What Does God Control and What Does God Not Control? | Bible Questions & Answers

we are live good to see you welcome to the Columbus Bible Church livestream question and answer session we appreciate you being with us tonight please pray for our leaders that they would have wisdom they need to have wisdom to address the the civil unrest that's occurring which obviously needs to be addressed and needs to stop so first Timothy who tells us to pray for our leaders and we need to do that we're glad you're with us tonight let me open us in a word of Prayer and we will get started father God thank you for your word we thank you that it is flawless that you have preserved it for us that it is a sure and safe guide in all the issues of life help us to learn its precepts help us to apply them to our lives that we might lead lives that are in line with your word it's in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that we pray amen question what does God control and what does God not control and what that question goes to is what does God control of the events of life that happen on the earth and which of them which ones does he not now there's two common views that that I would say are both wrong the first view is that God controls everything in other words everything that happens every event he controls when you pull up to the stoplight and it turns yellow and then red right before you get there that's God and when you know you go to Taco Bell and they they don't have a enchirito that you want that's that's God too and so that view of God is that he controls everything that happens and that is wrong I'll show you why that is the second view is that God is essentially controls nothing that that what he does is this is the view of deism that God created the universe he put it in motion but then he stepped back from his creation and he allows things simply to play out without his involvement so one view is God controls everything every event that happens that's wrong another of you is God doesn't control any of the events that happens he just allows them to play out that's wrong as well the truth is somewhere in between and what I want to do is I want to look at I think it's eight different points let me confirm but it's eight different points that will help I think clarify this issue so let's start with point number one point number one is this get Revelation chapter 19 Revelation chapter 19 revelation 19 verse 6 revelation 19 verse 6 and I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude and as the voice of many waters and as the voice of mighty thunderings saying Alleluia for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth so is omnipotent a Bible word yes it is is God omnipotent yes he is what does omnipotent mean Omni means all potent is from the word for power so God has what all power is there anything that he cannot do is there anything he cannot control is there anything he cannot accomplish well he has he has all power it's very clear from revelation 19 verse 6 get with me Matthew chapter 11 so we see first of all that God has all power get with me Matthew chapter 11 the word omniscience is not a Bible word now that doesn't mean that God's not omniscient because the words not there it may just be that the words not there look with me at Matthew 11 verse 21 Matthew 11 verse 21 woe unto thee corazon whoa into the bethsaida for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes now think about what that verse is really saying what God is is saying in that verse is he says woe unto you Kors and won't you Bethsaida if the mighty works that were performed in you were performed and tyre and sidon what would have happened according to that verse well they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes look at verse 22 but I say unto you it shall be more tolerable for tyre and sidon that the day of the judgment then for you and thou Capernaum which art exalted unto heaven shall be brought down to hell for if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom it would have remained until this day now we know that Sodom was destroyed of course and Sodom was destroyed for its wickedness but what God says in that passage is that those mighty works were performed in Sodom what would have happened obviously the city would have repented and it would have remained until this day have you ever had thoughts in life where you wonder how would life have turned out if I made a different decision and for us that's unanswerable because we don't know we can't tell but what are those verses tell you about God's knowledge God not only knows all things he knows what would have happened had different things happened in other words had those works been performed in Sodom or in tyre and sidon those cities would have repented God has an understanding of not only what everything that has happened but everything that would have happened if there were different circumstances so I'm going to tell you God knows all things chapter 2 Acts chapter 2 Acts chapter 2 and let's look at verse 23 Acts chapter 2 verse 23 him being delivered by the determinate counsel notice and foreknowledge of God you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain did God have foreknowledge of the events that would involve Jesus Christ he did God had foreknowledge of exactly what would have happened of what was going to happen Romans chapter 8 Romans chapter 8 Romans 8 and verse 29 for whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren did God four know the body of Christ yes so think about this if you think about the chart and you're back here and you lets us say you're right here and you read the prophecies so you draw up the chart as it is what do you know about the mystery Zippo zilch nada you can't tell that it's there but what did that verse just tell you about whether God knew it was there he foreknew it because he planned it the whole time look with me at Romans 11 verse 2 Romans 11 and verse 2 God hath not cast away his people which he what foreknew does God know how everything is going to play out I mean think about this with me just for a minute in Zechariah hundreds of years before the Lord Jesus Christ is born scripture records that Jesus Christ is going to be betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of silver now imagine that do you think you can even predict the currency of the world five years of advance can you know what people will be using how would you guess the currency how would you guess whether it's gold pieces or silver pieces or platinum or cookies or how would you know you wouldn't have any idea and how would you guess the amount the number you wouldn't have any ability to do that yet scripture records in Zechariah 11 that the Lord Jesus Christ going to be betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of silver how does that happen unless God the Father knows the end from the beginning he does he does he does he does little B in 1st Peter chapter 1 first Peter chapter 1 and verse 2 first Peter chapter 1 and verse 2 elect according to the foreknowledge of God so we see again God's foreknowledge so point number 1 which I want you to get is this God is omnipotent we saw that clearly he knows all things he has foreknowledge of all things he knows the end from the beginning and he knows what would have happened had other things occurred so he knows all that point number 2 there are a small number of things that God for ordained so did God know everything in advance yes he knew them but did he purpose everything in advance no he didn't he for ordained a small number of things look with me at Acts chapter 2 we're gonna go back to Acts chapter 2 we were there just a minute ago look at Acts chapter 2 and X chapter 2 and verse 23 him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God why was the Lord Jesus Christ delivered to be put to death it was by the counsel in other words it was by God's wise choosing and what else the foreknowledge of God in other words God knew all about this he foreordained he determined that that would happen it was his determinate counsel look at me at first Peter chapter 1 see people sometimes have the idea that God for ordained where they were gonna eat lunch and there's no verse that says that first Peter 1 verse 19 but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times for you so Jesus Christ was foreordained from where from before the foundation of the world all the way over there God for ordained the Lord Jesus Christ what was in the Acts chapter 10 Acts chapter 10 Acts chapter 10 and let's look at verse 41 Acts chapter 10 verse 41 not to all the people but unto witnesses chosen before of God even to us who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead so did God choose the witnesses that were going to bear testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ he did look with me at first Corinthians chapter 2 so we can see there's some things that the Lord specifically for ordained that he purposed with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ 1st Corinthians chapter 2 verse 7 but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory the mystery was ordained before the world unto our glory so just pause there for a minute was the mystery Plan B was the mystery God saw how history played out he looked at the chronology and said 'you know i don't like the direction that this is going so I'm gonna pull a switcheroo is that what happened or did God always purpose the mystery to occur he just didn't reveal it it was always God's intent for the mystery dispensation to exist he just didn't tell people about it until it was his timing look with me at Ephesians 1 we've talked before about the fact that when you look at the word predestination it really only occurs in two passages Romans 8 and Ephesians 1 and we're not going to take the time to perform that whole study tonight but I want you to notice one thing Ephesians 1 verse 9 having predestinated us unto the adoption Romans 8:23 defines the adoption as to wit the redemption of our body in other words the adoption is the catching up of the body of Christ in the body of Christ receiving new bodies it's the redemption of our body Ephesians 1 says your predestinated unto the adoption doesn't say your predestinated to be saved doesn't say your predestinated as to who you marry doesn't say your predestinated to get water baptized doesn't say a pre-dinner state to any of those things but the body of Christ is predestined under the adoption so think with me just for a moment the dispensation of grace has lasted roughly 2,000 years during that time believers were born at certain times they died at certain times they got saved at different points in life there's all sorts of differences in the circumstances of their earthly experience some died in the womb some died as infants some lived to be a hundred years old some were martyred some died of old age there are differences in in people's life experience and God doesn't necessarily predestinate any of those there's no verse it says he does that but what God does predestinate is he breed essen AIT's the body of Christ under the adoption so think through that with me just for a minute when you get saved you may live another second you may live 70 years 80 years there's different things that may happen but the one thing that has to happen that absolutely must happen is you have to get a new body right God's not gonna allow you into heaven for all eternity without a new body so what God did is he predestinated the body of Christ as a group to the adoption he didn't predestinate when you're gonna die or how you're gonna die but he predestinated you to the adoption now here's what I want you to get the predestination the things that are foreordained that we've looked at are very narrow he didn't predestined everything happened during the dispensation of grace he predestinated the adoption he didn't predestinate everything that happened in time past he predestinated some things related to the Lord Jesus Christ and his death for man's sin and and the witnesses that the poor witness to it but there's thousands millions of events and circumstances that God did not for ordain point number three God does what he needs to do to accomplish his purposes so look with me at Matthew 24 we've established that God doesn't control all the circumstances of life because there's no verse that says that but there are some things that he clearly does and I'll give you an example Matthew 24 verse 35 heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away now you know what that verse tells you that tells you that God is active in history and he will not let his word be destroyed if he says heaven and earth will pass away but my word will not pass away guess what you can become of his words not going to pass away he's going to do whatever he determines to do to cause that to happen if he doesn't that verse is false and he is a liar and he most certainly is not a liar which tells you that God does whatever is necessary for history throughout history so that his word does not pass away live with me at Romans 11:26 Romans 11:26 Romans chapter 11 and verse 26 and so all Israel shall be saved as it is written there shall come out of Zion the deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob verse twenty nine for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance and what you think through this with me during the dispensation of grace is there a difference between Jew and Gentile there's not right Romans 10 12 tells you for there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek well if there's no difference between the Jew and the Greek during the dispensation of grace why does Israel suffer such incredible persecution during the dispensation of grace have you ever looked at that you realize during the dispensation of grace the Jews have been persecuted in in India they've been persecuted in Czarist Russia in Soviet Russia they've been persecuted in Nazi Germany they've persecuted by Iran by Iraq in other words you could go down a list after Liz you know just country after country after country after country where Jews have been persecuted well why today there's no difference between the Jew and the Greek well I'm gonna tell you here's why you can decide for yourself does God have a future purpose that he's going to accomplish with Israel yes he does does Satan know about that future purpose yes he does does he want to defeat that future purpose yes he does so here's the example you ready think of the prophetic program as a basketball game and so the basketball game is going on and then what happens during the basketball game is there's a timeout because really what happens is the dispensation of grace is a timeout in the prophetic calendar right so just pause for let's think about this one for a minute what would have happened if there was no dispensation of grace what would have happened is during the book of Acts the the 70th week would have occurred right the man of sin would have been revealed the son of perdition and the events of the 70th week would have happened all of that would have taken place the reason it didn't take place is the prophetic calendar was put on hold because what did God do with the mystery he called a timeout he said I'm not fulfilling prophecy I will in the future but I'm not doing it now and what I'm doing now there's no difference between Jew and Greek over here look at Israel look at Gentiles is there a separation between the two does Israel have a superior position absolutely Ephesians 2 11 and 12 tells you that that superior position will resume after the rapture it will return now here's my opinion you can decide for yourself if the timeline of history is like a basketball game and if the dispensation of grace is an interruption of that basketball game it's a timeout you know what Satan would like to do during that timeout well he's the coach of the bad team and so what he wants to do during that timeout is walk over to the opposing bench of the good team pull out a submachine gun and kill a ball so that when the referee says hey time for the game to resume oh I'm so sorry you don't have a team I guess we win Oh what what bad luck for you and so what he wants to do during the dispensation of grace is even though Jew and Gentile are equivalent he would love to destroy the Jew during the dispensation of grace so that God's purposes with Israel can't be accomplished the problem with that is Satan's strength is this and God the Father strength is this so how well is its plan going to succeed zero chance there may be some casualties there may be people that are killed there may be millions that are killed but it's Satan going to destroy Israel during the dispensation of grace no because God the Father won't let it happen the gifts and calling of God are without repentance what God promised to Israel and time past is going to be accomplished Satan cannot have all sorts of fury and objection and scheming and it's not going to prevent the purposes of God from being accomplished guarantee first Corinthians chapter 10 now sometimes people will say God intervenes in history to accomplish his purposes I personally don't phrase it that way and I'll tell you why look at first Corinthians 10 26 now by the way what you'll hear people say sometime is they'll say this world belongs to Satan well that's not true 2nd Corinthians 4:4 says Satan is the god of this world but the earth belongs to God the Father how do I know that first Corinthians chapter 10 verse 26 for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof so who's the earth belong to according to that verse louia verse 28 but if any man say unto you this is offered in sacrifice unto idols eat not for his sake that showed it and for conscience sake for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof so who does the earth belong to well this isn't that hard who created it Jesus Christ created it because Colossians 1:16 tells you that he created all things and by him all things consist so this earth is his it's not Satan's when when 2nd Corinthians 4 says that Satan is the god of this world it doesn't mean Satan owns the world what it means is Satan is whom this world worships but make no mistake this world is the Lord's it belongs to him he created it and it never ceased to be his okay so my point is this God doesn't intervene when he takes action upon the earth because it's his you don't intervene when you mow your front lawn right it's your lawn you can mow it however you want to do it you're not intervening you're not interfering you're not out of place it's yours well that's the same thing with the earth the earth belongs to the Lord and he's gonna do with it what he wants now Satan is gonna misbehave and try to oppose what God wants to do but he's not going to ultimately be successful point number four are you ready much of life on this earth happens by chance it's not all for ordained it's not predestinated things just happen guilty Deuteronomy 22 Deuteronomy chapter 22 now you know just to do this efficiently here's what we're gonna do we're gonna pull up our old friend blue letter Bible we're gonna type chants wildcard we're gonna hit search we're gonna let the search engine process and lo and behold look at this the word chance appears ten times in the scripture Deuteronomy 22 verse sex if a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way now does that mean that God gave that bird wisdom to build the nest right there so you would happen upon it or did it just happen by chance well according to that verse it happened by chance first samuel 6-9 and see if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to beth shemesh then he hath done us this great evil but if not then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us it was a chance that happened to us see the Philistines were trying to figure something out they took possession of the Ark because they bested Israel in combat and they said we'll take that the Ark is ours and so they think they've won a victory over Israel and they have the Ark and this is just great they set the ark in the temple before their God Dagon right and and Dagon is this statute that can't talk he's literally dumb he can't talk so they set the arc there and what happens the next day Dagon bowels down - it happened guys came over here we got to pick Dagon up he accidentally fell down and is worshiping the true gods Ark so then what happens they set him back up the next day his arms are broken well I wonder what happened there so even the dumbest Philistine has to say what's going on here and then they get plagues they suffer things and they realize wait a minute we beat Israel Marik militarily we took the ark but it just sort of feels like this wasn't a great decision to take the ark maybe we should have left it there so what they say is look here's what we're gonna do we're gonna put the Ark on a cart and we're gonna see which way it goes and if it goes that way it's chance and if it goes that way the Lord did something to us and guess what it went that way then the point was it was God doing something but what did they understand are there elements are there events of life that are just chance and the answer is yes there are there are things that just happen not everything is something that is for ordained by God get with me Luke 10 Luke chapter 10 I hope you you come to understand this and see this because otherwise you're gonna be looking for God's will in the most Manute things right well I bought this six-pack of Pop but one of the cans was empty and it was a divine sign that I need to be filled with the spirit because I'm not and so I mean that's just crazy talk but that's looking for God's will in the minutia of life that is random rather than where his will is objectively expressed look with me at Luke 10 verse 31 now by the way Luke 10 verse 31 what color are the letters they're red if you have a red letter Bible and which you probably shouldn't but and by chance there came down a certain priest that way and when he saw me pass by on the other side out of the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ he says things happen by chance so if you want to say well first Samuel that was just the Philistine saying something happened by chance and they don't know anything I mean they're worshipping a God made out of stone I mean what are those people know what does the Lord Jesus Christ himself say about it he thinks there's chance look with me in Ecclesiastes chapter 9 Ecclesiastes chapter 9 verse 11 I returned and saw Under the Sun that the race is not to the Swift nor the battle to the strong neither yet bread to the wise nor yet riches to men of understanding nor yet favor to men of skill but time and chance happeneth to them all so think about that do the Swift always win do the strong always win did the wise always prevail well apparently life has lots of time and chance is there such a thing as being in the right place at the right time there is according to that right because there's events in life that are chance now what you may say about is well that doesn't seem fair that means there's things that happen in life at random of course there are but you realize the events of life that matter are not the earthly circumstantial events the the events of life that matter are the spiritual events right whatever happens in your circumstances doesn't amount to it to anything the things that matter are you need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved you need to believe his word you'd understand who your apostle is and you need to walk in that truth and walking in that truth is not dependent upon the circumstances of life Luke me at Daniel chapter 3 Daniel chapter 3 Daniel chapter three Daniel chapter three verse 17 if it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us out of thine hand O king but if not be it known under the O king that we will not serve thy God's nor worship the golden image which thou has set up you see what's going on there so Nebuchadnezzar says that the children of Israel you have to worship this idolatrous image that I set up and they say not gonna do it not gonna do it God can deliver us out of your hand and we think he will but but even if he doesn't we're still not gonna commit this act of idolatry we're gonna do what's right now notice what's going on there is God able to load to deliver his people well of course he is because God's omnipotent he can do whatever he wants but does he always the Hebrew children were delivered are there millions of Saints throughout history that were not yeah there are you don't make the decision of what you're gonna do based upon what the earthly outcome is you make the decision based upon what the verse tells you if the verse tells you that you should avoid idolatry and that this is the right thing to do then do the right thing and let the consequences be whatever the consequences are that's just the way to think about it from the from the scriptures look at me at Luke 13 Luke chapter 13 Luke 13 verse 2 and Jesus answering said unto them suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things that's from verse 1 there were some galilaeans that were slain by Pilate verse 3 I tell you nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish well those eighteen upon whom the tower and cilium fell and slew them think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem I tell you nay but except you repair repent ye shall all likewise perish now here's what happens you ready what people do is there's a calamity that falls someone and they say aha there was secret sin in his life maybe he wasn't tithing he did something to displease God and that's why he got in a car accident that's why he got cancer that's why whatever and what people do is they look at the events of life and say that event happened because you did something to deserve it and what does the Lord Jesus Christ say about that he says that's superstition right that's not the reason things happen the the folks on whom the tower in Siloam fell were they were sinners nope they just happened to be in that place at that time time and chance happeneth to them all you know there's just there's just things that happen by by chance I know someone wants where this person was receiving a diagnosis of cancer this person was and the the person he asked the question he said why did this happen and what he was told was just good luck right it's just chanath it's just things that happen on the earth point number five God can influence the events of our lives if he chooses to do so so look with me at Romans chapter one romans chapter 1 romans chapter 1 verse 10 making requests if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you so what Paul saying there is I'm requesting that God would give me a prosperous journey he might choose to act so that I would have one he might not but he has the ability to do that and he could do that if he wants look with me at 1st Corinthians 16 1st Corinthians 16 verse 7 for I will not see you now by the way but I trust to tarry a while with you if the Lord permit another words I don't want to just stop by I'd like to spend some time with you if the Lord will allow it maybe he will maybe he won't but the idea is God can influence things if he chooses to do so a lot of times what happens is we think that we can boss God around and we can tell them to do this or to do that because we want it and you know just honestly it doesn't work that way we can pray about it but the idea that we can you know command God to do what we want is you know really a little bit presumptuous and ridiculous point number 6 we can pray about the events of life some have the idea that we shouldn't pray about the events of life but let's look and see what Paul says about that so look with me at 2nd Thessalonians chapter 3 2nd Thessalonians chapter 3 2nd Thessalonians and chapter 3 verse 1 finally brethren pray for us that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified even an even as it is with you and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men did Paul request prayers that he be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men he did he does that right in other words he wanted to go about his his course he wanted to do the ministry work that was given to him and his prayer was the Lord deliver me from the wicked that want to harm me and he asked the Thessalonians to pray along that same line look with me at Philemon Philemon Philemon and look with me at verse 20 to Philemon 22 but withal prepare me a lodging for I trust that through your prayers I shall be given unto you that's a later epistle right there and what is he saying pray for me that I'd be given unto you I trust that through your prayers I shall be given unto you what he's saying is if you pray about this what I'm hoping and expect will happen is God will cause me to be released that I can come unto you he was obviously thinking that the prayers would affect his physical circumstance whether or not he would be held in prison look with me at Romans 15 Romans 15 verse 30 now I beseech you brethren for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake and for the love of the Spirit that you strive together with me and your prayers to God for me that I may be delivered he's talking there about physical deliverance that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the Saints go with me Philippians 2 now Philippians 2 Philippians is one of the later epistles that Paul writes he writes it after acts 28 Philippians chapter 2 verse 25 yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and companion in labor and fellow soldier but your messenger and he that ministered to my once for he longed after you all and was full of heaviness because they he had heard that he had been sick for indeed he was sick nigh unto death so was this guy physically sick yeah he was sick and how sick was he he was sick such that he was nigh on to death he almost died from it what does the verse say but God had mercy on him this is one of Paul's later epistles but God had mercy on him and not on him only but on me also lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow now what all those verses tell you does Paul pray about physical things he does pray about physical things he prays to be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men that's a physical deliverance he prays to be let out of prison in Philemon and he asks other people to pray about that in in Philippians 2 he's obviously talking there about God having mercy on someone that was sick nigh unto death so can we pray about physical things well sure we can now that doesn't mean we can boss God around it doesn't mean we can say you know God I claim this and now you got to do this because I decided you have to I mean that's just silliness but but can you pray about those things yes you can give me Philippians chapter 4 Philippians chapter 4 point number seven is this Oh point seven if there is something on your heart pray about it don't abstain from prayer because you fear it may be an unintelligent prayer sometimes what happens is people have the idea well I can't pray about this and I can't pray about that and you know I'm gonna sort of not pray because I don't want to pray about the wrong thing well look what Philippians 4 verse 6 says Philippians 4:6 be careful for nothing in other words don't be overwhelmed don't be anxious don't be overcome with your care about things in other words if you're overwhelmed if you're emotionally just just in a panic in a fear don't be that way so what do you do but in everything in other words in every situation in every circumstance in every peril but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests who made known unto God so can you pray in every situation you can't according to that verse and notice what it says you do so by prayer and supplication you ask for things and it's okay to do that but how do you do it you do it with Thanksgiving now the reason you do it with Thanksgiving is this think about whatever circumstance that's problematic that you're going through or you have gone through whatever circumstance that is it pales in comparison to what you have in Christ so I'll give you an example you could lead a perfect so to speak earthly life you could have billions of dollars you could have good health you could live a long life you could have all sorts of luxuries you could have a lot of energy all that stuff and then after that you go to hell that's one option the other option is you lead a long life full of misery and physical pain and financial trouble and imprisonment and all sorts of bad things but you go to heaven would you take situation one or situation two you take situation one every single time right because who cares about a few moments on earth that are troublesome when you have all spiritual blessings in heavenly places for all eternity in Jesus Christ it doesn't make any sense to whine about the minutiae here well that's why Philippians 4 verse 6 talks about Thanksgiving in other words whatever we fit whatever is overwhelming us at the moment maybe it's coronavirus maybe it's fear of health consequences maybe it's some sort of disease that you have it could be a terminal condition right it could be physical pain it could be all that could be financial trouble could be the civil unrest there's there's a lot of things that could trouble your soul I get that we're on a sin cursed earth but do those things matter in comparison to eternity because you know it ends the worst thing that could happen to you is gonna end you're gonna die and then you're gonna be in heaven with Christ forever after the first 10,000 years with the Lord Jesus Christ are you gonna say I remember that time in 2020 when you know I had a really bad toothache I mean you're not gonna remember it right and even if it's a more severe thing you're not gonna remember it so that's why what I'm getting at is this in everything we do we need to have a foundation of thankfulness because what God has done for us is so extraordinary that just basic decency requires us to be thankful all right so verse 6 let your requests be made known unto God so can we request things yes it doesn't say commands it doesn't say we're the boss we can request things now all of that was a great verse right because you can pray in everything you do it with Thanksgiving you can let your requests made known unto God that's awesome verse 7 is even better watch this and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus here's what that is prayer is the pressure release valve of your life here's what I mean by that what happens when you have a circumstance that's so overwhelming you don't know how to deal with it you don't know what the answer is it doesn't seem like it's gonna get better it's just miserable and unpleasant what do you do well in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests made known unto God in other words you pray about it what happens then if you're still careful about it what if you're still worried you pray about it again and what you do is you keep praying about it and you know what's gonna happen at some point the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus here's what you do God I have this circumstance I have this situation that overwhelms me I have no idea what to do with it I pray Lord that you would resolve this for me and I pray you'd give me peace in the midst of it that may resolve it the first time if it doesn't you know what pray about it again and what you're essentially doing is this God I admit I ignored this problem is way too big for me so I'm gonna give it to you boom it's yours I can't solve it but you can so number one you might solve it and that'd be great number two if you don't solve it it's okay because I know that you love me I know that I'm complete in him and I know that you'll give me the grace to get through it so I don't have to sweat it I may not like it it may not get resolved the way I want it could be like Paul's thorn where the answer may be it's not going away you're gonna have to deal with it but what did the Lord say to Paul my grace is sufficient so God's grace will be sufficient even in the midst of the most extraordinary trials so that's why I love Philippians 4:6 and 7 it's the pressure relief valve of life you could deal with the problems by committing them into God's hand and continuing to pray about them until you come to peace about them because we know here's the bottom line we know the way history plays out and we're on the winning side that's the reality point eight the last point in the final analysis for the vast majority of things we can't know whether God did something or he didn't see here's how here's how you can tell if God wants you to know something he writes it down in this book does God tell you the date when you're gonna get your next job does he tell you when you're gonna get the next raise does he tell you the solution to your problem or do some problems have no solution earthly wise is what I mean by that well the point is the events of life you can't be sure what God did or didn't do because there's just circumstances of life we saw earlier that time and chance happen to all but don't let that trouble you let that think about that scripturally here's what I know irrespective of my financial condition irrespective of my health irrespective of my earthly circumstances I'm completing Christ Colossians 2:10 is absolutely clear on that so there may be circumstances I don't like there may be rough times all those things may happen but it doesn't fundamentally change who I am in Christ brethren we're on the winning side of history we are eternity for the body of Christ is going to be so fantastically phenomenal that no one can figure it out you know what happens I'll tell you a common thing people ask preachers all the time what heaven is going to be like and you've never met a preacher that had a good answer because what we end up saying is we end up saying things like it's better than you can imagine and it's true but it's so great that we fail to find words to describe it it's that awesome well how does that tell you how to think about this life don't sweat the stuff here because it just doesn't matter so hopefully that helps you think about the things God controls and what God doesn't control there's a lot of things he doesn't control but it's okay we are told everything that we need to know in this book let's close in a word of Prayer father God thank you for this time we thank you for your perfect word we pray Lord that each day we would walk in the light of it the we would hide your word in our hearts and that it would transform us from the inside out we pray these things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen [Music] [Music] you [Music] you [Music] you

Channel: Columbus Bible Church

Views: 4,012

Rating: 4.9310346 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: dACUpGJNFx8

Length: 52min 5sec (3125 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 10 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/thomaswhobelieves]

Ecclesiastes 9:11 (KJV) “I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race [is] not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.”

Reid deals skillfully with different aspects of God’s control in His plan, our lives, etc. in this teaching...very thought provoking !