness that we need to take note of. And that is that God's holiness refers not only to his moral purity, which is probably the first thing that we think of. But even more, it refers to his uniqueness as God, and to his position as God relative to the rest of creation. No one is holy like the Lord, Hannah said in her prayer. 1 Samuel chapter 2. Who is holy like our God? The women of Israel sang in Exodus chapter 15. Listen to what Louis Burkhoff said about this in his systematic theology. He said, quote, It is not correct to think of holiness primarily as a moral or religious quality, as is generally done. Its fundamental idea is that a position or relationship existing between God and some person or thing. That's a really important idea that we probably ought to take a lot more time to unpack. But suffice it to say, when we say that God is holy, we are affirming that God is other than we are. Again, there is no appropriate comparison that can be made between God and us, we can say that we, in some respects, bear a likeness to him in terms of his image, in terms, perhaps, of holiness and morality and righteousness and things of that by virtue of his grace. But there's no comparison working the other way. No one is wholly like the Lord. He is altogether unique, and therefore his holiness is coextensive with every other attribute that is his. So when he loves, it's a holy love. When he's angry, it's a holy wrath. His entire being is characterized by perfect holiness. And then the confession says the Lord is most free. Free will, I think, has to be one of the most beloved Bible doctrines that you virtually never find mentioned anywhere in the Bible. People are enamored with free will. I've had conversations with people who I think themselves would admit that they know almost nothing about the Bible. And yet, one of the first things that they will bring up is, well, God had to give us free will, and we have to have Well, if you will notice, as you read the Westminster Confession, there is an entire chapter of the Westminster Confession, chapter 9, devoted to the subject of free will. And so there is something to say about it. I don't want to suggest otherwise. But what is remarkable to me is how little people seem to think of God's freedom, especially those who talk so much about man's freedom. God is the only necessary being. Everything else is contingent. That means we all depend upon God for our very existence. God is the only being that absolutely has to exist. And God has not only announced what will be, he has appointed it. Look at some passages here. Psalm 115. Psalm 115 in verse three. I know some of these are very familiar to you, but I want you to be reminded of them tonight. Our God is in the heavens. He does all that he pleases. Now, perhaps you can dismiss that language as simply poetic. It's just a figure of speech because God really can't do everything that he pleases because men have free will and men are just so wicked. Well, you could say that. Problem is, the Bible does not say that. And this is not a insignificant poetic aside. This is a thread that runs through the entire canon of Scripture, and we have to deal with it as such. Look at another reference to it still in the psalm. Psalm 135 and verse six. Psalm 135 and verse six. Whatever Yahweh pleases, he does. in heaven and on earth and in the seas and all these. Whatever Yahweh pleases, he does now, does that mean that everything that happens in heaven and on earth is pleasing to God? Well, in one sense, obviously not, because God has commanded many things that men just disobey and disregard, and that does not please God. And yet, is God pleased And does God decree that it might so be? At the very least, he is allowing it because if he did not allow it, it could not happen at all. What about in the New Testament? Ephesians chapter one. Ephesians chapter one in this great section, praising God for all of the spiritual blessings that are to be found in Christ. Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 11, the Apostle Paul says, In Christ we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. That is almost taken directly out of Isaiah 46. He works everything according to the counsel of his own will. The Lord is not under compulsion. He has freely chosen to create and he has freely chosen to do whatever pleases him to do. I wish we had time to look at some more references to this. Go home and read Romans chapter 9. Go home and read the praise of the throne room of heaven in Revelation chapter 4. Think about Paul's language in First Corinthians chapter 12 when he's dealing with a church that is divided because they have different gifts from the Holy Spirit and they're becoming a source of pride. And Paul says, the Lord is the one who gives each of these gifts to each one, however he pleases, as he pleases. In other words, you didn't have anything to do with the fact that you can speak in tongues or that you can prophesy or that you can do any of the things that you do. That was God's pleasure to do that in your life. Now, as we already noted, and this is why we actually noted it earlier, God's. Freedom to choose. is nevertheless constrained by the other properties that are his. And so God is not free to choose other than to be holy or to do other than what is right and good. He cannot be tempted by evil, nor can he himself tempt anyone. But God's choices are not thereby limited or determined by man. And to suggest otherwise is to deny that God is God. And I want to finish on this point. God is most absolute. If everything that we said tonight is true, then God is the only truly absolute absolute man is not man's free will is not human circumstances in this world are not God determines what comes to pass. It is not determined by circumstances external to him. This has profound implications for your Christian life and for the way that we do ministry. I remember a time in my life when I thought people's salvation depended upon my faithfulness and my effectiveness. Now, long before God started teaching me about grace and opened my eyes to the fact that I was preaching a false gospel, he wrecked that notion altogether. And I began saying in Church of Christ pulpits, who do you really think you are? You think that God wants to save that person, but they're going to go to hell because you dropped the ball and didn't eloquently explain the gospel to them, right? That they could have been saved and they would have been saved, but now they're not. And it's all your fault, right? Who do you think you are? You're not God. And that is not a disincentive to being faithful. In fact, it's an incentive because rather than paralyzed, being paralyzed, what if I what if I don't say the right thing? What if I don't do it in the right way? What if I what if I don't measure up? You won't take comfort in that, but it doesn't depend on you anyway. It depends on God. You are not absolute, God is. Your will is not the decisive factor in salvation. God's will is. Circumstances do not control the holy and sovereign God. He controls circumstances. And that is not the end of the material that I wanted for us to cover tonight, but it is more than enough material for us to cover tonight. Let's bow and let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we try to wrap our minds around who you are, all that you have revealed concerning yourself, knowing, Father, how little we can see with our finite minds. Father, we are in awe that a God so great. Perfect in every attribute that is yours, all powerful, all knowing. and sovereign over all that is. That you would condescend. That you would reveal yourself to us. That you would love us. That you would send your son to save us. That you would redeem us by his blood. And draw us to yourself. Father, that is a work that we are eternally thankful for. But we cannot begin to understand. Because we know, Father, there is nothing in us that would cause it to be so. But the choice was yours, and it was gracious. And we love you, and we thank you for it. In Jesus' blessed name, amen.