It seems there was a time in the church when most folks if
they did not fully understand the sovereignty of God, they at least had a
general idea what it meant or was referring to. I don’t know what happened to
those days but it seems like they are very much in the past. Many in the church
today when asked will just shrug their shoulders and say: I don’t know.
Beloved, this should not be.
I really am not sure why this is the case but most likely it
would stem from one of two reasons. I remember back in the 80’s when I was a
student at Rhema Bible Training Center in Broken Arrow, OK; Rev. Kenneth E.
(Dad) Hagin used to tell us that when folks are ignorant about a subject it is
because of either No Teaching or Poor Teaching on that subject.
That is true if it is Mathematics or Basic Bible Doctrines.
If nobody ever teaches you that 2 + 2 = 4, then you are ignorant because of no
teaching. If somebody teaches you that 2 + 2 = 6, then you are ignorant because
of poor teaching. The same would hold true regarding Bible truth.
“What do we mean by
this expression? We mean the supremacy of God, the kingship of God, the godhood
of God. To say that God is sovereign is to declare that God is God. To say that God is sovereign
is to declare that He is the Most High, doing according to His will in the army
of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, so that none can stay His
hand or say unto Him what doest Thou?.(Daniel 4:35) To say that God is
sovereign is to declare that He is the Almighty, the Possessor of all power in
heaven and earth, so that none can defeat His counsels, thwart His purpose, or
resist His will.” Arthur W. Pink
The sovereignty of God represents the ability to exercise
His holy will or supremacy. The Most High, Lord of Heaven and earth, has
unlimited power to do what He has resolved. Being absolutely independent, God
does as He pleases. None can deter Him, none can hinder Him. I remember growing
up my Dad, Dr. Leo Fram, used to say about the sovereignty of God that God can
do what He wants, whenever He wants, to whoever He wants, through whomever he
wants, just because He wants to because He is God and no one can question or
say anything about it.
Scripture is full of examples that prove this out both
directly and indirectly.
“Remember the first
events, because I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there’s no one
like me. From the beginning I revealed the end. From long ago I told you things
that had not yet happened, saying, ‘My plan will stand, and I’ll do everything
I intended to do.’” Isaiah 46: 9
& 10 God’s Word Translation
“Remember the things I
have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me.
Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will
come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.” Isaiah 46: 9 & 10 New Living Translation
“Yours, O Lord, is the
greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed
everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O Lord,
and You exalt Yourself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all,
and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and
to strengthen everyone.” 1
Chronicles 29:11 & 12 New American Standard Bible
“The heavens are
Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all it contains, You have founded
them.” Psalm 89:11 New American
Standard Bible
“But our God is in the
heavens; He does whatever He pleases.” Psalm
115:3 New American Standard Bible
“Whatever the Lord
pleases, He does, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.” Psalm 135:6 New American Standard Bible
Besides all these Scriptures that deal with the Sovereignty
of God directly, there are many stories in the Bible that demonstrate it as
well. In the Book of Acts Chapter 12 we have the account of where Peter was
arrested and the Bible tells us that prayer for him was being made fervently by
the church to God, and God sent an angel to supernaturally deliver him. But in
Acts Chapter 5 after Peter’s shadow is healing folks, they laid hands on the
apostles and threw them in jail. In this case, God sent an angel to deliver
them, but it was not in response to any prayer that was offered, God just
sovereignly moved.
We can also look at the life of John the Baptist and see the
Sovereignty of God. In Luke 1:15 we see that the angel of the Lord spoke to
Zacharias and said that John would be filled with the Holy Spirit, while still
in his mother’s womb. John was an Old Covenant Prophet. In the Old Covenant
nobody was filled with the Holy Spirit; that was reserved for the Church Age
and New Covenant. Under the Old Covenant the Holy Spirit only came upon the
Prophet, the Priest and the King; yet John was filled with the Holy Spirit in
his mother’s womb before he was even born. Who can tell God that He can’t do
that? Nobody! God can do what He wants.
These are just a few quick thoughts about a subject that was
prevalent in years gone by but not so much today. I for one would like to see a
return to this type of teaching and preaching. I believe we need to have a view
of our God as indeed being an awesome God that does just as He pleases and as
He intends, who nothing is too difficult for. I want to leave you with one
final Scripture that a very popular chorus was based on back in the 80’s that
for those of you that have been around the church for that long will surely
remember.
“Ah, Lord God! Behold,
You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched
arm. There is nothing too hard for You.” Jeremiah 32:17 New King James Version