SPEAKER_00: Hey, I'm Pastor Steve Holt.
SPEAKER_00: I want to empower you today to walk in your true identity as a worshiper and warrior.
SPEAKER_00: Embrace the power of God's Word and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Today, be encouraged with a word from my guest speaker.
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Born for War podcast.
SPEAKER_02: It's such a wonderful day to be in the house of the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: I am Pastor Matt Rupert.
SPEAKER_02: I am the children's pastor here at The Road.
SPEAKER_02: The title of my message today is A Sovereign God in the Midst of Chaos.
SPEAKER_02: A sovereign God in the midst of chaos.
SPEAKER_02: If you would just bow your heads with me as I open in prayer.
SPEAKER_02: Father God, thank you for this day.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you for this opportunity to speak, to open your word, to read your word together with this body of Christ.
SPEAKER_02: I pray that your word would come alive to us today, that you would speak to us through it, that we would just encounter you in a real way as we turn through the pages of the Bible.
SPEAKER_02: We pray this in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: So I wanted to start off with a short story, a story of a dream that I had some years ago, because I feel like it kind of sets up the message that I'll be sharing with you today.
SPEAKER_02: In this dream, I was in a crowd of thousands of people, and we were shoulder to shoulder, and there just felt like there was this tension hanging in the air.
SPEAKER_02: And as I was maneuvering and making my way through the crowd, in the dream, I knew that chaos was close at hand.
SPEAKER_02: In the dream, I knew that a purge was about to happen.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if you've seen the movie years ago.
SPEAKER_02: I never saw it, but uh it was a movie called The Purge, and the concept was that during a specific time frame, people could commit any crime that they wanted and they would not be prosecuted for it.
SPEAKER_02: Um it's doesn't that sound like a terrible theme for a movie?
SPEAKER_02: It just sounds awful.
SPEAKER_02: But that was in the dream what I knew was about to happen, and I was very anxious because I was in this crowd of thousands of people, not the place that you want to be when a purge is about to happen.
SPEAKER_02: But as I'm maneuvering through the crowd, I come face to face with this child.
SPEAKER_02: And this child was someone in the dream I knew I had done ministry with.
SPEAKER_02: And so I grabbed onto the shoulders of the child, thinking about what was about to happen, and I said, Whatever you do, hold on to Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: The child and I hugged and we both cried.
SPEAKER_02: There was a lot of emotion in the dream, and we come back face to face, and he smiles at me, and I just knew that he was going to be okay.
SPEAKER_02: I think the state of our world echoes the tension that is felt in my dream.
SPEAKER_02: Old or young, many of us feel anxiety that seems to hang in the air, with uncertainty about what the future holds.
SPEAKER_02: In recent years, we've seen civil unrest, deepening political division.
SPEAKER_02: We've seen economic struggles that have affected all of us.
SPEAKER_02: In recent history, we've seen more fear, loneliness, and depression in unprecedented levels.
SPEAKER_02: And every time we turn on the news, it seems like chaos is unfolding.
SPEAKER_02: But what I'm here to tell you today, and what I believe that God's word clearly tells us, is that in the midst of a chaotic world, we are called to hold on to the sovereign Jesus who is in control of everything.
SPEAKER_02: Let me tell you today that the events of our world, the events that are unfolding right now and what's coming in the future is not a surprise to God.
SPEAKER_02: He's not caught off guard.
SPEAKER_02: He is orchestrating a plan and a purpose that involves every single one of us.
SPEAKER_02: And I don't know about you, but I want to be a part of that plan and purpose in chaotic times.
SPEAKER_02: Today I want to look at the sovereignty of God and how he is sovereign over everything space and time, creation, history, the nations, and our lives.
SPEAKER_02: So let's begin with a definition.
SPEAKER_02: What is sovereignty?
SPEAKER_02: The sovereignty of God is the fact that he is the Lord over creation.
SPEAKER_02: As sovereign, he exercises his rule.
SPEAKER_02: His rule is exercised through God's authority as king, his control over all things, and his presence with his covenant people and throughout his creation.
SPEAKER_02: God is ruling and reigning over all things.
SPEAKER_02: And his presence never ceases to be with his covenant people.
SPEAKER_02: That's what it means that we serve a sovereign God.
SPEAKER_02: As we go through different points of God's sovereignty, we'll be reflecting on a time in Israel's history that I believe was very chaotic.
SPEAKER_02: A time when Israel was exiled to Babylon.
SPEAKER_02: Imagine with me a time when Jerusalem, once a thriving city of faith and prosperity, lies in ruins.
SPEAKER_02: The temple of King Solomon, an icon of prosperity and faith, has been destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar.
SPEAKER_02: The Israelites are in chains, being hauled away from their dear homeland.
SPEAKER_02: They're being paraded through the streets of Babylon as prisoners of war, and we know by Scripture that they will be under attack.
SPEAKER_02: Their faith is considered hostile.
SPEAKER_02: This pretty well sets up the story.
SPEAKER_02: Now, thankfully for us, we're not being exiled to a foreign land.
SPEAKER_02: But I think all of us can relate to the chaos that these individuals may have been feeling.
SPEAKER_02: Feelings of angst and uncertainty about what lies in our future.
SPEAKER_02: But what we will see through these stories is a people or individuals who chose to stand up for truth and righteousness in the midst of a chaotic world when there seemed to be no future in store for them.
SPEAKER_02: God decided to use them in incredible ways.
SPEAKER_02: And God wants to use every single one of you in incredible ways in these unprecedented times.
SPEAKER_02: So let's start with point number one.
SPEAKER_02: If you're taking notes, God is sovereign over space and time.
SPEAKER_02: In our kids' ministry, we talk through all of the attributes of God.
SPEAKER_02: And one of those attributes is that God is eternal, that he has no beginning and end.
SPEAKER_02: And that's probably some of you may have experienced explaining that to a child.
SPEAKER_02: So when was his birthday?
SPEAKER_02: Well, he never had a birthday.
SPEAKER_02: Well, when's he gonna die?
SPEAKER_02: Well, God's never gonna die.
SPEAKER_02: He actually was there before there was time.
SPEAKER_02: Huh?
SPEAKER_02: Like that is hard to explain to a child.
SPEAKER_02: But it's the truth.
SPEAKER_02: Psalms 90, verse 2 says, Before the mountains were formed, you had formed the earth and the world.
SPEAKER_02: From everlasting to everlasting, you are God.
SPEAKER_02: Isaiah 46, 9 through 10 says, Remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is no other.
SPEAKER_02: I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all of my purposes.
SPEAKER_02: God is the one declaring the end from the beginning, ancient times from things to come, and all of his purposes will be fulfilled.
SPEAKER_02: Revelation chapter 22, verse 13 says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
SPEAKER_02: God is saying, I am these things.
SPEAKER_02: I don't just control them, I am the beginning and the end.
SPEAKER_02: I am above all of these things.
SPEAKER_02: You'll see a diagram on the screen.
SPEAKER_02: I think this helps illustrate how God is touching all points of history at the exact same time.
SPEAKER_02: Another illustration that I heard was that you take a sheet of paper and you take a Sharpie and you put a single dot on that piece of paper and you say, that dot represents all of time.
SPEAKER_02: And the sheet of paper represents God.
SPEAKER_02: And how God is actually touching all points of time in the same moment.
SPEAKER_02: Another illustration is that an author can write a book.
SPEAKER_02: And as we are reading that book, we are comparing what we're currently reading to how it was set up in the beginning of the book, and we're wondering how the events are going to unfold.
SPEAKER_02: Is so-and-so gonna get the girl?
SPEAKER_02: Is he ever gonna make it out of that war scenario?
SPEAKER_02: And yet the author knows the end from the beginning and everything in between because he wrote it.
SPEAKER_02: He can hold the book in his hand and tell you anything you want to know about that book.
SPEAKER_02: God is the author of space and time.
SPEAKER_02: The study of physics tells us that matter, time, and space must all exist together.
SPEAKER_02: And since God existed before there was no matter, he obviously is before all time.
SPEAKER_02: And he created the whole, the very concept of time.
SPEAKER_02: We read in Psalms 90, verse 4, for a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past.
SPEAKER_02: And as a watch in the night, 2 Peter 3, 8 expounds on this, saying that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
SPEAKER_02: We know by comparing these two concepts together that a long period of time is as if it's a very short period to God.
SPEAKER_02: And a short period of time seems like it goes on forever.
SPEAKER_02: As systematic theology tells us that God is present throughout every moment of time all at once.
SPEAKER_02: That's super energizing to me.
SPEAKER_02: And I think number one is because God is the one in control writing this story.
SPEAKER_02: You know, we say to the kids, the Bible is 66 books of history, stories, letters, and poetry that fit together to tell one story: the story of how God created everything, sin under the world, and God made a way to rescue us.
SPEAKER_02: We are a part of that story.
SPEAKER_02: Somewhere near the end of that story is you and I.
SPEAKER_02: And we are actually part of this giant story that God has written and that He is aware of all of its plot twists and turns all in the same moment.
SPEAKER_02: What's also so encouraging to me about this is that God sees your life all at the same time.
SPEAKER_02: He sees when you were born, he sees the day that you will die, he sees the mistake you made yesterday, and guess what?
SPEAKER_02: He sees the mistake you will make tomorrow.
SPEAKER_02: And yet he chooses to love us with such abandoned love.
SPEAKER_02: He chooses to partner, he chooses to partner with us on a journey of sanctification, taking us from glory to glory into the person that He is intending for us to be.
SPEAKER_02: God is not surprised by your sin.
SPEAKER_02: He's not surprised by the circumstances of your life, but he is actually present with you through it all.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know about you, but that is so encouraging to me.
SPEAKER_02: Because sometimes we get so caught up in our present.
SPEAKER_02: It's like, oh, God must be so mad at me.
SPEAKER_02: He must be so frustrated because dang, I did it again.
SPEAKER_02: Like, actually, God knew all of that the day you asked him into your heart.
SPEAKER_02: And he still chose you as his child.
SPEAKER_02: A story in Babylon that illustrates the sovereignty God has over space and time is Daniel interpreting the dream for King Nebuchadnezzar.
SPEAKER_02: King Nebuchadnezzar has this terrifying dream.
SPEAKER_02: He dreams of this statue that's been built and it's got all of these different types of material that it's constructed out of.
SPEAKER_02: What could it mean?
SPEAKER_02: He calls all of his wise men together and he says, Wise men, I need to know what my dream means.
SPEAKER_02: Yes, King, of course, uh Sir King, may you live forever, King.
SPEAKER_02: Tell us the dream, and we'll tell you what it means.
SPEAKER_02: No?
SPEAKER_02: I want you to tell me the dream.
SPEAKER_02: I think in this moment he's actually testing.
SPEAKER_02: I think he really wants to see the divine.
SPEAKER_02: He wants to see true wisdom and not just, well, your dream means this.
SPEAKER_02: And so, but I think this is a little overreactive, and the back and forth is kind of hilarious.
SPEAKER_02: They're like, yes, king, we heard you, king.
SPEAKER_02: May you live forever.
SPEAKER_02: Tell us your dream, and we will tell you the interpretation.
SPEAKER_02: No, you're not hearing me.
SPEAKER_02: I said, you tell me the dream.
SPEAKER_02: Yes, king, of course, king.
SPEAKER_02: You tell us the dream, we'll tell you the interpretation.
SPEAKER_02: If you don't tell me the dream, all of you will be beheaded.
SPEAKER_02: They're like, King, there is nobody on the face of the earth that can do what you've asked.
SPEAKER_02: Only the gods can tell you your dream, and they don't even live among men.
SPEAKER_02: Little did they know that there was a man who God was living among.
SPEAKER_02: So off with all the wise men's heads.
SPEAKER_02: You know, the knock comes to Daniel's door, and I imagine Daniel, oh, hi, how's it going?
SPEAKER_02: He's like, oh, it's fine, you know, just going about my daily routine.
SPEAKER_02: Well, what can I help you with?
SPEAKER_02: Well, I've got to take you to kill you.
SPEAKER_02: What?
SPEAKER_02: You've got to kill me?
SPEAKER_02: Why do you have to kill me?
SPEAKER_02: He's like, Well, the king had a dream.
SPEAKER_02: It was terrifying, and no one could tell him what the dream is, so everyone's got to die.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, that had to be like terrible.
SPEAKER_02: But he's like, no, no, no, give us a little bit of time.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna fast and pray and ask our God to reveal this dream to us.
SPEAKER_02: So the king agrees.
SPEAKER_02: Daniel has some time.
SPEAKER_02: He and his friends go into the prayer closet, they fast and they pray, and God reveals the dream to Daniel.
SPEAKER_02: Daniel goes to the king and he tells him the dream, and he tells him what the dream means for the future.
SPEAKER_02: Now, this is what's so cool is in that moment, Daniel's like some kind of time traveler person.
SPEAKER_02: Like in the present time, he's telling about events that happened in the past that nobody had any information about.
SPEAKER_02: And now he's telling what those events in the past are actually foretelling in the future.
SPEAKER_02: That is so cool.
SPEAKER_02: Now no man is able to do this, but a sovereign God, a God who is ruling and reigning over the entire timeline of history, is able to tell and reveal to Daniel what happened in the past and what that actually means for the future.
SPEAKER_02: God is sovereign over all of time.
SPEAKER_02: And for us, what does that mean?
SPEAKER_02: That means that God is writing your story, that he is present with you through all of the events of our story of history.
SPEAKER_02: The next point is God is sovereign over creation.
SPEAKER_02: God is sovereign over creation.
SPEAKER_02: Job chapter 12, verse 10 says, In his hands is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.
SPEAKER_02: Colossians 1, 16 through 17 says, For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him, and he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
SPEAKER_02: The very molecules of our existence are held together by our sovereign God, who is in control of all of creation.
SPEAKER_02: Revelation or Hebrews 1, verse 3 says, God upholds the universe by the word of his power.
SPEAKER_02: Revelation 4, 11 says, Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.
SPEAKER_02: By his will, they existed.
SPEAKER_02: By his will they were created.
SPEAKER_02: This points to the ability of God to be above the laws of nature.
SPEAKER_02: You know, it's so fascinating because evolution is so against like laws.
SPEAKER_02: Like laws don't just come from anything.
SPEAKER_02: Like someone has to write laws.
SPEAKER_02: Like that's very practical, right?
SPEAKER_02: Laws are intelligent information that is communicated and it doesn't come from nothing.
SPEAKER_02: God has written the laws that govern our existence, that govern physics, that govern uh medicine, that govern everything.
SPEAKER_02: But he is above all of these laws, and he is able to bend these laws to make provision and bring protection for his people.
SPEAKER_02: A great illustration of this is the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace.
SPEAKER_02: King Nebuchadnezzar erects this giant statue.
SPEAKER_02: He's like, everyone worship it.
SPEAKER_02: When the music plays, everyone should bow down and worship it.
SPEAKER_02: Now, this is when the story of these individuals who are coming from a foreign land really starts to get heated because they could choose to just follow the crowd.
SPEAKER_02: You know, they're not in their homeland anymore.
SPEAKER_02: They're in a foreign land.
SPEAKER_02: They have to choose.
SPEAKER_02: Should I just do enough to get by?
SPEAKER_02: I don't want to make any waves.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, the king could have a scary dream and off with all of our heads.
SPEAKER_02: Like, I need to play it safe here.
SPEAKER_02: But they're not gonna play it safe.
SPEAKER_02: In the midst of a chaotic world, they're gonna stand for truth and righteousness, and God is going to use them in a profound way.
SPEAKER_02: All of this crowd, I imagine thousands of people, the music plays dun dun, like you probably even hear the sound of people, thousands of people bowing down.
SPEAKER_02: It's like, oh, look, all these wonderful people bowing.
SPEAKER_02: What are there are three people standing?
SPEAKER_02: What is wrong with those jokers?
SPEAKER_02: Hey, call them over here.
SPEAKER_02: Wait a second.
SPEAKER_02: It's Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
SPEAKER_02: I liked those guys.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, listen, guys, I know you're like trying to be all holy and stuff, but I'm going to kill you if you don't bow down.
SPEAKER_02: So um, I'll give you one more chance.
SPEAKER_02: We'll play the music.
SPEAKER_02: Okay?
SPEAKER_02: Sound good?
SPEAKER_02: Okay, cool.
SPEAKER_02: Plays music, they don't bow down.
SPEAKER_02: What do they say to the king?
SPEAKER_02: They say, Our God is great enough to save us from the fiery furnace, but even if he does not, we will not bow down to your statue.
SPEAKER_02: It's like the cartoon character that starts at the feet, you know, red.
SPEAKER_02: He's like furious, he heats the furnace seven times hotter.
SPEAKER_02: The strong men throw them in and die instantly at the mouth of the furnace because it is so hot.
SPEAKER_02: God performs a miracle on their behalf.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's like one of the most practical things.
SPEAKER_02: Like we tell all our kids, don't touch, it's hot.
SPEAKER_02: That's one of the words that my one and a half-year-old learned pretty early is hot.
SPEAKER_02: And the sign language that goes with it, hot.
SPEAKER_02: And now she thinks everything is hot.
SPEAKER_02: But you you teach it because it's like, no, don't touch that, don't touch fire, don't touch the stove.
SPEAKER_02: It's hot, it will burn you, right?
SPEAKER_02: Not in God's book.
SPEAKER_02: God can bend the laws of nature to make provision and protection for his people.
SPEAKER_02: When we stand up in faith, we stand up as a standard for righteousness in chaotic times.
SPEAKER_02: God and his sovereignty can move in ways that baffle the minds of the onlooker.
SPEAKER_02: Let's read what Nebuchadnezzar's response is.
SPEAKER_02: And I want to look at the king's responses throughout this message because it's basically heathen kings that are declaring who God is in these accounts.
SPEAKER_02: Daniel chapter 3, verse 28 through 29, Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him and has set aside the king's commands and yielded up their bodies rather than to serve or worship any other God except their own God.
SPEAKER_02: Oh my goodness, that we could say this about ourselves, that people would say, Look at Bob and Jill, who would sacrifice their own bodies as not to serve a God that is not their own.
SPEAKER_02: I hope that one day someone says that about me.
SPEAKER_02: But he makes a decree.
SPEAKER_02: Therefore, I make a decree: any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, against torn limb from limb, and their house laid in ruins.
SPEAKER_02: For there is no other God who is able to rescue in this way.
SPEAKER_02: There is no other God who is able to rescue in this way.
SPEAKER_02: And what I forgot to mention was after the first dream that Nebuchadnezzar had, he promoted Daniel as the ruler over the entire province of Babylon.
SPEAKER_02: And promptly, Daniel promotes his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, to also be rulers over the province of Babylon.
SPEAKER_02: What an incredible turn of events.
SPEAKER_02: Aren't you glad that God is writing our story and not what circumstances would predict for us?
SPEAKER_02: Because he is able to take prisoners of war into a foreign land and actually put them as influential and powerful rulers over the entire known world.
SPEAKER_02: That's bizarre, but that's how our sovereign God works.
SPEAKER_02: He is sovereign.
SPEAKER_02: Over space and time.
SPEAKER_02: He is sovereign over our story.
SPEAKER_02: He is sovereign over nature.
SPEAKER_02: Another illustration of God's sovereignty over creation is Daniel in the lion's den.
SPEAKER_02: Daniel has survived three kingdoms at this point, and he is up for promotion again to be ruling over the province of Babylon.
SPEAKER_02: But some people get jealous, and they discover that the only way to condemn him to death is to attack his spiritual identity.
SPEAKER_02: And so they devise a plan that no one should pray to anyone else except for King Nebuchadnezzar, or at this time, King Darius, I believe it was.
SPEAKER_02: Yes, King Darius.
SPEAKER_02: And they catch him in the act, they throw him in the lion's den.
SPEAKER_02: The lions can't touch him.
SPEAKER_02: You know, imagine the tour guide of a safari and being like, oh yeah, these are lions, but they're harmless.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they're harmless.
SPEAKER_02: You can go, you can go pet them.
SPEAKER_02: It's like, no, it's practical.
SPEAKER_02: Hungry lions eat other animals, and they eat people.
SPEAKER_02: And these lions, in this case, definitely would have been eating people because they're in a den and that's their only diet.
SPEAKER_02: Probably.
SPEAKER_02: I don't actually know that.
SPEAKER_02: But God bends the laws of nature to make provision and protection for his people.
SPEAKER_02: Let's read what the king's response is.
SPEAKER_02: Daniel chapter 6, verse 20, starting with verse 26.
SPEAKER_02: Then King Darius wrote to all the people, nations, and languages that dwelt in all the earth.
SPEAKER_02: Peace be multiplied to you.
SPEAKER_02: I make a decree that in all my royal dominion, people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever.
SPEAKER_02: His kingdom shall never end or be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end.
SPEAKER_02: These kings, wicked, evil kings, rulers of the entire known world, are writing letters and shipping it to every province, every language, declaring who God is.
SPEAKER_02: Like for Israel, this would have seemed like a terrible situation.
SPEAKER_02: Our nation is removed and it's exiled, and God's like, yeah, I'm bringing you into an exiled nation because I intend for the entire world to hear about me.
SPEAKER_02: And I'm gonna use you to do it.
SPEAKER_02: If you can stand up for righteousness in chaotic times.
SPEAKER_02: In your life, you may be faced with impossible situations.
SPEAKER_02: God in his sovereignty can bend the laws of the universe to make provision for you.
SPEAKER_02: I remember the story where my mom, they were very poor at the time, and it was a very hard time, and all they ate for breakfast was grits.
SPEAKER_02: And my mom sent a flare prayer up to God and was like, God, it'd be really nice to have yogurt.
SPEAKER_02: That same day, they get a phone call from a friend that says, Hey, you're never gonna believe it.
SPEAKER_02: This yogurt truck just broke down, and there's a semi-truck full of yogurt.
SPEAKER_02: You gotta come get as much as you can.
SPEAKER_02: The same day.
SPEAKER_02: And it was just like, God, it'd be nice to have yogurt.
SPEAKER_02: You know, God can bend the laws of the universe to make provision for you in your situation.
SPEAKER_02: Number three, God is sovereign over nations.
SPEAKER_02: Have we not already seen this?
SPEAKER_02: The sovereign hand of God over the nation of Babylon.
SPEAKER_02: Job 12, verse 23 says, God makes nations great and he destroys them.
SPEAKER_02: He enlarges nations and he leads them away.
SPEAKER_02: Psalm 22, verse 28 says, For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.
SPEAKER_02: Don't we forget that sometimes?
SPEAKER_02: Don't we forget that he is still in control of the nations, that he is ruling over kings, that kings will be forced to bow down to him?
SPEAKER_02: He truly is the King of kings and the Lord of Lords.
SPEAKER_02: Acts 17, verse 26 says, And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.
SPEAKER_02: He has determined the allotted periods and dwellings or boundaries of their dwelling place.
SPEAKER_02: You know, King Nebuchadnezzar, he gets a little prideful and God just chops him down.
SPEAKER_02: There's this beautiful fruit, and then the tree is cut down and only the stump remains.
SPEAKER_02: He calls his wise men, Daniel interprets the dream.
SPEAKER_02: He says, King, I wish this dream was actually for your enemies.
SPEAKER_02: But God is saying that he is going to cut you down, and you will be removed from a place of pride and you will be humbled.
SPEAKER_02: Shortly after, King Nebuchadnezzar is on his rooftop and he makes a statement of pride: look at the beautiful kingdom that I have made.
SPEAKER_02: And in that instant, God allows him to go insane.
SPEAKER_02: And he ends up running into the woods, grappling around like an animal, his fingernails grow long, and his hair grows long, and crazy things.
SPEAKER_02: God does this to show him who is truly in control.
SPEAKER_02: Listen to the king's response.
SPEAKER_02: At the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, again, this is a letter going out to every no every person, every region, every language.
SPEAKER_02: I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored him who lives forever.
SPEAKER_02: For his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
SPEAKER_02: All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among all the hosts of heaven, among the inhabitants of the earth.
SPEAKER_02: And none can stay, stay his hand or say to him, What are you doing?
SPEAKER_02: We can't say that to God.
SPEAKER_02: Listen to what Nebuchadnezzar is saying about God, that his kingdom never ends.
SPEAKER_02: He's declaring the sovereignty of God that what God intends will happen, that God is ruling over the nations, that God is ruling over creation, that God is ruling over time and space.
SPEAKER_02: We don't have to fear the events of the nations that surround us.
SPEAKER_02: Because God is using all of these events to carry out his will.
SPEAKER_02: This doesn't, however, give us reason to be passive because as we look at the examples of Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Daniel, and eventually Esther, these individuals stood up for righteousness and God was able to use them in powerful ways.
SPEAKER_02: Number four, God is sovereign over all aspects of our lives.
SPEAKER_02: God is in control of every aspect of your life, both the good and the bad.
SPEAKER_02: Job chapter 23, verse 14 says, For he will complete what he appoints for me.
SPEAKER_02: And many such things are in his mind.
SPEAKER_02: Psalms 139, verse 16 says, Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me, and when yet as there was none of them, before you were even born, God knew the contents of your days.
SPEAKER_02: Proverbs 16, verse 9 says, The heart of man plans his ways, but the Lord establishes his steps.
SPEAKER_02: You know, in our pride, we think that we have so much control, and yet God is still in control over our lives.
SPEAKER_02: Now, it's easy to talk about the sovereignty of God in context to good things.
SPEAKER_02: You know, verses like James 1:17 that say, every good and perfect thing comes down from God.
SPEAKER_02: Or Jeremiah 29, 11, for I know the plans you have for me, plans of good and not evil, plans to prosper and to give me a hope and a future.
SPEAKER_02: We hold on to these verses and we rejoice in these verses as we should, but this message gets really challenging to talk about when we talk about the bad things that happen in our lives.
SPEAKER_02: Every one of us in this room has experienced deeply hurt, deep hurt and circumstances that were completely unprecedented.
SPEAKER_02: And we are left to grapple with the concept of a sovereign God in the midst of a chaotic life.
SPEAKER_02: I personally believe that in our fallen world we experience bad things because we have free will.
SPEAKER_02: And we can make choices that will hurt ourselves, hurt others, and others can make choices that will hurt us.
SPEAKER_02: And that in our fallen state of a world, there are things like sickness and disease that are now part of this world because of sin.
SPEAKER_02: I believe that God has ordained things to happen in our lives for the purpose of bringing us to a point of completion, bringing us into the calling that He has for us.
SPEAKER_02: And I believe that God does not cause some things, but He allows certain things for the same reason, so that the plan that He has for us will be carried out to fulfillment.
SPEAKER_02: But which one of these happens when?
SPEAKER_02: When we lose the family member that we love, when we are encountered with job loss, when we are faced with a sickness or a disease or a prediction, I don't believe that it's our job to know.
SPEAKER_02: God in his sovereignty knows which one of those answers it is, whether it's the fallen world we live in or something he's caused or something he's allowed.
SPEAKER_02: But our job is to rest in the sovereign God.
SPEAKER_02: And in the midst of all of this, in the midst of chaos, we have a hope that the people in this world do not have.
SPEAKER_02: This hope is that all things work together for good.
SPEAKER_02: You know, God in his sovereignty, sovereignty is just one attribute, he's also good, and he's loving, and he's righteous, and we can rest in the sovereignty of God, that he's not working or allowing these things for no reason, but he's got a master plan that our life is a part of.
SPEAKER_02: Philippians 4, 12 through 13, Paul says, I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound.
SPEAKER_02: In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
SPEAKER_02: I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
SPEAKER_02: God is promising that no matter what comes your way, he is going to be your strength.
SPEAKER_02: He is going to be your guide.
SPEAKER_02: He is present through your timeline all at the same time.
SPEAKER_02: He's not gonna leave you, he's not going to abandon you.
SPEAKER_02: Romans 8 28 says, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good.
SPEAKER_02: For those who are called according to his purpose.
SPEAKER_02: All things, the good, the bad, the ugly, the joyful, he's using all things for our good.
SPEAKER_02: Philippians 1 6 says, and I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in me will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: God has begun a good work in you, and he's not done because you're facing some trials, he's not done because you're facing a sickness.
SPEAKER_02: He's still there and he's still working it out to completion.
SPEAKER_02: He's got a plan and a purpose that's so much bigger than our imagination.
SPEAKER_02: And he wants to carry it and he will carry it out to completion.
SPEAKER_02: You know, uh, I've encountered kids who have just been through terrible things that no child should ever have to go through.
SPEAKER_02: I um at our my last church, I was talking with a child.
SPEAKER_02: I was like, hey buddy, what seems to be the problem?
SPEAKER_02: You seem sad, you seem downcast.
SPEAKER_02: And he said to me, Well, yesterday my dad left and he took the TV and he took the dog and he took a suitcase.
SPEAKER_02: And I don't know if I'm ever gonna see him again.
SPEAKER_02: My heart, I mean, my eyes are welling up with tears in that moment because my heart just breaks for this child who's going through terrible things.
SPEAKER_02: And I couldn't just say, Well, you know, God's gonna work it out for good.
SPEAKER_02: I told him, hey, listen, you know, God actually said we're gonna go through really hard times.
SPEAKER_02: The Bible actually says you will go through tribulations.
SPEAKER_02: But I said, you know what the other part of that verse is?
SPEAKER_02: It says that we can take heart because God has overcome the world.
SPEAKER_02: Because God is still in control, because God, who is loving and true and faithful and just, is working all things together for our good.
SPEAKER_02: And we might not be able to see it right now, we might not understand it, but he has got a purpose that is so much greater to have an impact and to give us places of power and authority in a chaotic world.
SPEAKER_02: So, what does this mean for me?
SPEAKER_02: In light of God's sovereign, what can we learn from this today?
SPEAKER_02: First and foremost, it means that we can rest in assurance that nothing happens outside of God's control.
SPEAKER_02: There's nothing that he purposes that will not be accomplished.
SPEAKER_02: God is not sitting back hoping that things will work out well, but he's holding and orchestrating all of it.
SPEAKER_02: That he's sovereign over time, he's sovereign over creation, he is sovereign over the nations, he is sovereign over our lives.
SPEAKER_02: You know, I see a generation like Shadrach, Meshach, Abendigo, and Daniel, who, in a world of chaos, they are receiving the training and the equipping and they are applying themselves despite what the news is saying, despite what all of the resources are saying, they're applying themselves because they're saying, I'm going to stand for righteousness in this time.
SPEAKER_02: And God is going to raise up this generation to stand in places of power, of places of authority, of places of influence, in a corrupt world, in a chaotic world, and he is going to allow his name to be proclaimed through them.
SPEAKER_02: And that's why I'm dedicating my life to that purpose, to raising up Daniel's, to raising up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigos.
SPEAKER_02: That's happening in your homes.
SPEAKER_02: As parents and grandparents, uncles.
SPEAKER_02: Your children are being equipped every single day when you put in the effort, when you give them the love that they're not receiving anywhere else.
SPEAKER_02: When you give them the love when they just messed up, but you say, Listen, I still love you.
SPEAKER_02: And they're receiving that training here in the church, that we're able to compound the efforts that you as parents and grandparents are making because we're endeavoring to give them a biblical education that is going to give them the truth and the foundation to stand on, so that when that giant statue is in front of them, they're like, You listen, I know the truth, I know the one true God.
SPEAKER_02: There's no one else I can worship, there's no one else I can bow down to.
SPEAKER_02: My parents have told me, my church has told me I'm surrounded by a community that is doing the exact same thing.
SPEAKER_02: And that's why I invite you to come to our Road Kids Open House on September 29th at one o'clock.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna have a free lunch and we're gonna demonstrate for you our mission, values, and purpose for the kids' ministry.
SPEAKER_02: I invite you to consider coming to that.
SPEAKER_02: As we wrap up today, I want to leave you with a powerful image.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus on the cross, in that moment, there must have been a party going on in hell saying, We've finally done it, we've killed the actual Son of God.
SPEAKER_02: Little did they know they were unleashing the ultimate victory, that every human being would have the opportunity to encounter the one and true sovereign God and be received righteousness and freedom from their sins through this person, Jesus Christ, through the darkest conspiracies.
SPEAKER_02: You know, we get caught up with the conspiracies going on in our nation or our world, the deep state and the Nephilim and all of these things.
SPEAKER_02: Of course, that stuff's going on because Satan is trying his very hardest to undermine the divine plan of God.
SPEAKER_02: He is writing this story, he is weaving together this beautiful tapestry that includes you and me.
SPEAKER_02: Let's stop focusing on the things that are going on around us and let's start focusing on the sovereign God.
SPEAKER_02: That even in the biggest victory of Satan, God turned it around.
SPEAKER_02: The cross, a symbol of death and destruction, now has become for thousands of years a symbol of life and truth and freedom.
SPEAKER_02: God wants to turn around your circumstances in your life.
SPEAKER_02: He wants to turn them around to be the greatest victory that your realm of influence has ever seen.
SPEAKER_02: We have to trust.
SPEAKER_02: We have to hold on like that child.
SPEAKER_02: Hold on to the sovereign God.
SPEAKER_02: Don't hold on to the news anchor.
SPEAKER_02: I don't care how conservative they are.
SPEAKER_02: Hold on to Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: He will never fail, and his purposes will be fulfilled.
SPEAKER_02: I invite you as we go into a time of worship, to turn your eyes to the sovereign God, to worship the sovereign God who is present with you in this very moment.
SPEAKER_02: He is present with you in your future self as well.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening to the Born for War podcast.
SPEAKER_01: We hope today's message has empowered you to make a difference in your world.
SPEAKER_01: To connect with Pastor Steve's sermons, books, and blog, visit Steve Holtonline.org.
SPEAKER_01: God bless.