Sermon Tone Analysis

*Sovereignty 3.*

We have been having a look at the subject of the sovereignty of God.

Alex led the meeting last time I spoke and did a bit of research: he looked up “sovereignty” in the Bible – only to find that it is not there!

Unless you use the NIV which, due to a peculiarity of translation, has it over 300 times.

So am I preaching something unbiblical?!

The word “sovereignty” may not be there, but the sovereignty of God is found everywhere you look throughout the whole Bible.

Not only everywhere you look in the Bible but everywhere around us – if only we open our eyes and see.

It depends whether you look from man’s point of view or from the Divine perspective *[P]* – which side of the coin you are looking at.

From the human point-of-view, we try to find out the reason behind things, we trace the cause back looking at the mechanism by which things take place – it gives us an idea of the “how” reason; but it doesn’t tell us the “why” – the real reason – that there is an active will and intelligence that decides, plans, initiates, directs and controls things.

*[P]* The prime cause – someone is driving the car, it is not just the effect of random physical processes.

God is in control of all things – He directs them as we control and direct streams of water *[P]*.

Last time I spoke I looked at God’s sovereignty over inanimate things *[P]* – things that can’t answer back, exercise their will and claim God is violating it.

Last time we looked at יהוה’s control over things on earth: in the atmosphere *[P]* – the weather; events on land *[P]* – geological phenomena such as earthquakes and volcanoes – that very afternoon we had a practical demonstration!

Then we looked at God’s control over the sea *[P]*.

Land, sea and air – that pretty much covers everything on earth, doesn’t it?

But I only got halfway through my sermon!

Land, sea and air – God is controlling them all; all that there is – but it doesn’t stop there.

His control goes beyond this planet, He controls *Celestial events:* *[P]* If you thought God was powerful before, you ain’t seen nothing yet!

You may say that I have been speaking of special events; sure, God can intervene in special circumstances – but* *every day in the so called ordinary things, it is God who is directing all things.

If you go down to the beach between 7:00 and 8:00 you can see the dawn.

Take with you a precise and accurate scientist with you, ask him what he saw – he won’t say he saw the earth rotate, but that he saw a beautiful sunrise – funny how they malign the Bible for its unscientific language.

It happens every day, the sun comes up.

Do you know what the Bible says?* [Amos 5:8*/ He who made the Pleiades and Orion /(those are constellations of stars in the heavens) /and changes deep darkness into morning, who also darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the surface of the earth, יהוה is His name./]

Each day and night is caused by God Himself.

You all know the story of Job – he suffered severely and, understandably, he had a bit of a grizzle Was God in control?

Why had this calamity befallen him when he was righteous?

He complained a bit about his rights, and wanted to uphold his cause before God – at the end of the book of Job יהוה Himself speaks – and causes Job to see that he is just a man – that God is sovereign, in control of all.

He brings Job down a peg – He says: *[Job 38:12*/ Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, and caused the dawn to know its place?!/]

You don’t need to answer – it is obvious: that is way beyond our control – but the implication is that Someone does call forth the dawn.

Jesus told us, didn’t He? *[Matthew 5:45*/ your Father who is in heaven, causes *His sun* to rise on the evil and the good./]

We arrogantly talk of “/our/ solar system” of “/our/ nearest star”, the sun – it is “HIS Sun”!

It doesn’t just come up, each day – “He causes it to rise”.

No God, no sunrise!

We are without excuse!

Every day that the sun comes up – we have a reminder of God actively involved, working, extending His grace and goodness – even to those who rile in His face!

Celestial events are under the active control of יהוה.

He made them in the first place; the very first words of the Bible say: *[Genesis 1:1*/ In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth—/ ] [*Genesis 1:14-16*/ And God said, “Let there be lights in the vaulted dome of heaven to separate day from night, and let them be as signs and for appointed times, and for days and years, and they shall be as lights in the vaulted dome of heaven to give light on the earth.”

And it was so.

And God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the smaller light to rule the night, and the stars./]

I just love the compressed brevity “/and the stars also/” – one day to create all the stars of the heavens – all of the billions of them dismissed in “/and the stars/”.

יהוה made them – cosmologist speak of a “big bang” – a mighty explosion or expansion whereby all the elements were scattered into space which random interactions over vast eons of time coalesced by gravity to form stars. Billions of years and random chance events – or one day and God deliberately making them – you have to decide which you are going to believe!

The Bible says that יהוה made them in one day, each individual one.

They didn’t just happen together.

Do you see how your world-view and philosophy are bound up in your science?

If it is just physical forces at work, random – then there is no motivator, no God, no purpose.

It’s all a cosmic accident – so too are our lives!

The Bible gives no credence to this.

The fool says in his heart, “there is no God.”

Massive and limitless are the heavens to us, the stars are innumerable, vast in their expanse, huge and powerful *[P]* – but the psalmist said [*Psalm 8:3*/ When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which You set in place—/] – they are merely the work of His fingers, no great slaving or effort [*Psalm 33:6*/ By the word of יהוה the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host./]

And there is a host of them – estimates vary by a factor of 100 but it is reckoned that there are around 1022 stars *[P]* – it says in: *[Psalm 147:4*/ He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them./]

*[Isaiah 40:25-26*/ “To whom then will you liken Me that I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing./]

יהוה calls them out by name – you would have a job thinking up that many names – but if you could, and you could remember them all, and called 10 names a second (which I very much doubt) – it would take you over a million, million years non-stop to call them all out.

יהוה calls them each by name, every night!

Not just a mass of millions of stars but each one individually, by name.

They are His: *[Psalm 89:11*/ The heavens are yours, the earth Yours as well, the world with its fullness, because You founded them./]

We read in Genesis 1 that when יהוה made the stars He said: “/let them be as signs/” – signs are meant to be taken notice of, you look at them, they tell you something, they have significance, they point to something!

We are meant to take notice of the stars!

Why so many stars?

What do they point to?

Well, one thing they demonstrate is the vastness of יהוה, His power and awesome greatness!

They show that He is God and utterly above and beyond puny man.

Listen to what יהוה said to Job: *[Job 38:31-33*/ “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, or can you loosen the cords of Orion?

Can you lead forth the southern constellations at their appointed time, or can you lead the Bear with its children?

Do you know heaven’s statutes, or can you establish their rule on the earth?/]

Well, can you?!

But יהוה does!

Hallelujah! *[Isaiah 42:5*/ Thus says God, יהוה, who created the heavens and stretched them out./]

*[Isaiah 48:13*/ Indeed, My hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they stand in position together./]

*[Psalm 74:16-17*/ Yours is the day, Yours also is the night; You have prepared the light and the sun./]

They are His and He controls them.

They do His bidding.

There is the everyday movement, not random but held together in constellations, at their appointed time.

Stars mark time – in fact their whole existence is bound up in the fabric of time.

But יהוה is sovereign – He controls them to do His specific will.

In the days of Joshua conquering the Promised Land, they were involved in a battle against the Amorites – they were routing them, but they were running out of daylight [*Joshua 10:12-14*/ Then Joshua spoke to יהוה, on the day יהוה gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun in Gibeon, stand still; and moon, in the valley of Aijalon.”

And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on its enemies.

Is it not written in the scroll of Jashar?

The sun stood still in the middle of the heaven and was not in haste to set for about a full day.

There has not been a day like this before it or after that יהוה listened to the voice of a man; for יהוה fought for Israel./]

I have heard it argued that the sun didn’t actually stand still, that if the earth had stopped rotating the sea would have sloshed in mighty tidal waves; it was refraction of light – well maybe – but surely if God can stop the earth rotating, He can also control the sea as well.

But the “how” God did it isn’t important, rather the fact that He actually did it.

He is in sovereign control over the heavens.

There was a most momentous event in history: God’s own Son was going to be born in human form!

The stars are for signs!

So יהוה wrote a message in the heavens – He called forth a special star – presumably the star was visible across the entire northern hemisphere, but it seems that only a few wise men from the east saw it as a sign and understood its significance.

They travelled to Jerusalem and made inquiry of king Herod [*Matthew 2:2*/ saying, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews?

For we have seen His star at its rising and have come to worship him.”/]

They were told where the Messiah was prophesied to be born [*Matthew 2:9-10*/ After they listened to the king, they went out, and behold, the star which they had seen at its rising led them until it came and stood above the place where the child was.

Now when they saw the star, they rejoiced with very great joy/], it led them!

יהוה was directing the heavens, the exact position and timing of this star – in sovereign control.

When Jesus was crucified [*Matthew 27:45-46*/ Now from the sixth hour, darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour.

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”

(that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”)/] Have you ever seen a solar eclipse – they don’t last 3 hours; anyway it is the wrong time of the month.

No, again the “how” is not important but the “who” and “why” – יהוה did it, there was His Son bearing the sin of the world in His body and the Father hid His face from Him, forsook Him – and as He turned His face the light was blotted out.

יהוה intervened in the celestial order and He did so with a will and a purpose – it was a sign, He was saying something through His sovereign control over inanimate things.

The cosmologists say that the heavens have been there for billions of years and will last billions more – but to יהוה they are transient.

They are serving His purpose but they will wear out.

He will be finished with them.

The end will come and: [*Joel 2:30-31*/ and *I will set* wonders in the heavens, and on earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.