Good morning, everyone. I encourage you to open your Bibles this morning to the book of Ephesians, chapter number one. We continue our consideration in this epistle by the Apostle Paul, Ephesians chapter number one. And again today it is remarkable in the providence of God of the parallels between some of the matters of discussion in the Bible study from Revelation 12 and 13 and some of the thoughts that I have been considering during the course of the past week and how they have kind of dovetailed together. Ephesians chapter 1, we still have those gremlins in our system today. If they get too bad, I'll just turn this off and try to speak louder. It's not that. I think I will turn it off. I'll begin reading with verse number three of Ephesians chapter one. and read through verse number six today. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. and love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us and the beloved. May God bless the reading of His word, and may His people say, Amen. Let's join together for a word of prayer. Holy Father, we come before you again asking for your mercy and grace upon us as we consider now your word. As has been read in our hearing, you have given us your inspired word for our instruction, for our benefit. And we pray, Lord, that you would bless us in our consideration. Bless me as I try to speak from it. Give me liberty to preach it as it ought to be preached, as the Word of God. Give me freedom and liberty from any fear of any man or any restriction in any way in that matter. Let me only fear you as I stand in this sacred place. Give me clarity of thought and freedom of thought. and freedom to preach your word clearly and demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit and give your people ears to hear. And Lord, if there are those present that know not Christ as Lord and Savior, would you move in their minds and their hearts and do a great work of regeneration and sanctification and call them savingly and lovingly unto Jesus Christ as their Savior. Forgive us of our sins and use us mightily in your service. I do pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Last week, we've been in this study now for three or four weeks, and last week we tried to consider the spiritual blessings that are enumerated in verses 3 through 14 of this chapter. And among those blessings are redemption and forgiveness of sins, the fact that we have the revelation and knowledge of God's purpose in history, a holy heritage, that being both that God has given us a holy heritage and that we are God's holy heritage, and that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. And I would note today that the fountains from which these blessings flow are God's sovereign election and predestination, His sovereign decrees of election and predestination. Now we noted a little bit about both of these doctrines last week, but the apostle declares to us that those who are redeemed and forgiven by the blood of the Lamb are the same ones that the Holy Spirit enlightens and seals, and that these are the same people that the Father has predestined and elected unto salvation. And we've noted on more than one occasion, both last Sunday morning in worship and then we had opportunity again in small groups later on, and I know this has been noted on more than one occasion, we have noted that the act then of salvation is an act of the Trinity, of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Even as Pastor Tyler yesterday in the wedding ceremony made a point of the covenant of marriage and how it references and reflects the covenant of salvation, that the Father, in the eternal covenant agreement with His Son, before the foundation of the world, chooses those who will be members of His redeemed family. And that the Son then redeems those that the Father has chosen. He redeems them by His blood. And the Spirit effectually changes the elect by giving them new hearts and granting us communion with the Father and the Son. And he does that by dwelling within us. We actually have the Holy Spirit living within us. Now I also would point out today that I want to know what I'll call three antecedent doctrines of predestination and election. that these doctrines don't just hang out there like ripe fruit all by themselves. They're not just empty, or I shouldn't say empty, they're not just separated doctrines that you pick up off of the ground, but they really are attached. They are fruit that are attached to limbs, that are attached to the tree, that have roots. They grow from other doctrines. And so they have antecedent doctrines, things that precede them, teachings that precede them. They're not isolated. They don't stand by themselves. And three doctrines that I would mention that are antecedent doctrines that I would mention this morning are the love of God, the depravity of man, and the sovereignty of God. Now, if you'll notice in Ephesians chapter 1, Verse 4, Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him, in love He predestined us. Now, depending on the translation you may be using, there might be some variation in the way that that sentence is structured. Some translations may have the words in love connected to the end of verse four. It may say that you should be holy and blameless before him in love. That may be the way it's attached. And then other translations will have it arranged the way I just read it to you. It'll attach those verses to in love he predestined us. Well, as Dr. Godfrey mentioned this morning, the Bible hasn't always had verses and chapter divisions. The Old Testament had divisions of chapters and verses long before the New Testament did. The first English New Testament to have verses was in 1557. And then later on, The first entire Bible to have chapters and verses was the Geneva Bible. And so that was the first one that actually had the entire Bible that was divided into chapters and verses. And I'm not sure how the Geneva actually divided this one out here. But I think the way that I've read it to you from the ESV is a very good division by saying that love is attached and is the motive for predestination, because that seems very consistent with Romans 8, 29, where we read, for those whom he foreknew, he also predestined, particularly when you understand the meaning of the word foreknow. It's not simply that it's the prior knowledge of God, But it's talking about the love of God, those that God loved, He loved beforehand, are the same ones He predestined. And so that's what we have here in Ephesians, that in love He predestined us for adoption as sons to Jesus Christ according to the purpose of His will. Now here's part of the issue. Some, if not a lot of people, view the love of God as monolithic. They view it as His love being all the same. That He loves everybody the same. He loves everyone the same way. Well, that's just nonsense and you know it. The Bible doesn't say that. And we know that God's electing love discriminates. I would just simply point you, I'm not going to take the time right now, I thought I might, but if I do that, I know my time will just go from me. But I could point you to Romans 9, verses 9 through 18, and you can see that the love, the electing love of God is a discriminating love. But let me take you to Matthew 5 for a moment, just to point that out. In Matthew 5, Jesus is teaching about electing, excuse me, about common grace. Trying to get my watch figured out here where I can see what time it is. There it is. In Matthew 5 and verses 43 and following, Jesus is teaching about common grace and how you and I as disciples should emulate God. And he starts off by saying, you've heard it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I say to you, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven. And then he says, Christ says, for he makes his son rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And he goes on, and then he says at the end in verse 48, you must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. Now, the implication there is that God, in a general benevolent way, in a common grace way, in a general I've already said it, in a general benevolent way, sends His reign and His Son on the good and the evil, on the just and the unjust. And you need to be like God the Father in your works. You are to love your enemies. And so you are to do good to those that like you and those that don't like you, even to your enemies. You're to love your enemies. Now, does that mean that I have this warm, emotional relationship with my enemies? Of course not. Does God redemptively love the unjust and the wicked? Well, of course not. No, He doesn't. But He does good to them, just as I am to do good to my enemies. I can love my enemy that way, but I do not love them the same way I love a brother and sister in Christ, or the same way I love my family. That's totally different. I've heard it explained this way, and I've used this analogy here before. a person who believes very much in helping people. They work all day, and they get off from work in downtown Savannah. And they fight the traffic in the afternoon, and they go to a shelter downtown, and they help the homeless. And they get nothing for it. They do it simply because they are a caring person. They care about people. You can say they love people. And they go help people. Like God sending His rain and sun on the just and the unjust. They go and they help. And they get through there and they go home. And they have to still fight the traffic and work their way home after a long day's work. And they're tired and they're worn out. But they've gone and helped people because that's the kind of person they are. They're a caring person. And yet when they get home, here comes their four or five-year-old child running up to them with their arms open, smiling big, greeting them at the end of the day, and they look at that child and their smile beams across their face, and they grab them in their arms and they pick them up. Don't tell me they love that child the same way they loved and help those people downtown. They don't. It's totally different. God's redemptive love is different. We are his children, his bride, his family. Christ loved his church in Ephesians 5 and gave himself for his church. So Paul states that it's in love that he predestined us. Now think about that. There's never been a moment in all of eternity when those that God in love predestined and chose have not been on the heart of God. Never. Never. Before there was anything, his people were on his heart. As long as God has existed, his love was set upon his people. That is, from the foundation of the world, in love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ. Now, you begin to see then how these doctrines are a tremendous blessing, and they are the fountain from which these other blessings flow. And they're really not subjects for argument, but rather they're doctrines for praise. That the Lord loves a sinner like me, and in love he predestines according to the kind intentions of his will. Which really then takes us to the second I was going to say prerequisite here, but the second antecedent doctrine here. And that is depravity. That is, I am undeserving. That his law of an election are unconditional, that it's according, we go back up to verse five, it's according to the purpose of his will. Between the years 1999 and 2014, the number of babies born in the US that were opioid addicted, were born to opioid addicted mothers, more than quadrupled during that time frame. I don't know after that. I didn't see any numbers for that. But sadly, A baby that is born to a mother who is an addict is an addict. Did you hear what I said? A baby born to a mother who is an addict is an addict. And each year in the United States, about 32,000 newborns diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome. That's four babies, what, per hour? And, of course, these babies have other issues. They have other problems, quote, defects, impaired growth, brain development, They have lifelong problems including later addiction problems and etc. Babies born to human parents and their human parents are sinners. Babies born to human parents are born sinners. And all humans are sinners. And in 2021, there were 3,659,289 babies born in the United States. And every one of them were born in that same condition. And every one of those children were born infected and affected by sin and under the penalty of death. We don't like to hear that because that's a baby. But they were born under the penalty of death. And sin is not merely environmental, it's genetic. It's our nature. And it's not what it's not enough to be well behaved and smart and successful. But I we all I need redemption. I need forgiveness. I need salvation. And that's what he talks about right here in Ephesians 1 four. That before the foundation of the world. That God loved and he chose from fallen, sinful people to save. And it's not based on the person, but it's based on God. It's based on his purpose, out of his love, based on his purpose, according to his good will. And out of love, he chooses based on his purpose, not what he sees in me, because there's nothing in me to see that's good. And then there's one other, the other antecedent here is the sovereignty of God. And we see that repeated in this chapter in verse 5, in verse 9, in verse 11. And that is according to the purpose of His will. According to the purpose of His will. According to the purpose of His will. And this is what I want us to kind of focus on now. because God's sovereignty is a true purpose and cause for praise and encouragement. But that, according to the purpose of His will, is God is not indebted. He doesn't owe me. He doesn't owe sinners. It's not my right. But His choice, His love, His actions of salvation are free and unconditional. And when you think that that choice in salvation includes the giving of His own Son as a sin bearer, then truly it becomes a matter of glorious praise. Now in our confession in chapter 3, paragraph 7, and I think this is on your notes, it says this. It's talking about the doctrine of predestination. So I just gave you the answer. It says this, so shall, and that doctrine is made up of two parts. Usually when I talk and teach about predestination or election, I spend a class or two getting into the various parts of it. And usually you think about Ford Nation being the big umbrella. And under the big umbrella, you have, the big umbrella is basically Ephesians 111. All things come under that. And then predestination comes under the big umbrella. And now you're talking about rational creatures. And that's angels and men and their end. And then coming under the rational creatures, it's made up of two parts. Predestination comes down to election and reprobation. That goes back to the Bible study lesson this morning. He got into that a little bit in Revelation 12. And so that's the way we usually think about that, and we start teaching on that. But in our confession, it makes this statement. So shall this doctrine afford matter of praise, reverence, and admiration of God, and of humility, diligence, and abundant consolation. This doctrine shall afford matter of praise, reverence, and admiration of God, and of humility, diligence, and abundant consolation to all that sincerely obey the gospel. The point of reading that is we often think of this as being cold and indifferent and something to argue about. And our confession says, no, it's something of warmth and devotion and of humility and consolation. And that's what I want to think about with you now for a few minutes. Now you recall that when we started out in this book, we mentioned that if the book of Ephesians is general or specific, and we looked at that statement in verse 1, to the saints who were in Ephesus, We talked some about the phrase in Ephesus, whether that belonged in the text or not. And I said, it really doesn't matter. In some ways it's irrelevant. I wasn't trying to be dismissive of it, but I said in some ways it's irrelevant because most cities in the Roman Empire were similar. And most churches in the Roman Empire faced the same issues. So whether or not it was written specifically to the church at Ephesus or it was a general epistle really wasn't the key matter because most of the churches face the same issues. And I also said that the culture and the world at that time and the culture in the world and the heart of the unbeliever, whether it was in Ephesus or some other town around, it really didn't matter because their hearts were the same. And the culture basically was the same. Whether they were in Rome or Corinth or Ephesus or Jerusalem, it really didn't matter. And also it didn't really matter if whether or not, whether you were in Atlanta or Jessup or Brunswick or Berkshire or Glenville, basically we're all the same. The unbeliever's heart's all the same, and the church, and what we face is basically all the same. That we live in a world that's turned upside down. And it's not turned upside down by Christians, but by wickedness and immorality. And sometimes it just flat seems insane to us, doesn't it? It's just like, have people gone crazy? And we think of Isaiah 520. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. And we go, our world doesn't make sense anymore. I'm looking at you and I'm seeing some, but do you ever, I think, you feel that way a lot of times, don't you? And I don't think it's just a phase. It's not a matter, we just have more news coverage. Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote in his confessions, you have made us for yourself, oh Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. And I've often presented Isaiah 55, first part of the chapter, using that confession from Augustine, of the invitation, come, come and buy bread and wine and milk without cost, because there is this need within us, a need that can't be met, this, what later on we would call a God-shaped hole in the soul of man, It's not met with the things of this world that only God can fill it. We got in a brief conversation in Bible study about our society this morning, our culture. We discussed what is our culture? How do we identify our culture? And that's a good question. There's a question whether or not we still live in a post-modern society, or have we gone past the post-modern society? And for the sake of the argument right now, I'll say we're still in a post-modern society, even though some are saying we're coming out of it into a different one. But for right now, I'll say we're in a post-modern society. And the hole in the post-modern society is not God-shaped. But it's a shape shifter. And that's what makes it so crazy. That's why it doesn't make sense to us. It can be a gay-shaped hole. Or it can be a gender-shaped hole. Or a BL, Black Lives Matter, BLM-shaped hole. Or an abortion-shaped hole. or a CRT-shaped hole, or any other specialized community-shaped hole. And that's why we scratch our heads sometimes when we try to figure out what's going on, because it doesn't make sense to a lot of us. As I was thinking about some of this, I stumbled across a website called Teen Talk. And they identified eight genders. And they wrote this. I'm quoting. We know that there are many other ways someone may identify or may define themselves. And some people prefer not to label who they are at all. You get to decide who you know yourself to be and what, if anything, you like to be called. There it is. It's shifting shapes. And there's this hole. And people want to fill the hole. And how do they fill the hole? Well, let me identify who I am. It's not recognized in the same ways. And so that led recently, I'm sure most of you know this, to a school district in Wisconsin that filed a Title IX complaint against three eighth graders. And a Title IX is a serious complaint. And they filed a Title IX complaining against three eighth graders, accusing them of sexual harassment. And just in the last few days has that been pulled back, but that is serious. You know who did their crime? They didn't use the right pronoun. They didn't use the right pronoun to refer to a classmate. They didn't call them they. in their eighth grade. And just recently, and I certainly am no fan of Lakewood Church, but was it last week or the week before in Lakewood Church, where the women stood up and began to strip their clothes and profanely, profanely declared their right of abortion? Shapeshifting. They have this whole, my right for abortion. Let me declare it to you. It's not just me, but let me tell you in your face. or President Biden proclaiming June last year, this year. I can't even get all the letters right, but LGBTQI plus month. And he signed his presidential proclamation. And this is the month. And he called upon all the people of the United States to recognize the achievements of the community, and to celebrate and to wave their flags of pride high. And then our embassies and other government buildings here and abroad fly that same flag on the same pole as our national flag. I could see us flying the Christian flag on the same pole, couldn't you? Yes, we live in a world of clashing cultures. It's postmodern culture. In a postmodern culture, people or certain communities of a population are the essential factor in deciding what's moral or even judicial. And morality and legality revolve around certain communities and their happiness. And things like scripture or objective Facts are rejected. Legal standards are rejected. Even science is rejected. That was under humanism. At least you had claims of science. But you know where Ephesians starts? Ephesians starts with God. Right where the Bible starts. And my point is, it's not just you, and it's not just me that the world seems crazy to. It is. Because as a believer, we have a God-centered view. And our view is founded on God. A God who purposes and guides the course of history. And a view that was read, 2 Timothy 3, of the authority of scripture, that's God's authoritative word. And a view of Jesus Christ, who is lawgiver and judge, before whom we stand. So let's think for just a few minutes here. And I know time's about gone, but let's think for just a few minutes. on the sovereignty of God. Because that's where the book starts. It starts right there. And the culture they were in was a culture upside down. It was a culture of the goddess of Artemis. And it was bottom side up. And Paul, almost like in Mars Hill, says, let me tell you about God. And this is where he goes. This is God. So what is the sovereignty of God? We started the service today with a very simple definition of the sovereignty of God. Pastor John read it. Psalm 115 verse 3. Our God is in the heavens. He does all that He pleases. That's it. I can read to you from systematic theologies, and believe me, I've read a stack this week. I can read to you from systematic theologies and give you, I'm gonna give you a couple of the definitions, but that's as good as it gets. Psalm 115, verse three. God does what He pleases. Now, Sister Tanya, if you can move up one. This is from J.I. Packer, from a book in 1961, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. He takes a subtle approach. And he asks the questions, why do you pray? He says, if you're a Christian, I know you pray. Why do you pray? Well, you pray because you know God can do what you can't do. God is sovereign. Do you thank God for your salvation? Why do you do that? Because you know you can't save yourself. Well, God is sovereign. Do you ever pray for the conversion of others? Why would you do that? Because you know you can't save them. Well, God is sovereign. And then he makes this statement toward the end of that section. What is true is that all Christians believe in divine sovereignty, but some are not aware that they do. He's being very nice, isn't he? And mistakenly imagine and insist they reject it. That they reject it. On our feet we may have arguments about it, but on our knees we are all agreed. And so that was Packer's very nice way of defining and getting into the discussion about sovereignty. Go to the next one, please. And R.C. Sproul has always been a little bit more confrontational. And Dr. Sproul wrote, if there is one single molecule in this universe running around loose, totally free of God's sovereignty, And then we have no guarantee that a single promise of God will ever be fulfilled. Now that kind of got the ire of some folks up. And one fellow wrote in response, we ourselves don't control everything, and yet we make future plans and bring them to pass all the time. Ever promise your kids to bring them to an amusement park and then make it happen? To say that God cannot accomplish anything without controlling everything is to say that God cannot do what mere men do all the time. Calvinists make God less than a man. It is a weak and impotent God who cannot grant free will to his creatures and still accomplish his purposes and plans. I read that and I thought, well, goodness, and James 4 comes to my mind. Come now, ye that say, today or tomorrow we will go into this city and spend a year there and trade and get gain. Whereas you do not know what shall be on the morrow. What is your life? For you are a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away. That you ought to say, if the Lord will, if the Lord will, we shall both live and do this or that. But now your glory is your vauntings. All such glory is evil. To him, therefore, that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. And I would simply say to that fellow, how many times have you made plans and they didn't come to fruition? So tell me about those times. Will God's plans come to what he planned them, to the purpose then he planned them to? Now the consolation of sovereignty. In Ecclesiastes 12 there is a somewhat humorous but way too honest word picture of getting old. I realized just the other day my daughter Rebecca was in the kitchen and I was there and I was trying to open a jar of pickles and I thought I'm not going to get this jar of pickles opened. It was, you know, like, good grief. What's happened to the hand strength? I'm gonna have to go buy one of those jar opener things. That's gonna be embarrassing. Or when you sit down at the breakfast table, and you hear snap, crackle, and pop, and you're eating oatmeal, not Rice Krispies. Proverbs 20 verse 29 says that the glory of a young man is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair. That's true, Damien, as long as you keep your hair. I don't know about bald-headed men, but I'm finding out. So yes, strength is that for the younger men, and I don't know about us old men. I heard once that you know you're old, when other men quit seeing you as a fret. You laugh, but now that one, there's a lot of truth in that one. But a long time before that happens, there are many things that can humble you, men, and make you feel impotent and hopeless and vulnerable, and nothing more so than your family, your wife, your children, I don't mean that they do it in a, they set out to do it, that's not what I mean. I mean that there's nothing more frustrating as a dad or a husband than feeling powerless. Than to be able to do what God made you to do and called you to do. and you have in your very genes to do. And that is to keep them from all harm and protect them. That's part of our calling. That's providing for our household. And if it's in our ability to do it and we didn't do it, then we would be worse than an infidel if we didn't do that. That's to love our wives as our own flesh. And we love our children. And I know there's not anything that we wouldn't do as fathers to protect them, if we can. And many of you men are trained, and you're skilled, and you're very effective at what you do. And some of you young men are very strong. And you can accomplish tasks that require a lot of strength. And some of you are very smart. And you can rely on your wit and your brain power to work yourself out of situations or work out a situation. And it could be, I don't think it's so, but it could be that some of you men have yet to face a situation where your native gifts, your strength, your intelligence, your sheer willpower and determination, your love was not enough to overcome whatever it was that you had to overcome. I don't know. Maybe you haven't come to that place yet. You probably have. If you haven't, you will. Have you ever come to the place where you've had to come to grips with the reality, I'm talking about the stone cold reality, that you're not in control? No matter how bad you want to be, you're not. Because that's something we like to have, isn't it? But the reality is God is in control, that God is sovereign. Now we say God is sovereign. We say that's a core belief. And yet, I want give me control. And then I fret when I'm not until I come to that place when I realize I don't want to be in control. Because there are things that are bigger and greater and stronger and a lot more powerful than I am, no matter how great and powerful and strong or smart or whatever I may think I am, or trained or whatever, and I may be. Which brings us to the consolation of God's sovereignty. God's sovereignty does not negate my responsibility, or responsibilities, plural. In fact, it encourages my responsibilities. A lot of people say, well, if God's sovereign, then why do this or why do that? Well, my answer is, well, why not? Good gracious, it encourages me in my responsibilities. Because God is over all things and God is great. Well, then I know that Even my weak endeavors can be used by an almighty God far beyond anything I can begin to imagine. He can take some dirt and turn it into a great father, a great Christian, a great preacher, a great witness. I can never do that. He can. Our sufferings and our sorrows and our persecutions, our defeats and our weaknesses are not accidents, but they're used, they're orchestrated by God. And He uses weak and flawed vessels. And you're not always going to be here, and I'm not always going to be here. Some of your family will be, and then what? God's here. He's always here. And the question that Packer had, why do you pray for conversion? Well, because God can do what I can't do, and the very reality is that One of the greatest desires of our heart is the conversion and salvation of our family members. And you may be one of the most skilled people in the world, but you cannot save your family. Only God can. And the reality is he can save the most stubborn-headed, hard-hearted, hard-hearted sinner in the world. You're looking at one. And then those that God saves, He keeps saved. He doesn't lose them. That is a despicable fault that God saves somebody today and loses them tomorrow. But they're kept in His hand and no one takes them out of His hand. Because He's greater than anyone. No, sovereignty is not a doctrine to be opposed. It's not one to be proud about. But it's one to be humbled before and thankful for. And it's one to keep you and me from bitterness and fear. I want to close with one last thought here. So I'm going to go to the book of Job for just a moment. If you'll just turn there just in closing. If you were to search around in the Bible for a classic example of a good father, who would you go to? Well, Job certainly would be in the top running there, I think. He'd certainly be a father figure. In Job 1, verse 1, we're told that he was blameless and upright, one that feared God, turned away from evil. In verse 5 of Job 1, we're told that he would rise early in the morning. He would offer burnt offerings for his children. For Job said, it may be that my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts, though thus Job did continually. So Job's children are gone, but he would still pray for his children. He still cared for them. And yet, you know the story of Job. You know the tragedies that befell him. And Job recognized the sovereignty of God. In chapter one, verse 21, he knew, now he's not privy to the conversation that went on between God and Satan, he doesn't know any of that. But he knew, and he's not trying to protect God, like people today, well God just, maybe he allowed this. He knew what happened came from God. In verse 21 he said, Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked shall I return the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. God did this. And he's right. This was from God. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And all this job did not sin or charge God with long. Well, eventually, Job, I'll just say he cracked. I don't know. Maybe that's not the best way to say it. But eventually, Job cracked. And that's understandable. Maybe sometime we can look at that more. But he cursed the day of his birth. He contended with God. He wanted to know where God was. He said, I'd like to come before him. I'd like to lay out my case, but I can't find him. I turn to the left, he's not there. I turn to the right, he's not there. I go forward, he's not there. I go backwards, he's not there. I'd like to know where he is. And like many others, Job wrestled with God's ways with the wicked. This is in Job 23 and 24. And in Job 31, Job wrestles and he argues that he has maintained his integrity. He said, I could understand this if I had done this, or if I had done that, if I had done the other, if I had, and you read through that chapter and see all the ifs, ifs, ifs, ifs. So he's maintaining his integrity. I haven't done these things. I've maintained my integrity. Why is this happening? Well, you go to Job 38 and God begins to answer Job. He tells him to hitch up his pants. He's about to answer him. And there are about 75 questions God asking. And the first one is enough to wither you. And Job just melts under the questions, because they come, just one after the other, after the other. And you move through Job 38, 39, 40, 41, and just questions. It's like, where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Wow. And through those chapters, there is a display and a laying out of the sovereignty of God. In Job 42, Verse 2, Job says, I know this is at the end of everything of that. Now, I think he believed this before, but now he'll say, I've heard of you, but my eyes now see you. But he says in verse 2, I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of you can be thwarted. I don't doubt that he believed the sovereignty of God in chapter 1, but in chapter 42, he got a different job. He came to a greater understanding of the sovereignty of God. In all of his sorrow, God never tells him why. He just told him who. And the answer is a sovereign God. A sovereign God. And with this understanding of the sovereignty of God, I can only imagine Job was a much, much better father and a better husband as you move forward. Because yes, he does have more children. He does have a family. And so in a crazy upside-down world of Ephesus, of Asia Minor, with the temple cult of Artemis, that's where Paul began. Basically what the psalmist said, our God is in the heavens. He does all that he pleases. And that's what I would have you to know today in our crazy upside down world. Our God is in the heavens and he is doing what he pleases. Let's pray together. Holy Father, we bow before you. And we confess that we live in a crazy world, and we often feel like we're going nowhere, and often the wrong places in our minds, in our lives, our hearts. We see many threats and dangers before our families, things that are too big for us, dangers that we don't quite know how to handle or wrestle with or to respond to. They're not physical in nature. And Lord, it's... Lord, we're thankful that you are the sovereign of heaven and earth. And while we would not abdicate our duties, our responsibilities, we are encouraged that you can bless our feeble efforts. And we are encouraged, Lord, that you are on your throne. And we come before you as the sovereign of heaven and earth. And we plead for your mercy and your grace in the lives of those that we love. Upon our family members, our children, our grandchildren, our extended family. We pray, Father, for light to shine forth from the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ into the world. We pray, Lord, that you would use us as weak vessels to be your ambassadors in this world. We ask for your guidance, for wisdom, of courage, and we offer our prayer in the name of Christ our Lord. Amen. Let's stand together as we sing the great hymn of the Reformation. Actually, Martin Luther wrote this hymn in one of the most difficult years of his life, A Mighty Fortress is Our God, hymn number 53.