God’s Hand Controls the Good and the Evil

Transcript

GRM 1166
07/17/2016
God's Hand Controls the Good and the Evil
Selected Verses
Gil Rugh

There is a lot going on in the world in these days, great days to be representing Jesus Christ and to know Him and that He is moving things according to a plan that was established before the world was created. And I want to talk a little bit about God's sovereign work in the world today, particularly in the context of good and evil. We have many demonstrations of evil actions and evil conduct that have been going on in the world today. And we as believers need to be clear on what God says about His role and His place in all of this, because the Scripture is clear. First we have to understand that we are living in a fallen world, a world that is populated by sinful people and that includes every one of us, for “all of have sinned, there is none righteous.” We are all in the same condition, we are born corrupted by sin. By God's grace He has provided salvation through the death of His Son so that we could be cleansed from the defilement of sin, from the penalty of sin and be brought into right relationship with Him. But by and large this world is operating, populated by people who are under the control of their sin, under the leadership of a personal being that we know of as the devil or Satan. But that does not mean things are out of control. It's important that we understand that God is sovereign over all things. That includes the evil that goes on in the world, the tragedies. Some of what happens is morally evil, some of it we would call non-moral areas like sickness, disease and so on. God is sovereign over it all and none of it happens outside of His will.

So maybe we can make two statements here early on. God is totally sovereign. That means He is sovereign in control, determining what will happen in every detail of every area. Also we have to have fixed in our minds that man is fully responsible. Every individual is responsible for his own decisions. He is accountable before God and some day will be judged by Him. Now we are aware that a certain tension exists between God's total sovereignty and man's full responsibility. And if total sovereignty means that nothing happens in this world that does not happen under the control of God, according to His determination, how can man be responsible? Because man is responsible in making his own decision, how can God be in control of what he will decide to do? The Scripture addresses it but maybe it doesn't answer every question we have. But we as believers want to be careful that we are clear on what the Bible says. And it will be an encouragement to us and a reminder to us.

We are going to be focusing the emphasis on God is in control of all kinds of evil. We saw an evil man take a large truck and run through a crowd of people, killing many, including a number of children. How does that fit within the sovereign plan of God? We are somewhat jarred to say that God had determined that would happen. And yet that's what Scripture says. Even the evil that happens in the world happens under the direction of God, even though God is not responsible for the evil that happens in the world. Evil is controlled by God's sovereign purposes.

Let's look at some verses and basically what we are going to do is just walk through Scripture. I have selected a limited number of verses because we would not have time to look at them all. And primarily we will let the verses speak for themselves, and hopefully He will give clarity to our thinking. Now don't forget where we began. We live in a sinful world, populated by sinful people who are living their lives in rebellion against God. “All have sinned,” that's not difficult to understand. All means all, that all ‘all’ means. “All have sinned. There is none righteous, not even one.” Now that's God's sovereign statement. So we are talking about His activity among sinful people, in a sinful world. But bad things also happen to God's people and that is also according to His plan and divine appointment.

Let's start with one of His special children back in Genesis 45. I have sovereignly chosen these passages, I have taken them and we will go in order through the Scripture but I haven't arranged them according to subject. And I did that purposely so we would see some of the mixture of things that God says He is responsible for. In Genesis 45 you remember the story of Joseph, and Joseph was raised in a large family. And he had brothers who were jealous of him, and they ended up taking advantage of an opportunity to sell their brother into slavery. And he would be carried to Egypt there where he would serve as a slave. As you are aware, over time Joseph spent time in prison, he was falsely accused, he was forgotten about and neglected. In the end God established him as the ruler in Egypt. Then he has a chance to meet with his brothers again after that event. So in Genesis 45, that's where we are, and he says to his brothers in verse 5, “Do not be grieved nor angry with yourselves because you sold me here. For God sent me here before you to preserve life.” In my Bible I have underlined two statements—you sold me, God sent me. And that shows the balance that we have. The brothers are responsible, they committed a sinful action against their brother and then lied to their father and said their brother had been killed by a wild animal. And all they found was the outer cloak, covered with blood, that they had dipped in animal blood to fool their father. And then they were satisfied to go on with their lives, knowing that their brother probably would live in miserable situation and circumstances as a slave in Egypt.

But Joseph said, “you sold me here, God sent me here.” You see even behind the sinful act of these men was the sovereign control of God. God didn't make these brothers do what they didn't want to do, but He used their sinful desire to accomplish His purposes. And in their sin they determined they would sell their brother as a slave. But God sovereignly so controlled that even in the exercising of their sinful action, they were carrying out the purpose of God. Don't get confused, God is not responsible for their sinful action, but their sinful action could not frustrate God's plan for Joseph.

Turn over to Genesis 50. Here a reiteration again as Joseph again talks to his brothers. Because their father has died and now the brothers think maybe Joseph will mete out vengeance on us for what we did. And in verse 19 Joseph said, “Do not be afraid for I am in God's place. As for you” (you see Joseph's confidence) “I am where God has put me. You meant evil against me, God meant it for good.” Again if you mark your Bible, “You meant evil against me, God meant it for good.” God takes the sinful actions of men and uses it to accomplish His good purposes. Amazing. Man is fully responsible, he exercises his will to make a decision, and his decision is sinful. But it's the very decision God ordained to accomplish His purpose. God is sovereign. I ought to talk about responsibility. Some people talk about man's free will. Man is not free because of his sin. So in that sense there is no such thing as a free person. Jesus said, “If the Son will make you free, then you will be free indeed.” We are all born into this world as sinners, controlled by our sin, enslaved to our sin. And until we come to salvation in Christ there is no freedom. And when we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ, we are set free, which the Bible says we now become slaves of God. But that's what we were created for, a right relationship with God. You are free when you can function as God created you to function, as God created you to be—in right relationship with Him, fulfilling the purpose of your creation, obeying and honoring the true and living God. That is freedom. The world talks about their freedom, they think they are exercising their freedom to commit this sin, to do this sinful action. They are demonstrating how free they are. They are demonstrating how sinful they are, how enslaved to sin and under the authority of Satan they are. Only a believer in Jesus Christ by the grace of God can exercise his will to obey God and to honor God. Joseph was such a godly man, he recognized. That's why there was not bitterness here, there was not resentment. Can I resent the hand of God accomplishing His purposes? That doesn't excuse the brothers' sin. “You meant evil against me.” But the fact that men want to carry out evil against you doesn't mean that frustrates God's plan.

Okay look over in Exodus 4. God is calling Moses to be His instrument to bring the nation Israel out of their slavery in Egypt. Hundreds of years have gone by since those events at the close of the book of Genesis. God says to Moses, “I want you to go and speak to Pharaoh.” Now Moses had been raised in Pharaoh's house, but 40 years have gone by since Moses left Egypt to hide from the wrath of Pharaoh and lived in more wilderness areas. Now God says, “I want you to go back to Egypt and the new Pharaoh, you will go and tell him to let My people go.” I love the way Moses phrases his answer, even though it is an act of rebellion against God. “Then Moses said to the Lord, please Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past nor since You have spoken to Your servant. I am slow of speech and slow of tongue,” as though man has to fill the Lord in on maybe what He doesn't know. Or maybe what He has forgotten.

Note what God says, “The Lord said to him, ‘Who has made man's mouth?’” Now note this, “Who makes him mute or deaf? Or seeing or blind? Is it not I the Lord?” You see God's sovereignty here, this is not over moral evil. It is over a physical condition. Who created your tongue, your ability to speak and your facility or lack of it in speech? Who made you slow of speech? He didn't argue and say, Moses when you were young, you were a really good speaker. You just not have been using that ability, but I can revive it. He doesn't argue with Moses. He never was very good at putting things together and expressing them, never was an eloquent person, speaking never did come naturally to him. It just is not a good area for him. But God reminds him, I made you that way. Well, I thought that just was genes, born that way. Or there is a defect, it just happened like Fanny Crosby the blind songwriter. A doctor made a mistake back in those early days and put something on her eyes that blinded her instead of helping with the problem. What a terrible accident. Although if you read her life and her testimony, that was the hand of God for me. Who makes the hearing ear, not just to hear but when He determines it won't hear? Or the eye He makes to see but sometimes He determines it will not see? Or our abilities, like Moses said, I am slow of speech. God says, “who made you that way?” I did. You don't think I know what I am doing? I made you this way. Now you are trying to tell me. Of course I know, I'm the Creator.

Reminder to us in our physical condition, this is our confidence as God's people. Not an accident, not this, not that. Then we think what I could do if, and if the Lord had done this, too bad this happened. Even my physical afflictions, I can say, Lord, you have planned this and brought this into my life for Your purpose. Maybe I was born with it, maybe it comes afterward. There are no accidents. The sovereign God is not up there observing and saying what am I going to do with them if this happened to them? Well, I can't use them that way and put them over here in a hold category until I figure that. Understand how great our God is? All of this is included in that plan and He has determined it.

“Who has made man's mouth? Who has made him mute or deaf?” We say there was this physical, blind or seeing, causes this, causes that. I have a physical condition, I'm in good health. The doctor said to me, we found a gene that is not functioning. Well, function it, fix it. We didn't find that that gene caused this problem until 2005. What have you been doing? What an accident, I have a gene that doesn't function. That's all right, how many of those do I have anyway? I can have one that doesn't. God determines all this. Some of you deal with physical things, other things. Our comfort is knowing God's sovereignty. That is what sustained Joseph, this is what Moses is slipping on here by saying with my ability here God can't use me this way. God reminds him.

Come over to Deuteronomy 32 and we're coming to the end of Moses' life, so speaking, writing, reminding Israel. You come down to verse 39, verse 35, “Vengeance is Mine and retribution,” this is what Joseph said. He wasn't taking vengeance because God says vengeance is Mine, I will repay. That is repeated in the New Testament. We don't take our own vengeance, we see the hand of God even when evil men have done evil against us. I realize their sin does not frustrate God's plan and I leave vengeance in His hands for what He determines to do.

Come down to verse 39, “See now that I am He, there is no God besides Me.” Now note this, “It is I who put to death and give life; I have wounded, it is I who heal; there is no one who can deliver out of My hand.” He is sovereign, He is the only God. He determines this one will die, and he will die; this one will live, and this one will live; this one will suffer, this one will be healed. We think, well, God with all that is going on in the world He is too busy with the big events. God sovereignly has arranged every detail.

Come over to 1 Samuel 1. Samuel's mother, Samuel has not been conceived yet, is barren and his mother sees this is the hand of the Lord for her. The end of verse 5 says, “the Lord had closed her womb;” the end of verse 6 says, “the Lord had closed her womb.” And for her He is going to open it again because He has a special purpose with the child to be born, Samuel. But again even in these matters we recognize the hand of the Lord. Something like that we say, well, today we would have known there was this problem. There wouldn't be that problem if God didn't determine it. Amazing to know our lives are in His hands in all these details. Don't have to be frustrated. May not be what we would have chosen for ourselves, but as God's children we have the confidence in knowing what He chooses for us is best for us. We can rest secure in that. Here she prays and God chooses to open her womb because that was part of His plan.

You come down to 1 Samuel 2 and her testimony, Hannah is her name, “There is no one holy like the Lord, indeed there is no one besides you nor is there any rock like our God.” Come down to verse 6, “The Lord kills and makes alive, He brings down to Sheol and He raises up. The Lord makes poor and rich, He brings low and exalts.” Ultimately these things are in the Lord's hands. That doesn't mean I don't exercise my will and make certain decisions. As God's child we pray about our decisions and then we act. But we also accept the fact, some things I may not be able to change. He makes poor, makes rich. That doesn't mean I can be lazy and if He wants me to be rich He'll send the lottery, otherwise turn the channel. No, the Bible addresses that. I also realize I have worked hard all my life and I don't have much because my heavenly Father has provided for me what He intended for me. I have been faithful in working hard, others have not worked as hard as I have and have been much more successful financially. I'm glad for them, God's purposes for me are best for me, God's purposes for them are best for them. You see the confidence, the pressure this takes off for us as God's people. My God is in control, I do everything to be pleasing to Him with all my energy but He determines what He will do for me, with me, in me.

Come over to Job, you know we had to come to Job. Can you talk about trouble, trials, evil and not talk about Job? Job 1, and here you see the connection of evil and good, and there is going to be physical affliction and it is brought about by an evil being with evil purposes. It is going to be inflicted on a man who is a very righteous, godly man and it is all in the plan of God. The account is there comes a day when the angels come to appear before God. Evidently there are appointed times for all the angels, including fallen angels to come and appear before Almighty God. This also appears in the book of the Kings, just a little window into the spirit world. So Job 1:6 says, “There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, Satan also came among them.” God says in verse 8, “saying, have you considered My servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth.” What a commendation from God, there is not a more righteous, godly man on the face of the earth than My servant Job. That's amazing. Satan tells God, well, you really don't know Job. The only reason he is faithful to you is because you treat him so well. Who wouldn't? You've made him rich, you have given him health, you've given him a great family, his businesses are successful. He is admired and honored in the community. If that weren't all true, you would find out he wouldn't honor You so much.

“So the Lord said”, verse 12, to Satan, “behold all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So God says to Satan, you can do whatever you want, you just can't hurt him personally, physically. Men can do terribly cruel things to other men—tortures and the things that are done, we probably don't understand near the suffering that Job is going to go through. Just look what he can do when he can hit Job from side. His animals which are a source of his wealth are attacked by foreigners and all the slaves are killed and they do it to take the animals. Then the other animals, there is lightning from heaven, you see the power of the devil. He can move people to actions, come and attack and kill those people. He can control nature as we call it because lightning comes from heaven and kills others of the animals and the servants. And then another band of marauders comes in and more damage and loss takes place. And then worst of worse Job has ten kids, seven sons and three daughters. They are meeting together, having a party, a banquet in a building. A strong wind blows. Where did that wind come from? You see the power of the devil? It blows the building down, all ten kids are dead, at one time. What a tragedy. A man comes and tells Job. What do you tell him? Your wealth is wiped out, your animals, your slaves and worst of all, all ten of your kids are dead. How do you get your arms around this? What do you do?

Here is what Job said, verse 21, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, naked I shall return there. The Lord gave,” now note this, “and the Lord has taken away.” You have just had your ten kids destroyed in a storm with the collapse of the building and you say the Lord has taken away? Would the Lord do that? “Blessed be the name of the Lord.” It happens, that's why I go through some of these things. We fix our minds on the truth that God has given so when these things may come, we hold onto the truth. That's what Job does. Nothing has changed, God is still sovereign. The God who gave it all to me decided to take it all away. How can I do anything but give Him praise? You say, I don't want to serve a God like that. Well, God didn't do it, Satan did it. Satan only did it because God said, go ahead and do it. Job recognizes that. He doesn't say, the Lord wouldn't do this to me, this must have come from Satan. No, he says, the Lord gave, the Lord has taken away.

Look in Job 2. We have the same events going on, not the same exact but a repeat of Job 1 in the sense it's another time now. Satan comes before the Lord, the Lord says, “have you considered My servant Job? All that you have done to everything important to Him, and he still honors Me.” And He says, note the end of verse 3, “Although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.” God takes responsibility for it because if you are challenging Me, Satan, I ruined him. “Without cause.” Some people go through and try to find sin in Job's life and that's why God did this. And you have just joined the chorus of his three friends who are miserable friends. God's testimony is, there was no cause for this in Job's life, he didn't deserve this because of wrong he had done. Satan's response, we see the attitude toward God of Satan. Well, of course, what really matters to a person is his own life. “All that a man has he will give for his life so you gave him what was most important to him, you gave him his own life, you protected him from me. He still is healthy, he can still sit there and think, I can rebuild it all. The Lord said to Satan, behold he is in your power, the only thing you can't do is kill him.” Let me tell you, Satan can make a man miserable. He could bring pain like we don't know, he is free to do it. “You can't kill him but you are free to do whatever else you choose.” Remarkable.

So Job is covered with boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. How do you get relief? You can't lie down, every part of your body is covered with these painful boils. You can't stand, they are on the soles of your feet. What do you do with this misery? And all you have to scrape the flaking flesh is broken pieces of pottery, and on it goes.

Come over to Job 12, and his three friends, remember keep telling him, the Lord has done this to you, the Lord has done this to you. They are right in that. Where they are wrong is they say He has done it because of sin in your life. And we slide into that today, well, if I do all that I think God wants me to do then He won't let anything come into my life. And when something does, we say, I tried to be faithful, I don't know what has gone wrong. Maybe nothing has gone wrong, it's just the hand of the Lord at work.

So they are telling Job, this is God who did it to you. Job agrees. What idiot doesn't know that, if I can paraphrase what he says. And he mocks them. Job begins, “Truly, then, you are the people; with you wisdom will die.” Let me tell you, I understand a few things, too. Go down to verse 9 for a summary. “Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this, in whose hand is the life of every living being and the breath of all mankind.” I know the Lord has done it. I disagree, I don't know of anything in my life that was sin that the Lord would be disciplining me for. Well, I disagree, that He would only do this to me because of my sin.

Do you know what? Come over to Job 16, while you are going there, there is no answer given in the book of Job why God did it to Job. I mean, He did it because He is demonstrating to Satan that Job wouldn't collapse under the pressure. But there is no reason ever given to Job by God why He did it. Do you know what God says to Job after all this? You don't have any right to question Me. “Did you ever cause the sun to rise in the morning,” went on to all the things God does throughout His creation. Who are you? So a reminder.

In Job 16 Job acknowledges. Verse 11, “God hands me over to ruffians, tosses me into the hands of the wicked.” Even when the wicked are mistreating him, Job acknowledges they couldn't do it unless God had determined it would be done. “I was at ease but He shattered me. He has grasped me by the neck and shaken me to pieces. He set me up as His target.” I mean, what a thing to say—God is using me for target practice. Just blasting away at me. “His arrows surround me, without mercy He splits my kidneys open.” My insides are spilling out, it is God doing it.

What does he say in Job 17:1? “My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished, the grave is ready for me, mockers are with me. My eyes gaze on their provocation.” God brings the evil, the suffering. He is not a mean God, He is not an unloving God, but sometimes He has determined to use very painful, difficult things for the accomplishing of our good. “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him.” Like Joseph said, “you meant it for evil, God meant it for good.” Even for Job, he may not understand why. He was already the most righteous man on the face of the earth. Maybe you should have afflicted this on someone who needed more growth. But we realize, I don't understand. Part of what comes to me as I study the book of Job is I don't have to know why. In fact my faith is stretched the most when I can't see any reason for why, when honestly I say, I can't see any good in this, Lord, I can't see any purpose in it, Lord. But we walk by faith and not by sight, but I still trust You, I still believe You love me, I still believe this would not be in my life, would not be happening to me if it were not for Your love for me.

Come over to Job 42, we have jumped obviously, but for time. Note what the conclusion of the matter is. “Job answered the Lord and said, I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? I have declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful to me which I did not know. Here now I will speak, I will ask You and You instruct me.” Before, Job and the pressure of all his sufferings said, I wish I could talk to God face to face, there was someone who could stand between us and I could ask Him. Now I realize you are God. Job did have room to grow, not because, that he was sinning before but there is always room to grow. And he has grown in appreciating and knowing God better.

Turn over to Ecclesiastes, there were verses in Proverbs but we can't take time. Ecclesiastes 7:10, “Do not say, why is it that the former days were better than these, for it is not from wisdom you ask about this.” I don't want to be complaining about today, comparing it to yesterday and those were the good old days. In many ways they were the good old days, in many ways they were just the old days, but it doesn't matter. Today is the day God has called me to live. Verse 13, “Consider the work of God, for who is able to straighten what He has bent. In the days of prosperity be happy,” now note this, “but in the day of adversity consider, God has made the one as well as the other so that man will not discover anything that will be after him.” God has made the good days, we thank Him for them; we enjoy them. But when adversity comes and the days aren't so good, I still accept this is from the hand of God as well. Why would He bring that into the life of one of His children? I don't know, God doesn't intend me, it all is a reminder to me that I don't have all the answers. Now we as Christians are not those who have all the answers to every detail and every situation. We do have the answer to man's basic problem, sin, to be brought into right relationship with God, to have God as your friend, your Father, not as your enemy and opponent. God will destroy the wicked in hell but He will bring honor, glory and blessing to His children. Now a lot of the details in between, I don't know. Ecclesiastes 7:15, the writer of the Ecclesiastes goes on and I don't know, I can't explain. “A righteous man dies early in life and a wicked man just keeps living on into ripe old age.” Doesn't seem right, but I have the confidence of knowing God is doing what is best for me and accomplishing His purposes in the world.

Come over to Isaiah, we'll stop at Isaiah 14:24, “The Lord of hosts has sworn saying, surely just as I have intended, so it has happened; just as I have planned, so it will stand.” You'll note we sometimes talk, we say the prophets give their future prophecies in the past tense. We call it the prophetic past. Do you know why? God is making clear when He says something is going to happen, it is just as sure as the events that took place yesterday. He's going to bring Assyria on the northern ten tribes, Assyrians are a miserable, cruel people. They could impale thousands of people on stakes around the city just as an evidence of what will happen to the inhabitants if they don't surrender. They have inscriptions and reliefs of them leading captives on that have been stripped naked and large hooks have been put through their cheeks or their lips or their noses and they are just being dragged along. Too bad if you fall. Cruel. God says, I'm going to bring them. “The Lord has planned,” verse 27, “who can frustrate it? He has stretched out His hand, who can turn it back?” The worst evil, and it is going to come upon Israel, God's people, those He has chosen. Here it will be for their sin. The sovereignty of God.

These things aren't happening to innocent people in the world. We need to keep a perspective, God has the world under judgment. Why did that happen? What is the world coming to? God is moving us toward days of terrible judgment.

Turn over to Isaiah 45, just look at verse 7. He is emphasizing that He is the Lord, there is no other God, verse 5. The end of verse 6, “I am the Lord, there is no other,” note this, “the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being, creating calamity. I am the Lord who does all these things.” We sometimes think we are protecting the Lord, it wasn't the Lord's will that that happened, the Lord wouldn't have wanted that to happen. I beg your pardon? We ought to be careful we get our theology from the Bible, not from our emotions. God says I create the calamity. The house that fell upon Job's ten children, I did it. That was a terrible thing too. The sovereign God. I don't know, I don't know that I like hearing this about God. He is a God to be feared, but we don't have to fear Him as His children but we do have to accept from His hand what He as our heavenly Father has decided to do to us and with us. And we believe it will be for our good.

So I don't say He delights in making people suffer, but He is angry with the wicked regularly. Psalm 7 which we will someday get to. He's angry with the wicked every day. We as Christians sometimes want to give this picture, they want to say what a terrible thing, a truck drives through and kills all these people. What happens? God is manifesting something of His wrath in the world in using evil men. Do you know what is going to happen in the Tribulation, seven years before Christ returns to earth? Billions of people are going to die miserable deaths from judgment sent directly from heaven. As Christians we get a sentimental view of God and then we can't handle when difficulty and trial come into our life because it wants to wash over us. Not saying I hope trial comes, rather suffer, I thank God for every good day. But I know if adversity comes, it comes from Him as well. That's my confidence, my security, my hope.

Lamentations, the Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet. Jeremiah was the suffering prophet, the weeping prophet. Lamentations 3, “I am the man who has seen affliction because of the rod of His wrath. He has driven me and made me walk in darkness, not light. Surely against me He has turned His hand repeatedly all day long, caused my flesh and my skin to waste away. My bones are broken, besieged and encompassed me, bitterness, hardship. In dark places He has made me dwell. He has walled me in, I can't get out. I cry for help, He doesn't hear me.” On he goes. Verse 18, “My strength has perished, so has my hope from the Lord.” But then, he has the affliction, verse 19, is wandering, the wormwood, the bitterness. “Surely my soul remembers, is bowed down within me. This I recall to my mind. Therefore, I have hope. The Lord's lovingkindnesses never cease; His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness.” We sing the song.

After that a litany of misery he is going through. I have to stop and clear my head, and then what? “Then I recall to mind,” now I have hope, my hopelessness has been removed because the Lord's lovingkindness has never ceased for me, His compassions never fail. He hasn't abandoned me, He hasn't made me His enemy, His intention is not to destroy me. “The Lord is my portion says my soul, therefore I have hope in Him. The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. It is good that we wait silently for the salvation of the Lord.” Now I can see good in these things, I am learning to trust God, rely upon His promises, knowing that what He has said will come true regardless of my present misery.

Come down to verse 37, “Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass unless the Lord has commanded it. Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and ill go forth?” Good and ill come from the mouth of the Lord. Those terrorist acts, those wicked deeds, the Lord is not the cause of them in the sense that He makes people do what they don't want to do. Our confidence is the Lord is in control. That doesn't mean we don't exercise the minds that He has given us, to use wisdom. I don't go lie down in the middle of the street saying, God is sovereign, if He wants me run over, I'll be run over. If I use my mind to do a foolish thing, I may be evidencing the fact I'm using my foolish stupidity to get me run over. I would choose to have it done another way. Doesn't mean we don't exercise our minds, our wills, and use wisdom.

Just write down Amos 3:6 and read it later. “Does calamity happen in the city and I have not done it?” Does calamity happen in the city and I have not done it? It's a rhetorical question from the Lord. Think about the tragedies that happened in cities. What does God say? Does calamity happen in the city and I have not done it? Where are we safe? I'm safe wherever the Lord puts me. Doesn't mean I don't use good sense, doesn't mean I don't make wise decisions and plan carefully, doesn't mean I should take the locks off my door at home and leave the door standing open. The Lord also gives me wisdom, and we see He uses men's decisions in accomplishing His will. But to see the hand of God in it. Otherwise we get swept along with the world and we are just as much, what a terrible, what is this world coming to. The sovereign God, He is in control. Do you think that?

So you understand how serious, we need to turn these conversations around for people. Do you understand how serious sin is, how angry God is with sin? He uses even the desires of sinful people to accomplish His purpose. What else are you going to say when you study the book of Revelation and see God is going to destroy billions of people with famines, He's going to turn up the heat of the sun to scorch things so they cook. He's going to bring plagues. Would God do that?

I've written a letter to a man who sent me a manuscript of a book. I said the trouble with your manuscript, you emphasize God's love and grace of the New Testament, but when you are done I get the idea that the God of the Old Testament is a totally different God who must have hated people. It's the same God, His love is demonstrated in His grace in offering salvation. His wrath is demonstrated in much of the wickedness and all going on in the world. But you and I walk in the bubble of His protection. That doesn't mean He will keep me from all suffering, but it means there is no suffering, no difficulty, no trial, no evil that I experience that the hand of God has not appointed for me. And the hand of God only appoints for me what is for my good as His child in the ultimate view of His purpose for me. And so I trust Him with my todays and my tomorrows. This is the hope we bring to the world, this is the answer we have. There is hope but it is found only in Christ.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for what You have unfolded in Your Word and we have just touched the surface. You are a great and awesome God, we are in awe that You are in control of every event from the smallest detail to the largest actions. It is Your will being done in the good things and the bad things, and Your purposes and plans cannot be prevented. We are Your children, in Christ we have found salvation, security, hope and all Your promises. Lord, may we be encouraged, not discouraged at what goes on in the world around us, what You may choose to bring into our lives, knowing that You have done it for each one individually because each of us is precious to You. We praise You in Christ's name, amen.