Is God in control?

The world we live in.

Is God in control? Has any of you ever asked this question? I believe most Christians ask this question, but I might be wrong.

I mean look at the state of the world, if we believe that God is in control then let’s look outside the comfort that you’re living in and see it from a bird’s eye perspective.

When you look beyond your life, look at those that are suffering, look at those that are starving, look at those that are in fear, look at those that are abused.

We see all these sufferings and that question still rings in our ears, ‘Is God in control?’.

Hurricane Ian was considered the deadliest hurricane since 1935, ripped through the state of Florida and through the Caribbean islands and Cuba. It is estimated that 135+ lives were lost. I don’t know whether these people were Christians, but most people know that in times of life and death, people call out to God for help. Yet that same question comes up, ‘Is God in control?’.

On Wednesday, there was a memorial for the lives that were lost in the bombs that exploded in Bali killing 202 people that evening. Whose ‘god’ was in control then? The Islamic god that allowed 202 people to be killed? Or our God in control?

Personal story

On the 9th of June, 2011 at around 6am, someone was calling the house continuously, I woke to grab the phone and it was my dad’s boss asking where he was as he was meant to come to work at around 5am.

I walked into my parents room, my mum was working night shift so she wasn’t home but as I walked in I saw my dad lying on the bed with his respirator on but no movement. My dad had suffocated and died from an asthma attack early in the morning.

As the emergency services came and pronounced him dead, I went to my room and I prayed to God for a miracle asking Him to bring Him back, but there was no answer. ‘Is He in control?’.

It’s not only about death, but are many things that people go through and they cry out to the Lord asking for help, and sometimes receive silence as a response.

But, then you hear of stories of how God intervene or there was some miracle that happened and you ask the question, why didn’t God do that for me? Why am I singled out?

We all know that God isn’t a respecter of person (Romans 2:11 “11 For there is no partiality with God.”)

But how can we better understand this position, ‘is God in control?’, because if He is, then where is He? And if He isn’t, then why not? Who is in control?

I am not here to attack God, or put Him into a box, or even bring Him to our level, for 'Woe is me, for I am undone’ (Isaiah 6:5) for I am a sinner and but a mortal man.

But I hope that this message will help us better understand God and His love for us, that even though we have all these suffering God is triumphant in the end.

The church through persecution

Now consider this, as we consider the church from the book of Acts through to the Reformation, the church has experienced a lot of bloodshed, Jesus did speak of this:

Matthew 24:9–10 NLT

9 “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. 10 And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other.

In John 16:1-3

John 16:1–3 NLT

1 “I have told you these things so that you won’t abandon your faith. 2 For you will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God. 3 This is because they have never known the Father or me.

Jesus does warn us what following Him would be like. It’s no easy journey having faith in our Redeemer but He does warn us to prepare us for what will happen for those that believe.

But what baffles me is that if God is in control and if He is in control of the church, then we should know that it is God who shapes and directs the church, correct?

Do we believe that God directs the church? How many of you believe that God directs the church and when I mean the church, I mean the church throughout time. From the time of the apostles to now.

If we believe that God directs and controls the church, then explain this to me, how is it possible that the church was able to come of with doctrines that are contrary to His Word?

I mean look at all the doctrines that have diverted from the truth found in the Bible:

Sunday worship

Transubstantiation

Purgatory (Indulgences)

Infant baptism (or even sprinkling).

And the list goes on...

Sure there are some doctrines that Seventh-day Adventists agree with and there are some doctrines of the church that were put in place to control the believers. But take for example worshiping on Sunday. Now, some people might say that this was put in place and made official in 321 AD by Constantine, but the Christians have been practising this before 321AD and after the apostles.

Transubstantiation, the belief that the bread becomes the body of Christ and the blood becomes the blood of Christ making his death be repeated in every communion. Was that Biblical?

Now, you might be saying that that they were adding paganistic ideas into the church. The early church knew the difference between pagan and the Christian religion as these early Christians were taught by the apostles so they were kind of fresh out of the oven. I presume that these Christians were prayer warriors as well, so every decision they made and every teaching they came up with would have not been made off hand.

They would have had to have prayed for the guidance of the Holy Spirit and ask whether this or that was what God wanted for His church.

Kind of makes me think about us as well when we pray, I don’t want you to misunderstand me, I believe in prayer, prayer is important because prayer is an act of faith for His guidance/deliverance.

So, what do you think? If these early Christians were praying oftenly to Jesus, why have they veered away from the Word? Did God allow it? They wouldn’t have made these changes haphazardly or could it have been made out of convenience?

Yet the church still grew in size and we see in the book of Revelation regarding the messages to the churches that there isn’t mention of these false teachings apart from Gnosticism and the other isms.

Was God in control in regards to the formation of their beliefs? What about the prayers of the many saints calling out to Him through the flames?

Now I don’t have the answer to that question of course, but I know someone who does have that answer to that question and his name is Paul. In the book of Romans it says:

Romans 8:28–30 NLT

28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.

I could never answer why God would allow these teachings as well as sufferings to be allowed upon the church, again, who am I to tell my God what to do? Paul talks about this in Romans 9.

He says:

Romans 9:20–22 NLT

20 No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? 22 In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction.

Well, what does that mean? Let’s read some verses before that.

Romans 9:14–18 NLT

14 Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not! 15 For God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.” 16 So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it. 17 For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, “I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth.” 18 So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen.

You see, God allowed these things to happen in order for His love and glory to be shown to all. The sad fact is that if it wasn’t for these Christian martyrs the church wouldn’t have grown, but that wasn’t the result of men but the result of the Holy Spirit and men’s faithfulness to Jesus.

These lives that were lost wasn’t a means to an end, but a means to salvation because through those that have died, though their light was snuffed out by the evil one, yet their embers would light a fire that would win others to Jesus.

Don’t believe me?

Don’t believe me? My dad grew up Catholic, he was born on the 11 September 1938. I would suspect that my dad became rebellious because as he got older he would later become a Muslim and do the pilgrimage to Mecca. Fast forward my dad would eventually become an Adventist after 11 September 2001 and also through the influence of my mother (but of course the Holy Spirit).

At least when my dad passed away, I had surety knowing that he believes in the Lord and I hope to see him at the resurrection, but what was a surprise for me was when my sister-in-law asked for Bible studies that was a blessing as she came from a Buddhist background. My brother who wasn’t active in faith is now a Pathfinder District Director for South West Sydney, my mother who was not so much active at church is now an Elder (or Shepherdess) for the Indonesian church.

Through one man lives were changed, imagine then what changes people would make when you sacrifice a bit of something from your life (it doesn’t have to be death)? What legacy would you impart? Is God in control?

Those lives that were lost including the lives that suffered for their faith, God will bless them when they see Jesus coming in the clouds to meet them. Even though they gave their lives God will give them eternal life.

1 Peter 4:12–13 NLT

12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. 13 Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.

The Reformers - God the Refiner

And what of the truth? That is the teachings of the church, how is it that if the church was in God’s control then how has the church gone astray with its teachings?

As I mentioned before, they would have prayed asking for guidance from the Holy Spirit, so was it God’s intention to lead them astray?

Initially the church developed their theology on the resources available. They also had the intention of being set apart from their Jewish roots, this was because the some Jewish Christians were enforcing their ideas upon the Gentile Christians.

It was however unfortunate that what was meant to have a clearer understanding of God through the doctrines that it became a means to control the people in their belief and thus fear and torment became the burden on the followers of Christ.

The church wanted to be free from its Jewish roots to becoming the very people they didn’t want to become. History repeating itself, was God in control of that?

Although we can speculate how the early church veered away from the Biblical truths one thing was certain. God was working to correcting them and bringing them back to the Bible and through the reformers God was correcting the church’s way in shaping her to be in line with Him.

But the sad fact is that when the Reformers reformed, they didn’t proceed further in discovering more truths to the Bible. It’s like each denomination is but a step that doesn’t proceed further. Martin Luther discovered righteousness by faith and Sola Scriptura (scripture alone as the rule of faith and practice) but never progressed further, John Wesley, John Knox, John Calvin and so on, all reformed the church but never pressed on in discovering the Bible truth. All these reformers having the Bible before them and shaking the church to have a Biblical relationship with Jesus just didn’t pursue further into the truth.

Is God in control? Well, let’s look at it like this, is God in control in your life? How much of your life is He in control? How much control did God have on each each reformer if that’s the case?

We are mere instruments of the Lord, and in His time, the Lord will reform the church to the place where He wants it to be.

God is refining the church, just like the Israelites as they came out of Egypt and into the wilderness, so it is for the church as it comes out of Jerusalem, God is shaping and refining us and so there is a greater responsibility for us as Seventh-day Adventist Christians, it’s not to say that we’re at the pinnacle of Biblical truth but that we have a greater responsibility to press forward in Biblical truth and witness.

Jesus in the midst (He suffers with us)

Revelation 1:12–13 NLT

12 When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. 13 And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest.

The Son of Man, Jesus, is in the midst of the seven lampstands, the seven lampstands are the seven churches (Revelation 1:20). John the Revelator see Jesus in the midst of the seven churches throughout history.

Is God in control? God is in control of His church and His people, God is in the midst of them and when they suffer He suffers with them, when they go astray God remains with them. Like the cloud by day and the fire by night, the Lord is ever with His church and will guide them.

Isaiah 63:9 NLT

9 In all their suffering he also suffered, and he personally rescued them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years.

Is God in control? God is in control in our lives and we live by faith knowing He directs our paths, God’s people have an influence to the world for we are to be that light to shines in darkness and to be a witness to them that they may know Him, our Saviour and Redeemer.

If Jesus is in the midst of the churches throughout time, then where is He in your life? If God is truly in control how much control does the Lord have in your life? Are you willing to give to Him you all?

To those who overcome...

17 August 1991, it was a Sabbath day and me, my brother and my mum had just finished the service and lunch at Strathfield Chinese SDA church (trust me, if ever you want a wholesome and delicious potluck, you can’t go wrong with Chinese church’s potluck lunches - not saying anything bad about Waitara.)

It was time for us to go home, but like my mum, she would often go to Strathfield Plaza to shop around and buy somethings. I remember my mum driving down ‘The Boulevarde’ and then changing her mind and just going home. Now, I don’t know what impressed her in going back home, maybe God was telling her it was the Sabbath and that she needed to rest. I don’t know but as we returned home, me and my brother turned the TV on.

Guess what we saw on TV? That day, 8 people lost their lives, there was a shooting massacre at Strathfield Plaza that started around 3:30pm.

My friends, I don’t believe in coincidence, I believe that God is in control in those who believe in Him, when you believe in Him, He is ever with you and in our midst throughout all time, from Creation to now, He has always been with His people and cares for us and our salvation.

But is Jesus personally in the midst of your life? How much control is God having in your life?

Revelation 3:3–6 (NLT)

3 Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief. 4 “Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5 All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine. 6 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.

God is in control of my life, I am here as your pastor to testify to inform you He is very real, will you let Him control your life?