The following two paragraphs and link are from the narrative of the video we will be studying in this post.
I had just received a question from a reader about God’s sovereignty, that probably had something to do with my selecting this video.
“As Christians, we can take comfort in knowing that our entire lives take place under the sovereign rule of an all-wise God. In this message, Steven Lawson opens the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes to remind us that the Lord has appointed all things for the right time, including the salvation of His elect.”
This message is from Dr. Lawson’s 14-part teaching series Foundations of Grace: Old Testament. Learn more: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series…
The following points are highlights from the 24 minute video:
Sermon highlights [bracketed statements, underscoring and emboldening are mine]:
- Steven Lawson discussed verses from a few chapters from both Proverbs and Ecclesiastes
- Chapter 10, individual maxims for life begin in this chapter
- The righteous and the wicked are contrasted throughout Proverbs
- 10:11, herein, the mouth of the righteous and the wicked are contrasted and compared
- 10:11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
- 10:20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is of little worth.
- Here again, in verse 20, the righteous and wicked are contrasted and Lawson emphasized that the difference derives from the heart that each possesses.
- [Jesus stated numerous times, what is found throughout the Bible, when He spoke of the conceptual ideas of root/tree/fruit. Consider the following verse in reference to Dr. Lawson’s statements above: A Tree and Its Fruit: Matthew 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.]
- The problem that is being exposed in the contrast between the righteous and the wicked is about the heart that is in each, God gives a new heart to those who are converted
- 12:6 The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the mouth of the upright delivers them.
- In the above verse, we see imagery that speaks of the wicked murdering the innocent and the righteous man being a deliverer of same
- 12:12 Whoever is wicked covets the spoil of evildoers, but the root of the righteous bears fruit.
- In verse 12, we see again, a statement about the difference between the wicked and the righteous, based on the heart of each; the word ‘root’ is a reference to the source of their motives and actions – as the fruit of a tree derives from the type and energy of its root; the motives and actions of a human being come from his root, the type of heart he has been given by God
- In chapter 16, we find strong statements about God’s sovereignty; Lawson cites three verses from this chapter to state that and then he provided an illustration that shows his point:
- 16: 1 The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
- 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.
- 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.
- After the next three verses, Lawson spent 5 minutes on a concrete illustration; he cited the following about God’s sovereignty:
- 19:21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.
- 20:24 A man’s steps are from the LORD; how then can man understand his way?
- 21:1 The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.
- His illustration was about farmers along the Nile river and how they irrigate their crops: the Lord works similarly with the hearts of man (illustration runs from 11:20 to 15 minute marks)
- The Lord has the entire world in His hands, all its rulers are doing His bidding [see some additional scriptures below the video that clearly speak such things]
- God is not the author of evil, but He is the author of a plan that uses evil and sin to get the water to where He would have it go (that makes sense if you heard the illustration above)
- The book of Proverb is full of deep water and much wisdom regarding the affairs of man
- ECCLESIASTES:
- 3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted…
- There is an ‘appointed’ time for everything in God’s universe – that also means those events of your own life
- He talks about verses 1-8 in terms of how these refer to God’s sovereignty; also the following verse
- 3:14 I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him.
- 3:15 That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.
- That which will be has already been, because it is in the plan of God [In case you haven’t noticed it, there are statements about God’s ‘plan’ throughout the Bible, I saw that clearly when I wrote a document on the Bible’s covenants to share with people of the Baha’i Faith, I will link it below the video]
- 7: 20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
- The above is a reference to the depravity of man (one of many in the Bible); he tied the several following verses together with a statement or two each about man’s depravity and God’s sovereignty
- 7: 29 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.
- 8:11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.
- 9:3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
- 11:5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.
- [I thought of John 3:1-8 when he was discussing the above couple of verses; that section of scripture talks about the Holy Spirit regenerating the heart of one He is converting such that the person is thereafter able to see that there is a spiritual kingdom; that the Spirit does that sovereignly, and on His own time table, according to how it was appointed by the Father]
THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLES HAVE BEEN WRITTEN FOR THOSE WHO WOULD KNOW MORE ABOUT GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY FROM SCRIPTURE, AFTER THE STUDY RECOMMENDATIONS:
STUDY RECOMMENDATIONS:
*****The following pdf [download it and pick at it when you want to] was written on the covenants of the Bible. It clearly highlights God’s Plan, the Bible covenants that bind the Old and New Testaments together; how the covenants grow from being with one family to encompassing the entire population of the world, as people from every nation will be called and… glorified.
It takes an hour or so to read, but thereafter, you will know the Bible much better, as it is built around these covenants, and your own salvation depends upon these things.
Covenant with Bible refs.pdf 4.2.20
To better understand God’s sovereignty in salvation, I recommend spending about 11 minutes listening through three of the 5 videos in the post that is linked below: video 2, 3, and 5.
DECISIONISM VS THE DOCTRINES OF REGENERATION AND FAITH / REPENTANCE
https://sheeplywolves.com/decisionism-vs-the-doctrines-of-regeneration-and-faith-repentance/
A FEW SCRIPTURES THAT SPEAK ABOUT GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY VERY PLAINLY:
*****This first example from the book of Acts is stated several times throughout the book and is directly related to God’s sovereign actions about His church and its members: 2:47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
The following scripture is from Acts 4, about God the Father’s plan that His Son be crucified, about how it was worked out via the Gentile and Jewish leaders their subordinates.
The believers, in a prayer to God said the following, and quoting from Psalm 2:
…they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’ — 27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
*****The following example of God’s sovereignty is also from Acts:
Acts 17: 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him… 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
The above verses spoken by the apostle Paul talk about God sovereignly having determined every event of history (even your own birth and death)…and He appointed Jesus to initiate the culmination of history via His incarnation, His atoning work, resurrection, and ascension… before which time judgment day could not happen, or no one would have had an opportunity to be saved from God’s wrath against sin.
*****The following scriptures speak of God’s plan, which He designed before He created the world; about Christ’s central role in salvation and about the blessings He planned to give to those whom He determined to save at the time He made the plan:
Ephesians 1:3 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, 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 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
*****From Romans 8: note that Paul anticipated the various aspects of God’s PLAN and their unfolding:
Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,8 for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew [that is a reference to God loving someone from eternity past] he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Those verses speak about the ‘order of salvation:’ to be predestined, then called, justified (at conversion when all one’s sins, past, present and future are attributed to Christ’s account), and glorified, which occurs at death; Paul did not mention sanctification, but it is an unspoken part of the process by which a sinner is brought to heaven.
*****The following example from the New Testament contains many elements from the Old Testament: it speaks of God’s sovereign plan and its contents that are itemized in Ephesians 1 above; furthermore, there are references to God’s dealings with Moses in Exodus; and to the covenant God made with Abraham in Genesis:
Romans 9:6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
[Romans 4 and Galatians 3 bring more clarity to the above passage.]
*****The following scripture verses about Jesus’ transfiguration indicates that a plan was unfolding in the events of Jesus’ life; and the Old Testaments figures of Moses and Elijah discussed that plan with Him during the transfiguration.
Luke 9: 28 Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. 30 And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,2 which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
*****FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES: The following statements were made to Abraham after God completed a covenant with him. Note that the examples speak of God having omniscience and sovereign almighty power to carry out His Plan. The parts of that plan were described by the apostle Paul in Acts 17, the falling of a nation, judgments, the life of Abraham ending, events surrounding Israel departing from Egypt with wealth given them by Egyptians, and the future judgment of the Amorites.
Genesis 15: 12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
You might also want to check the book of Isaiah for many statements of God’s sovereignty and Plan, especially chapters 52 and 53; all the prophets have many such statements.
Featured Image: captured from video