New series. Today we begin 22 days with God. This is what the devotional looks like. We want you to have one. We have basically an unlimited supply, so we won't run out.

You don't have to be a member of our church to take one of these on the way out. Or as Jacob said earlier, you can get that digitally. But for the next four Sundays and the next 22 days, I'm gonna be teaching a series on the attributes or the perfections of God. Don't you want to know more about him? And don't you want to know what he's like?

Today I'm going to tackle the topic of God's sovereignty. And then next week, God's holiness. The following week, God's power, his omnipotence, and the last week, God's love. And all of the devotionals will follow along and correspond to whatever week we're on. So I think it'll be a pretty rich time for all of us.

I wanted to say about these things, they're not long and it's one a day. And today starts on page seven. There's a verse, there's a devotional thought, there's a comment and a prayer. Man, it's like a happy meal for Jesus. Amen.

It's like, all right in there. It's compact, and there you go. Today we dive into a truth that anchors our faith. It provides unshakable confidence. And that subject is the sovereignty of God.

It's a foundational characteristic. It's a perfection of God that reminds us that our Creator reigns supreme. He reigns supreme over creation and over history and over salvation. And check this out. Even the intricate details of your daily life, you matter under the sovereignty of God.

As we explore God's sovereignty and how it shapes the universe and how it touches every corner of our existence, I want us all to be encouraged to trust him with everything and to know that nothing escapes God's control. He misses nothing. So let's open our hearts today to this profound assurance that the sovereignty of God brings as we walk through his Word together. But, Pastor, what does sovereignty even mean? There are so many attempts at defining it, good attempts.

I wanted one that was concise, short, and sweet. So here's a definition. God's sovereignty refers to his absolute, an unrivaled rule we've sung about. I think we've sung some of those very same words in the songs that Blair and the team chose for this week.

And here's how this message is going to go. I'm going to tell you that God's sovereign over everything. But I'm going to pick four major categories. I'm going to give you those four major categories that God is sovereign over. But that's not how we're going to end the message.

We're going to end the message with the. So what? Okay, I learned all this, but what does it mean for my life? And I'm going to tell you three very encouraging things at the end. So you ready?

All right. Ready for 20, 25. Who's fired up? That's what I thought. Okay, you guys.

Love you guys. Can't wait to preach this to you. Number one. God is sovereign over creation. Let's just start with the first verse of the Bible.

Planet Earth did not get here by chance. It didn't spring forth out of millions and billions of years of evolution or some kind of big bang, and all of a sudden, just random chance and boom. Earth. That is not what happens. That's not what happened in the past.

And let me just say that in our culture, this is believed upon and taught upon in schools and, and in news and in social media, and no one hardly ever questions it anymore. And anytime I see anything that says this thing's 120 million years old, I don't scoff. I just chuckle under my breath and go, man, the truth hasn't found you yet. Genesis 1:1, the first verse in the Bible, if you can believe it. The rest of them are easy.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. You believe this? The universe came into existence by the spoken command of God. He's not only the creator, he's the sustainer of all things. He's holding it all together.

I believe the Bible teaches, and my eyes see the evidence that every detail in nature operates under God's direct decree. This is even said of the Lord Jesus in Colossians, chapter 1, verses 16 and 17. For by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible. What you can see with a telescope, what you can see with your naked eye, and what you can see under a microscope, visible and invisible. Whether thrones, that's earthly or dominions, earthly or principalities or powers heavenly.

All things were created through him and for Him. You know that God made the earth and all things in it for Himself. And he is before all things. And in him all things consist. That's the sustainer part.

The NIV and the ESV translate that phrase. And in him all things hold together. You know, scientists have looked really, really far into a Microscope. And they've gotten everything really far down to the atomic level. And they get down there and they go, I don't know what's holding these last two things together.

Colossians chapter one says, it's the Lord Jesus Christ. He is sovereign over creation. And by the way, if he's the one holding all things together, that means we don't have to do it. Let me just address politics from a Bible perspective. Second, is that, okay, we are stewards of the earth from Genesis chapter two and onward.

We are not the sustainers of it. Our mandate has been fill the earth and subdue it. And so we have dominion over the animal kingdom and the plant kingdom. God gave it to mankind. That means that anytime you hear a politician say, you need to change the way you live so that we don't destroy the earth, you can go, that's not what the Bible says.

The Bible says you can't destroy the earth because God holds all things together. He built it, he will unbuild it. Yes. So there's some hoaxes like climate change and all this other nonsense. All of that is.

All of that are just talking points from Satan to stitch into your heart for good. Unbelief. God is sovereign over creation. Let me give you the first example of this after creation in Genesis as an illustration. Nowhere is God's power over what he created demonstrated better than the flood in Genesis 6, 7, 8, and 9.

The flood itself is a dramatic example of God's command over the forces of nature. When you read the verses, and there's a lot of them, in four chapters in Genesis, you'll find out that God causes the waters to rise, and then it was God that caused them to recede. And when he did that, he showed his ability to wield the elements of creation for his own purposes. You know what that means? That means that Noah's flood was really God's flood.

And it was not a random meteorological event. It's not some random natural disaster. It was a purposeful act initiated and directed by God. You know, that also means that means Mother Nature doesn't exist. Missed it's Father God.

Yes, we're believers. We've been changed by Jesus. We're born again. And so our worldview must be biblical and it must be different. Here's Genesis 7, 11, and 12.

The first phrase of it is just fantastic. In the 600th year of Noah's life. That's a long time from his high school graduation.

And look how specific the flood was. In the second month on the 17th day of the month. On that day, all the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were open. Let me tell you how God flooded the earth. He flooded it from beneath and he flooded it from above.

And the rain was on the earth 40 days and 40 nights. To call that a disaster is an understatement. We can't imagine the atmospheric trouble. We can't imagine the natural problems that came out of soaking the earth 40 days and 40 nights straight. And then the water was on the earth another 150 days.

The Lord's ability to unleash and then his will to restrain the waters underscores his power over every aspect of creation. If he can build it and he can flood it, there's nothing he can't do with it. You know what that means? That means that nature operates under God's direction. It cannot act independently of his will.

There wasn't a single tornado that came through Oklahoma or Kansas or wherever we are. And God says, well, how did that one get away from me? Not one. Here's some more verses about the flood and how it ended in the compassion of God. Genesis 8:1, 2 and 3.

Then God remembered Noah and every living thing and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth and the waters subsided. This is like God's cosmic hair dryer. And I can't imagine the gale force of those winds. I can't imagine how fast they went.

How intense does the wind have to be to remove water that covers the entire globe higher than the highest peak of the highest mountain. That's God's wind.

And the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped. And the rain from heaven was restrained. And the waters receded continually from the earth. And at the end of the hundred and fifty days, the waters decreased. That's a long time for that wind to blow.

By the way, my friends, if the flood narrative tells us anything, it is that God as the Creator, has ultimate authority over the world he made.

So when God decided to bring judgment on humanity because of our pervasive wickedness, our rebellion in his very face, can I tell you it perfectly illustrated that creation is also subject to God's moral will. So when God says something's right or wrong, pure or impure, holy or unholy, it even affects nature that he made. We can't even separate the two. God flooded the earth because of the rot in inside the human heart.

But here's what I love. Not only does God have the power to sustain what he's created. In him all things consist and hold together. In the flood, he's demonstrated that he can unmake it. Because in Genesis 1:2 after in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

The Bible says that the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the deep. And so before God made earth the way we know it. With the lands and the sea separated, earth was a watery chaos. Then God created order. And when mankind rebelled against him so severely, he unmade it and it went to a watery chaos again.

God is sovereign over creation. Now look, I don't know if you like the weather in the mid south.

We have all four seasons, sometimes in the same day. You know, today there's going to be something like a 35 to 40 degree shift in air temperature. It's gonna be really cold. When you wake up tomorrow in the middle of today, it's gonna be 61 degrees or something like that. All of that is by the plan of God.

Why does he do it that way? I have no idea. Look, it's not like God says, I have it all and I know it all. And I'm gonna tell you it all. What God's decided to tell us is not why he does the wind and the waves.

The way that he does, what he's been very clear on, is that Jesus saved sinners from sin. And so instead of trying to figure out why all of these things in our lives, these mysteries seemingly cannot be solved, why don't we look at where God has clearly spoken? Because where he's clearly spoken is there's a loving God who's made a way for sinners to become his children. He will adopt you and his family. All right, so God is sovereign over creation.

Number two. God is sovereign over history.

History doesn't escape the plan of God.

Hey, did you believe my first point? All right, here's the second one. Daniel, chapter two, verse 21. And God changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings and he raises up kings.

Can I tell you, the will of God's never lost an election.

God gives countries and nations the leaders they deserve and the ones they really want. That he gives them leaders that suit their lifestyles and their secret desires. But in Daniel chapter two, we learn. And God declares of himself. He says, not only do I change times and seasons, I put people in power and I take them out of power.

And so sometimes it's as if he hears our prayers for what we want. Other times he doesn't. But let me give You a great example of God being sovereign over history. The example is of King Cyrus the Great. Now you may not know him because he was not a king of Israel.

Cyrus was the Persian king, which puts him somewhere inside modern day Iraq or Iran, that area. He's the Persian king. And he conquered Babylon, which allowed all the Israelite captives in Babylon to return to Jerusalem. God used an unbeliever to dethrone another unbeliever to get the believers back home. Isaiah.

And here's what's incredible. Isaiah prophesied about Cyrus. Look at me. By name. Nearly 150 years before Cyrus was ever born.

And then however long after that, before he became a grown man and became king, Cyrus name appears in Isaiah two or three times and somewhere I believe in Jeremiah, I meant to look that up. And when God's prophet calls out a name of a heathen leader before that guy's ever born, it shows that God not only foreknows history, he has control of history. God made Cyrus be born just to glorify him and get his children out of bondage and build his temple back. That's the number one purpose for why Cyrus was born. Now I want to show you one of the verses where his name shows up before he ever comes to be.

Isaiah 44:28. God who says of Cyrus, he is my shepherd.

That's an unbelievable statement because God calls his shepherds in the Bible the kings of Israel and some of the prophets and so forth. Never a pagan king. God says, he's my shepherd. He shall perform all my pleasure, saying, to Jerusalem you shall be built, and to the temple your foundation shall be laid. God says, I'm going to take a guy who's never going to believe who, who's never gonna trust me.

And I'm gonna put words in his mouth. He probably won't even know where they came from. And those words are going to be Jerusalem, you shall be built. Why would a Persian king care about little Jerusalem, Israel? Not only will you be built Jerusalem, there's gonna be a temple built there for your God.

By my word, Cyrus the king.

Would you be surprised if there's some other scripture in Ezra that's not prophecy, it's narrative. The first four verses of Ezra. The scribe read like this now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing. Saying thus, says Cyrus, king of Persia, all the kingdoms of the earth, the Lord God of heaven has given me.

And he has commanded me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is among you of all his people. May his God be with him. And let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel. He is God, which is in Jerusalem.

And then Cyrus says, in case I left any of you out, whoever's left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God, which is in Jerusalem. God had Isaiah predict it. And 150 something or so years later, God had Ezra confirm it. He did it. God is sovereign over history.

Cyrus issued the decree instructing the Jews to return to Jerusalem, and God fulfilled it. And I can't believe sometimes when I think about it, that God called Cyrus and this unbelieving pagan, not only his shepherd, in Isaiah 44, he calls him his anointed. In Isaiah 45:1. How can a pagan king be God's shepherd and God's anointed? Because God used him to play a critical role in advancing the Lord's redemptive purposes.

And that man treated the Lord's people with favor. He was God's vessel. Not only is Cyrus God's vessel, can I tell you, the devil is God's devil. He's not some rogue rival with God that God's like, I gotta stay in shape. I gotta keep my energy meter full because I've got this guy over here who could topple me.

No. God created Lucifer. And God will judge Lucifer in the lake of fire. In the second death, he is sovereign.

The last two things that he's sovereign over are my favorite. Number three. God's sovereign over salvation.

When I recorded this sermon and preached it and practiced it a couple times, took 18 minutes to preach. I'm way past that already. I got just a few minutes left. You people aren't listening fast enough. Hey, but it's the first Sunday of the year.

We'll get better. Amen. Right? We'll improve God's sovereign over the saving of sinners. And I think the most important verse about this that God says of himself is the last phrase in Jonah 2, 9.

Salvation is of the Lord.

And in Ephesians, chapter 1, verses 4 and 5, it speaks of God's sovereignty over salvation a little differently. Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. You know, my favorite part of that verse is that it pleased God to save you. It was the good pleasure of his will. In fact, he looks on sinners and doesn't go, well, this is my duty.

I guess I'll have to save someone from darkness and judgment. No, it's in the heart of God and a desire of God that no one should be lost and sinners should be saved. And this was his design. And this was your destiny before the foundation of the world. He did not leave your salvation to chance or fate, because neither of those two things exist.

Every sinner who's ever been saved came to Christ by the Lord's initiative. God always takes the first step. Now you've got to take some steps toward him. That's why we do this gospel moment every week, and we show you two sinners prayers. The first one, God, have mercy on me.

A sinner is a sinner's prayer of repentance. And the second one, lord, would you remember me when you come into your kingdom, is a sinner's prayer of faith. Because the proper responses to the Gospel are repentance and faith. We do that and you're like, I've already heard this before. We want you to hear it 100 times, however long it takes for you to take a step of faith toward Jesus and be born again.

And when that happens, we'll all know he took the first step.

It was his idea. And everyone that the Father gave to Jesus will come to Jesus. And whoever comes to him, he will in no wise cast out. John 6:37. Let me give you an example of salvation being under God's sovereignty.

Let's use Zacchaeus, the hated tax collector. Zacchaeus did not say, I need to go meet Jesus so that I can have this hole in my heart filled. He approached Jesus not with the intent to be saved. He was simply curious about seeing a VIP coming through town. Jericho.

Luke 19:3 But Jesus did take the initiative, because when he got to the tree that Zacchaeus was was hiding in or looking from, he stopped. He looked up at Zacchaeus in the sycamore tree, and he called him by name. Luke 19:5. Zacchaeus, hurry and come down. I must stay at your house today.

Zacchaeus did not invite Jesus. Jesus invited himself. Do you see that I'm staying at your house today? It's your day of salvation. Salvation begins with God's action.

It does not begin with human effort. Jesus sought out Zacchaeus specifically, and he also sought out Zacchaeus personally. And he demonstrates his sovereign will to save him. And then I can't imagine Zacchaeus ever doubting his salvation after this. You want to know why?

Because Jesus himself told Zacchaeus he was saved. Luke 19, verse 9. Jesus said to him, today, salvation has come to this house because he is also a son of Abraham. He's a man of faith, like Abraham. He believed God, and God credited his account as righteousness.

If Jesus tells you you're saved, you probably are.

My favorite thing that God's sovereign over is our personal lives. Number four.

You guys know Romans 8:28?

We quote it often when people are going through challenges and difficulties. Bad things. But it's also very versatile. You can use it when life's going good. We know that all things work together for good to those who love God.

It doesn't say all things are good. It says all things. That's good and bad. They work together for good to those who love him. By extension, all things are not working together for good to those who don't.

But they work together for good for those who love him. The ones who are the called. The called. There's a definite article there. That's a special group.

The called according to his purpose. What's an example? What's an illustration of this? Pastor? How about Joseph in Genesis?

Remember that kid? And I say kid because it all happened when he was like in the 11th grade. He was 17. Joseph was sold into slavery by his older brothers. He endured 13 years from the time he's 17 to the time he's 30.

All of his 20s, he endured being falsely accused and left in prison to rot and be forgotten. He had a miserable time during those 13 years. It wasn't that there weren't any good ones, but it was mainly bad. And yet God was orchestrating all these events to elevate Joseph to a position of power in Egypt. Because Egypt was the most influential nation in the known world at the time.

Whoever rules Egypt has the most power on earth. From Joseph's position as prime minister, the scriptures are very clear. They specify Joseph had all the power in Egypt except for Pharaoh's own house. Pharaoh said, joseph, you run it. I'm going to let people wave palm branches and keep me cool in the desert.

Eat every day you administrate. From his position as prime minister, Joseph saved so many lives during a devastating famine. Included in those lives that were saved were his own family, the ones who betrayed him. And here is Joseph's declaration of God's sovereignty over those 13 years. If you don't know this verse, get familiar with it.

It's Isaiah, chapter 50, verse 20. Joseph said to his brothers, but as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. Paul had to be thinking of that when he wrote Romans 8:28. We know that all these things work together for our good. You meant for evil against me.

God meant it for good. In order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive, Joseph says to his brothers, God thought your life was so worth saving that he threw me in jail to do it. God meant it for good.

Finally, today, now that you know four things that matter over which God is sovereign. So what, Pastor? What does that mean for me? Well, because God is sovereign, it means three things. Number one, it means that my days are charted.

Even if you've been living aimlessly, God has been guiding your aimlessness. God has ordained every moment of our lives with intention and with care. Nothing happens outside his reach. He has lovingly am and meticulously planned our lives. And the NIV says in Psalm 139, 16, you eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. You're gonna live tomorrow and things are gonna happen in your life, good and bad and indifferent. And then you're gonna lay your head on your pillow and you may think back, it was just an ordinary Monday. And God's going to say to you, maybe whisper to your spirit, no. Before the foundation of the world, I planned that day for you.

You're on a collision course with the Son of God.

Because God is sovereign, my days are charted. Number two. Because God is sovereign, my future is sure.

Isn't it true that in Christ we have the promise of eternal life, and we have the assurance that nothing can separate us from his love? Just because I'm running out of time, I was going to read this to you. Write out somewhere in your notes Romans 8, 38 and 39. And that's that verse that says, powers and principalities. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.

I regularly read that over my members of our church who are dying there in the hospital. And I can tell that they're probably not getting out without a miracle of God. This last year, Nancy Covington, she was in a nursing home. She had cancer, and it wasn't going to be long. While she was still cognitive of everything.

She was still coherent. I read these two verses because she knew her body was wearing out and she was going to die. And I was able to say to her, nancy, because of what the Bible says, your death will not separate you from your Lord. And she took great comfort in that. Because my future is sure.

Nothing can ruin his promises. To the saints of God. We are secure in his hands. We are unsnatchable. John 10:28.

Jesus says, I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. Can I tell you, Jesus is keeping you. You're not holding on to him. And lastly, maybe most importantly, because God is sovereign, my pain has a purpose.

There's lots of pain in this room, represented even in suffering. God's sovereignty reassures us that our pain is not meaningless. When we hurt, he hurts. When it's bad, God doesn't say, well, I'll get to you later. It serves his purposes.

And our pain ultimately contributes to us growing spiritually and to God getting glory somehow. Don't ask me to explain it. I'm just the delivery boy. But God often uses our trials for his glory and for our eventual good. And that's what he says in 2 Corinthians 4:17, Paul wrote, For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, can I tell you that cancer, it's a light affliction in the grand scheme of things.

Even though it hurts so bad and it's horrible, it's for a moment, it will pass. It's not forever. It's working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

You can apply that to your life however you hurt. Let's give Charles Haddon Spurgeon the last word in our sermon today. He preached, when you go through a trial, the sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which you lay your head.

Your days are charted, your future is sure, and your pain has a purpose. And you can sleep tonight knowing all three of those things are true. And if this world is not the end, the next world is what we're all shooting for. Our hope is in Jesus, and that's where he wipes away every tear and makes all things new. And you can go to that new world if you'll place your faith in Jesus and repent of your sins and be saved.

Only the born again go to heaven. You think about that as we pray. Father, thank you. Thank you that you were in control. We worship you today with higher thoughts of you than when we came in because of what we read in the scriptures in Jesus name and the faith filled church said amen.

Come and join us this Sunday at the Great Commission Church for a truly remarkable and uplifting experience. Great Commission Church is not just any ordinary place of worship; it's a vibrant community where faith comes alive, hearts are filled with love, and lives are transformed. Our doors are wide open, ready to welcome you into the warm embrace of our congregation, where you'll discover the true essence of fellowship and spirituality. At Great Commission Church, we are more than just a congregation; we are a family united by a common mission – to follow the teachings of Christ and spread His love to the world. As you step inside Great Commission Church, you'll find a sanctuary that nurtures your faith and encourages you to be part of something greater than yourself.

We believe in the power of coming together as a community to worship, learn, and serve. Whether you're a long-time believer or just starting your spiritual journey, Great Commission Church welcomes people from all walks of life. Our vibrant services are filled with inspiring messages, beautiful music, and heartfelt prayers that will uplift your soul. Every Sunday at Great Commission Church is an opportunity to deepen your relationship with God and connect with others who share your faith and values.

At Great Commission Church, we believe that faith is not just a solitary endeavor but a shared experience that strengthens and enriches us all. Our church is a place where you can find purpose, belonging, and the encouragement to live a life in accordance with Christ's teachings. Join us this Sunday at Great Commission Church and experience the transformative power of faith in action. Be part of a loving and supportive community that is committed to making a positive impact in our world. Together, we strive to fulfill the great commission to go forth and make disciples of all nations. We look forward to having you with us at Great Commission Church this Sunday, where faith, love, and community intersect in a truly amazing way.

Great Commission Church is a non-denominational Christian church located in Olive Branch, Mississippi. We are a short drive from Germantown, Southaven, Collierville, Horn Lake, Memphis, Fairhaven, Mineral Wells, Pleasant Hill, Handy Corner, Lewisburg and Byhalia.

See you Sunday at Great Commission Church!