Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

What's God Up To? Pt.2

Hallelujah! Amen. Let's go ahead and pick up where we left off this morning. We were dealing, of course, with the subject: What's God Up To? I think most of us want to know that in our lives. How many of you are really--if we'd be truthful, you'd say, "I'd really like to know what God's up to right now in my life"? Let me see your hands. Any of you just saying, "Circumstances, things that are going on--I want to know what God's up to"? Some of us are in jobs that we're not happy with and don't know if that's where we're supposed to be, and some of us are wondering whether we should make this new business venture, and some of us are wondering what's going on with investments and retirements, and others are wanting to know what to do about their education, and all of these things.

So it's something that's natural to us as humans. We're wanting to kind of know what's coming down the road, and we want to make sure that we're planning properly and that we have all of our ducks in a row. We're finding out that as children of faith we're not always going to have that luxury because God's going to continue to order us into areas that we don't know, as Abraham our father, exactly where we're going. The key is that God is sending us. So we can go in that confidence that we talked about with Gideon, that we go in this the power of our might, or the strength is in the fact that we were sent--"Have not I sent thee?"

If God sends us, then we're at peace, and we don't have to have all of those questions answered. So if you're being tormented by that, then ask yourself why you're not in the rest that we were talking about this morning--in knowing that our steps are ordered of God and that we are where God wants us and that He is going to preserve us in the midst of all of this. So it's a natural tendency as humans to wonder all of these things, but don't get under the bondage of these and don't let them begin to govern your life, to dominate in any way.

So we were talking about that aspect of walking in the revealed will of God and accepting the sovereign will of God--walking in the revealed will of God (knowing and doing what you know to do) and accepting the sovereign will of God (what happens without you understanding it). I really believe God's ordained me to go this way. Here's the Word of God on it, here's the biblical principles, I'm moving in that way, I'm walking in the revealed will of God, and then all of a sudden something happens that doesn't seem normal. "This just doesn't seem to be what happened to Joseph; it doesn't seem to be what happened to Daniel. It seems that they got delivered and I died!" The sovereign will of God. How about accepting that for others? "They were delivered, and the one I prayed for died--the one I loved died." We're going to talk about that aspect a little bit and understanding this ability to trust in God.

The three things we saw this morning is that God is completely what? Sovereign. God is infinite in wisdom, and God is perfect in love. So when we understand those particular principles and the character traits of our God, it begins to bring a rest to us and an assurance that what is happening is happening for our good. God intends these things for our good. No one is going to thwart His eternal purposes. We're not subject to the fate that comes from the meddling of the gods of mythology, but there's a course that God's set for us and we're walking in that and it's so important for us to realize.

Turn over to Acts, chapter 12, for just a second and what I was sharing there in the confidence of God's ordering of our steps. I shared this a number of years ago when we taught on the subject, Accepting God's Will. In the 12^th chapter of Acts this scenario was taking place that we've studied and understood the principle in this 12^th chapter. It's very interesting. It starts off, "Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also..."

So we see the church and we see the turmoil, the persecution that's coming upon them, and in the midst of this James is killed. And here's this brother that's martyred, and Peter now is imprisoned and finds himself now waiting to have the same fate in his life; and of course the church is praying at this time. Well, they'd been praying. They'd been believing that God would give them--if you remember the first part of the book of Acts--that God would empower them and give them a boldness to speak the Word of God. And they counted it all joy that they were counted worthy to suffer the persecution as they were beaten and sent forth to no longer proclaim this name. So in prayer they were believing for divine protection and the power of God to preserve them as they were filled with the Holy Spirit. In the midst of this, James was killed.

We're not going to take a lot of time in the context of this here, but the interesting thing is that when Peter's taken captive, verse 5, it says, "...prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him." Now two things I want to point out here. First of all, prayer was being made by the church perpetually. They were just praying continuously, without ceasing. And we see then that in the time of need the church doesn't just step back, because we're talking about the sovereignty of God. The church doesn't just step back and say, "Well, you know, if God's going to deliver him, He's going to deliver him." We pray! We profess the promises of God! We declare that a thousand fall at our side and ten thousand at our right hand, but it doesn't come nigh us! We believe that no weapon formed against us prospers. We pray that. We believe that God builds a hedge around us and is there to deliver us. So belief in God's sovereignty doesn't bring about a passivity. It actually brings about a boldness to declare that God's will is going to be done, and our Lord will deliver us; and even if He doesn't, we won't bow our knee, king. You've got to understand where our hope is.

So they're praying for Peter, and we know the story here very well. Peter's sleeping while they're praying. I like that part, don't you? Isn't it interesting how we find Daniel asleep, and we find Peter asleep? Isn't it interesting how when you are able to walk in the perfect will of God, peace is there? There are times to pray and intercede, and there are times to be without sleep as Jesus warred in the heavenlies and interceded on behalf of the mission that God had sent Him forth to accomplish. But there's also a rest and there's a peace to the people of God. We find Peter here, not because he's slothful, because he's at rest, and the church is interceding and praying. We see the same scenario, a little bit different, but when Daniel was thrust forth into the lions' den--the peace that was upon the individual and those that were without were praying and interceding and believing God to deliver.

The Scripture goes on and tells us that at this particular time, verse 7, "And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands." I always like the stories of the miracles here, don't you? Can you put yourself in that position? I love to see that--just as he rises up to obey God, the shackles fall off. The shackles didn't fall off--"If you take these shackles off, I'll get up." "Arise." As he's arising with these shackles on, they fall--the obedience factor of moving when God says to move. So Peter rises, the shackles fall off of him, he girds himself up, verse 8 says, and begins to go forth. In verse 10 we see that the first and second ward, he passes these, and the Lord then opens the iron gate that led into the city, and it opened of its own accord. This thing was automatic doors--the eye thing was on, and Peter goes into the streets and shows himself to the church.

Now what's interesting is that as the church is there praying without ceasing, the Scripture makes it very clear here that when Peter shows up, they had a hard time believing the miracle. But there were some other things that were taking place here that the Scripture doesn't really address, and we've talked about it before. Peter now comes forth delivered, and in the church, praying, the loved ones of James. Mrs. Peter sitting on the front row by Mrs. James, serving and worshipping the same God who in His sovereign wisdom allows one to die and the other to be delivered, and we have to deal with that every day in the church.

We deal with it every day as we go back and study the Scriptures, and we see the promises of God that have been made. We find the promises of God to deliver us and to heal us and to sustain us and to give us victory and to give us prosperity and speed, and yet we don't all seem to experience it at the same rate and degree and to the same apparent abundance. So in the midst of that, as we're praying and seeking the will of God for our lives, there's a dilemma. Well, wait a minute. God's not willing that any would perish. He's no respecter of persons. We've all received the same new birth and the same baptism. We're all praying in the name of Jesus. Why are we getting such a diverse--apparently--result? It's a question that has to be answered as we're moving into this area of finding out what God's doing in our life and in the church--and able to walk in the will of God and understand spiritual guidance as the Word of God puts it forth.

The one thing that becomes very obvious is this, contrary to what many people believe: you are not going to, of your own accord, by your faith, set your own course. "I'm just going to grab a hold of promises, and I'm going to ram this thing through; and I will accomplish this in the name of the Lord." You better, as we shared earlier, be able to pray, "If the Lord wills, I will go to this city and accomplish this." Without that, we're running into the opposition of the Lord because He opposes the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. Pride is the re-usurping of authority into your own life after having professed His lordship. Pride is that return to self-sufficiency and independence instead of total dependency which is faith on God's working and will in your life. So anytime then that you are moving in your own course, anytime that you're setting your own direction and standard, you're moving contrary to the will of God.

Now what about this? Two people seated in the same church--James is killed, Peter is delivered. Let's answer why that kind of thing happens. You say, "Praise God. I've always wanted to know that." Well, okay, turn to Ecclesiastes. We looked at it this morning a little bit; in fact I think this is where we left off. Go back to Ecclesiastes. Some of you are saying, "Man, I had to try to remember there was a Lamentations." There are 66 books; you need to use all of them.

As we search the wisdom of God and the Word of the Lord, we go back to Ecclesiastes, and in chapter 7 take a look as we read it this morning beginning at verse 10. "Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this. Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun. For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it." Wisdom gives life to them that have it. "Consider the work of God..." Just pause and think: what's God doing; what's God up to? "Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?"

We need to get with God's plan, and you're not going to straighten out this crooked path that God may have set forth, this meandering process. You might be a "point A to point B" type guy, man--"type A," bless God: shortest distance between two points, step back! Yet God is taking us into a proving process. He's taking us on a course that we may or may not understand, and you're not going to make straight what God has made crooked or crooked what God has made straight. This is talking about the sovereignty of God.

He goes on and says that as you consider these things, it says, "In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him." God has a plan, and you're not going to find anything out--there's no truth beyond Him, and there's nothing that's going to go past what God is accomplishing in your life at this moment and for His eternal purposes. So as we begin to look at this, we realize that both good and bad--that we would label bad in our lives--God is the source of it. He's ordering, He's orchestrating all that's happening in our lives. Beloved, listen. It's not a biblical principle, it's pagan philosophy that tells us that when evil is present, it's punitive--it's because you've sinned, it's because you're being punished--and that abundance is the gift of God for your obedience and your good. It is not a biblical principle--it's pagan!

So we understand that as we look at the Scriptures--you go to Job, look over at Job, chapter 2, for just a minute. Job, chapter 2, verse 9, we all know this aspect. Job's outstanding Proverbs 31 wife, his helpmeet, says, "Curse God, and die." Bad advice. Chapter 2, verse 7 says, "So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself..." That's nasty, man. All this pus and nasty stuff, and he's scraping it all off and sitting in a pile of ashes.

"Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity?" That's a good question, isn't it? When things go contrary to the way you want them, do you still retain your integrity? Now don't think for a moment--because you can read the book of Job, and God calls him a perfect man, just like Noah and others in their generation. Perfect--men that were constant and men that were seeking after God. But it's very interesting. It never ceases to amaze me how in-depth--I don't know of any other man in the Scriptures that we look so in-depth at their life like Job. How many of you would like this kind of a fine-tooth comb, magnifying glass put on your life? Anybody here like that? Not me! I mean we're looking into this dude's soul, man!

The thing I want you to see is this: one of the great things we learn out of the book of Job is you can be perfect, you can be faithful, you can have a heart for God, and yet there's still the wrestling with these questions and the emotions. It's not, "Oh, praise God. I lost everything!" Something's wrong with you; that's not a normal response. "Oh no it's not, brother. It's spiritual. I'm just in--I just have...peace." You don't normally find that kind of a response. Jesus didn't respond that way in His obedience to the will of God when facing adversity. He agonized and He sweat drops of blood and was so at peace to do the will of God, but there wasn't a frivolous-type approach to it. There was a soberness and an awareness of what it was costing.

So we understand that as Job wrestles in these things, the question was asked, "Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die." There's the natural outlook when adversity comes and confusion comes. "But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips."

We go through and we read further about Job trying to justify himself rather than God and all of the things that he did wrong, and God reveals that and reveals his heart and ultimately we know delivers him. But the attitude that we're talking about here in saying "What is God doing?" has to be seen in light of these three truths that we set forth in this study. What is God doing? What's going on here? God is completely sovereign, He's infinite in His wisdom, and He's perfect in His love. He will never leave me nor forsake me. His intentions for me are good and not evil. He's given me all things that pertain to life and godliness in Christ Jesus. It's His good pleasure to give me the Kingdom. The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord. I'm delighting in His way, and I count it all joy when I fall into diverse temptations, knowing this: that these trials perfect my faith, and I let it have its perfect work that I might be made mature and lack for none of the character that's necessary to finish this course.

What's God doing? He's making you more like Jesus. What's God doing? He's using you for His own glory and His own eternal purposes, beyond your understanding--that's what God's doing. How at peace are you with that, or do you have to know? "This doesn't seem to fit my established theology; it doesn't fit my course. I still just--I really just believe that I can set my own course, that I can pump myself up with enough of the Word and enough faith that I can make happen what I want to happen." Well, you can, but it won't necessarily be the will of God, and it won't have been by biblical faith. Your eyes will have been opened, you shall be as gods, and like at Babel--as the little people learned this morning.

Hailey and Elyssa both came in with their worksheets from children's church. "What's that?" "Tower of Babel." I thought, "This is cool, man. Here's these little kids learning about the Tower of Babel. The self-will of man--nothing impossible to him as he unifies, and so God confounds them so there would be a reliance again on His sovereignty and His majesty." I'm sure they didn't quite go into that on it, but...

So we see what's in natural man, and we realize then that God is orchestrating what's taking place in our lives. We're not subject to fate. How many of you, let me ask--I want to take a survey. You guys say, "I hate these surveys!" Well, let's take one anyway. How many of you believe--we've been running up and down the road a lot lately--and how many of you believe that when you get in line at a tollbooth or a grocery store that it's always the slowest one? Let me see that--how many of you firmly believe that? Hold your hands up. How many of you don't believe that--you think, "It doesn't happen to me much"? How many of you get the short line--you're the first guy through? Let me see your hands. Okay, one person. So the majority of us kind of perceive that. How many of you, you're just so thankful for warranties because everything you buy is no good out of the box? Let me see. How many of you have that happen to you? Hold your hands up. No, you really believe that; I'm talking about people who believe that--hold your hands up. A lot less. You notice my hand is still up.

We can go on, but I won't belabor the point. I personally believe that if I had to address things from the natural, from the pagan perspective, I would say I have bad luck! I really believe that if there was such a thing as luck, I have bad luck. The different things that happen, I firmly believe that I'm always in the slowest--you say, "Well, you're pessimistic." You might say that if it happened once, twice, three times, but when you start really watching, you might change a little bit.

I'm just going to give you a little idea. I had an oil tank in the backyard that you use for heaters, fuel oil--put it in. Next thing I know, there's a strange smell in the backyard, and it's a good thing we didn't smoke. All this fuel oil is coming up through the ground--bubbling crude, black gold, Texas tea. Janet said, "Bob, let's get away from there." So we called the guy to come and fix this thing. I didn't think it so strange, and I said, "Can we..." The guy comes out and he goes, "Man, I've never--we've never seen this happen before!" I said, "How long have you been in the business?" "Twenty-six years." "You mean so you put in more than two of these?" "Yeah, I've never seen this--never seen anything like this."

We take the ToterHome out, brand new. I called Jerry; we had a problem with it. I said, "Jerry, I'm sure this happens a lot." We had this situation that took--he said, "I've never heard of that." I won't go on, but I could take the rest of this service giving you examples, and because of that, it makes me really glad that I don't believe in fate. But it also makes me realize: what am I having to learn in all of this? What is it that, as you're facing these circumstances, you can look at and say, "Okay, what can I learn in the midst of this?" And I could also take the rest of this service telling you how blessed I am and the miracles that have occurred and how things have been put before us that people say, "Man, I've never seen that happen before." Do you not receive good and evil at the hands of the Lord?

So we need to be thankful for those things that God has blessed us with and then realize also that in the other process there is good that can come from it if God is able to build character in our lives. So you look for what God's doing. Who knows. Maybe the guy that's coming out to fix your tank, that's never been bad in twenty years, needs some ministry. So you're needing to understand that as God is orchestrating our lives, that our steps are being ordered, and we rejoice in the fact that God is present with us. You don't rejoice in the mess! You rejoice in the promise that He'll never leave us nor forsake us, that He's in the way, and that in the midst of this, it can be turned for good.

Isaiah 45, turn over to Isaiah 45--and we're going to shift gears here in just a second but--just to look at some of these principles and understand again the sovereignty of God and that we can't allow this pagan ideology to dictate our lives. Isaiah 45, verse 7, or let's start at verse 5, "I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. [I think God's trying to make a point here.] I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things."

And so we understand that--and no theologian has been able to answer to my--or philosopher--has been able to answer to my satisfaction, and I sure haven't come up with it: the understanding of the personage of evil and exactly how it manifested. But we do know that it was found in him and that God is the source of all that is. And so some people would say, "Well, is God then the source of evil?" I want to tell you that God is the source of everything, either directly or indirectly; and how He would be involved in the origin of evil, I don't know. And I wouldn't put off direct involvement, because I'm too limited in my ability to look into the omniscient, omnipotent, eternal perspective, and draw that kind of a conclusion. But I do know that God is the source of all that is. And to think that anything could manifest without His approval removes His sovereignty, and you can't do that.

"But I can't understand how a good, loving Heavenly Father; the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning; the giver of every good and perfect gift, all of--I just, I have trouble understanding that!" Well, join the club! But what we do know is that God is just; what we do know is that the Judge of all the earth does right. So you work off of what you do know, and what we do know is that God is infinite in His wisdom, that God is perfect in His love, and with that assurance we also rest in His sovereignty, though we don't understand all of these things.

So it's very important that we come to that place because otherwise we're going to begin to be people who are governed by circumstances and we're going to be drawing conclusions in our life and those around us based upon circumstantial evidence and not the eternal truths from the spiritual perspective of how God is ordering our steps and leading us. How many of you think this would have probably been a conclusion that one of Job's comforters, a "good friend" of yours, might have made concerning either a Job or a Joseph? "You know, Joseph said he had this dream. Cocky dude running around with that sport coat--he got what he deserved. You know what, there's no question in my mind--the dude deserved to be eaten by a lion. It was the judgment of God. He's out there talking about all this that God's going to do in his life, and God just humbled him. God just revealed the pride in his life, and that beast just devoured him."

And we draw that conclusion, and he's not dead, is he? He was sold into slavery. We're dealing off of limited knowledge. We're hearing the story about old Joseph. "What happened to your brother Joseph, the cocky guy?" "Got eaten." "I knew it! No doubt in my mind! God's just. I'll bet the lion died of cancer!" And we draw these conclusions, and we don't understand the vastness of the God that we're serving. So because of that limited perspective it narrows our objectivity of what God is doing in our lives. So we have to understand that He is the author of all of these things.

As we're studying these areas out--look over at Deuteronomy. This is one that people really wrestle with. But in Deuteronomy 32, there's another statement that's made here, and people say, "Ah man, you know, I don't know if I understand all of that. It just doesn't quite sound right." Can I just share something with you? If these statements like that that we just revealed in Isaiah and this in Deuteronomy--if these concern you and they worry you, then you don't understand point three: that God is perfect in love. You really don't believe that, and so these kind of things bother you. You think that maybe God is that ogre--"Maybe He is going to throw that lightning bolt at me"--and you don't understand the love of your Heavenly Father and that it's His desire to do you good and not evil.

So 32:39, beginning at verse 36, "For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left. And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted." You see the context--we get off, and then God allows us to be put back on course. We get off after other gods--our own will is another god, all of the different distractions--and God in His mercy then, when He sees that our power is gone, He's always pitiful toward us. "And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted, Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection. See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand."

So we see the sovereignty of God being declared, but in the context of this, He's saying, "There isn't any other god besides Me, but you need to understand there are consequences to your sin. I'm going to chastise those that I love, and I'm going to put you back on course." Some of the times it's God mocking, apparently, these that are wise in their own eyes and boasting against God. You read the Scriptures and God is making sarcastic remarks. A lot of people would think, "God wouldn't be sarcastic!" Have you read this? Sarcasm makes some real points, done in wisdom and love and by a sovereign Being. I wouldn't suggest you be sarcastic. But God can be because He can do whatever He wants. "Don't be sarcastic!" Hmm, I don't know if I'd say that or not.

God is revealing to us in a way that mocks the flesh. Do you understand how vile and how great an abomination the wisdom of man is in the nostrils of God? The creature defying the Creator. The finite judging the Infinite. The fool indicting the Ancient of Days, the wisdom and knowledge of God. So we see then that God is orchestrating our life. Probably the greatest example again is in that life of Joseph. Over in Genesis 45--look over there. This is the statement that culminates all of this--the statement that we're all familiar with, but it's just a great passage. Chapter 45. We'll look at verse 8; start reading at 5, "Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity... [Verse 8] So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God."

Do you have that confidence--we're talking about, What is God doing? What's going on with all of this? Do you understand that the steps are being ordered by the Lord? It's not you; it's God! So once that peace begins to manifest in our lives, the assurance, we're not going to be taken off course by the ship that's waiting to go to Tarshish. We're not going to, at a whim because of adverse circumstances, curse God and die. We're not going to say, "God's forsaken me. I might as well, in my own strength, just take advantage of what's here, and maybe Potiphar's wife can help me get ahead" but to say, "How can I do this thing and sin against my God?" It's very important that we realize that everything that's going on is for a purpose: to conform us into the image of Jesus.

Now with this in mind--we're talking about that sovereign aspect--and what we have to do as we're looking at that sovereign aspect is to realize that what's being spoken to us as the revealed will of God isn't always clear, but it's a part of God's foreknowledge that's being expressed and being revealed to us. God knows the beginning to the end; He's eternal, and so we rest in that. The thing that I want you to see by that as we were talking about the will of God versus faith: nothing's going to happen tomorrow that's going to surprise God because tomorrow is history in eternity. So the beginning to the end is determined from the eternal perspective; God already knows it. So in the time and space realm, as we're seeing these things worked out, not knowing beginning to end, we can only say what God says: His promises. And we speak His promises, and we hope in those and in the revealed attributes of God, in His immutability, that make those promises sure. That's what makes them work the same way all the time. When I say "work" I don't mean necessarily the same visible result; I mean the same eternal result. So when we understand this sovereign God, this eternal God, we realize that when He orders our steps it's always from an eternal perspective. He's not making short-term calls in our lives, and so according to the foreknowledge of God.

Look over at Acts for just a second. There's a phrase in Acts that is just tremendous as it just casually makes this comment, but it's a mindblower really as you understand it. In Acts, chapter 2, these few verses really give, I think, an overview of what I'm talking about. Verse 21 says, "And it shall come to pass, that [say it with me if you're already there] whosoever [hmm] shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Good promise. How many of you like that promise? Yeah, so we call on God and He saves us, and He's conforming us into the image of Jesus. You men need to understand that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

"Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know [you saw it; understand this]: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." Jesus said, "You can't take my life, I have to lay it down. It's already determined." Now, we don't all have the same clarification of the course that Jesus had, so I wouldn't necessarily go around generically saying, "Hey, you can't take my life, man. I have to lay it down." Bang! "Ooh, what happened?" The course was set as the Lamb of God purposed from the foundations of the world, slain, to bring about our redemption.

The course we're on, of course, is not of that magnitude, and it's not as clear to us who are born of the seed of Adam, not having the privilege of the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit as the source of our life. But we find this statement, and it stands sure: there is a determinate counsel, and it foreordains for God's eternal purposes. There's going to be times when you understand that you're on one of these missions. And our whole life, of course, is an established course that God has set, but in certain times we understand that God has set this specifically apart and there's the assurance of that. And it brings about that eternal rest and that peace, and nothing can thwart that purpose for which you've been sent. And when you're aware of that, just take time to rejoice and to glorify God and understand that those are very rare times. Other times you're not observing it, you're not aware of it, but you're still being ordered by the Lord. So we boast in what we don't see and call things that are not as though they were, and we begin to rest in that foreknowledge of God.

1 Peter 1:2 says we're "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God..." So that divine election that's taking place in those of us that are regenerated, it's by the foreknowledge of God--there's a plan. While we were sinners, He loved us and He died for us and He's called us to Himself. How much more, now that we're the sons of God, is He going to establish His promises in our lives. What I want you to see, as we're winding up for this evening, is that God is working these things in us. There's a plan, and it's for your good--it's intended for your good.

So whatever it is that you might be wrestling with as we saw earlier this evening--some that said, "I'm in that place. I just don't know, and I don't have this assurance. I don't have that peace. I don't understand what God's doing..." You don't have to; you just have to understand God. You don't have to understand what He's doing. You just have to understand Him, and it causes you to be at peace. His intention for me is good and not evil, and I can rest in that. He has a foreordained plan, and so I'm believing that. But in the midst of it I'm still praying because even though foreknowledge and sovereignty is working, it doesn't mean I just sit back and say, "Well, whatever God's going to do, He's going to do." As we saw with Peter, you pray without ceasing. You speak the promises of God. You study to understand. You pray to silence yourself and be able to hear and fellowship with God and have the audience with God that He says, "This is My will," and then you walk in the midst of it. That's part of what understanding foreknowledge is all about.

Romans 8:29 says, "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son..." I think we're going to end with this for this evening. We are predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus. The foreknowledge of those of us that would finish the course, He is predestining through circumstances to bring about the image of Jesus in our lives. Some of us make it a little harder on Him than others. Some of us are plodders and some of us are thoroughbreds. Sometimes the thoroughbreds make it a little tougher on God. Here's God--you're running around (Pastor makes swatting noise to illustrate God getting person's attention). This guy's just kind of going here (Pastor illustrates a slow plodding motion), and God just has to kind of (Pastor shows guiding motion with his hands). You're running around like this (Pastor illustrates active motion and makes swatting noise again). But He sets us right, the Scripture says, and He's predestined us to be conformed to the image of Jesus, and He intends good for us and not evil. So rest in these areas, and in the midst of this don't let the circumstances make the determination--let the peace. "You know, I'm just not at peace." So get alone and get quiet, and if necessary, return to Bethel, and let Him speak to you to clarify the course.

Acts 4--since we're in Acts, look over at Acts 4:28. He makes the comment to us that, verse 26, "The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings..." You see, in the midst of all of this, it was determined to be done, but they're praying. They're saying, "...now, Lord, behold their threatenings..." and we're in the midst of this and Jesus has provided the sacrifice and here's the consequences; we ask that you would strengthen us and give us a boldness to proclaim this message that He proclaimed in the finished work that was accomplished. But it was determined to be done, and nothing thwarts the will of God. Romans 9 tells us in the 11^th verse that the purpose of God will stand, and so we hope in that.

Father, we thank You for the Word of God tonight and the rest that You've brought us. We're always trying to figure everything out. We want to know. We want to understand--why did James die and Peter get delivered? How come that brother's blessed in material things and I'm not? How come everything seems to go right for them, and nothing goes right for me? Why is it that that one got healed, and I didn't?

Is that really the issue? Lord, what are You trying to accomplish in the Kingdom from the eternal perspective that You want to do in my life? My life isn't judged by everybody else; it's who I am, how You've gifted me, where You've placed me, what Your intentions are, what You've determined to do through me from before the foundations of the world. Am I on that course? I want to be on that course--what You've determined for me--no other course but "if the Lord wills." Bring us to that place of peace, Father, we ask, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Let's stand before the Lord tonight. Just take a moment and just rejoice in the fact that your steps are being ordered by the Lord and that you're not subject to Satan's whims or to some type of cosmic fate, but a loving Father, the Sovereign of all that is, is ordering our steps. Do you have trouble with that? I do. You know, God doesn't move fast enough for me. Things don't always go the way I like them, and I don't like that. Oh, but we serve a God who is sovereign, who is wise, and who is loving, and His intentions for me are good and not evil; and my perspective is limited and selfish, and so I choose to humble myself to the will of God. I ask You, Father, to accomplish that that's been determined. I want to be an agent in that. Use me, Father. Send me, help me, deliver me, strengthen me, that we might stay on that course. It's our heart's desire, Father. We ask in Jesus' name.

Let's sing it together and just rejoice. Hallelujah! "Lord, prepare me..." Thank You, Jesus. Hallelujah! Father, it's our heart's desire that You would prepare us as living stones, that You would place us in the eternal temple of God, that there would be no comparison of our life with anyone around us, but only with Jesus and how we're conforming to His image--that we would not judge You, Potter, for how this vessel is marred, but we ask that You would make us to Your glory. Even the clay pots are indwelt by the glory of God. We don't have to be porcelain; we just want to be used of You. Help us to honor You, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Before you go, turn to someone and say, "My Father's perfect in love." Go in peace, God's love go with you.

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