All Things

Excerpt from John Piper sermon:  The Sovereignty of God: "My Counsel Shall Stand, and I Will Accomplish All My Purpose"

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God's Sovereignty in Human Actions

And when we turn from the natural world to the world of human actions and human choice, God's sovereignty is just as extensive. You should vote on Tuesday — on the candidates and on the amendments. But let there be no man-exalting illusion as though mere human beings will be the decisive cause in any victory or loss. God alone will have that supreme role. “He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; . . . the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will” (Daniel 2:21; 4:17).

And whoever the next president is, he will not be sovereign. He will be governed. And we should pray for him that he would know this: "The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will" (Proverbs 21:1). And when he engages in foreign affairs he will not be decisive. God will. “The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations” (Psalm 33:10–11).

When nations came to do their absolute worst, namely the murder of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, they had not slipped out of God’s control, but were doing his sweetest bidding at their worst moment: “Truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place” (Acts 4:27–28). The worst sin that ever happened was in God’s plan, and by that sin, sin died.

So Boasting Is Excluded

And so our salvation was secured on Calvary under the sovereign hand of God. And, if you are a believer in Jesus, if you love him, you are walking miracle. God granted you repentance (2 Timothy 2:24f). God drew you to Christ (John 6:44). God revealed the Son of God to you (Matthew 11:27). God gave you the gift of faith. “By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). The sovereignty of God in our salvation excludes boasting.

There may have been a hundred horrible things in your life. But, if today, you are moved to treasure Christ as your Lord and Savior, you can write over everyone of those horrors the words of Genesis 50:20: Satan, "you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good."

I conclude therefore with the words of Paul in Ephesians 1:11, “God works all things according to the counsel of his will.” All things — from the roll of the dice, to the circuits of stars, to the rise of presidents, to death of Jesus, to gift of repentance and faith.

Why God's Sovereignty Matter: Seven Exhortations

What then does this mean for us? Why is this precious to us? I will speak them to us as exhortations:

1. So let us stand in awe of the sovereign authority and freedom and wisdom and power of God.
2. And let us never trifle with life as though it were a small or light affair.
3. Let us marvel at our own salvation — that God bought it and wrought it with sovereign power, and we are not our own.
4. Let us groan over the God-belittling man-centeredness of our culture and of much of the church.
5. Let us be bold at the throne of grace knowing that our prayers for the most difficult things can be answered. Nothing is too hard for God.
6. Let us rejoice that our evangelism will not be in vain because there is no sinner so hard the sovereign grace of God cannot break through.
7. Let us be thrilled and calm in these days of great upheaval because victory belongs to the God, and no purposes that he wills to accomplish can be stopped.