Sermon Tone Analysis

Part 4: The Sovereign Savior

Over the past several weeks, we have been taking a careful look at Deuteronomy 7:1-11, with a particular focus on coming to terms with, or trying to answer, the objection that many people have to this and other passages of scripture in which God commands that certain people groups be killed, or plundered, or both.

In this passage, 7 different groups of people are mentioned.

For some reason, people have difficulty understanding that a good God, who the God of the Bible is, can at the same time be an avenging God, or a punishing God, who the God of the Bible is.

And there are many concepts that come into play here.

God is just, and as a good judge rules justly.

There must be a penalty or payment for sin.

God is also Holy, so in addition to His attribute of being just, or righteous, another reason he cannot tolerate sin is that he must remain completely separate from it.

And although sinful people can have no ill effect on God, if there were such an encounter between God and sinful people, the effect of God’s holiness on the sinful is that His holiness would consume them.

Remember Heb 12.29

We have looked at three out of four doctrines that hopefully have helped us to answer the question of why God commanded the destruction of Nations.

Perhaps it may be helpful to say instead that question could be phrased instead, “why was it right for God to command the destruction of Nations?” Today we will look at the fourth doctrine that I believe has bearing on answering this.

The Four doctrines are these: The holiness of God, the dangers of sin, the wrath of God towards sinners, and today we will look at the sovereign will of God, or God’s choice.

We will look at what scripture tells us about the divine prerogative of God, that is, his right as the creator and self-existent, eternal God of all creation to choose whatever it is that pleases him.

We will look at how, in our passage today, he chose Israel for no other reason other than that he loved them.

Then we will shift our focus to how God has chosen to save the elect.

Let’s first read our Passage once again.

So we have said thus far that a the answer to our question involves a combination of these things: First, God’s holiness, which demands that sin be punished and eliminated.

Second, the dangers of sin, the danger of being near sinful people and the natural consequences of our own sin.

Part of those consequences being the natural consequences of life, such as violating the law against stealing and being punished by a human court.

Ultimately, the worst consequence of sin is being subject to the wrath of God.

The people groups God demanded the Israelites conquer and destroy were exceedingly sinful people.

They earned the wages of their sin, which is death.

We said how we can be thankful that we do not receive those same wages immediately each time we sin.

If this were the case, none of you would be here to listen to me this morning, and most certainly I would not be here preaching to you.

We also know that there is absolute truth in the idea that being around people who are sinful and sinning all the time puts us in a situation where we will be more likely to be tempted into sin.

And the wrath of God is on all the unrighteous people.

He is angry with sin always.

And this in no way violates His love.

After all, His love is perfect, and since He loves perfectly, His love also means He does not want his people to be in sin.

So God’s Holiness, the danger of sin, and God’s wrath towards sin all give us insight into why not only God could order the elimination of those people, but he should do it.

Or you could say that it was good that he did so.

But now we must ask ourselves, why does Israel get this special treatment?

Why were they given authority by God to eliminate these sinful people?

Hadn’t they shown themselves to be sinful also?

Were they not also “bent” towards sin?

They were bent towards sin, and yet, God chose them to be

vessels of mercy.

Keep that phrase in mind: vessels of mercy.

We will be coming back to that phrase later.

In our main passage of study this morning, we see the reason God chose Israel is not based on anything within themselves, no special characteristic of theirs, no good deeds they had done, no payment they had made to him, no nice thoughts he detected coming from their heads, heads that Moses said were attached to stiff necks.

No, none of that.

Nor was it because they were largest nation.

No, the only reason given for God choosing Israel to be his beloved nation is Deut7.8

Another way to say this is that in choosing Israel, God made a sovereign choice.

God has the absolute right to do whatever He pleases because He is the ultimate Sovereign.

What is a sovereign?

It’s a pretty straightforward definition.

A sovereign is a supreme ruler.

A Monarch.

Not the butterfly, but the King.

Today, we do not really relate to what it is like to have a human sovereign.

Queen Elizabeth was, and now King Charles is, the monarch of England, but because they have a parliamentary system, the crown does not hold nearly as much power over people’s lives as it once did.

If there were ever a perfect king, the people would love to live under his rule.

They would enjoy it.

While there is no perfect human ruler, Solomon came close.

So full of wisdom and able to see justice done, that everyone wanted to serve him, including other kings and queens.

The queen of Sheba came to see Solomon and commented how enjoyable it was for his people to be ruled by him: 1 Kings10.6-9

She then gave him a present of 120 talents of gold, or 9000 pounds, in today’s value about $250 million dollars.

Living under King Solomon’s sovereign rule was a delight.

There was peace and prosperity for one of the longest times in Israel’s history.

Long enough to build the temple and the house of Cedars and to accumulate so much wealth that silver was valued at nothing during his reign.

And yet, Solomon did not finish well, and so his reign near the end was marked by invasions and his own giving into the whims of his many wives, which only went to prove that what we are studying in Deuteronomy7.

God rightly predicted that foreigners would turn his people aside to serve other gods if they married them.

It came true with Solomon, who was granted one of the greatest gifts man has ever received from God, a wisdom beyond compare, yet even Solomon in the end did not rightly apply that wisdom.

He was sovereign, but only for a while, and only, as with any other sovereign, because it was God’s will and pleasure that he should rule.

So a Sovereign is a supreme ruler.

Within their realm, no one is higher, and their word and command is law.

God is sovereign as creator of all, the self-existent, eternal God of all.

His realm includes everything and everyone, from earthly creatures to spiritual beings, all are subject to the reign and Rule of God Almighty.

According to the Lexham Survey of Theology, God’s sovereignty refers to his absolute and unrivaled rule over all his creatures and their circumstances.

Put another way, nothing that happens anywhere or at any time, ever happens outside of God’s absolute and unrivaled rule.

Here are three thoughts I jotted down as I was considering how we ought to understand God’s Sovereignty:

If God says something is good, it is good!

If God says anything, it is right and true

If God communicates something, we are to respect it and honoring Him by believing what he has communicated.

Now, I am about to prove to you by God’s word that He is sovereign.

These verses are going to be given rather quickly, so bear with me.

What I would like for you to do is to not take my word for it, but to search the scriptures and see if this is true.

You evaluate for yourself whether this is what the Bible teaches.

Remember the Bible is true, it is without error, it is perfect in every way.

But I’m not.

So make sure that what I say is true, based on our only standard of Truth: The Bible.

God is sovereign in that he is the owner of everything.

All of the entire universe.

Here are 4 verses that teach us that God is the owner of everything.

Why does it matter that he is the owner of everything?

Because the owner of anything gets to decide what to do with it.

He has absolute authority:

He is in complete control, including in salvation:

In Job 38 to 41 we find a catalog of God reminding Job that Job is in no place to question God, because he was not there when the foundation of the earth was laid, he did not know the measurements of the earth.

He wasn’t there when the stars sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy.

He doesn’t know how God kept the sea where it was, or how he formed the clouds.

Job can’t command the morning as God does, or understand what death really is.

He doesn’t know what causes the weather, or what the stars really are.

God asks the rhetorical question of Job, who has put wisdom in the inward parts or given understanding to the mind?

Who can number the clouds, who can make it rain, who makes the lion hunt, and gives the raven its prey.

He asks if Job knows when mountain goats give birth; Question after devastating question God asks Job, tearing down any illusion Job may have that he understands God in His wisdom.

Job’s complaint was that He did not deserve the things that had happened to him.

God gives him the tongue lashing that causes him to admit that he cannot know the true reasons why God does what he does.