The Sovereignty of God
By Arthur W. Pink
Chapter
Twelve - The Value Of This Doctrine
"All
Scripture is given by inspiration of God,
And is
profitable for doctrine, For reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, Thoroughly furnished unto
all good works" (2 Tim. 3:16, 17).
"All
Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God
may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim. 3:16,
17). "Doctrine" means "teaching," and it is by doctrine or
teaching that the great realities of God and of our relation to Him-of Christ,
the Spirit, salvation, grace, glory-are made known to us. It is by doctrine
(through the power of the Spirit) that believers are nourished and edified, and
where doctrine is neglected growth in grace and effective witnessing for Christ
necessarily cease. How sad then that doctrine is now decried as
"unpractical" when, in fact, doctrine is the very base of the
practical life. There is an inseparable connection between belief and practice:
"As he thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Prov. 23:7). The relation
between Divine truth and Christian character is that of cause to effect:
"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free"
(John 8:32)-free from ignorance, free from prejudice, free from error, free
from the wiles of Satan, free from the power of evil; and if the truth is not
"known" then such freedom will not be enjoyed. Observe the order of
mention in the passage with which we have opened. All Scripture is profitable
first for "doctrine"! The same order is observed throughout the
Epistles, particularly in the great doctrinal treatises of the Apostle Paul.
Read the Epistle of "Romans" and it will be found that there is not a
single admonition in the first five chapters. In the Epistle of
"Ephesians" there are no exhortations till the fourth chapter is
reached. The order is first doctrinal exposition and then admonition or
exhortation for the regulation of the daily walk.
The
substitution of so-called "practical" preaching for the doctrinal
exposition which it has supplanted is the root cause of many of the evil
maladies which now afflict the Church of God. The reason why there is so little
depth, so little intelligence, so little grasp of the fundamental verities of
Christianity is because so few believers have been established in the faith
through hearing expounded and through their own personal study of the doctrines
of grace. While their soul is unestablished in the doctrine of the Divine
Inspiration of the Scripture, their full and verbal inspiration, there can be
no firm foundation for faith to rest upon. While the soul is ignorant of the
doctrine of Justification there can be no real and intelligent assurance of its
acceptance in the Beloved. While the soul is unacquainted with the teaching of
the Word upon Sanctification it is open to receive all the crudities and errors
of the Perfectionists or "Holiness" people. While the soul knows not
what Scripture has to say upon the doctrine of the New Birth there can be no
proper grasp of the two natures in the believer, and ignorance here inevitably
results in the loss of peace and joy. And so we might go on right through the
list of Christian doctrine. It is ignorance of doctrine that has rendered the
professing church helpless to cope with the rising tide of infidelity. It is
ignorance of doctrine which is mainly responsible for thousands of professing
Christians being captivated by the numerous false isms of the day. It is
because the time has now arrived when the bulk of our churches "will not
endure sound doctrine" (2 Tim. 4:3) that they so readily receive false
doctrines. Of course it is true that doctrine, like anything else in Scripture,
may be studied from a merely cold intellectual viewpoint, and thus approached,
doctrinal teaching and doctrinal study will leave the heart untouched, and will
naturally be "dry" and profitless. But, doctrine properly received,
doctrine studied with an exercised heart, will ever lead into a deeper knowledge
of God and of the unsearchable riches of Christ.
The
doctrine of God's Sovereignty then is no mere metaphysical dogma which is
devoid of practical value, but is one that is calculated to produce a powerful
effect upon Christian character and the daily walk. The doctrine of God's
Sovereignty lies at the foundation of Christian theology, and in importance is
perhaps second only to the Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures. It is the
center of gravity in the system of Christian truth: the sun around which all
the lesser orbs are grouped. It is the golden milestone to which every highway
of knowledge leads and from which they all radiate. It is the cord upon which
all other doctrines are strung like so many pearls, holding them in place and
giving them unity. It is the plumbline by which every creed needs to be
measured, the balance in which every human dogma must be weighed. It is
designed as the sheet-anchor for our souls amid the storms of life. The
doctrine of God's Sovereignty is a Divine cordial to refresh our spirits. It is
designed and adapted to mold the affections of the heart and to give a right
direction to conduct. It produces gratitude in prosperity and patience in
adversity. It affords comfort for the present and a sense of security respecting
the unknown future. It is, and it does all, and much more than we have just
said because it ascribes to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the glory which
is His due, and places the creature in his proper place before Him-in the dust.
We shall
now consider the Value of the doctrine in detail.
1. IT
DEEPENS OUR VENERATION OF THE DIVINE CHARACTER.
The
doctrine of God's Sovereignty as it is unfolded in the Scriptures affords an
exalted view of the Divine perfections. It maintains His creatorial rights. It
insists that "to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all
things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and
we by Him" (1 Cor. 8:6). It declares that His rights are those of the
"potter" who forms and fashions the clay into vessels of whatever
type and for whatever use He may please. Its testimony is "Thou hast
created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created" (Rev.
4:11). It argues that none has any right to "reply" against God, and
that the only becoming attitude for the creature to take is one of reverent
submission before Him. Thus the apprehension of the absolute supremacy of God
is of great practical importance, for unless we have a proper regard to His
high Sovereignty He will never be honored in our thoughts of Him, nor will He
have His proper place in our hearts and lives.
It
exhibits the inscrutableness of His wisdom. It shows that while God is
immaculate in His holiness He has permitted evil to enter His fair creation;
that while He is the Possessor of all power He has allowed the Devil to wage
war against Him for six thousand years at least; that while He is the perfect
embodiment of love He spared not His own Son; that while He is the God of all
grace multitudes will be tormented for ever and ever in the Lake of Fire. High
mysteries are these. Scripture does not deny them, but acknowledges their
existence: "0 the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of
God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!"
(Rom. 11:33).
It makes
known the irreversibleness of His will. "Known unto God are all His works
from the beginning of the world" (Acts 15:18). From the beginning God
purposed to glorify Himself "in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all
ages, world without end" (Eph. 3:21). To this end He created the world and
formed man. His all-wise plan was not defeated when man fell, for in the Lamb
"slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8) we behold the
Fall anticipated. Nor will God's purpose be thwarted by the wickedness of men
since the Fall, as is clear from the words of the Psalmist "Surely the
wrath of man shall praise Thee: the remainder of wrath shalt Thou
restrain" (Psa. 76:10). Because God is the Almighty His will cannot be
withstood. "His purposes originated in eternity, and are carried forward
without change to eternity. They extend to all His works, and control all
events. He 'worketh all things after the counsel of His own will'" (Dr.
Rice). Neither man nor Devil can successfully resist Him, therefore is it
written, "The Lord reigneth; let the people tremble" (Psa. 99:1).
It
magnifies His grace. Grace is unmerited favor, and because grace is shown to
the undeserving and Hell-deserving, to those who have no claim upon God, therefore
is grace free and can be manifested toward the chief of sinners. But because
grace is exercised toward those who are destitute of worthiness or merit grace
is Sovereign; that is to say, God bestows grace upon whom He pleases. Divine
Sovereignty has ordained that some shall be cast into the Lake of Fire to show
that all deserved such a doom. But grace comes in like a dragnet and draws out
from a lost humanity a people for God's name, to be throughout all eternity the
monuments of His inscrutable favor. Sovereign grace reveals God breaking down
the opposition of the human heart, subduing the enmity of the carnal mind, and
bringing us to love Him because He first loved us.
2. IT IS
THE SOLID FOUNDATION OF ALL TRUE RELIGION.
This
naturally follows from what we have said above under the first head. If the
doctrine of Divine Sovereignty alone gives God His rightful place, then it is
also true that it alone can supply a firm base for practical religion to build
upon. There can be no progress in Divine things until there is the personal
recognition that God is Supreme, that He is to be feared and revered and He is
to be owned and served as Lord. We read the Scriptures in vain unless we come
to them earnestly desiring a better knowledge of God's will for us: any other
motive is selfish and utterly inadequate and unworthy. Every prayer we send up
to God is but carnal presumption unless it be offered "according to His
will": anything short of this is to ask 'amiss' that we might consume upon
our own lusts the thing requested! Every service we engage in is but a
"dead work" unless it be done for the glory of God. Experimental
religion consists mainly in the perception and performance of the Divine will,
performance both active and passive. We are predestinated to be "conformed
to the image of God's Son" whose meat it ever was to do the will of the
One that sent Him, and the measure in which each saint is becoming
"conformed" practically, in his daily life, is largely determined by
his response to our Lord's word "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me;
for I am meek and lowly in heart."
3. IT
REPUDIATES THE HERESY OF SALVATION BY WORKS.
"There
is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of
death" (Prov. 14:12). The way which "seemeth right" and which
ends in "death," death eternal, is salvation by human effort and
merit. The belief in salvation by works is one that is common to human nature.
It may not always assume the grosser form of Popish penances, or even of
Protestant "repentance," i.e., sorrowing for sin, which is never the
meaning of repentance in Scripture; anything which gives man a place at all is
but a variety of the same evil genus. To say, as alas! many preachers, are
saying, God is willing to do His part if you will do yours, is a wretched and
excuseless denial of the Gospel of His grace. To declare that God helps those
who help themselves is to repudiate one of the most precious truths taught in
the Bible, and in the Bible alone; namely, that God helps those who are unable
to help themselves, who have tried again and again only to fail. To say that
the sinner's salvation turns upon the action of his own will is another form of
the God-dishonoring dogma of salvation by human efforts. In the final analysis,
any movement of the will is a work: it is something from me, something which I
do. But the doctrine of God's Sovereignty lays the axe at the root of this evil
by declaring "It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that sheweth mercy" (Rom. 9:16). Does some one say, Such a doctrine
will drive sinners to despair. The reply is, Be it so; it is just such despair
the writer longs to see prevail. It is not until the sinner despairs of any
help from himself that he will ever fall into the arms of Sovereign mercy; but
if once the Holy Spirit convicts him that there is no help in himself then he
will recognize that he is lost, and will cry, "God be merciful to me a
sinner," and such a cry will be heard. If the author may be allowed to
bear personal witness, he has found during the course of his ministry that the
sermons he has preached on human depravity, the sinner's helplessness to do
anything himself, and the salvation of the soul turning upon the Sovereign
mercy of God, have been those most owned and blessed in the salvation of the
lost. We repeat, then, a sense of utter helplessness is the first prerequisite
to any sound conversion. There is no salvation for any soul until it looks away
from itself, looks to something, yea, to Someone, outside of itself.
4. IT IS
DEEPLY HUMBLING TO THE CREATURE.
This
doctrine of the absolute Sovereignty of God is a great battering-ram against
human pride, and in this it is in sharp contrast from the "doctrines of
men." The spirit of our age is essentially that of boasting and glorying
in the flesh. The achievements of man, his development and progress, his
greatness and self-sufficiency, are the shrine at which the world worships
today. But the truth of God's Sovereignty, with all its corollaries, removes
every ground for human boasting and instills the spirit of humility in its
stead. It declares that salvation is of the Lord-of the Lord in its
origination, in its operation, and in its consummation. It insists that the
Lord has to apply as well as supply, that He has to complete as well as begin
His saving work in our souls, that He has not only to reclaim but to maintain
and sustain us to the end. It teaches that salvation is by grace through faith,
and that all our works (before conversion), good as well as evil, count for
nothing toward salvation. It tells us we are "born, not of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13). And all this is
most humbling to the heart of man who wants to contribute something to the
price of his redemption and do that which will afford ground for boasting and
self-satisfaction.
But if
this doctrine humbles us it results in praise to God. If, in the light of God's
Sovereignty, we have seen our own worthlessness and helplessness we shall
indeed cry with the Psalmist "All my springs are in Thee" (Psa.
87:7). If by nature we were "children of wrath," and by practice
rebels against the Divine government and justly exposed to the
"curse" of the Law, and if God was under no obligation to rescue us
from the fiery indignation and yet, notwithstanding, He delivered up His
well-beloved Son for us all; then how such grace and love will melt our hearts,
how the apprehension of it will cause us to say in adoring gratitude "Not
unto us, 0 LORD, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy, and
for Thy truth's sake" (Psa. 115:1). How readily shall each of us
acknowledge "By the grace of God I am what I am! With what wondering
praise shall we exclaim-
"Why
was I made to hear His voice,
And enter
while there's room,
When
thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather
starve than come?
'Twas the
same love that spread the feast,
That
sweetly forced us in;
Else we
had still refused to taste
And
perished in our sin."
5. IT
AFFORDS A SENSE OF ABSOLUTE SECURITY.
God is
infinite in power and therefore it is impossible to withstand His will or
resist the outworking of His decrees. Such a statement as that is well
calculated to fill the sinner with alarm, but from the saint it evokes naught
but praise. Let us add a word and see what a difference it makes: My God is
infinite in power! then "I will not fear what man can do unto me." My
God is infinite in power, then "what time I am afraid I will trust in
Him." My God is infinite in power, then I will both lay me down in peace,
and sleep: "for Thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety" (Psa.
4:8). Right down the ages this has been the source of the saints' confidence.
Was not this the assurance of Moses when, in his parting words to Israel, he
said "There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun (Israel), who rideth
upon the Heaven in Thy help, and in His excellency on the sky. The eternal God
is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. 33:26, 27)?
Was it not this sense of security that caused the Psalmist, moved by the Holy
Spirit to write "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, He is my
refuge and my fortress, my God: in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver
thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall
cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth
shall be thy shield and buckler: Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by
night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that
walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A
thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right band, but it
shall not come nigh thee. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge,
even the Most High thy Habitation; There shall no evil befall thee (instead,
all things will work together for good), neither shall any plague come nigh thy
dwelling" (Psa. 91:1-7, 9-10)?
"Death
and plagues around me fly,
Till He bid,
I cannot die;
Not a
single shaft can hit,
Till the
God of love sees fit."
Oh the
preciousness of this truth! Here am I, a poor, helpless, senseless
"sheep," yet am I secure in the hand of Christ. And why am I secure
there? None can pluck me thence because the hand that holds me is that of the
Son of God, and all power in Heaven and earth is His! Again; I have no strength
of my own: the world, the flesh, and the Devil, are arrayed against me so I
commit myself into the care and keeping of the Lord and say with the Apostle
"I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep
that which I have committed unto Him against that day" (2 Tim. 1:12). And
what is the ground of my confidence? How do I know that He is able to keep that
which I have committed unto Him? I know it because God is almighty, the King of
kings and Lord of lords.
6. IT
SUPPLIES COMFORT IN SORROW.
The
doctrine of God's Sovereignty is one that is full of consolation and imparts
great peace to the Christian. The Sovereignty of God is a foundation that
nothing can shake and is more firm than the heavens and earth. How blessed to
know there is no corner of the universe that is out of His reach! as said the
Psalmist, "Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee
from Thy presence? If I ascend up into Heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed
in hell, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell
in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy
right hand shall hold me. If I say surely the darkness shall cover me; even the
night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee; but the
night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to
Thee" (Psa. 139:7-12). How blessed it is to know that God's strong hand is
upon every one and every thing! How blessed to know that not a sparrow falleth
to the ground without His notice!
How
blessed to know that our very afflictions come not by chance, nor from the
Devil, but are ordained and ordered by God: "That no man should be moved
by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto"
(1 Thess. 3:3)!
But our
God is not only infinite in power. He is infinite in wisdom and goodness too.
And herein is the preciousness of this truth. God wills only that which is good
and His will is irreversible and irresistible! God is too wise to err and too
loving to cause His child a needless tear. Therefore if God be perfect wisdom
and perfect goodness how blessed is the assurance that everything is in His
hand and molded by His will according to His eternal purpose! "Behold, He
taketh away, who can hinder Him? who will say unto Him what doest Thou?"
(Job 9:12). Yet, how comforting to learn that it is "He," and not the
Devil, who "taketh away" our loved ones! Ah! what peace for our poor
frail hearts to be told that the number of our days is with Him (Job 7:1;
14:5); that disease and death are His messengers and always march under His
orders; that it is the Lord who gives and the Lord who takes away!
7. IT
BEGETS A SPIRIT OF SWEET RESIGNATION.
To bow
before the Sovereign will of God is one of the great secrets of peace and
happiness. There can be no real submission with contentment until we are broken
in spirit, that is, until we are willing and glad for the Lord to have His way
with us. Not that we are insisting upon a spirit of fatalistic acquiescence:
far from it. The saints are exhorted to "prove what is that good, and
acceptable, and perfect will of God" (Rom. 12:2).
We touched
upon this subject of resignation to God's will in the chapter upon our Attitude
toward God's Sovereignty, and there, in addition to the supreme Pattern, we
cited the examples of Eli and Job: we would now supplement their cases with
further examples. What a word is that in Leviticus 10:3 "And Aaron held
his peace." Look at the circumstances: "And Nadab and Abihu, the sons
of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense
thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He commanded them not.
And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before
the Lord... And Aaron held his peace." Two of the high priests' sons were
slain, slain by a visitation of Divine judgment, and they were probably
intoxicated at the time; moreover, this trial came upon Aaron suddenly, without
anything to prepare him for it; yet he "held his peace." Precious
exemplification of the power of God's all-sufficient grace!
Consider
now an utterance which fell from the lips of David: "And the king said
unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favor in
the eyes of the Lord, He will bring me again, and shew me both it, and His
habitation. But if He thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here am I,
let Him do to me as seemeth good unto Him" (2 Sam. 15:25, 26). Here, to,
the circumstances which confronted the speaker were exceedingly trying to the
human heart. David was sore pressed with sorrow. His own son was driving him
from the throne and seeking his very life. Whether he would ever see Jerusalem
and the Tabernacle again he knew not. But he was so yielded up to God, he was
so fully assured that His will was best, that even though it meant the loss of
the throne and the loss of his life he was content for Him to have His
way-"let Him do to me as seemeth Him good."
There is
no need to multiply examples, but a reflection upon the last case will be in
place. If amid the shadows of the Old Testament dispensation David was content
for the Lord to have His way, now that the heart of God has been fully revealed
at the Cross how much more ought we to delight in the execution of His will!
Surely we shall have no hesitation in saying-
"Ill
that He blesses is our good,
And
unblest good is ill,
And all is
right that seems most wrong,
If it be
His sweet will."
8. IT
EVOKES A SONG OF PRAISE.
It could
not be otherwise. Why should I, who am by nature no different from the careless
and godless throngs all around, have been chosen in Christ before the
foundation of the world and now blest with all spiritual blessings in the
heavenlies in Him! Why was I, that once was an alien and a rebel, singled out
for such wondrous favors! Ah! that is something I cannot fathom. Such grace,
such love, "passeth knowledge." But if my mind is unable to discern a
reason my heart can express its gratitude in praise and adoration. But not only
should I be grateful to God for His grace toward me in the past, His present
dealings will fill me with thanksgiving. What is the force of that word
"Rejoice in the Lord alway" (Phil. 4:4)? Mark it is not "Rejoice
in the Saviour," but we are to "Rejoice in the Lord" as
"Lord," as the Master of every circumstance. Need we remind the
reader that when the Apostle penned these words he was himself a prisoner in
the hands of the Roman government. A long course of affliction and suffering
lay behind him. Perils on land and perils on sea, hunger and thirst, scourging
and stoning, had all been experienced. He had been persecuted by those within
the church as well as by those without: the very ones who ought to have stood
by him had forsaken him. And still he writes, "Rejoice in the Lord
alway"! What was the secret of his peace and happiness? Ah! had not this
same Apostle written "And we know that all things work together for good
to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His
purpose" (Rom. 8:28)? But how did he, and how do we, "know" that
all things work together for good? The answer is, Because all things are under
the control of and are being regulated by the Supreme Sovereign, and because He
has naught but thoughts of love toward His own, then "all things" are
so ordered by Him that they are made to minister to our ultimate good. It is
for this cause we are to give "thanks always for all things unto God and
the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Eph. 5:20). Yes, give
thanks for "all things" for, as it has been well said "Our
disappointments are but His appointments." To the one who delights in the
Sovereignty of God the clouds not only have a 'silver lining' but they are
silver all through, the darkness only serving to offset the light-
"Ye
fearful saints fresh courage take
The clouds
ye so much dread,
Are big
with mercy and shall break
In
blessings o'er your head."
9. IT
GUARANTEES THE FINAL TRIUMPH OF GOOD OVER EVIL.
Ever since
the day that Cain slew Abel, the conflict on earth between good and evil has
been a sore problem to the saints. In every age the righteous have appeared to
defy God with impugnity. The Lord's people, for the most part, have been poor
in this world's good whereas the wicked in their temporal prosperity have
flourished like the green bay tree. As one looks around and beholds the
oppression of believers and the earthly success of unbelievers, and notes how
few are the former and how numerous the latter; as he sees the apparent defeat
of the right and the triumphing of might and the wrong; as he hears the roar of
battle, the cries of the wounded, and the lamentations of the bereaved; as he
discovers that almost everything down here is in confusion, chaos, and ruins,
it seems as though Satan were getting the better of the conflict. But as one
looks above, instead of around, there is plainly visible to the eye of faith a
Throne, a Throne unaffected by the storms of earth, a Throne that is
"set," stable and secure; and upon it is seated One whose name is the
Almighty, and who "worketh all things after the counsel of His own
will" (Eph. 1:11). This then is our confidence-God is on the Throne. The
helm is in His hand, and being Almighty His purpose cannot fail for "He is
in one mind, and who can turn Him? and what His soul desireth, even that He
doeth" (Job. 23:13). Though God's governing hand is invisible to the eye
of sense it is real to faith, that faith which rests with sure confidence upon
His Word, and therefore is assured He cannot fail. What follows below is from
the pen of our brother, Mr. A. C. Gaebelein.
"There
can be no failure with God. 'God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the
Son of man, that He should repent: hath He said and shall He not do it? or hath
He spoken, and shall He not make it good?" (Num. 23:19). All will be
accomplished. The promise made to His own beloved people to come for them and
take them from hence to glory will not fail. He will surely come and gather
them in His own presence. The solemn words spoken to the nations of the earth
by the different prophets will also not fail. 'Come near, ye nations, to hear;
and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world,
and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the LORD is upon
all nations, and His fury upon all their armies: He hath utterly destroyed
them, He hath delivered them to the slaughter' (Isa. 34:1, 2). Nor will that
day fail in which 'the lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness
of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted' (Isa. 2:11).
The day in which He is manifested, when His glory shall cover the heavens and His
feet will stand again upon this earth, will surely come. His kingdom will not
fail, nor all the promised events connected with the end of the age and the
consummation.
"In
these dark and trying times how well it is to remember that He is on the throne,
the throne which cannot be shaken, and that He will not fail in doing all He
has spoken and promised. 'Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: No one
of these shall fail' (Isa. 34:16). In believing, blessed anticipation, we can
look on to the glory-time when His Word and His Will is accomplished, when
through the coming of the Prince of Peace, righteousness and peace comes at
last. And while we wait for the supreme and blessed moment when His promise to
us is accomplished, we trust Him, walking in His fellowship and daily find
afresh, that He does not fail to sustain and keep us in all our ways."
10. IT
PROVIDES A RESTING-PLACE FOR THE HEART.
Much that
might have been said here has already been anticipated under previous heads.
The One seated upon the Throne of Heaven, the One who is Governor over the
nations and who has ordained and now regulates all events, is infinite not only
in power but in wisdom and goodness as well. He who is Lord over all creation
is the One that was "manifest in the flesh" (1 Tim. 3:16). Ah! here
is a theme no human pen can do justice to. The glory of God consists not merely
in that He is Highest, but in that being high He stooped in lowly love to bear
the burden of His own sinful creatures, for it is written "God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself" (2 Cor. 5:19). The Church of
God was purchased "with His own Blood" (Acts 20:28). It is upon the
gracious self-humiliation of the King Himself that His kingdom is established.
0 wondrous Cross! By it He who suffered upon it has become not the Lord of our
destinies (He was that before), but the Lord of our hearts. Therefore, it is
not in abject terror that we bow before the Supreme Sovereign, but in adoring
worship we cry "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and
riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing"
(Rev. 5:12).
Here then
is the refutation of the wicked charge that this doctrine is a horrible calumny
upon God and dangerous to expound to His people. Can a doctrine be
"horrible" and "dangerous" that gives God His true place,
that maintains His rights, that magnifies His grace, that ascribes all glory to
Him and removes every ground of boasting from the creature? Can a doctrine be
"horrible" and "dangerous" which affords the saints a sense
of security in danger, that supplies them comfort in sorrow, that begets
patience within them in adversity, that evokes from them praise at all times?
Can a doctrine be "horrible" and "dangerous" which assures
us of the certain triumph of good over evil, and which provides a sure
resting-place for our hearts, and that place, the perfections of the Sovereign
Himself? No; a thousand times, no! Instead of being "horrible and
dangerous" this doctrine of the Sovereignty of God is glorious and
edifying, and a due apprehension of it will but serve to make us exclaim with
Moses, "Who is like unto thee, 0 LORD, among the gods? who is like Thee,
glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" (Exo. 15:11).