God's Sovereignty and Skunk Facts

Mark Spence 1:04

The Lord does whatever pleases Him in the heavens and on the earth , and in the seas and all their depths . Right , it's been said , you cannot subpoena God . He does not answer to you . How dare you incite God ? Right , he's in control of all things . He knows all things . Sproul worded it like this that there's not one maverick molecule in the universe that he's not aware of . Right , that things are running its course as he sees fit . Does not need your wisdom , does not need your counsel . If he needed counsel , you would not know about it . God is in heaven and he is ruling and reigning , with scepter in one hand , a gavel in the next , and when that gavel comes down , the court is dismissed , the jury can go home . He will always have the final word , as he is the word incarnate , amen .

Emeal Zwayne 2:03

So you're going on your daily 3.71 mile walk with your wife when you're in a familiar area and suddenly you seea skunk walking down the sidewalk . What do you do , gentlemen ? You pet it , you get it and you have it as a pet , which is I . I've always wanted to do that , Ray , the closest you've ever gotten . Was that a badger that Ken Ham sent ?

Ray Comfort 2:31

you . It was a skunk , it was a skunk In the store .

Emeal Zwayne 2:34

Oh , a dead petrified skunk . Yeah , yeah , well , we had a live one coming our way yesterday . They really are cute , seriously . Oh , they're adorable until they do their thing . I ran over one one time . Yeah , it was crazy . And what's my beautiful wife Rachel do ? She pulls out her video camera . Hey , there's a skank .

Oscar Navarro 2:53

What's wrong with that ? I thought she would run .

Emeal Zwayne 2:55

Like father , like daughter ? I thought she would run . What were you going to say ? Like father , like daughter Was this after your meeting , Skanky skanky , skanky .

Mark Spence 3:03

Was this after your meeting with that gentleman down in Huntington ? No , it wasn't yesterday , it was the day before yesterday .

Emeal Zwayne 3:08

Your wife had dinner at her house last night . I know we weren't there together . Yeah , I did my meeting at Huntington , but you know what's cool We've been doing these walks 3.71 miles .

Ray Comfort 3:19

What that is so ridiculous . Most people say about four miles . I don't want to lie 3.71 . I don't want to lie , and how long did it take ?

Emeal Zwayne 3:28

I usually do say almost four , but we do about an hour and 10 minutes . But what's crazy is we've been doing those . Yesterday I didn't do it , but I was at Huntington and I was early , so I'm like I'm just going to walk to the end of the pier and back .

Ray Comfort 3:42

You could speed those walks up by going in your car .

Emeal Zwayne 3:44

Can you imagine Just going up and just doing it ? But I was telling Rachel last night it was probably about , you know , maybe about three quarters of a mile , but it felt like nothing because we've been doing all that walking . It was really good .

Oscar Navarro 3:59

Wait , what happened to the ?

Emeal Zwayne 3:59

skunk ? I don't know .

Ray Comfort 4:02

There was no point .

Emeal Zwayne 4:04

The skunk stunk . That's about all I got to say about it .

Ray Comfort 4:08

Did it stink ?

Emeal Zwayne 4:08

No , no , but it was just like cruising down the sidewalk in broad daylight . You don't normally see that with skunks .

Ray Comfort 4:13

Yeah .

Emeal Zwayne 4:14

Okay , skunk trivia . How far can a skunk spray ?

Mark Spence 4:18

be detected .

Oscar Navarro 4:21

How far away can the odor can be detected ? I can't see it . I want to , but I can't .

Ray Comfort 4:24

I'm guessing , no , how far can it hit ? Or how far away ? How far away can ?

Emeal Zwayne 4:29

you smell it .

Ray Comfort 4:29

Well , you've got on the freeway . You can smell it from a mile away if you run over Mile and a half .

Oscar Navarro 4:34

I'm going to guess a mile and a half .

Emeal Zwayne 4:35

Mile and a half .

Mark Spence 4:37

When I ran over that skunk , it left a smell on my car for a very long time dunk and it got sprayed .

Emeal Zwayne 4:46

Would the word pungent be applicable to this it ?

Ray Comfort 4:48

totally steamrolled what I just said . I don't care , his dog got skunked Really , lady . Yeah , a lady had the smell out of it .

Mark Spence 4:58

That'd be a good name . I was just going to say , because you asked the question , how far can they spray ? I was thinking 10 feet , 20 feet , Mark , stop looking stuff up .

Emeal Zwayne 5:10

The thing is is he tries to look innocent ?

Ray Comfort 5:14

It's all over his face Like a guilty little boy . Nostrils flare .

Emeal Zwayne 5:19

Yeah , okay . What are some things that a skunk might do before it sprays ?

Oscar Navarro 5:31

Take a nap .

Emeal Zwayne 5:31

Put his tail up , turn his face . They might hiss growl , stamp their feet , walk backwards and raise their tail over their heads . Have you seen them do that ? They're going too .

Ray Comfort 5:41

Or they could just say let us spray , I can't let us spray the Christian ones A spiritual skunk .

Emeal Zwayne 5:48

Yeah , 10 feet away . You're right , Mark . That's how far away they can and that's with accuracy . They could hit about 20 feet away , but with accuracy , Unlike your football throw two episodes ago . Oh yeah .

Oscar Navarro 5:59

You guys heard the one about the skunk ?

Ray Comfort 6:00

Never mind , it stinks .

Emeal Zwayne 6:04

And what do some skunks mainly eat ? Do you guys know , do you guys ?

Ray Comfort 6:08

know , do you guys know ?

Emeal Zwayne 6:09

Skunk food . Bees Like bugs Bees , bees yeah , they eat bees . Yeah , takes them 10 to 12 days to replenish their stink .

Mark Spence 6:16

They eat the garbage at our house . I can usually do it . Oh , seriously yeah .

Emeal Zwayne 6:19

Yeah .

Mark Spence 6:20

I miss .

Emeal Zwayne 6:20

Pepe Le Pew man .

Oscar Navarro 6:29

That was one of the best . Talking about facing a skunk and what would you ?

Ray Comfort 6:31

do I have this wristband that says uh ?

Oscar Navarro 6:32

what would ray do ? And I just look at that and then do the opposite .

Mark Spence 6:34

I like that . That's what we would hurt somebody .

Emeal Zwayne 6:36

That's what we call wisdom . All right , friends , a cool , classy comment .

Ray Comfort 6:41

This is from lisa spike I learned something today what there's not much trivia about skunk .

Emeal Zwayne 6:48

I know I was like look at all this stuff up , there's not much . All right , here's from Lisa Spike . Hi guys , several months ago I heard Ray Comfort speak on another radio show and I really got a lot out of it . The host promoted his podcast , so I listened to a recent episode the next day while getting ready for work . I liked it so much I went back to episode one and have been listening to them all in order . I'm now on 192 as this has become my daily routine .

Emeal Zwayne 7:20

I can't express how much you have impacted my walk with Jesus . You've taught me things I didn't know and you have convicted me in areas I didn't know I needed conviction . Most importantly , you've convinced me that I need to start sharing the gospel . Yes , this is a weak area for me and I feel compelled that this is something that must change . I'm so encouraged by your stories of evangelizing . It makes me less fearful . Your obvious intense love and devotion for the Lord is inspiring . Thank you for all you do . I'll be sad once I catch up and can only listen a couple of times a week . With much gratitude , lisa , ps , mark , we are kindred spirits . I can't even say or type the word peas without literally physically gagging , and she put P-E and then asterisk , or at sign that's funny ?

Mark Spence 8:06

Oh I hate it . Yeah , so wow , Lisa , he doesn . That's funny , oh I hate it . Yeah , so wow , Lisa you don't like peas , oh , I hate it . And carrots , I will be offended if you ever offer me peas , well , what ?

Ray Comfort 8:14

about peas straight from the garden , raw from the pod . They're different than cooked peas . Yeah , that might be okay .

Mark Spence 8:20

You can do like edamame .

Emeal Zwayne 8:21

Mark , Can you do like edamame ?

Mark Spence 8:31

it's really good protein , b protein they make it out of peas . Really , yeah , it's really good for you .

Emeal Zwayne 8:33

Yeah , I know it's first I've heard about it . How about peas and cilantro mixed together ?

Mark Spence 8:35

and I like cilantro dine even jike .

Emeal Zwayne 8:39

All right , friends . By the way , a shout out , shout out . Shout out to our dear friend , uh , brandon maya , who listens the time . You guys remember our brother Brandon . We met up with him in Texas , good friend of yours . He's wheelchair-bound but loves the Lord , loves the lost . And , brandon , thank you for listening . Brother , we'll never forget the time that we had with you . It was really , really precious and you're a dear friend of ours .

Ray Comfort 9:07

Amen , Love you brother . He's got two great dogs , yeah that's right .

Emeal Zwayne 9:10

Oh , really , really precious , you're a dear friend of ours he's got two great dogs , that's right .

Mark Spence 9:14

Oh , he has two now , hi . What are the ?

Ray Comfort 9:15

names . One's called Ray C . I don't know the name of the other one .

Emeal Zwayne 9:17

Why is it called Ray C ?

Ray Comfort 9:20

He named it after me . I got the dog for him , your name is Ray C .

Oscar Navarro 9:26

Yeah , it is Ray C I told his parents .

Ray Comfort 9:27

I said Brennan got a dog because he's paralyzed , and I said that'll change his life Everyone needs a dog and it really did .

Emeal Zwayne 9:34

Yeah , he's a dear brother man . What an example of pressing on in much difficult circumstances . He named the dog after X , with the same height . It's a great name , and there goes Oscar's job . All right friends , all right friends time for a radically revolutionary resource . This podcast is brought to you by the Ten Commandments scroll pen Ray , one of my favorites . In fact , we just gave hundreds away to our church's VBS Kindred Community .

Oscar Navarro 10:03

Church Come check us out friends .

Emeal Zwayne 10:05

Kindred Community Church at kindredorg , Kindredchurchorg . Oh sorry , I only go there In the kindredorg , kindredchurchorg . Oh sorry , I only go there in the wrong direction . Yeah , check

The Comfort of God's Sovereignty

Emeal Zwayne 10:13

it out . But the 10 commandments scroll pen is phenomenal because it's got a tract and it retracts .

Ray Comfort 10:17

Hey , tract , retract is that the one when they can memorize the 10 commandments ? And yes , for life or two minutes for life .

Emeal Zwayne 10:24

Oh , it is phenomenal . It's really cool . They're great for kids , they're made for kids .

Ray Comfort 10:33

Great gift and it pulls out , but then it retracts back in into the pen , and there's also the boomerang pen . Yeah , Written on there it says what Thou shalt , not steal Ray why is it called a boomerang pen ? Because it always comes back . Because it gets returned when people's conscience gets broken . You let people steal them so they come under conviction .

Mark Spence 10:49

It's great if you're a server , like if you're a waiter , and you drop off the bill and they have to sign their name and it says thou shalt not steal right on that Boy that one has lived .

Emeal Zwayne 10:58

We've had some things that have died , that has lived on . I love that one , the conscience boomerang pin . Yeah , all right , and don't forget the Living Waters mug from which you can chug and the evidence study Bible all at livingwatercom . All right , friends Today . Last time I got it wrong .

Ray Comfort 11:19

I thought we were doing this one last time .

Emeal Zwayne 11:20

You get it wrong most days , but this time we're doing this one , which is the sovereignty of God . And boy , if ever a topic deserves a deep voice , it's that one . John Piper said when we say God is sovereign , we mean he is powerful and authoritative to the extent of being able to override all other powers and authorities . John M Frame said the sovereignty of God is the fact that he is the Lord over creation . As sovereign , he exercises his rule . This rule is exercised through God's authority as king , his control over all things and his presence with his covenantal people and throughout his creation . Wow , great definitions , guys . When someone says the sovereignty of God , I think immediately it can be translated into this like kind of highbrow doctrine . Oh , you know , man , the sovereignty of God ? But to me it is my stability . Yeah , it is the foundation for why I maintain my sanity as a Christian . Yeah , ray , how consoling is the sovereignty of God .

Ray Comfort 12:28

Well , it means , no matter what happens to you , you know God's in control , he's the sovereign . I don't blink , or a dog doesn't blink , without God's permission . And so because he's in control and because he says all things are working together for my good , even if I find myself in a lion's den , I can rejoice . I can go out and floss the teeth of the lions , because God's in total control .

Mark Spence 12:50

Spurgeon said it like this when you go through a trial , the sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which you lay your head .

Ray Comfort 12:58

You know , I'd like to commend that guy Spurgeon .

Mark Spence 13:02

Him and his high-pitched voice .

Emeal Zwayne 13:05

Talk about , though he's dead , yet he still speaks . I feel like Spurgeon's still alive , because you hear him quoted so often . And what he says is so relevant , even though it was 150 years or whatever ago . It's still relevant because he spoke to the common man . I was thinking about the sovereignty of God . Yesterday , I was thinking about something that I'm desiring would happen . It's a potentially really good opportunity , but you didn't know the job .

Ray Comfort 13:34

What's that ?

Emeal Zwayne 13:35

Job opportunity .

Oscar Navarro 13:37

You didn't know about that right .

Emeal Zwayne 13:40

Yeah , I'm going to work for this new ministry called Alive Liquid .

Ray Comfort 13:44

You've never heard of it . You would be easy to replace because there's so many people just like you .

Emeal Zwayne 13:50

Lots of lunatics out there . But I was just thinking I was premeditating Murder . I have to work with these guys . I was premeditating my rejoicing at the thought of this not working out .

Ray Comfort 14:12

What not working out ? Oh , the opportunity you're talking about , yeah , about it not working out .

Emeal Zwayne 14:16

I was premeditating my rejoicing , and the only reason I was able to do that is because of my knowledge of the sovereignty of God .

Ray Comfort 14:23

Because you were like Daniel , who's thinking , okay , if I get eaten by these lions , I'm going to rejoice .

Emeal Zwayne 14:28

Yeah , it's just like you know , God is in control . Yeah , I've prayed that this would happen . If it doesn't happen , it's exactly what I want .

Ray Comfort 14:39

Because if it doesn't happen , god didn't want it to happen . Remember the confession of Shadrach , meshach and Abednego . This is if it doesn't , he's in control .

Emeal Zwayne 14:45

Yeah , doesn't ? He's in control . Yeah , our God , whom we serve , is able to deliver us , and if not , let it be known to you . We still won't .

Ray Comfort 14:51

Yeah , that's what I was gonna say , yeah that ?

Emeal Zwayne 15:00

That yeah . But Mark right , he's sovereign , he's in control .

Mark Spence 15:02

Yes , he rules and reigns , and we are His and he is ours . Yeah , he is the potter , we are the clay . Several years ago I was struggling with something that was out of my control and a pastor friend of mine came to me and he said , mark , it would do you well to go do a word study on sovereignty . And I think the best definition I ever came across was that God does whatever he wants , whenever he wants , to whomever he wants . However he wants , he answers to no one and he doesn't care what you think about it , for God is in heaven and he does what he pleases . Psalm 135 , verse 6 . And 115 , verse 3 . The Lord does whatever pleases him in the heavens and on the earth and in the seas and all their depths .

Mark Spence 15:44

It's been said , you cannot subpoena God . He does not answer to you . How dare you incite God ? Right , he's in control of all things , he knows all things . Sproul worded it like this that there's not one maverick molecule in the universe that he's not aware of . Right , that things are running its course as he sees fit . Does not need your wisdom , does not need your counsel . If he needed counsel , you would not know about it . God is in heaven and he is ruling and reigning , with scepter in one hand , a gavel in the next , and when that gavel comes down , the court is dismissed , the jury can go home . He will always have the final word , as he is the word incarnate .

Emeal Zwayne 16:27

Amen . You know , Oscar , I was thinking the other day about nuclear explosions . I was too .

Mark Spence 16:33

Seriously , yeah , I was Googling it . Or I was on Chet Chibutiti asking all about it , yeah , and I was thinking about .

Ray Comfort 16:38

You know something we don't .

Emeal Zwayne 16:41

And I was thinking about how Wait was that your Arabic cry for ?

Mark Spence 16:45

war yeah .

Emeal Zwayne 16:46

No that would be oh , don't even do that . That's my raid .

Ray Comfort 16:52

My raid , annoying it is .

Emeal Zwayne 16:54

Yeah

The Majesty of God's Sovereignty

Emeal Zwayne 16:55

, it does annoy me . Anyway , back to nuclear bombs , I was thinking about how massive they are , like I mean , you know they can kill hundreds of thousands of people . We remember Hiroshima , nagasaki , right , and yet you think about what those would be like from space . You don't even hear it , you just see this little . You might see a little like , maybe a little flash , possibly from outer space , right , but you think of how terrified we as people would be to stand before that . And then you can then begin to grasp , right , like when you think of the omniscient , omnipotent , omnipresent , infinite , all-powerful God of the universe , and then you think of Moses and God's like no , no , you cannot see my glory you don't understand .

Emeal Zwayne 17:40

Like , take nuclear bombs and multiply them by 999 quadrillion times , 999 quadrillion quadrillion , you can't even get close to understanding the power of God .

Ray Comfort 17:50

And that God is sovereign . Doesn't that portion of scripture thrill you ? I love it Just absolutely magnificent .

Mark Spence 17:56

Was it Exodus somewhere ? Exodus , chapter 1 . Yeah , yeah .

Ray Comfort 18:03

You know what's interesting too . It's frustrating for people who really did want the reference . Honestly , I'll pull it up , thanks .

Oscar Navarro 18:08

Mark , I think I love that and one of the things that's interesting about the sovereignty of God . I love the way Edmund Clowney talks about it and he makes the point that often what happens with systematic theology which is a good thing because it helps us understand in a systematic way the truths found in Scripture but often what he talks about is the systematic theology , which is a good thing because it helps us understand in a systematic way the truths found in scripture , but often what he talks about is the systematic theology . One of the challenges if that's the only kind of theological books that you read or commentaries you read is that it tends to systematize the things we talk about with God . And so when we talk about sovereignty , we think about the correlations of foreknowledge , predestination , of authority , and there is a correlation to those things , but there's also a distinction . The sovereignty of God has a distinction from those things , and what Clowney helps us do is see the sovereignty of God in the narrative of scripture , and of course , the narrative , the unfolding narrative of scripture is God reconciling the world to himself , and so the picture that he paints is that God is this sovereign king , the king over the cosmos , which we see in all , throughout the scriptures and the narrative , the story is that we are the rebels who have rebelled against a good king . And you think about that ? Like often , our disposition to the idea of God being sovereign , to the God being Lord of our lives , is that we have this one of two things we either have this idea of a king who's a megalomaniac who doesn't deserve to be king , have this idea of a king who's a megalomaniac who doesn't deserve to be king , or we have this hyper autonomous , libertarian view of ourselves which is I need no king of my life , I am the king of my life .

Oscar Navarro 19:59

And I love you know , when I read through , I love the Lord of the Rings and I love the story of Aragon , because you meet Aragon and you know that he's supposed to be king , but he's not yet king . And you watch Aragon's character develop through the story . You watch him hold to oaths at great cost . You watch him fight for those who can't fight for themselves . You watch his character develop so that by the end of the book , when he is given the kingship , everybody's celebrating it because they know he is the one who's supposed to be king , not only because it's his kingdom , but they know his character as right and true , and you see this in Star Wars , when Princess Leia , at the end of A New Hope , becomes the queen . Again we celebrate when we know the character is right .

Oscar Navarro 20:53

And that's the story of the scriptures is that God is king of the cosmos and his character is true . And our rub , if there's a rub , our frustration , our discomfort , is coming to realize that we are not the king of the story , that we're not the heroes , we're the rebels , we're the ones who rebel against the good king . And the beauty , of course , of the gospel is that same king , that sovereign king , lays down his crown so that he can seek after a rebel people and draw them back to himself . That is the beauty of the sovereignty of God .

Emeal Zwayne 21:38

Wow , that's so well put , ray . Wouldn't you say that maybe two of the most terrifying words combined together are sovereignty and wickedness ? Because if someone is , sovereign and all-powerful and wicked . That's a terrifying thing .

Ray Comfort 21:56

That's the lesson we see from Exodus 33 , verse 18 . That's where Moses said let me see your glory . And God says you can't see me and live , but I'll let my goodness pass you by . And if Moses had stood in the goodness of God , god would kill him because of his goodness because you cannot separate goodness from justice and so God's fury would have spilled upon him and it doesn't spill upon us because of his mercy . Talking about God's sovereignty , and how can it help us as Christians ? Life is full of suffering and I read this recently and it broke my heart . I sent it to you , Izzy , and it did the same with you .

Trusting God's Sovereignty and Love

Ray Comfort 22:31

A New Jersey pastor's family were on vacation in Maine . It ended in tragedy when an incident or an accident involving a badminton racket resulted in the death of their six-year-old daughter , lucy Morgan . The incident involved the young girl being fatally struck by a dislodged piece of racket while she was not actively playing . So she's watching racquetball . A racket breaks , a piece flies over to her , hits her in the head and kills her . The only thing you can do I mean , the chances of that happening are like one in a million , seriously , but it did . So the pastor's going to have to say God's sovereign .

Ray Comfort 23:03

He allowed that to happen for his purposes . Horrific though it is and if you could listen to my prayer list at night , it's absolutely depressing I'm praying for all these friends of mine . I've got a friend in Hawaii , danny . He got cancer , but he's also got Parkinson's disease at the same time . How can you reconcile that without calling on the sovereignty of God ? God has allowed it for a reason we just don't know why . Why did he rescue Peter from jail when he was going to be executed and let James get executed ? Why ? Well , all these questions that we wrestle with can be summed up with God's in control . I trust him .

Emeal Zwayne 23:41

Amen . I trust him with my whole heart and , like we were talking about , we also trust his character . You know , alexander Carson said God's sovereignty is always to his people , in wisdom and in love . This is the difference between sovereignty in God and sovereignty in man . We dread the sovereignty of man because we have no security of its being exercised in mercy or even justice . We rejoice in the sovereignty of God because we are sure it is always exercised for the good of his people . And that's our consolation , like , yeah , god is sovereign , he's all powerful , he does what he wants , but what he wants to do is righteousness . And even though we don't understand why this happened or that happened , we understand that he is working within a fallen , broken world , but it's always for his glory and for his good .

Mark Spence 24:30

Let me commend a book to anybody who wants to dive deeper into this . My wife is currently reading a book by Jerry Bridges called Trusting God . It's also a devotional that you can go through , a 30-day devotional that we're reading off and on together . But her more being consistent , he said confidence in the sovereignty of God and all that affects us is crucial to our trusting him . If there is a single event in all of the universe that can occur outside of God's sovereign control , then we cannot trust him . His love may be infinite , but if his power is limited and his purpose can be thwarted , then we can't trust him . That's so good , so good .

Sovereignty and Trust in God

Ray Comfort 25:11

Yeah , what's the alternative to going through suffering and not trusting God ?

Mark Spence 25:15

There's no alternative You're working within yourself , trying to get something done , and you're always gonna come up short .

Ray Comfort 25:22

Yeah , it's a dead end and it can only end in bitterness .

Emeal Zwayne 25:25

That's a good point , ray , because you're still going through the suffering , right ? I mean , the unbeliever and the believer are both going through difficult things in life , but it's like okay . It's like sometimes I tell my kids when they're young like , okay , look , you have to do this , you're going to do this . You might as well enjoy it , you know , because you know you're going to have to finish your schoolwork . You're going to . You know you're going to have to do the chore . You have to do that . You don't like that you're grumbling about . You might as well enjoy it , because it's got to be done and you're going to go through suffering . You can either be . I love the saying that says you can either get better or better .

Mark Spence 25:57

Yeah , the French poet Baudelaire . He said how can you talk about God being loving as I kneel at the bed of my dying child ? John Lennox came along and he said hey , I'm just curious . What exactly does the great French poet Baudelaire say to his dying daughter , as an atheist , as she passes from time on into eternity ? Do you look at her and say tough luck , babe . That's the way the ball bounces , because that's all you've got as an atheist ? Listen , we are both going to go through trials , but the one who goes through the trial with the Lord is surrounded , because the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fears him and sings songs of deliverance . Yeah , so I trust to go hand in hand through a trial that my God is in control of .

Oscar Navarro 26:43

What do I say to the father standing at the bedside of their dying child ? The Lord knows what it's like to lose a child . That's right , and he lost it so that one day all pain and suffering would come to an end . That's right , and you can be a part of that as long as you repent and believe . That's what you say to someone .

Mark Spence 27:01

And that's exactly Two days ago , I received a message on one of my posts from a lady who said where was God when my child died ? Answer me that . And I said he was at the same place when his son died at the hands of cruel people . Him being supremely innocent , suffered at the hands of very cruel people .

Emeal Zwayne 27:23

And you know what man it gives me the chills when I think about it . You know , the thing that takes it to just a whole other level was when you think , first of all , god could have saved his son and that that son who died was totally innocent , perfect God , he wasn't marred by the sinful nature because he'd never sinned , and so you think about that . He willingly gave his son , who willingly gave his life in order to save us , and not just that , his enemies for his enemies . You know , ray , there are things that happen in this world that just don't make sense . I mean , you think about Acts 4 , 27 to 28 . This is never going to stop , is it Right ? Like they know what the reference is talking about ? For truly against your holy servant Jesus , whom you anointed , both Herod and Pontius Pilate , with the Gentiles and the people of Israel , were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done .

Ray Comfort 28:35

Isn't that ?

Emeal Zwayne 28:35

wonderful . It's like I mean , they're thinking look what we're doing . And yet God was sovereignly in control .

Ray Comfort 28:41

He had hold of the strings of the puppets . His will was being done . Yeah , that's an offense to the proud human mind , unregenerate mind . How could God infringe upon my free will ? He does what he wants .

Emeal Zwayne 28:55

Yeah , oscar , isaiah 14 , 26 to 27 . This is the purpose that is purposed against the whole earth , and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations , for the Lord of hosts has purposed and who will annul it ? His hand is stretched out and who will turn it back ? I love that rhetorical question Like , yeah , nobody , you know . And I mean you know , when I was a kid , I remember being in high school and I was going to get beat up by these guys that I mouthed off to in the summer . They were in kindergarten .

Emeal Zwayne 29:27

I was going in as a freshman . These guys were like , I think , juniors or something , and they're like you wait till you get to high school , you know , at the end of the summer . And so I went to high school , you know . But I was so excited and so at peace and so free because we got this new neighbor , who was a friend of our family , who was going to high school with me , whose name was George , who was this Lebanese guy who was huge One of us I'm fucking ripped One of us . And George said don't worry , I take care of everything for you , I make problem go bye-bye . And it did . I remember the one main guy who was going to get me . He's like oh no , no , he's great , everything's fine . We love him . Yeah , but like multiply that right In terms of our God doing what he wants , and and again . Like I said , if God is for us , who can be ?

Oscar Navarro 30:14

against us ? Yes , well , that's . That brings a really good question to the Christian and to everybody really , which is what area of your life right now is God not king ? What area of your life are you king of your own life ? And you used a verse where it's like his sovereign hand is holding things together . That's exactly right . Jesus holds the cosmos together .

Oscar Navarro 30:37

Under the kingship of Christ , the cosmos is being held together , and what the scriptures explain about our lives is that we choose to take areas or our whole lives into our own kingships , and what we see in Romans 1 , what happens is our lives begin to unravel , and it warns us that one day , if we don't repent and come under the Lordship of Jesus Christ , that God is going to hand us over to our desires , that one day we will completely unravel . And I think about that . Well , bertrand Russell and David Hume both of them , one of them agnostic , the other one an atheist but both of them were perplexed at the orderliness of the universe , and what I mean by that is they wondered why doesn't the universe unravel ? Why is it always the same ? Why does water always freeze at 32 degrees and boil at 212 ? They recognized that there was a uniformity to nature , that the future will be like the past , over and over and over again .

Oscar Navarro 31:42

It's what the basis of scientific study is is that it stays the same . And to remove yourself from the Lordship of Christ is to remove yourself from uniformity . I heard someone explain it like this you know fish at the bottom of the sea . They're under immense pressure because of all of the water we're talking about , like miles below the sea . They're under immense pressure and in that pressure they thrive . But you know what happens when you take that fish and you bring them to the top of the ocean Sushi .

Ray Comfort 32:17

They literally explode .

Oscar Navarro 32:21

They literally explode , they unravel , they're blown apart because they can't be held together , because they don't have the immense pressure they were designed to be under .

Ray Comfort 32:31

You see your life and that's what happens to humans when we go down to their bottom and they explode .

Oscar Navarro 32:35

Sure , but that's also true . Under the Lordship of Christ , you are held together , and when you try to bring yourself under your own Lordship Romans 1 , you will be blown apart , you will unravel . That is the beauty of the Lordship of Christ . Blown apart , you will unravel .

Ray Comfort 32:51

That is the beauty of the Lordship of Christ that you were designed for it Well , and you made it through the analogy , without us destroying it .

Emeal Zwayne 32:58

It was close , it was close .

Ray Comfort 33:00

I think of the sovereignty of God in Isaiah 40 , verse 15 . All the nations are a drop in a bucket to God , and someone once said it's a bucket that's just been emptied out . Wow , yeah , like the fine dust of the scales .

Emeal Zwayne 33:13

This is all the nations ?

Ray Comfort 33:15

Yeah , the fine dust and the scales , absolutely nothing .

Emeal Zwayne 33:18

Gone . Oh , man Uses the earth as his footstool . Right , that's a lovely analogy .

Ray Comfort 33:26

It's so picturesque that God is relaxing with his feet on the earth . Yeah , he didn't have one . That's just like Dawkins , who says everything has an appearance of order . What a stupid thing to say .

Emeal Zwayne 33:43

Everything looks so orderly , so designed , but we'll believe anything other than there was an orderly designer . It's just absolute lunacy .

Oscar Navarro 33:51

I just read . Cs Lewis has this quote where he says the error that we make is that we don't follow the sunbeam back to the sun . That's what Bertrand Russell , david Hume and Dawkins is doing is that they're seeing God's creation , they're seeing it in all its glory , but they're not following the sunbeam back to the sun .

Emeal Zwayne 34:12

I'm going to put that in my quotes file . That's so good . You should send that to us . Yeah , it gives an immediate like yeah , oh , I see the sun , I'm enamored with it , but we don't trace it . Oh , it comes from the sun .

Mark Spence 34:25

Creation creator , a painting painter it totally reminds me of Isaiah 46 , verses 9 through 10 . I knew you were going to do that , okay , but Mark , listen , though .

Emeal Zwayne 34:40

I love Matthew 10 , 29 to 30 . We're so sorry .

Emeal Zwayne 34:46

You don't even need to quote scripture . It's actual deception because you're pretending you know and you don't Remember the former things and not . Two sparrows sold for a copper coin and not one of them falls to the ground , apart from your Father's will . I think an error we make as people is we extrapolate from . God is so great , he's so massive . There's no way he can be concerned with the minute or know about the minute . But Scripture , time and again right . He knows our sitting down and our uprising . He knows the number of hairs upon our head . Two sparrows can't fall to the ground without His will .

Mark Spence 35:24

God is detailed , yeah , and we don't have to worry about our lives , and I like the way the King James words that it says do not put a thought in your head about your life , right ? So not even a single thought about your life . No , listen , it's above your pay grade . God's in control , he knows what he's doing . Let him be God . Let him be God .

Emeal Zwayne 35:45

And you know , when you think about what Jesus talked about regarding children Ray to be like a child you know one of the biggest aspects , because you understand Ray . Why is that ?

Mark Spence 35:57

Because he's a little .

Emeal Zwayne 36:00

He's a little boy in a little boy's body . But , ray , where did you read that quote ?

Ray Comfort 36:07

It's my quote , but I forgot what I was going to say . Well , I was going to say come as a little child and the sovereignty of God puts us in our place . Yeah , I think the sovereignty of God is both comforting and disturbing at the same time . Yeah , the thing that God knows and sees everything is tremendously comforting if you're right with Him , but if you're not , then it's tremendously disturbing , yeah .

Emeal Zwayne 36:30

Well , I do remember I was going to say but one element of being a child is total trust in your parents , in terms of wherever they're taking you yeah , like a kid isn't worried about directions . They , in terms of wherever they're taking you , like a kid , isn't worried about directions , they're not worried about you . Know , do my parents know where they're going ? Or the mortgage , or yeah , or it's just like here we go , we're going on a trip , guys , yay . And the kids ? They don't have to do anything . What about the price of gas ? Nothing , and they trust their parents will get them there .

Mark Spence 37:07

If they're tired they'll come up and hold them in their arms and that's the rest . We need to have Nestle . I love that thought . Nestle ourselves into God and trust him . There's a family that came by yesterday to visit and one of the kids said we're going on a special trip , they're taking us to someplace special and the father looks over at me and he's all that changes . I mean we can take them anywhere we want to take them . I mean whether we're going to Disneyland or whether we're just going to the grocery store , someplace special , they could just change wherever we want it to be , just to keep them anticipating and to keep them in good , having a good behavior and a good attitude .

Emeal Zwayne 37:32

Yeah , and you know , again to tie that into the nature of God , like we talked about before , you have some kids that are dysfunctional , like they're terrified to go on a trip with their parents because their parents are abusive . You know , they might just haul off and smack them in the face and give them a bloody lip , but no , speaking of that .

Mark Spence 37:52

Don't lose your thought

Trusting God's Sovereignty in Trials

Mark Spence 37:53

. I have a friend . When he would be driving his vehicles and his kids would be in the back seat and they were doing things that they shouldn't do . He had a friend . He would just start whacking all of them in the back seat . He ate a little steak , does that ? You know ?

Ray Comfort 38:07

anybody , this guy , I knew a man In the flesh . It was in the flesh .

Emeal Zwayne 38:14

It was a tiny steak .

Ray Comfort 38:15

And this really nice guy couldn't reach the kids and he didn't know which was the guilty one and which wasn't . He got the whole three of them with a stick .

Mark Spence 38:20

They all get whacked with a stick .

Ray Comfort 38:21

Yeah , just in case one was guilty and one wasn't Harmless little thing , poor Rachel , tiny little stick .

Emeal Zwayne 38:29

But my whole point was that the reason why the kids can be at rest is because they know their parents love them , they know that they're good parents , they're not going to abuse them , they're not going to abandon them on the side of the road , and so they can rest in that .

Mark Spence 38:44

Listen . That's very insightful because once you know the character of God , you can rest . You rest in all the things that are happening and coming your way . It's like , what can man now say to you ?

Oscar Navarro 38:55

Right Trust in that you brought up a verse that reminds me of um , something that I hear from from people all the time an objection towards god . The verse you mentioned is that he knows every hair on her head . Often one of the objections that I hear from somebody is especially when it comes to , you know , homosexuality , same-sex , marriage , things that nature . You'll hear someone say something effective like why would care ? Why would god care about what happens in the bedroom or between the sheets , as though it's like so petty and so small and so unimportant , like why could he possibly care ? And I just I always say don't you realize that he cares ? And the beauty in that I had stepfathers who didn't give a rip about whether I went to school , about what I was doing in my spare time . They could care less about what was happening . And God cares , he seeks after you , he cares about the small things , he cares about the big things , because that is the kind of God that he is .

Emeal Zwayne 39:51

Yeah , Well , we want a governmental system to care about crime . They're stopping that these days in our country and in our state especially , but we want them to care because that's for the good of society . So yeah , joe Broeger said anger and bitterness are two noticeable signs of being focused on self and not trusting God's sovereignty in your life . When you believe that God causes all things to work together for good to those who belong to Him and love Him , you can respond to trials with joy instead of anger and bitterness . And yeah , you know we can , because we know God's heart , we know his sovereignty and Stephen Sharnock said in regard of God , patience is a submission to his sovereignty To endure a trial , simply because we , again , we're tracing that sunbeam back to the sun and we're saying God allowed this right , like he did with Job . He had a purpose in it . And we go back again to James to remember the patience of Job , to remember that the end intended by the Lord , that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful .

Ray Comfort 41:14

I was just thinking . The whole issue of God's sovereignty is like a moonbeam you trace it back to the moon .

Oscar Navarro 41:21

But then you'd have to trace it back to the sun , because the only reason why the moon has a beam ? Yes , it reflects the moon .

Ray Comfort 41:25

Yeah , yeah , yeah .

Emeal Zwayne 41:25

The moon has not its own light All the way back there . So I want to kind of wrap up with this one thing Look , there are a lot of you out there right now that are facing difficult situations

Trusting God's Plan in Singleness

Emeal Zwayne 41:37

. You lost your job and you don't understand why . You were faithful , you were diligent , you're dedicated , you're hardworking , you had a wife that you loved with your whole heart , or a husband that you loved with your whole heart . You just entered into your retirement years . You had all these plans . You were so excited and then cancer struck or some other disease , and you lost your loved one . Or maybe you're a man or a woman who's been desperately wanting to be married and now you're older in life and you haven't been married and you feel like your opportunity is gone . We know how tough that can be , but again you are faced with a choice . You can either become bitter or better . You can either trust the Lord or not , and we say this with sympathy . We did that episode on sympathy . We understand , because we've gone through things that didn't go the way we want them to go , but you have to trust in the sovereignty of God .

Emeal Zwayne 42:29

I want to read something that really moved me to tears deeply when I read it this morning . This is more geared toward adults , so for those of you that let your kids listen , you may want to pause right now . It's not in any way graphic , but it's more of a mature topic . But this is a lady named Margaret Claxon , and she said this through no fault or choice of my own . I am unable to express my sexuality in the beauty and intimacy of Christian marriage as God intended when he created me a sexual being in his own image . To seek to do this outside of marriage is , by the clear teaching of scripture , to sin against God and against my own nature . As a committed Christian , then , I have no alternative but to live a life of voluntary celibacy . I must be chaste , not only in body , but in mind and spirit as well . Since I'm now in my 60s , I think that my experience of what this means is valid .

Emeal Zwayne 43:29

I want to go on record as having proved that , for those who are committed to God's will , his commands are his enablings . My whole being cries out continually for something I may not have . My whole life must be lived in the context of this never-ceasing tension . My professional life , my social life , my personal life , my Christian life all are subject to its constant and powerful pull . As a Christian , I have no choice but to obey God , cost what it may . I must trust him to make it possible for me to honor him in my singleness , that this is possible . A mighty cloud of witness will join me to attest . Multitudes of single Christians in every age and circumstance have proved God's sufficiency in this matter . He has promised to meet our needs and he honors his word . If we seek fulfillment in him , we shall find it .

Emeal Zwayne 44:24

It may not be easy , but whoever said that Christian life was easy ? The badge of Christ's discipleship was a cross . What must I live my life ? Why must I live my life alone ? I do not know , but Jesus Christ is Lord of my life . I believe in the sovereignty of God and I accept my singleness from his hand . He could have ordered my life otherwise , but he has not chosen to do so as his child . I must trust his love and wisdom . Wow , how mature is that ? And the reason that hit me is because this isn't some armchair quarterback who's ?

Emeal Zwayne 45:05

sitting back and saying oh yeah , this is how you should . This is a woman who she's in her 60s and she's saying this is where it's ended . I don't believe I'm going to get married . This is what God has . And yet the beauty of being able to say I submit to the Lord , I accept it from his hand .

Trusting God's Unchanging Love

Emeal Zwayne 45:26

Yeah , ray , you put it well . That's Christian maturity .

Mark Spence 45:28

Yeah , though he's slimy . Yeah , I don't trust him .

Ray Comfort 45:31

Yeah , that's why you need a dog .

Emeal Zwayne 45:36

That's Ray's answer to everything Dogs and chickens , yeah , yeah . So anyhow , yeah , god's sovereignty , we can trust him , we can rely on him , we can rest in him . He does as he pleases and he's good and he loves us , and no one can separate us from that love . No one can snatch us out of his hand . Amen , amen . Thank you for joining us , friends .

Ray Comfort 46:00

We one can snatch us out of his hand Amen .

Emeal Zwayne 46:01

Amen . Thank you for joining us , friends . We'll see you here next time on the Living Waters Podcast .