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the go over chapter six in the book we’re doing for Sunday school from Jerry Bridges titled trusting God I’m for those of you who don’t know I’m Richard montaperto uh I was asked to pres present this lesson today and uh by God’s grace uh I’ll do a decent job to you all so I guess we’ll just open with a quick word of prayer my Lord Jesus we always thank you for the lessons that you have given us in your word most importantly we thank you for that you’ve given us you’ve given you for us when you went to the cross and paid for our sins and then you Rose Victorious over sin and death and you have brought us with you into this Lord we ask that you give us Aid and wisdom as we unpack this particular lesson plan over your power over nature and over natural events Lord there’s so many that things that have happened even in just these last two to three weeks that has given us much to uh to think about to pray about so I pray Lord for this lesson that the you use me in a in a mighty way for your people here for their edification and most importantly For Your Glory and I ask and pray this now in your holy name amen amen okay all right so as I said this is a doing it over God’s power over nature uh Jerry Bridges had broken up into several several headings so just proceed now over with God’s power over as I said here they are you know you have a set the number of headings uh does god control natural events such as the weather natural disasters physical afflictions childlessness and you know as Christians we have to acknowledge yes he does I mean this now to the world many times they it’s just natural events and such and so that leads for the world to do things they complain about like for instance the weather right now you know people like to love to complain about the weather uh unfortunately you know whether it’s too hot too cold always rains on the weekends I mean I remember one year where it felt like every other Saturday and Sunday and Friday it decided to rain for like I don’t know three four months in a row people were just going crazy taking off in the middle of the week and you know the old favorite to it always you know rains on my vacation when I go down to the shore or down to Florida whatever so now how does that help help us go I’m doing the wrong thing sorry and nope okay there there you are now one thing we have to remember as Christians you know when you just think that weather just happens well that’s just falling into the fallacy of the deists you know the old Cosmic clock maker syndrome you know God just made the world and the universe and then just moves on that’s not true we state that flat out you know weather doesn’t just happen you know we’re not unlucky victims subject to and personal whims as as I said before God is not a cosmic clock maker he doesn’t wind up the universe and just walk away from it you know he sets up natural laws but he’s behind those natural laws too he energizes those laws they operate at his Sovereign control and again the world doesn’t really recognize that because the world of course doesn’t really want to recognize God the way he is they’ll just recognize him for what they think he does for them and we have several scripture verses to to butress this uh I use the The New American Standard Version I think Jerry Bridges likes he uses a different version which so I prefer these you know and the first is you know from Psalm 147 verses 16- 18 he gives snow like the wool he scatters the frost like ashes who could St he who could stand before his cold he sends forth his word and melts them he causes his wind to blow and the waters to flow so right here he’s doing all of this even though there’s these quote laws in place nevertheless it’s the Lord we see from here that he’s the one who’s doing all these things this is reiterated again in Jeremiah veres 10-13 when he utters his voice there is a tumult of waters in the heavens and he causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the Earth he makes the Lightnings for the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses so again pointing out God’s Sovereign control over every form of weather that we can that we can have and for the last one here from Amos 4:7 furthermore I withheld the rain from you while there were still 3 months until Harvest then I would send rain on one city and on another city I would not send rain one part would be rained on while the part not rained on would dry up I mean we’ve kind of seen this too sometimes you could drive in one town and it’s pouring rain and suddenly you drive into another town and and you even look on the ground it’s dry as a bone and it’s just one of the little amazements you can can have over how weather affects everybody but I mean when you think about it so again so if God is Sovereign over the weather and how it happens and to whom he puts it on you know there we have to see the common themes here you know that God again is in control of all weather events uh Jerry Bridges gave a a bit of a helpful uh quote from a gentleman named GC Burke burkau confess I’d never heard of him before but he said Believers are not victims of powers of nature or fate so my question that I want to pose here for a couple of moments is how can Christians how can we practice and even an active biblical Evangelical perspective in our own lives in light of this revelation of God’s sovereignty and remember again things just don’t happen because he is in complete control so any U thoughts comments anyone that pertains to this yesing us and out of y so yes as you’re saying so yeah just to re pull it summarize it no matter what happens we have to always be thankful to God for whatever he has given us even if to our flesh it certainly doesn’t feel like it as you said you were praying for for good weather for for your daughter’s wedding there in Atlanta I believe right at and I just knew it was coming yeah and yeah God’s will be done in that then in that weather and whoever could make it couldn’t whoever could couldn’t it’s all again under his own Sovereign control and you just had to say we will be joyful no matter what and that’s you know one of the uh one of the Hallmarks of of Believers is that no matter what we’re experiencing I mean we we’re going to we need to focus on the joy that’s present in that moment the teaching of that moment too to us from the Lord Jesus I mean you know what it’s not a weather event but if you think about Paul and Silas what happened to them you know they were locked in the stocks in a dark dank dungeon you know with their feet in the stocks and yet Paul and Silas were singing hymn in the midst of that and there’s other events in Christian history that you know we could be here all week retelling so but no it’s a good point I’m sorry I can’t I don’t remember your name jod Jody thanks Jody for that so anybody else Glenda You Know Rich even okay you even hear some some Christians are saying if something good happened it’s from God if something bad happened it’s from the de from the enemy or the devil so I remember when the hurricane the earthquake hit Haiti in 2010 I think was Pat Robinson said that it came from God and I mean everybody was outraged M that he said that as a Christian he could say that it wasn’t God it is any it came from the enemy but God said in Amos if any Calamity happen in the world it’s i s it so you can’t understand why some Christians saying because it’s bad it come from devil devil and it’s good it come from God no God can do anything so that’s where I see his sovereignty in that when we see anything happen good or bad is always in the hand of the Lord Satan can’t do anything without God allowing him to do it so that’s where we as Christian has to really think everything is Sovereign with God y That’s you know that’s what we learned from job you know God used Devil Himself to uh to test job and to present God’s Own Glory too in that and his sovereignty uh it again it’s just something as Christians it’s all too easy for us too let’s face we live in a world you know we live amongst the worldlings who don’t really have God in their thoughts so of course if something bad happens and they want to say Well if they have any belief in God at all well he’s a good god he’s a loving God he’s a merciful one of course he didn’t let this happen but then that begs the question if he’s the God who created everything are you telling me that he can’t control things and that if he doesn’t want to but think and the thing is we always have to go back to the scriptures you know it’s the scriptures that Define or should Define what we believe and how we act in the face of that belief so okay moving on so again yeah so complaining about the weather is very common as we said too hot too cold whatever rains on okay I think we’ve been there yeah I’m sorry I must have gone backwards so we move on to others there you know I’m going backwards again aren’t I Tony yeah all right hold on then well did I just happened we went through these okay we’ve been commenting yet Revelation okay so next so other thing too about a complaining about the weather if we do it again we know it’s not right we shouldn’t be doing it unfortunately we’re prone in practice to overlook Divine Providence and all these things you know and part of is that then we show ourselves centered in this I mean this you know everything has to revolve around us and you know in our own sinful Natures that’s how we think and that’s how we move and that’s what we do and that’s why it’s always important to keep ourselves in the word to make sure and to also talk it up with each other too you know we’re we’re not just you know little islands off all by ourselves so you know we need to do things too we have to remember to give thanks for good weather too it’s you know one thing that is that even I’ve had to learn in my life is to thank him for everything that’s happening in my life even the small things I learned a long time ago you know even thank for well the weather whether it’s good or bad I mean there one time I remember oh about 15 years ago when uh people were so ecstatic over how it wasn’t snowing for the whole winter no rain nothing it was great Susan my wife was like no you don’t want this because and sure enough the spring and summer came it still wasn’t any rain and then we were in the middle of a drought and you know for a lot of us that’s just means you know we can’t water our Lawns but let’s face it too if the farmers are suffering a drought well then your food supply is going to be affected too so we have to remember to always thank him in the small little things you know and and learn to see his sovereignty and all of that and remember all events no matter what they’re designed for our molding and for his glory so let me yeah complaining let’s again let’s one thing I want to say let’s not mince words about that when we complain it’s sin pure and simple I mean we are denigrating the character of a holy and Sovereign God I mean it’s something we really need to put into practice in our lives about it because if you don’t I mean what kind of a then you’re just worshiping a God the way the world does you know it’s a you know he’s a cosmic grandfather you know he’s not going to really harm you or hurt you about anything and that’s yeah that’s not somebody that’s working for his glory and you know we even see this then you know in Numbers chapter 11 verse 1 so it says here now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the Lord and when the Lord heard it his anger was kindled and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp I mean when you see this you know we’re showing again why it’s wrong for Christians and frankly even unbelievers you know to complain about the weather I mean even something as small as that uh when we do so there’s a few things that happens when we do this we display a particular or practical unbelief in God’s grace and we deprive ourselves of the peace that comes from recognizing our heavenly father is in control of whatsoever weather we are experiencing at the moment so again it keeps it just keeps boiling down to this you know we we have a God who is in control of everything we also have a god who’s a loving and kind and merciful god so if we’re going to believe both we we just have to rest in that we we can’t keep trying to go to our own nature always and try to reconcile what seems to be irreconcilable I mean we we we’re not going to understand God and His totality ever even when we’re there with him it’s just we’re not for you know we’re finite beings compared to him he was always there and always will be and though we’re going to exist into eternity but we didn’t exist beforehand before we were born before we were conceived in the womb uh Richard Anthony Monte perto didn’t exist except in the mind of God and we just have to remember that you know is there any uh you know comments thoughts to uh to this particular part of the lesson Joyce oh sorry when you go through trials it was like do you just want to get back to where you were physically like say it was a physical ailment because when God’s putting you we can believe it in theory God is Sovereign but then he puts us in a situation and when God puts the pressure on us you know it’s a motive to press into Christ to learn spiritually what what is he doing why am I in this and and to examine and to um grow an intimacy with him rather than to just want it gone because you can say but God and whatever the crisis is they said that in the um was it the fiery furnace you know Our God will deliver us but God so the trials are very purposeful but sometimes I think as Americans we would just want to wish them away but he’s doing something far deeper and greater and you see him in a way that you didn’t see him before if we didn’t go through that experience so we have to really see he whatever he does in our individual lives is good and it is always good even if we can’t see it or feel it so we go to the scripture to post pull ourselves up and out of staying in that pit or just wanting it gone because he has a purpose far deeper than we can ever imagine and we really saw that that weekend right yeah that’s true let me sort of capsulate again you we we we always want it just to be gone but we need to give God the glory and whatever is happening at the moment and also again to acknowledge that somehow it’s being worked out for our good because remember he even said you know all things work together for good for those who were called period end of story and that’s a hard thing in the flesh to accept there just let let’s be frank and honest about it we’re not just going to usually just say okay great thank you you know doesn’t always quite work out that way but then again we always have to you know the old divines would say Flight of the scriptures you know because it’s there we’re going to be instructed and to be reminded that again God is Sovereign over everything and he has a reason may not always know that job was never given the reason why he uh why he went through all what he went through but nevertheless he did and if I’m not mistaken it was even he who said though he slay me yet I shall praise him and that’s one of the lessons we have to take into account yes skip yeah God in control of everything we can see that going on what’s going on in this world right now you know there’s plenty of liars but God’s still in control because he doesn’t like people that doesn’t tell the truth you know so he’s in control and we see it every day yes we do thank you skip Mark how I was thinking um I have a an uncle who lives in Asheville North Carolina unfortunately their home and they were safe um I talked to him last week and one of the things he said to me now he doesn’t know Christ but he said he was just amazed at the um the unity and the help that was coming from the community he was learning things about his neighbors and his community that he wouldn’t have seen any other way and I think that at least in part that’s part of what God is doing um to loosen our grip on our things and maybe put relationships uh in their proper place to what jod said I think you know as I was reading this chapter God loosens our grips on things that are less important so we would grasp on to things that are more important namely him and that’s what a loving thing for him to do I thank you so yeah we exactly I mean we always have to keep looking to him first you know as jod said earlier you know but God it probably should be a a very common refrain in our heads when adversity in whatever form comes our way and this is how you know so we’re teaching ourselves and he’s teaching us you know how to practice our faith in this particular area you know the sovereignty of God in this case over weather and weather events again we have to remember he’s Sovereign and he’s got a loving hand in all these acts of Providence and remember we’re blessed many more times than we are cursed if you want to use that phrase uh that word to when we have bad weather again it goes back to being thankful for God and all the little things that are good that we tend to ignore or just it just becomes such a part of our life we don’t even really realize it’s there we have to be more conscious maybe of what of the good things that God has given us like the weather each day like today you know let’s face it here in New Jersey now we haven’t experienced hurricanes by the grace of God but you know for a good couple of months we’ve had it seems like every other day was a period of rain and that you know we’re not that’s not something that’s fun to go with and we when we get the good weather you know maybe we would thank him when we start having a string of good days like this we have to remember to thank him for that too even and you know even if it leads to a drought people I mean even then that’s again in is Sovereign control and it’s for our good and as Mark was saying it just hey how do we see the good in that now we have to we have we’ll see what happens with our neighbors maybe too see with people around us and and you know so again we don’t have we cannot overlook Divine Providence changing our plans based on weather I mean because it may be something else that the Lord has in mind obviously just to put it you know a little maybe a little crudely there so in know natural disasters was another thing that Jerry Bridges touched on you know why does he allow such things as what we saw you know in in Appalachia and even now just in the last few days with the hurricane Milton you know plowing through Florida now it looks like there may even be another hurricane that you know everybody’s all all worried about you know where’s God in all these things in volcanic eruptions and earthquakes like he mentioned in the very beginning of the chapter of you know the Mexican earthquake in 1985 and others you know Glendon mentioned the uh the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 you know where is God in that you know it’s such horrific events too I mean I don’t know how many thousands of people perished in Haiti Glend did I mean there must have been thousands of I mean the tsunamis that occur around the world I mean I don’t know I remember the one that swept through East Asia the tsunami that killed literally probably almost hundreds of thousands of people and people will say where is God in that I mean again you can see why people would want to attribute that to the devil I mean that SC you know disasters of such magnitude the scale of such thing it’s hard to reconcile that with a loving and kind God you know then it goes back well what is it you know is it judgment did it come about because of the fall uh Jerry Bridges points out I think rightly that we shouldn’t try to dig too deeply into this again because you know God God has not given us specific Revelations each time a disaster happens why he did this frankly he’s not obligated to do so you know we’re his creatures we’re the creation uh he’s the where the we’re the clay he’s the Potter and that’s all there is to it that’s another thing that rankles you know human sensibilities you know especially as Americans you know what do you mean it’s not my business to know how dare you behave this way towards me you have no right and you know we’ll see that even frankly at last judgment for many people you know who you know I remember RC Sproul talked about you know how people were weeping and nashing of teeth and you point out that the nashing of teeth is when somebody is is horrifically angry you know it’s not just oh they’re like a they’re so angry and that’s how people get with God and again we have to remember as Christians we we got to remember we got to not think that way and we have to catch ourselves when we do because again it’s all too common and it’s going to happen because we’re still in the flesh unfortunately we’re not going to be out of that way of thinking of of until we’re you know we our glorified bodies in a glorified creation so you know natural disasters that we have to remember are do glorify God I mean for one thing they show up on a very raw level his tremendous power right here on the earth and just for a little bit of perspective that I don’t have up in the slides but you know I was thinking about that I’m like wait a minute okay so we have this huge hurricane that devastated the south over three states hundreds of thousands of people displaced couple of hundred killed right now I it’s going to take them months if not years to finally get everything back to the way it was as as Jody pointed out but then it occurred I said wait a minute so this was a little a hurricane on the face of the whole planet that’s a blip now we got this planet Earth if you put us next to the planet Jupiter that’s a blip you take our solar system and put it against the Galaxy that’s a blip now you put our galaxy against the entire created order of the universe and that’s a blip so that you’re telling so that means we have a God that is so awesome and so powerful and and yet he knows everything that’s going on everything even the blips are under his control I mean if you want to go backwards too from the hurricane down to the water down to the molecules down to the very atoms God is moving everything from the from the the atomic Universe all the way up to what we see in the skies and Beyond and you when you start thinking that frankly it can overwhelm you a little bit and then you just have to sit there like the psalmist once said is what is God that thou what is man sorry that that thou art mindful of me I mean that you even care about us and yet he does and we’re grateful for that and again so his people must as his people we must acknowledge Him in these natural displays of of disasters that are that that he’s able to do these things and that somehow this is also working out for his people’s good and sometimes even for the unbeliever for remember God sends the reign of both the just and the unjust you know in that way he is good I mean he could have simply always been giving us poor weather we could have always been to suffering you know earthquakes at a moment’s notice in any place in the world and volcanic eruptions too again because everything’s under his control fortunately for us he’s not a spiteful vengeful deity like they are in the Pagan religions who just I just feel like just delivering this to them now I’m going to you know CU I feel like playing with them he’s not like that at all you know nothing is done without a purpose for him and and usually it’s for his purpose but it’s also for me so why does God allow these to to occur so again it’s also okay to ask these questions but we have to remember first of all how to ask you know any of us as parents you know we know but we have to teach our children you know listen you want to ask ask questions there’s a way you talk to us as parents you know you don’t just who are you you when we can’t approach God that way either we always have to remember God how is this happening why is this happening and we have to be respectful and re almost reverential about it many times now I’m not saying we have to do that with our children to be reverential but we do there is a certain amount of respect a certain amount of fear and by fear I don’t mean oh he’s going to you know what’s he going to do to me oh no but there’s another part aspect of fear where yeah this God could crush me in an instant yet he doesn’t and I’m grateful for that and you know we have to remember that you know and yes there were people who perished in the last hurricane down there in North Carolina and and well Appalachia but there were a lot who survived and a lot have incredible stories of survival and that was by God’s grace and so that alone too would be something that we always have to focus on when when it comes to something like this you know again I guess the overriding thing here and I’m going to keep coming back to it again and again and again I’m sure goes through the entire book God is Sovereign but God is also gracious even in ways we don’t understand or see at the moment you know we have to remember again we’re finite and he’s infinite you we can’t always question a holy omnicient God and Isaiah brings that up where he talks about in Isaiah 45 veres 6-7 that men may know from the rising to the setting of the Sun that there is no other besides me I am the lord and there is no we the one forming light and creating Darkness causing well-being and cre and creating Calamity I am the Lord who does all these things so it’s God alone again we we’ll go back to the beginning of this where he’s not an impersonal God who just simply wound up the universe and and Let It Go on its merry way and okay sometimes he may intervene if somebody rubs their magic prayer lamp and poof you know God thank you for delivering me out of this that that’s just not his way at all and we have to remember that another thing again as Glend even pointed out earlier you know when no there’s no way these things are of the devil sorry but well not sorry but this is the way it is God himself accepts the responsibility even for any natural disasters that occur we even saw this from Isaiah this is the way it is he he is in control of every single thing that happens in his Universe there is nothing that happens because well it just was going to go off and do it you know take a break for a second if anybody else has any questions or comments on this that they wish to butress what’s been taught so far Jody that’s okay all diss or trials I know God’s Providence I read that chapter ahead of time by mistake but it wasn’t by mistake because I sent that chapter out seven pages at least to a ton of people including my sister who has already been in the path of one and had lived had to live in a trailer for seven months and a roof was ripped off and so as we were talking about this next one I just said sue you got to just shut off that TV which is a form of entertainment with the news 24 hours on the weather they’re making it I go they’re not God now was I was I anxious for her I absolutely was but I was not going to give feed her that because I said go to the scriptures I’m praising him in the storm go and she did she shut it off and then she sent that those seven pages out to the people in her life because that’s how we in even as Believers we when one’s low hopefully someone’s in a higher place and then when we switch that we’re not all down at the same time but to be strong for that person because it’s okay to be anxious and just flush it out with God this is a journey it’s Progressive but to fight against our flesh and wrestle against that that’s what we have to I think get used to doing till that becomes the Habit instead of who we were before we came to Christ so that’s that’s the Journey of it all and just be prepared that if we were going to get called home how do I don’t know who said it but somebody said live your life um as if it was either the last week or the last hour would we want to be found thinking the thoughts we’re thinking or complaining against God just you know our life is 70 years versus all of eternity and we want to end well Pastor Dave give that sermon too how do we end we want to end well so I yeah it’s true we we have to remember that in our last hours we’re going to be giving an account to God how do we want to spend that you know how do what do we want to be able to say to him you know and you’re right it’s okay again we’ve said this before it’s okay to wrestle with these things what’s not okay is to then give in to the flesh that just wants to you know ah chip this you know you know some other words that maybe I don’t want to use yet Brother Rich um two thoughts come to mind you know I’m thinking uh just two words submission and humility we all have to get to a point where we see God for who he is and not concoct as God in our own mindset we all have to be uh fully convinced in our own mind and how do we get to that we get to that through the scriptures right so when I think of humility and submission submitting to what God has already declared and said about himself this helps us greatly and I know we all growing we’re all growing christlikeness and our understanding but it helps us greatly to be able to understand God for who he is and what he declared and what he said he will do so that when we see these things take place not that we don’t have emotions um about the terrible things that happen but there’s a sense of rest and peace because we know God knows what he’s doing and so um and even with when we talking to Believers and unbelievers um and sharing this with others we need to be at that place and and again we’re growing there we’re getting to that place but God tell us where our mind should be set on things above above eternal things right we we think of the here and now we think of what we desire now what we see now what we want from God now but God is is is doing a greater thing and the more and more that we feed our minds on what scripture teaches it helps us it helps us to rest in his truth and to deal with what he’s doing because God is knows what he’s doing right and so we have to really be at a place in our life where we understand that and and receive that with our whole heart thank you Tony yeah we we we have to again you said you know always trust in him know that he’s he’s good and I might add that even if we can’t acknowledge where we can see the good that he’s doing it it’s it’s irrelevant what we can see in our own self what we may be able to understand in our own selves all we know is what he is who he is and what he said in his word and that’s where we have to rest so uh so okay we what to do again you know we need to remember he causes this this just the rain and the sun to rise on the evil and the good uh would it be blessed with him when good weather comes in as well as you know bless him in the times he saves us from the bad and we just need to stop complaining about it period I mean it’s not just the weather too I mean there’s so many other things in our lives that we complain about I don’t make enough money uh I’ve got diseases that are always afflicting me or my family I mean my insurance is too high my taxes are too high but you know again God is Sovereign over everything not just weather not just natural disasters and you know it’s just the way it is and you know we really need to make that there’s an old saying the warp and woof of Our Lives you know that’s how we are that’s who we are that we have to do we have to be this way and it all depends on his power and his grace that’s working in us because you know remember we have the spirit of God residing in US and we always have to do homage to that and we always have to to to run back to that and to run to the scriptures and now it’s the scriptures and the leading of the spirit in our hearts in our mind and our beings that has to override our our fleshly feelings we it’s just a training it’s Jody said it’s a journey you know it doesn’t just happen overnight puff you know I wish it did but it doesn’t so all right another I think wow running yes Glenda uh I would not like to be serving a God that answers to me answers to you answers to everyone because just as we don’t want our our children you to be serving one and not serving the other that’s not the God that I want to serve amen because we don’t know what we want we don’t know what to ask for you know we are not satisfied with anything so suppose we had a god like that this world would be in chaos but we’re glad because God is sovereign regardless of what we want what we like he has no don’t have to answer to us so that’s where we have to submit as Tony was saying submit ourself to him knowing that he’s Sovereign and what we need that’s what he’s going to give to us amen thank you Glend I would say to that too that God serves Us by distinctly giving us what we don’t want yeah am I mean he um I love when the scriptures say he knows what we need before we ask him not what we want what we need and um I I love how you’re unfolding this Rich that these things are for our good and ways that we can’t understand so thank you you’re welcome just all right see and you see me running wow it’s already cord so another area that he’s shows his power is over physical afflictions you know and all of us suffer to some degree or another physical afflictions whether it’s you know hay fever or cancer you know to name a couple of uh ones that pop up in our lives and God sovereignly ordains even these things I mean into every single person’s life he grants a measure of a disability that pops up or that you’re born with you know and remember they don’t they don’t happen just because of some uh non-existent blind chance I mean there is no such thing as chance in the universe you know as our beloved brother RC Sproul pointed out many times there’s no chance it’s all God it’s under his Sovereign control and he our brother of course being a teacher of the scriptures that’s where he came that’s where that comes from and it’s God’s direct action not genetics that you know causes these things to happen and we read that just in Exodus 4: 10 and 11 and Moses said to the Lord please Lord I have never been eloquent neither recently nor in time past nor since you have spoken to your servant for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue and the Lord said to him who has made man’s mouth or who makes him mute or deaf or seeing or blind is it not I the Lord you know when you you you know there’s other there’s a few things that you know you could think of with this you know God you know made the man blind yes uh or no to ask you if you can elaborate on a little bit um I know you were saying that God’s in control of everything yes but where does that leave everybody when it comes to making wise decisions because you can say I’ve heard people say well God’s in control of everything that’s well it’s up to you if you want to answer that then well I guess uh man plans man plans but it’s God who directs his steps it’s it’s I know that doesn’t quite answer the question it’s and thank you Mark for the fact that’s in the next chapter yes ma’am yes the let go and let God is you don’t want to use that kind of a saying to abdicate your responsibility like I’m not going to witness I’m not going to I don’t want to ruffle anything no we’re called to expose expose things and so we have a responsibility and I don’t know just something I was thinking of this morning in Galatians my we were my friend and I were doing a study and it says carry one another’s burdens and then it says carry your own burdens and it can appear like a contradiction but it’s like one were the overwhelming burdens for one another that you can’t carry without the body you need people to come in the other one was you don’t carry a man’s responsibilities it’s a different word so there is human responsibility and we it’s outlined in the word but then there’s God’s Divine sovereignty y so you you don’t mix the two true yes see say the old it’s the old U con like you said the uh you know man God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility where do they can be and actually MacArthur was picking that up from a a revered uh friend of mine Charles Spurgeon uh he was saying that for back in the 1800 hundreds and it’s true I mean you know we face that conundrum in every aspect of our life with with with God you know and I like how how Spurgeon put it that you know there’s the the the the two parallel lines how do we’re never going to connect them somehow in God’s Providence in his own way he does but that I want I don’t even want to say that’s not for us to know but it’s more like we can’t know it’s just you know it’s like asking a blind person to explain color you know it’s just not going to happen with us and you know again that that sometimes that even comes down to us again you know we’re we’re finite creatures and especially with the world now I think in many ways is losing that perspective you know in and areas I’m not going to get into right now with the way some of the way the world thinks these days but again you know we’re we’re finite beings there’s going to be things we’re never going to stand even as I said when we stand in the presence of Christ and we’re just going to have to Simply that’s you Lord you’re in control of everything somehow you weave everything together you know everything down to its inmost innermost Parts down to a subatomic level and blow that up into the great universe itself and I’m never going to know that and we have to rest in that many times and again that’s a measure of resting in God’s sovereignty and trusting in that you know and that’s what it boils down to too is how do you trust trust him you know like I said there were let’s face it the gods that men created you know Zeus Thor you others that I that I can’t remember off the top of my head you know those were Petty people basically it was they were people with superhuman capabilities and they many times were Petty they weren they were gracious sometimes but you never could count on them you never knew you know you can get them angry and suddenly they lash out you know at least in people’s minds and I just I’m grateful we don’t have a God that just lashes out in anger you know he everything is measured and controlled with him even in the face of like I said the calamities that our country experienced in these last two weeks with the Hurricanes that have hit in various locations all right so just like I say want to move on the physical afflictions especially since it’s getting a little late so again afflictions uh they’re in direct we read of God’s direct actions and physical afflictions and we have Romans chapter verse 20 for the creation was subject to futility not unwillingly but because of he who subjected it so afflictions occur because God will be glorified in this in the midst of our afflictions and we’ve been hearing this again and again too so but if we truly believe that God’s in control well then what conclusions can we can be drawn or will be drawn from this sometimes and there’s two of them they it boils down to two either God is evil to cause such suffering or God is good despite the afflictions and of course as Christians we rightfully and hopefully and instinctively recoil from believing that God is evil unfortunately the world too often many times can believe that but that’s where we step in sometimes with with the gospel and provide that to people and so we have to acknowledge though and Embrace that he is good in the face of physical afflictions no matter what they are and as we number of us have been able to point out here that all things again happen for our good because it conforms us to the image of his son you know we glorify him as we more fully display the Lord Jesus Christ and you know is not that our you know we use a phrase that might wife probably know better than me Raaz on Detra you know what is the chief end of man and you know that’s a question that was posed by some of the divines who wrote the uh the 1689 London Baptist confession you know what’s the chief end of man and it’s to glorify God forever and I forget the name of the author he also another author added and also to enjoy him forever and we’re supposed to enjoy and glorify God in all things that occur no matter what they are so we have to acknowledge is good hold on there you go so how do we work this out practically in our lives in our walk knowing what do we offer to people who can suffer from chronic illness for instance and debilitating illnesses I mean that’s that’s a rough one I mean how do you tell somebody in the midst of a going I we have a brother dear brother here right now uh I’ll use it because he’s not here at the moment I’ll say when he won’t embarrass him is Arthur I mean we all know some of the horrific pain the man has undergone recently and yet he still glorifies God we always see that and another person we know in our congregation no and love Mrs Cooper first thing i’ have heard every time you ask how she doing keep my eyes on Jesus I mean you know to say such things in the face of such debilitating painful afflictions you know that’s why God’s afflicting them then maybe because they give glory to him and it it edifies the body because they give forth praise and glory to God to us and others that they meet with and you know and let’s face it you know we’re we’re all foot soldiers in his army and all of us I hate to tell you folks if you didn’t know it you enlisted the only you signed said I’m a Christian boom this is what you signed up for and un likee me when I was in the Air Force for 4 years it ain’t done until you’re it’s never done even when you die because then you go to be with him so this is what we do folks you know welcome go ahead Mark oh yeah if you I don’t know if you know and there’s this guy Rich mon perto who uh has been a real picture of endurance through many afflictions as well passing Affliction pass and I’m really encouraged by by his example brother I I think too uh I think it’s Psalm 11975 says in faithfulness you have Afflicted me right it’s a recognition that it’s not an expression that it’s not a um it’s not because God doesn’t love us that he does this it’s because he does I I concur brother so we go on to others God afflicts couples now with childness too this is another aspect uh because let’s face it God even controls the conception of children not only that he superintends the development in the womb you know we see that from Psalm 139:13 uh you formed my inward parts you wo me in my mother’s womb you know again nothing is beyond his control everything is under his control his Direct Control you know God was with me and Susan when when Jessica was conceived and she is wonderfully and fearfully made and we have to learn to trust him those of us who have no children or children with afflictions in the midst of this you know from Lamentations uh for the Lord will not reject forever for if he is if he causes grief then he will have compassion according to His abundant loving kindness for he does not afflict willingly or grieve the sons of men God doesn’t waste pain it’s a hard saying because it implies that he does give pain but he doesn’t waste it it is for His glory and for our good no matter how we see that if we can see it or not it doesn’t matter we have to give him the glory we have to remember we are finite simple as that and we have to stop at that and stop asking why why why and get angry at him then we will sometimes but then we have to repent of that and we’re grateful that he allows for repentance and you know we have to practice acceptance or resignation in our trials we do one of the other acceptance means we completely trust in him and that’s what we should do that’s what we work toward that’s part of the journey as was told earlier you know it’s not going to happen overnight and even if it does it always has to continually be refined we can’t res resign ourselves though trials you can’t just accept them reluctantly gu W it’s just my lot in life no that doesn’t glorify God that’s that’s by that attitude you’re saying that God doesn’t really care that God is that somehow he’s lost control and that’s not right and the other thing you know there’s something I brought up only because of my own personal situation you know there is actual you know where somebody doesn’t have children and then there’s what I what I term practical childlessness where you have a child that is never going to grow up I can imagine Mrs Cooper’s grief that she felt at times with Ronnie Ronnie passed what 53 years old never married never drove a car never lived the life on her own it was always tied to Mrs Cooper and her husband you know she was there and then when they finally because of her medical conditions they had to put her in a place that could help her more often and that’s a tough thing to go through you know it’s it’s especially as parents of one such child I will never walk my daughter down the aisle I’ll never teach her how to drive Susan will’ll never see her Thrive at least that’s what we have to that’s what our flesh and our eyes say now by God’s grace and that’s what we have to learn anybody with children like this and I say this to the young people now the young the young couples here who don’t have children yet or are still having children this may happen to you and it will be for your good and for your child’s good too most importantly it’ll be for God’s glory and you have to accept that and God will give you the grace to accept that once you have to repent of any attitudes that that’s what it comes down that’s our responsibility you know go and even then God grants that repentance which is another kind of conundrum in the Christian faith but you have to remember that that even the difficulty you will have God is glorified in that so I think I’m at the end nope yeah just skip through this because it’s 10 o’clock now I just really want to why is this not moving oh what did I do there he goes okay yeah I just want this and this verse meant a lot to me two in the years of my life through walking with the Lord habac very famous everybody I’m sure most folks know this almost by heart because it applies to all of us habach 3:17-18 though the Fig Tree may not blossom nor fruit beyond the vines though the labor of the Olive Tree May Fail and the fields yield no food though the flock may be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the Stalls yet I will rejoice in the Lord I will joy in the god of my salvation and you know that’s that’s the warp and woof People of Our Lives that’s got to be habach said this in the face of the the dissolution and and conquest of his nation and he say how can this be God we’re the PE we’re your people people and you’re letting this happen to us and yet that’s what he said that’s what God after three chapters of his pouring out his heart to God and this is what what God told him and this is what God tells us in the face of everything whether it’s horrific natural disasters whether it’s just inconsequential weather that happens whether it’s childlessness whether it’s infirmities is all done first as an expression of his sovereignty but also of his grace and it is also for our good because it’s conforming us to his image and finally you habac ends with the Lord God is my strength he will make my feet like deer’s feet and he will make me walk on my high hills habach learned to depend fully and completely upon God for his joy and we must become like habac in this respect I’m I’m not going to say it’s a command because I haven’t been given that but if we want to glorify God and enjoy him forever well it’s right there no matter what’s happening in our lives brethren we have to glorify him we have to accept that and we have to live it in our lives otherwise we’re not giving him glory and let’s and I I want to end with that we got to give him glory because again that’s the chief end of man is to glorify God let’s fulfill our duties to God for his for his glory and for and for and that we can do it for him with all joy because that will glorify him too so amen thank you for giving me extra three minutes so I guess we’ll end in prayer somebody has something last final thoughts to say just a sure we uh just have to learn to balance things with um Deuteronomy 29:29 where he says the secret things I will keep to myself and what I want to reveal to you I will reveal it to you balance it with Psalm 103 he knows our frame he remembers that we are dust and as a father pth children so he pth his children and leave it there thank you sister David Pastor Dave giving me my exercise today thanks for bringing the mic around the just the one comment I want to say is through all of this remember lament Faith filled lament is appropriate when you experience Affliction physical Affliction natural disaster is appropriate to in faith lament that before God you see that in the Psalms you see that in Lamentations but as you’ve been emphasizing so well Rich throughout this entire lesson it is with back perspective that says even if this is what God has decided I’m going to trust him so when we think about how do we help one another with this it’s not simply a matter of going around to the people who are suffering severe afflictions and being like God is using this for your good believe that you want to show compassion you want to grieve with them even as you say I don’t know why God is doing this but he’s a good god let’s go to him together amen thank you sir all right so I guess we’ll uh come before the Lord in prayer my Lord Jesus we all have to thank you again for everything you have given us even in the heart of Affliction you give your people a joy you know we see that again and again in your inscripturated word you know all the way from the prophet of all the way to Paul and Silas just to name a couple we can all all of us here who read we know of other instances where in the midst of tremendous Affliction tremendous events against your people and against the world you have given us joy but you have also displayed Your Glory so that none can realistically doubt who you are and we thank thank you for this too Lord as one of our sisters said here you know why would we want to worship a God that gives us everything we want because and that just turns that God into a cosmic Bell hop that’s not a God and you’re not such a God and we thank you for this so we will thank you for the for the disasters we’ve seen unfold these last several weeks we thank you for the personal afflictions you’ve given each and every one of us to have to deal with and we thank you Lord for the grace and the mercy that you have given to each one of us here that you would see that we would see your glory and that we would desire and yearn for your glory first even above ourselves and our afflictions and our desires so thank you Lord for this time thank you for these words that you’ve given me I I pray that your people have been edified and that your name most importantly has been glorified in this hour help us to go forth now Lord blessing your name in all things and glorifying your name in all things no matter what they are and I pray this in your holy and precious name amen