Sovereignty of God
3.5.2000
Leon L. Combs, Ph.D.
First let’s read Rom 8:28-29, Matt 10:28-31, Proverbs 21:1, and Job 42:2.
I. God is in Control
Rev 4:2-3 God is on His throne
Rev 4:2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.
Rev 4:3 And He who was sitting {was} like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and {there was} a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance.
Rev 4:4 And around the throne {were} twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones {I saw} twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.
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1 Tim 6:15 He is the only Sovereign.
1Tim 6:11 But flee from these things, you man of God; and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance {and} gentleness.
1Tim 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
1Tim 6:13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate,
1Tim 6:14 that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Tim 6:15 which He will bring about at the proper time-- He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords;
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Psa 103:19 from His throne in the heavens He rules over all
Psalms 103:15 As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
Psalms 103:16 When the wind has passed over it, it is no more; And its place acknowledges it no longer.
Psalms 103:17 But the lovingkindness of the \Lord\ is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children's children,
Psalms 103:18 To those who keep His covenant, And who remember His precepts to do them.
Psalms 103:19 The \Lord\ has established His throne in the heavens; And His sovereignty rules over all.
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Heb 6:1-3 We can pursue a deeper understanding of God if God permits
Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2 of instruction about washings, and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3 And this we shall do, if God permits.
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1 Peter 1:3-5 God causes us to be born again and protects us
1Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Peter 1:4 to {obtain} an inheritance {which is} imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
1Peter 1:5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
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2 Peter 3:7 His word reserves the present heavens and earth for judgement
2Peter 3:7 But the present heavens and earth by His word are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
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2 Peter 2:4-9 God is in control regarding the righteous and the unrighteous
2Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment;
2Peter 2:5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;
2Peter 2:6 and {if} He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing {them} to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly thereafter;
2Peter 2:7 and {if} He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men
2Peter 2:8 (for by what he saw and heard {that} righteous man, while living among them, felt {his} righteous soul tormented day after day with {their} lawless deeds),
2Peter 2:9 {then} the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,
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Psa 2 He scoffs at the plans of man
Psalms 2:1 Why are the nations in an uproar, And the peoples devising a vain thing?
Psalms 2:2 The kings of the earth take their stand, And the rulers take counsel together Against the \Lord\ and against His Anointed:
Psalms 2:3 "Let us tear their fetters apart, And cast away their cords from us!"
Psalms 2:4 He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them.
Psalms 2:5 Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury:
Psalms 2:6 "But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain."
Psalms 2:7 "I will surely tell of the decree of the \Lord\: He said to Me, 'Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee.
Psalms 2:8 'Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Thine inheritance, And the {very} ends of the earth as Thy possession.
Psalms 2:9 'Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, Thou shalt shatter them like earthenware.' "
Psalms 2:10 Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth.
Psalms 2:11 Worship the \Lord\ with reverence, And rejoice with trembling.
Psalms 2:12 Do homage to the Son, lest He become angry, and you perish {in} the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!
II. God acts in His own time and way
Gal 6:7-8 we reap what we sow
Gal 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
Gal 6:8 For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life.
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Heb 10:35-36 after doing the will of God we receive the promise
Heb 10:35 Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
Heb 10:36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.
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Rom 5:6 at the right time, Christ died
Rom 5:6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
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Gal 4:4 the fullness of time
Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,
Gal 4:5 in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
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1 Tim 6:13-15 the appearing of Jesus “at the proper time”
1Tim 6:13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate,
1Tim 6:14 that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Tim 6:15 which He will bring about at the proper time-- He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords;
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Titus 1:3 “at the proper time”
Titus 1:1 Paul, a bond-servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,
Titus 1:2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,
Titus 1:3 but at the proper time manifested, {even} His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior;
Titus 1:4 to Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
III. God will punish evil
Heb 10:31 fall into the hands of the living God
Heb 10:30 For we know Him who said, "\Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.\" And again, "\The Lord will judge His people.\"
Heb 10:31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
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John 3:36 those who don’t obey Jesus have the wrath of God on them
John 3:36 "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
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Isa 63:4 year of redemption
Isa 63:4 "For the day of vengeance was in My heart, And My year of redemption has come.
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Jer 30:23-24 anger of the Lord
Jer 30:23 ¶ Behold, the tempest of the \Lord\! Wrath has gone forth, A sweeping tempest; It will burst on the head of the wicked.
Jer 30:24 The fierce anger of the \Lord\ will not turn back, Until He has performed, and until He has accomplished The intent of His heart; In the latter days you will understand this.
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Joel 1:15; 2:1 day of the Lord
Joel 1:15 Alas for the day! For the day of the \Lord\ is near, And it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
Joel 2:1 Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the \Lord\ is coming; Surely it is near,
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Zeph 1:14-18 fierce day of the Lord
Zeph 1:14 ¶ Near is the great day of the \Lord\, Near and coming very quickly; Listen, the day of the \Lord\! In it the warrior cries out bitterly.
Zeph 1:15 A day of wrath is that day, A day of trouble and distress, A day of destruction and desolation, A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness,
Zeph 1:16 A day of trumpet and battle cry, Against the fortified cities And the high corner towers.
Zeph 1:17 And I will bring distress on men, So that they will walk like the blind, Because they have sinned against the \Lord\; And their blood will be poured out like dust, And their flesh like dung.
Zeph 1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold Will be able to deliver them On the day of the \Lord's\ wrath; And all the earth will be devoured In the fire of His jealousy, For He will make a complete end, Indeed a terrifying one, Of all the inhabitants of the earth.
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1 Cor 6:9-11 those who don’t inherit the Kingdom
1Cor 6:9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,
1Cor 6:10 nor thieves, nor {the} covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
1Cor 6:11 And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.
IV. God will meet the needs of the faithful
2 Cor 1:6-7 Gods comfort to us extends through us to others who suffer
2Cor 1:3 Blessed {be} the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort;
2Cor 1:4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
2Cor 1:5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.
2Cor 1:6 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer;
2Cor 1:7 and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are {sharers} of our comfort.
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1 Thess 4:13-18 comforting words of God
1Thess 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope.
1Thess 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
1Thess 4:15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.
1Thess 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of {the} archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
1Thess 4:17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.
1Thess 4:18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
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2 Thess 2:16-17 eternal comfort and good hope
2Thess 2:16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace,
2Thess 2:17 comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.
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1 Peter 4:12-19 He is faithful to do what is right
1Peter 4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;
1Peter 4:13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.
1Peter 4:14 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
1Peter 4:15 By no means let any of you suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler;
1Peter 4:16 but if {anyone suffers} as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God.
1Peter 4:17 For {it is} time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if {it begins} with us first, what {will be} the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?