Our sermon is titled Wisdom & Sovereignty. Being a wise Christian means seeing God as Sovereign.
In Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost, the first section is Satan and all the high-ranking demons giving speeches while they are disgraced in hell. Their speeches are incredible. Beelzebub says in his own speech, “For God, be sure, in height or depth, still first and last will reign Sole king, and of his kingdom lose no part by our revolt, butover hell extend His empire, and with iron sceptre rule us here, as with his golden those in heaven.” (p 383, lines 313-328) Satan, in his speech, says of God’s sovereignty, “[God] in the excess of joy sole reigning holds the tyranny of heaven.” (359, see also 371, lines 637-646). Satan thinks God’s rule is tyranny. Romans 13 comes to mind and is a fitting response to Satan, when it says “For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right.”
God is sovereign. The demons know it. “And the demons begged Jesus” Lk 8 says, “again and again not to send them into the Abyss.”
All the godly greats knew it. Like Job, “God stands alone, and who can oppose Him? He does whatever he pleases.” Like King David, “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. You are the ruler over all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.” (1 Chron 29:11-12 Like Moses, quoting God, “There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand.” (Dt 32:39) Like Joseph, “You intended me harm, but God intended it for good…” James says, “You ought to say ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’” (James 4:15)
The godly greats of the faith all knew God was sovereign. Do we? Proverbs will help us. Turn with me to the following passages:
- Commit to the LORD whatever you do and he will establish your plans – 16:3
- The LORD works out everything to its proper end – even the wicked for a day of disaster. – 16:4
- In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps. – 16:9 (Jer 10:23)
- Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails. – 19:21
- A person’s steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand their own way? – 20:24
- There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD. The horse is made ready for the day of battle but the victory rests with the LORD. – 21:30-31
Out of these Proverbs we can learn valuable treasures of wisdom. This wisdom teaches us how to see God as sovereign. Let me offer several of those ways.
GOD’S PURPOSES WILL HAPPEN
We are wise to see God is sovereign. And that means we are wise to see that God’s purposes will happen. They will not fail. Turn to 19:21 with me where it says, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” It is wise of us to see God’s purposes never fail. Turn to 21:30, “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD.”
God will do all that God will do. He will do all that He wants to do and sets out to do. No thing and no one can thwart Him.
Proverbs 21 artistically describes how God is sovereign over kings. Turn there with me. “In the LORD’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water that he channels toward all who please him.” That’s the NIV11. The NASB says it this way, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turn it wherever He wishes.” The idea being God directs the hearts of kings, governors, rulers, etc to bless those whom He wants blessed. No human king acts on his own, but the LORD is active in their *hearts* to accomplish the things He as the LORD wants to do. Amazing. Didn’t God tell Pharoah, “I have raised you up”? He did. God told Moses, “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will not let you go. And I will glorify myself after I bring my mighty judgments on Egypt and the people of Egypt will know that I am the Lord.”
Another way Proverbs brings this out is in relation to the success of the wicked. Turn to 16:4 with me, “The LORD works out everything to its proper end – even the wicked for a day of disaster. Being wise, means understanding God is sovereign, and that means understanding that God is sovereignly going to lead all evildoers to a day of disaster, the day of judgment. So when we see the evil schemes of our day gaining ground, we must see it in light of the fact that God is going to bring it all to justice.
APPLICATION: This means accepting justice may not be done when we want, and may not even be done in our lifetimes. This is faith – being sure of what we hope for, and certain of things we do not yet see, but what is promised and foretold us. God’s judgment is promised, and foretold, and if we truly believe it then we react differently to evil around us. We act to prevent it where it is in our power. But we don’t despair. Isaiah 8 says, “Do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread.” The more His judgment comes into our view the less we dread men and the more we dread God.
When we see God is sovereign and we know He will make sure all his purposes happen, then we are wise.
WISDOM ENTRUSTS SUCCESS TO GOD
Secondly, being wise and seeing our God is sovereign means we entrust success to Him. Turn to 16:3 with me, “Commit to the LORD whatever you do and he will establish your plans.” The word “establish” is mostly used with the idea of “making something firm” or “secure.” Proverbs 16:12 says, “a throne is ESTABLISHED [same word] through righteousness.” Or Proverbs 25:5, which seems relevant today, “Remove the wicked officials from the king’s presence, and his throne will be ESTABLISHED through righteousness.” In other words, it’s made secure, it’s firmly in place. Who of us doesn’t want God to firm up the plans we make and make them secure?
I’m going to take both of those meanings and pastorally preach them. I’m going to say that God is sovereign in that He is the one who makes my plans secure and firm.
Any success of anything I have planned is ultimately up to Him: whether its the ministry of EFC, or the new business I start, or the hopes and dreams I have for my kids, or even my plans to have kids, or my plans to make the team, or get into the college I want, or to marry that woman, or to get into the career I want, or to live a long life, or to be healthy, or any number of other plans I may make. All the plans of man that are made under the sun are dependent upon the blessing of the One who made the sun.
APPLICATION: Entrust the success of anything you plan into the hands of God. Let all of us make ALL of our plans knowing it all depends on God, and it is ultimately up to Him. James 3:13-15 says it very well, if you’ll turn there with me.
As Proverbs 21:31 tells us, “The horse is made ready for the day of battle but the victory rests with the LORD.” It is wisdom that says, “My success rests with the LORD. All my planning, everything I make ready, is only going to succeed and lead to the victory I want if God grants it.” That is wisdom.
APPLICATION to the APPLICATION: Don’t just have the right perspective, but have the right attitude about it. Wisdom is seen in the attitude here as well. Have the attitude that says “God I only want this if you want it. If you don’t bless this, I don’t want it. I only want what you want, LORD.”
APPLICATION: Be wise by entrusting any failure in your life to God. This is implied in these Proverbs that talk about God being the one who makes our plans successful. Proverbs 16:9 says, “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps. (Jer 10:23) Yet the reality is that not all our plans succeed. So what purpose does God have for us in those plans of ours that did not succeed because He did not “establish” them?
Have you ever failed in anything? What do you do with that?
- Do you diminish your view of God and say, “Well, He wanted this to happen, but things were beyond Him and so it didn’t work out”? That’s a foolish view, it makes God less than the Great Sovereign over all creation that He is.
- Or, maybe you see God is in control, but you are angry at Him. Maybe the failure has led you to be bitter towards Him and say, “God hates me and so He made me fail. He should’ve made this succeed, I deserved it. This would have been best, why can’t he see that?”
- Or maybe that failure has made you become overly zealous in other things in life to make up for that particular failure that is so difficult to come to terms with.
None of these are submitting to the Sovereignty of God. But can we instead, bring that failure to God, humbly submitting to His sovereignty, and say, “What do you have for me in this? I want what you want, LORD. I thought this was best, but I know I don’t see all things like you do, you know all things and you know what ultimately is best. Show me what you have for me Lord.”
How do we trust our failures to God? Are we able to be in a place where we see what God is teaching us in our failures? Is our failure something that has led to a truly greater sanctification of our mind, heart, attitude, and outlook? Is our faith in God deepening as a result of that failure, would be another indication that we are growing in wisdom. Humility towards God, where I’m okay with something not having turned out, because God’s ways ARE indeed better and higher than my ways (Isa 55:8-9). And I may not understand exactly how that is right away BUT I TRUST in Him until He shows me. How do those instances where I did not succeed bring to the surface things about me that God wants to sanctify and grow me in? The greatest growth often comes through the greatest failures? Wisdom is seen in how we see the failure in our lives. Do we trust that failure to God? Wisdom is seen
WISDOM IS KNOWING GOD GUIDES US
The last point we will explore today is that we are wise when we know God sovereignly guides us. Proverbs 20:24 says, “A person’s steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand their own way?”
Notice first the assertion that our steps are directed by the LORD. The paths we take are guided and established by the LORD. Now the “feel” I get from the last half of the verse is the confusion of our own lives we can have. In a way we don’t understand the way we go, or sometimes what we’re doing and why. Who can understand where the path they are on will lead them?
Maybe this relates to those times in our lives when we look back and now can see how the LORD was guiding our lives to bring us to where we are. It’s like 16:9 says, “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.” Similarly, Jeremiah 10:23 says, “Lord I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps.”