Let's get after it. We did start the Creed series last week. Creeds are. They were used by the church throughout history as kind of a rallying, unifying way to say, like, hey, this is what we believe. Like, we may disagree on some things, but these essential beliefs kind of bind us together. They were also used kind of offensively to a culture pushing different lies of the way a church could say, now, this is the truth. This is what we stand on. This is what we unashamedly hold to. This is our beliefs. And if you just came to Veritas for the first time at Easter and you're like, oh, I'm gonna come back and check this out, this is a great series for you to be in because you get to hear, like, this is what we believe as a church, and if you've been around here for a long time, this would be good for you to kind of rally again around. These are things that we unashamedly hold as a church and think are just good news that we want to share. And last week, Ian kicked us off with the Bible is true. We are unashamedly passionate about being Bible people who put our lives under the authority of God through his word. And then this week, like he said, is God is in control. And it's a big topic. I'm telling you, I cut a lot. It's like I seem like it. I just want you to know that I cut a lot out to try it again here. But there's a lot to talk about when we have this idea of God is in control. That's a challenging statement because it would seem that our world is a bit out of control, is it not? You guys watch the news even this weekend, the things going on in Israel and now Iran is bombing. Israel and USA kind of said, don't, but Russia said, if you get involved, we'll get involved. And China's kind of got their eye on Taiwan, and there's a mess in Haiti, and there's political strife and all kinds of corruption in our world that we just see. And it's like you have people like me stand up here and say, God is in control. It's like, do you really believe that? Or is that just something christians say to help each other feel better? Or is it true and we really should feel better, like, we really should have peace. We really should have a level of comfort despite the chaos going on in our world. Now, the Bible talks a lot about God's sovereignty. That's a big word. Sovereignty just means a supreme power, authority or self governing. So when we talk about God's sovereignty, basically we're saying God has the power and right to do whatever he pleases. He's God, right? He can do whatever he wants. He has the power to do whatever he wants and he has the right to do whatever he wants. He's God. Now another way to put that is God is in control. Technically, that might be a little bit more about God's providence more than his sovereignty. If sovereignty is God has the power and right to do whatever he pleases, God's providence is him actually doing whatever he pleases. It's his governing of his creation and his plans unfolding. And this doctrine of God's sovereignty or God's providence. So once you surrender to it, it is incredibly freeing and brings peace no matter what is happening in our world. And the reason I say surrender to it is because this is a hard doctrine to get our minds around and it comes with some controversy. We talked about this a little bit in the green room this morning before coming out. My youngest daughter was with me and saying, yeah, that's kind of controversial. She said, dad, I didn't know God being in control was controversial. Isn't that kind of like, duh. I'm like, well, you get it. But it is. There can be some controversy. And as I talk about this, there's going to be some of you that are like, yes, you're right with me. It's a freeing truth. It stirs up worship at the sides of our God. And there's going to be some in this room that are going to get angry. They're going to say, I don't like this. And the tension is this is we don't like this idea of God being in control of everything, and yet bad things happen in this world. Like if God is sovereign over everything, then how come this happened? And how did you let this happen? And why is this unfolding? And where were you when this happened? And there's this tension and we can almost wanna like defend God as believers. It's like, well, God's, yeah, he's sovereign, but sometimes Satan does things or evil sinners do things and it kind of throws things off track. But God's not reactionary like that. And Satan's not sovereign and, and we're not sovereign like God is in control. So how do we make sense of this? And we don't like it when our autonomy is threatened. I run my life, I make my choices, I'm in charge of me. So how do you reconcile this tension between God's sovereignty and human responsibility. What about free will? How do you reconcile those two? In fact, Charles Spurgeon, who's a witty pastor in the late 18 hundreds, once was asked, how do you reconcile these two? And he says, well, I don't reconcile, friends, there's a truth that both the sovereignty of God and human responsibility are clearly taught in scripture. But we would do well to better understand what exactly about these two truths are taught in scripture. Because if we don't know that, we can bring definitions to those words that scripture doesn't bring, we can make conclusions about these issues that scripture doesn't point to. Like, for example, one God being sovereign over all of creation and all of this world, and even over you, does not lead or should not lead to passivity. It should not lead to an attitude of, well, God's just going to do whatever God's going to do. So what I do doesn't matter. Like, you don't get that idea anywhere in scripture. Listen to me. Your choices matter. Your choices matter, but your will is not as free as you think it is. Like, we all have free will in this sense. Our choices are really our own, and we will rightly or justly be held responsible for them. But our will is not free in that we are also enslaved to sin. Like, our will is infected with sin. We now want things we shouldn't want. We now desire things we shouldn't desire. We have an affected will that we want sinful things. So it's not free in the sense of we're gonna choose the right things all the time. We have an infected will by sin, and nobody has free will in the sense that we are ultimately self determining individuals in total control of our destiny. Nobody's like that. Like, you didn't have a say in when in history you were born or where in this world you were born or to what family you were born into or how tall or short you were gonna be or what gifts and talents you would have and what weaknesses you would have. You don't have a say in your personality. You don't have a say in whether you get cancer or don't get cancer. You don't have a say in whether that car accident happened or didn't happen. Look, we need to realize how not in control we are. Like, we're all characters in a story, but we're not the author. And some of you are like, well, I'm the author of my story, okay? Your story exists within a bigger story, and you are not the main character of the bigger story. You are just a character in his story, and. And you ain't writing this story well, we don't always swallow that pill too well. And I know this is like deep waters. We're gonna do a podcast. Hopefully we can go a little bit deeper in it than what we can today. But today is about helping us joyfully embrace God's sovereignty. Like, I want us to love this doctrine. As a church, I want us to get over kind of the struggle with it. I want us to love this doctrine. I say joyfully because I believe understanding how in control God is, is the key to the christian life. And if you don't kind of have that foundation laid, your christian life is wobbly, and it can get wrecked easily depending on what you go through. Like, this is foundational that we need to understand how in control God is. So let's first see it in scripture, and then we'll try to apply it together. Sound good? All right, you're with me so far. You know, I talk about money, you ignore me. I talk about God's sovereignty. You'll email me, but here we go. When you think of, like, seeing God's sovereignty clearly, I think you see it clearly in Jesus Christ, Jesus Emmanuel, God with us. And when Jesus comes to earth, you see his power, his authority, his right to interject and shape, like the wind and the waves obey him. That's a unique God thing. Like, when he can tell the wind and the waves to stop, or Jesus encountered demons and evil spirits, and when he said, go, they went, the spiritual world had to obey Jesus. He had authority or sovereignty over that. Jesus rebuked sickness. He rebuked a fever, and it left, like, power and authority and control over sickness and illness. Like, you see his sovereignty over nature and disease. You see it also in the story of Jonah. I don't know if you guys remember the story of Jonah, but God commands a fish to swallow Jonah, and he kept Jonah alive in that fish. Like, don't try that. That's a God thing. But he told a fish what to do, and it did it. And then at the end of the book, he tells a plant to grow and it grows, and he tells a worm to eat the plant, and the worms eat the plant. Like, you see God's sovereignty over a fish, you see it over a plant, you see it over a worm. Like, God is in control of his creation. But it goes beyond just kind of sickness and spiritual world and wind and waves and fish and plants and worms. Like, even into the remote circumstances and difficulties of life, we always see God, sovereignty. You see this clearly in the story of Joseph. We went through the book of Genesis a while back. Go back and look at that. But in Joseph's life, he got a little cocky with his brothers, and they ended up selling him into slavery into Egypt. And his story unfolds. And eventually his brothers kind of come back to him. He's been raised to power, like second in charge of Egypt. And he addresses his brothers, and it's like, you sold me here. You meant it for evil. And then it says, but God meant it for good, like you meant it. It was your will, but over your will. God had a will, and he meant this for good. Listen, church, don't separate the bad things in life from God's sovereignty. God isn't sovereign part of the time. He's sovereign all of the time. And even the evil and bad things and threats he uses for his purposes, or they serve his purposes, like, he is sovereign over all of that. In fact, this week I prayed with a lady in our church that just got some really tough news from a doctor, and we come in to sit down and we talk a little bit. She says, well, I know God doesn't make mistakes. I know he's sovereign. Like, yes, even over the hard things. In the last service, there's an individual came down and said, I have stage four cancer. And God has used this to bring me so close to him. It's wonderful. Those are her words. It's wonderful. If only all of us could have stage four cancer like that. There's grander purposes that God is working towards than what we're working towards. And he is sovereign over even the bad things, like don't separate that. There is not a wind, a wave, a virus, a situation in which God can't step in and be like, no. And if he doesn't, he has plans for it. God is sobbing over everything. You see this in the life of job? Satan wants to just mess up job's life. But Satan could do anything to job without God's permission. You see God's sovereignty in the midst of political chaos. When King Uzziah died and Andrew's like, we don't know what's going to go next. And Isaiah has a vision, and what does he see? He sees the Lord God seated upon the throne saying, despite you feeling all this political chaos of, oh, no, what are we going to do? You get a peek behind the curtain and guess what? God is still in control. He is on his throne and he's carrying out his purposes. But you guys think I'm just making stuff up. So let's go to some passages. The plans of the heart belong to man. This is proverbs 16 one. The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. So it's the plans of the heart. Whose heart? Your heart. Your heart has plans, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. Whose tongue is it? Exactly right. And God is sovereign over that. Let's look at another. 116 33, same chapter. The lot is cast into the lap. The lot, it's like rolling dice. But it's every decision. Every decision is from the Lord. So something that's even seen as such chance, like flipping a coin. We just think, like, what's this chance? And God's like, no, it's not. There's no chance. Like, everything I'm sovereign over, every decision comes from the Lord. Let's look at some more. This is Matthew 10 29 30. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny, and not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father. But even the hairs on your head are all numbered. He's saying, like, two sparrows. They're like a penny. Nobody thinks this, but there's not a bird that falls dead without God's permission. What the author is saying here is, God's sovereignty reaches everywhere. The casting of the dice, the birds in the air. There's no detail too small for God. It's what it means to be God. He said, I'm God. I'm in charge of it all. Let's turn it to maybe more controversial things. Proverbs 21 one. It says, the king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord. He turns it wherever he will. You think, no, the king. Like, I'm the king. I make rulings. I make decisions. I govern my country. And God's like, you bet you do. And it's going to steer your heart. It's like, no, no, no. I could conduct my purposes. Here's another passage. This is that last passage actually getting played out. Ezra 622. And they kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria. This is Assyria. That's like, the bad guys. He turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel. Like, God takes a pagan king and is like, I'm gonna turn your heart to do. Have you do what I want you to do, that's God's sovereignty. He's sovereign over everything. Let's look at another passage, Daniel 221. And there's like, we could go all day on this. I had to stop somewhere. But there's so many passages that read, enforce God's sovereignty. Daniel 221 says, he changes times and seasons. He removes kings and sets up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. I set up kings. I tear down kings. Now, I'm thankful we live in a democracy and it's an election year. And I would tell you, go and be informed and vote, but whoever wins, God did that. God sets up kings and tears down kings. God's working his purposes, and he is sovereign over elections, he is sovereign over governments. He is sovereign over all of those things. In fact, there's a story in Habakkuk. Habakkuk is this prophet, and he sees the rebellion of his people, and he's angry about this, and he cries out to God, like, how can you let your people act like this? Like, you need to step in and you need to do something. God's like, oh, I am. I'm sending the Chaldeans, and they're going to come capture you. And he's like, time out. They're more wicked than we are. Why would you use them? Like, this isn't right. God. He's like, oh, no, no, no. I'm going to use them to judge you, and then I'm going to have somebody else come in and I'm going to judge them. And he's just like, moving pieces around. Like, no, I'm in control of everything. Like, I'm working my purposes out, how I want them to unplay. In fact, you see this clearly in the life of Jesus. This is acts four. He says, for truly in this city, they 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, everybody wanted to see Jesus executed. They were all gathered to do whatever your hand and your plan had. What predestined? Predestined. Don't be scared of that word. It just means predetermined or determined beforehand to take place. So you're like, oh, Herod did this and Pontius Pilate did this, and the religious leaders were crucified. And he's like, yeah, I planned it. That was my plan that unfolded. Let's look at another passage. This is in acts 17, the God who made the world and everything in it, being lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined and allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place. Like any sort of. You're going to live here. This is your boundary. This is your boundary. This is how long you're going to live. This is how long you're going to rule. Like he's sovereign over all of that. Okay, you're still grumpy, so let's go to the most controversial one. This is romans nine. You will say to me, then, why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will? Now, the answer to that question is no one. No one can resist the will of God. But you might push back on that. So he answers it. But who are you, o man, to answer back to God will? What does molded say to its molder? Why have you made me like this? Has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power and has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction in order to make known the riches of his glory? For vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory? He's like, who are you to get upset with God for God doing what God does? Because he's God and he has the prerogative to do it. Like, can clay talk back to the potter? He's sovereign over everything. But we just got done going through the book of James. Here's what James says. You guys remember this. James four, come now, you who say, today or tomorrow, we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit, yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. Now, this or that refers to anything, everything. He's sovereign over everything. And you can make all kinds of plans, and you have a will, but your will is not necessarily reality unless it's God's will. God's will is reality. So you can make plans, but the Lord directs the steps. The Lord's will unfolds. Or here's Ephesians 111. It says in him, we have obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works. How many things? All things according to the counsel of his. What? His will. He's going to work? All things according to the counsel of his will. Guys. God is sovereign. He is sovereign over his creation. He is sovereign over nature. He is sovereign over people. He is sovereign over kingdoms and governments. God is sovereign. It's what it means to be God. The problem is we tend to forget this because we live in this delusion of, like, I'm in charge down here and our eyes are just kind of fixed and what's in front of us. And we forget God, we forget his sovereignty. We forget his size, we forget his strength. We forget how in control he is, especially, especially when things are tough, especially when things don't go our way, especially when we find ourselves in difficulties. And that's when remembering God's sovereignty is the most helpful. Let's go to Isaiah 46. I want us to see this kind of play out in one text of scripture together. So Isaiah 46. Isaiah is a big book. There's a lot happening there. So we're just going to jump in to kind of the middle of this book or more towards the end. So I want to give us some context. Isaiah is writing to the people of Judah in captivity in Babylon. And Isaiah is telling them, don't put your hope in the wrong thing. Like you're frustrated that God has you in Babylon. You're wondering, has God forgot about us? Is he still able to save us? Has he given up on us? Should we turn kind of to their gods to just kind of fit in there? And Isaiah is saying, no, God is in control of what is happening, even what is happening to you currently, which you don't like. He's in control of, that he alone is able to save you, and he will so stay faithful to him. He will keep his promises. His plans will be accomplished despite even stubborn people. And the stubborn people he's talking to are them that your stubbornness got you in there. But your stubbornness can't thwart the plans of God. He's going to do what he's going to do. So Isaiah 46, let's jump in at verse eight. He says, remember this and stand firm. Recall it to mine, you transgressors remember the former things of old. So we're going to come back to that passage. So kind of set it to the side. Then he says this, for I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me. So he's telling him, hey, let me remind you who I am and how unique I am. And you need to know what's unique about me. But he's saying, I am God. And when God is reminding people that he is God, it's probably. Probably because they forgot. Then challenging circumstances will do that. Marital strife, bad news from a doctor, difficulties at work, situations that make you think, has God forgot me? Is he unable to save me? Like, where is God? Difficult circumstances would do that. And these people are in difficult circumstances. They're in captivity. They've been taken from their homeland. They're being ruled by a pagan empire. And they're starting to wonder, like, has God forgot about us? Is he even able to save us? Should we stay loyal to him? And God is like, time out. Did you forget who I am? I'm God. Did you forget that? I can save you. No one else can save you. I put you here. I can pick you out of here. Like, why would you put your hope in idols? I'm God, and only I can save you. No one else is like me. So when God kind of addresses them and he reminds them, I am God, it might raise the question for us, well, what exactly does it mean to be God, then? Like, what about being God? Is he trying to reinforce to them, look at verse ten. So he's saying, I'm God. There's none like me declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times, things not yet done. So he says, I'm declaring the end from the beginning. It's like saying, I know how things will turn out before they happen. That's a unique God thing, right? If you flip to the back of your book in the Bible, it's like, what do we get? We get the end. God's like, yeah, I'm going to tell you how it's going to end. I know the end from the beginning. That's as unique trait to God. But he also says from ancient times, things not yet done. In other words, he's saying, in the future, there are going to be things that are done, and I'm going to know what's going to be done before it's done. So before doers do things, I know what those doers are going to do before that king does this, before they win or lose the Super bowl, before that company does this, before you do that in your home, you do that in your private. He's like, yeah, I know what's going to be done before doers do it. Like, that's a unique thing to God. But, church, you might be with me so far, and it's about to get a little bit more bumpier, because I'm saying that's not just for knowledge. It's not just, oh, I know the future. But let's. Let's keep reading and see what he says. So this is what he says next, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose. My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose. His foreknowing the future is connected to his planning the future. How do I know the beginning from the end? Because I counseled to it. How do I know what doers are going to do before they do it? Because they're my purposes that I'm going to accomplish. Like I have plans and I'm going to do it. The future is the purpose of God being accomplished by the power of God. You get that? The future is the purpose of God being accomplished by the power of God. Look what he says at the end of verse eleven, because it gets even more clear. He says, I have spoken and I will bring it to pass. I have purposed and I will do it. Look how much confidence and ownership he's taken it. I said it, I'll do it. It's not up to you. It's not up to chance. I said it and I'm gonna do it. I planned it and I'm gonna accomplish it. God is not a fortune teller. He's a future maker. And things don't happen that God doesn't intend to happen. He's like sparrows. Don't die without me. Job's life doesn't get flipped upside down by. By Satan without my permission. Joseph. Brothers, don't sell him into slavery without my say so and purpose and meaning it. Jesus doesn't die on the cross because of Pontius Pilate. He dies on the cross because it was my plan. I'm in charge of everything. That's what he's saying. I'm God. And this is what it means to be God. Y'all go. Forget that. That's the language and tone that Isaiah is bringing here, and it's savvy. Now, that's a hard truth to maybe get our minds around. Cause I know you're always like, well, what about this? And what about this you're trying to like? It's a hard truth to grasp. I wanna tell you. It is a glorious, good truth. We need a sovereign God. If we don't have a sovereign God, we're in trouble. And all those promises that he makes, it's kinda like, I hope so. But we'll see. Like, we need God to be sovereign, to be able to do what only God can do. Now that's a lot of like a different message which I chopped down maybe for another time. But I think one of the reasons that this truth can be really hard for us to grasp is because it's built upon a harder truth that we have to grasp. See, a lot of biblical doctrine is they're building blocks, they're foundations. Like, this is true, and then this is built on that and this is built on that. And if you try to take something out, things crumble. And the truth of God's sovereignty, as hard as that, is built on maybe a harder truth that we have to grasp as well. Let's look at the end of this chapter. Go to verse twelve. He says, listen to me, you stubborn of heart, you who are far from righteousness. I bring near my righteousness. It's not far off. So, yeah, you've been rebellious against me, but. But I'm still in control. And I'm gonna bring about my righteousness, my salvation, he says, and my salvation will not delay. So it may not be in your timing and in your timing, you're wondering where God is at and has he forgotten me? But he said, it's not delayed, it's in my timing. He says, I will put salvation in Zion for Israel, my glory. He's saying, it's like, yeah, I know your life is hard. I know your circumstances are tough, but I got this. I'm God. I got this. I do what I say I'm going to do. I accomplish my purposes. I'm in control of all this. But notice how it ends. It says, I will put salvation in Zion for Israel. What? Okay, it's up there for Israel. My what? My glory. My glory. Now get this. Okay? Sometimes we have a hard time with the sovereignty of God because we misunderstand the purpose of God. All right? Sometimes we have a hard time with the sovereignty of God because we misunderstand the purpose of God. We take a very man centered view and think God's highest purpose and his ultimate goal is to save people, right? God's highest purpose and ultimate goal is just to save sinners and save people and just to save us and give us eternity. And there's enough like, truth in that to give it traction, but it can be blown way out of proportion. Is one of God's purposes to save us? Does he love us? Yes. And amen. Is that God's highest purpose and ultimate goal? No. But when we think that is when we think God's highest purpose and his ultimate goal is to save people, then we look at how the world is unfolding and we think, well, then why don't you just save everybody? Right? This seems simple. I think I would have done a better job than you have. Like, why did you even create Satan? Why did you even create the knowledge of the tree of knowledge of good and evil? Like, I'll save you a lot of trouble. Just don't make that tree. Like, how could you go mess this up? Like, we make these conclusions. Like, if your highest goal and your ultimate purpose is just to save people, why aren't you just saving everybody? I don't see what the problem is, but that's not his highest purpose or ultimate goal. God's highest purpose and ultimate goal is not our salvation, it's his glory. And you see it everywhere in scripture. He says over and over, for my name's sake, I'm going to do this for my name's sake, I'm going to save you for my name's sake, or I'm going to do this so that they will know that I am the Lord their God. I'm gonna do this so they will know that I am God. So that they will know that I am God. So that they will know that I am God. I'm gonna get a people for my own possession like they're mine. Like in the illustration we see in scripture, we're the bride of Christ. We get presented to Christ, we're made holy to be presented to Christ. Like we're the gift to Christ. But it's about him and his glory. I remember growing up, my dad, I was a young kid, and we were going to a wedding, and he taught me some wedding etiquette. I don't know if you've ever heard this. Let me help you out today. You know, when they do the dismissal lines, he says, now you're supposed to say congratulations to the groom and best wishes to the bride, because you're telling the groom, congratulations. A woman actually wanted to marry you. That's incredible, right? You don't say that to the bride. What you say to the bride is best wishes or good luck. Whether it's a sense of, like, the bride is the treasured gift that gets presented to the groom. In the illustration, we're the bride. We get presented, we are made holy and presented to God as it's for his own possession and his own glory. And the plan that God is bringing about is to be known by his creation, this creation that rebelled against him, that turned away from him. He's like, oh, you're going to know me. You're going to know me. That's why Paul says, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess. Not just the ones who believe in Jesus. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess. And the reality that we find ourselves in is about that. It's about God's glory. It's not just about saving people. And it is, hear me now. It is in that reality, that reality of the tree of knowledge and good and evil, and that reality of the accuser of the brethren and that reality of the nation of Israel and that reality of the struggle and that reality of the prophets and that reality of Jesus coming down in flesh to die on a cross and raised again, and that reality of the Holy Spirit coming down and that reality of the church and that reality of the great coming mission, spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth, and that reality of Jesus coming back on a white horse and the clouds parting and him making all things new. It's in that reality that we will best know God. We will know his power. We will know his patience. We will know his justice. We will know his wrath. We will know his grace. We will know his mercy. We will know his majesty, and we'll all be for his glory. But if you want to understand God's sovereignty, you got to get God's purpose. And God is about God. It's about his glory. Now, do we get a benefit from that? Amen. And praise God for that. But look back at romans nine. What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience? Vessels of wrath prepared for destruction in order to make known the riches of his. What glory? For vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory. God is about God, and the plans of God are about God's glory, and he will bring it to pass. Now, church, why is this so important for christians to get? Because I think sometimes when we deal with a doctrine like God's sovereignty or God's providence, we think, like, this is just for Bible nerds. You know, they got to have beards and drink whiskey and talk about predestination and election and feel all like, no, this is for everybody. And it's really important that we get it. It has real practical purposes in our life. So, for starters, let's look at our text. Why is Isaiah telling this to people in captivity? They're in captivity because of judgment. They were disobedient to God. And that's what got them in captivity. And Isaiah is telling them, hey, despite your stubbornness, God keeps his word and he's in control of you than this. And he's going to bring about his purposes and his plans and he will accomplish it and he's going to bring salvation to you. Why is he telling them that? Like, what's the pastoral, practical purpose of this information at this time? Well, the practical purpose of this truth is to motivate them and us to have peace and courage in the midst of captivity. So Isaiah is saying, listen, I know you're in captivity. I know you're under this authority of a pagan king away from your home. And I know it's difficult, and I know you've been through so much, but sleep well tonight, because God is sovereign over this situation as well. God is still in control and his plans haven't been thwarted. His plans are still unfolding and you can trust him. I know it's difficult, but I hope you have a great night's sleep. Your God is in control. And I know in this, like, city of Babylon, where everybody kind of doesn't worship God and they kind of worship themselves and these pagan gods and all kinds of corruption, it'd be really easy just to kind of fit in and go along with culture. But God is in control and he wins. So take courage and stay faithful to him. Why would you go along to culture when you know it loses in the end? Why would you turn away from a God who you know is in control and sovereign over all things and church? There's like a direct connection to us because we too are in captivity. Like Peter tells us we're sojourners and exiles. Listen, this isn't your home. America is not the promised land. We are citizens of the kingdom of heaven. And while we live here, it can seem like there's chaos in this world. There's so much corruption in this world, there's so much sin in this world. People are bombing each other, there's countries at unrest, there's economic insecurities, all kinds of things. And Isaiah is saying, I know it's not your home, but God is in control of even this. So sleep well tonight. Have peace. His plans are unfolding and he's in control. And in this world, it'd be so easy just to kind of go along with culture and try to fit in and do things that are ungodly, just to kind of have a sense of belonging. But he's saying, no, no, no, have courage. Like stay faithful to God, no matter what everyone else is doing, because he's sovereign, he's in control, he wins. In the end, his purposes will be accomplished. You want to stay on that team? Here's what we got to get church. God's sovereignty fuels our faithfulness. It's a really practical doctrine. God's sovereignty fuels our faithfulness. The reason I say faithfulness is when you think of faithfulness, there's like a steadiness to it. Like, no matter what's going on, I'm just faithful. No matter what kind of news I got from the doctor at my work, what's going on, you know, in life, I'm just, I'm at peace faithful. But there's also like a behavioral loyalty to faithfulness. Like, no matter what other people are doing, I'm faithful to this. And God's sovereignty fuels our faith. I can stay faithful in this because I know God's in control, because I know God wins. I know he'll do what he said he was going to do. I know he'll accomplish his purposes. I'm going to stay on team Jesus. Like, that's what it means to believe in God's sovereignty. So what do we do practically? Like, it's not just a doctrine that we kind of just try to get our minds around conceptually, what practical difference does this make? Look back at verse eight and nine. Remember this and stand firm. That's the command. That's the imperative that we get. Remember this and stand firm. Recall it to mind. You transgressors remember the former things of old. So he says, remember this. Recall it to mind. Remember this. I think he wants us to remember something, and this is an activity he's calling us to. Like, you need to take the mental effort to remember. Remember what? I'm God. You know how big I am. You know how in charge I am. You know how I'm in control. Like, you need to give mental energy to that truth. Guys, when the problems of this world get bigger in our life, it's because God got smaller in our minds. The problems of this world get bigger in our life when our God gets smaller in our minds and the problems of this world get shouted at us. 24 hours news, social media, you're just constantly seeing what's wrong with this world, what's going on, the chaos. And you just consume that and consume that, consume that. What do you think that's going to do to you? The anxiety, the worry, the fear that that's going to stir up. But the opposite is true as well. To a big God problems shrink. Problems shrink. Oh, God's got this. Oh, God is in control. Oh, he'll accomplish his purposes like it puts them in context. One of my favorite Bible stories is in two kings seven, Elisha has a servant and they're surrounded by an opposing army. The whole city is surrounded. And by his servant looks out the window and just kind of comes to light to this reality and sees the whole city is besieged. It's surrounded by this army. And he panics, as you might imagine, and he says, we're surrounded. And Elisha just real smooth, like, is like, there's more of us than there is of them. He's like, well, I think you have a counting problem, right? I'm like, one, two, 3300. They're just surrounded. So he's like, no, no, no, there's more of us than there is of you. And then Elisha prays that God would open the eyes of his servants to see. And when he prays, he sees the mountains surrounding that area full of fiery chariots of the Lord's army. She's everywhere. Do you see that? Like, do you just see the problems surrounding you in your life or do you see the size of our God? Are you just consumed with what this world throws at you and this problem and that problem and that uncertainty and this concern and all these issues? Or do you have eyes to see the Lord of armies, the sovereign God who commands everything? Are you giving too much attention to what is stressing you out? Just soak it in the news constantly, social media and you just feel your worry and your anxiety and your fear and your stress just building. What do you think that's going to do to you? The front lines of our fight to stay faithful in this world is in our minds. We need to give mental effort. Here's what I'm calling you to do. Have big, accurate, frequent thoughts of God. That's what this command is for. Remember, remember me. Remember I'm God. Remember what it means that I am God. I can have frequent, big, accurate thoughts of God. And what do you think that remembering is going to do to our living? That we would be a people? That no matter what's going on in this world, we're a people of peace. And no matter what everyone else is doing, we're a people of courage to be faithful to, to our God because we know he's in control and he wins in the end. Amen. Let's pray. Father, wake us up to how small we are and how big you are. Wake us up to how not in control we are and how in control you are. Give us frequent, accurate, big thoughts about you that stirs and impacts our daily lives. That we would trust that you will accomplish your purposes. I pray that you would make the truth of your sovereignty a joyful doctrine that we embrace, that we would be a people full of peace and courage. Pray this in your name. Amen.