God Promises to Work Evil For His Glory.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] All right, go ahead and have a seat. Welcome to Village Church. If this is your first time here, [0:04] my name’s Steve. I’m one of the pastors here at Village Church, and as always, [0:07] I am thankful and grateful to see each and every one of you. If you have your Bibles, [0:11] go ahead and open them to Genesis chapter 50. We’re going to be there for most of the morning. [0:17] We’re going to cover the previous chapters as well. I’m just not going to read through [0:21] those chapters to kind of, you know, save time. But this is the final week of our series through

[0:28] the book of Genesis. And so Genesis covers creation, the fall of man into sin, and all of [0:36] the tragic consequences that happen in a life separated from God. It does not, though, leave [0:43] us hopeless. It foreshadows for us the hope that we have in the gospel of Jesus Christ. [0:50] And so the theme, really, of the book of Genesis is about God’s enduring promises. That is what [0:59] it’s about. God is the central character of the book of Genesis. And so what we see here is this [1:04] kind of two-sided picture. First, you see what life looks like in separation from God. You see

[1:11] what life looks like in sin. You see what life looks like in hopeless situations if you are [1:19] dependent on yourself or you are dependent on other people. And so you don’t read through the [1:24] book of Genesis and catch a picture of how good people are. And so the flaw in the way that many [1:31] of us go through life is that we actually attempt to look inside of us for inspiration, to look [1:38] inside of ourselves for goodness and say, you know what, I got to search deep within myself to find [1:42] the good of this world. Or you actually say, I got to find some good in other people so that I can

[1:49] be inspired to walk through life so that I can have some hope to walk through life because there’s [1:53] good in other people. But when you actually start paying attention to the narratives of the book of [1:59] Genesis, and this is the first book of scriptures, and I think purposefully what they do is it draws [2:04] a really bleak picture of humanity. There are no real heroes throughout this book. As much as we [2:14] would try in Sunday school to really paint these guys as amazing people who don’t struggle with sin, [2:20] it has really ugly pictures of every single one of them. Really, from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob,

[2:27] you see so much sin reigning in their lives. And if you look at that and that’s all you see then, [2:35] man, it’s hopeless. It’s super discouraging. But what God does, and this is why God is so brilliant, [2:42] is he weaves in all of these narratives pictures of his grace, pictures of his commitment to his [2:50] promises, pictures of how he can take sinful, even tragic circumstances and work them to his glory. [2:59] And so if you look for a hero in anyone other than God, and this is for the whole of scripture [3:05] and the whole of your life, you will ultimately find yourself disappointed. But what you need

[3:13] to catch in the book of Genesis is that God is the hero. God is the good. God is the powerful. [3:21] And it is God who is working all of this to his glory. And so last week we saw this picture [3:31] of the brothers coming to Egypt where they had sold Joseph into slavery, you know, 16 to 18 [3:37] years before we pick up to the brothers actually making it to Egypt, sold into slavery, which Joseph [3:43] didn’t deserve. He’s put in prison for a crime that he didn’t commit. And then through an amazing [3:48] set of circumstances that God orchestrated through Joseph interpreting dreams in which he says,

[3:53] this is all from God. This is not from me. And his brothers come to get food in time of great famine. [4:01] And so Joseph, because of his interpretation of the dreams, he is put in second in command [4:06] over the largest kingdom in all of the world at that time. So his brothers come. They fulfill [4:12] the prophecy that was made to Joseph when he was about 17 years old. They bow before Joseph. [4:18] And we see God keeping his promises. And so then we start to look at the narrative. We start to [4:25] look at the story and we actually see Joseph forgive his brothers. We see him look to his brothers

[4:31] in Genesis 45 and he’s like, hey, go get dad, bring the whole family. You’re not going to be [4:36] hungry anymore. I’m going to make sure you’re well cared for. I’m going to make sure you’re [4:40] well provided for. And so the entire family moves to Egypt with all of their servants, [4:45] with all of their possessions, with everything that they have, probably somewhere between 70 [4:49] and 80 people make their way to Egypt. But then Jacob dies. And so Joseph’s brothers are all [4:59] morons. All right. So I cannot tell you that enough. There’s a very important part of the

[5:05] story for you to understand is that these are not smart guys. So they don’t pay attention to [5:10] anything that’s ever happening to them. And so that leads me to think they don’t see the hand [5:14] of God. They have no faith in him because as soon as Jacob dies, because Joseph has taken care of [5:20] these, I forgive you. It’s as soon as Jacob dies, though, they start here in Genesis chapter 50, [5:27] and let’s just read together. When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, [5:33] it may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.

[5:39] And that’s where you just start seeing these guys still aren’t getting it. After everything that [5:44] Joseph has said, after everything that Joseph has done, they still don’t get it. And so they’re [5:48] thinking in their minds now that dad’s dead, that’s the only reason Joseph’s been treating us good. [5:53] But since he’s dead, Joseph is now going to exact his revenge on us. And that may be true [5:59] of some people, but of Joseph, that’s not the case. And so they sent a message to Joseph saying, [6:07] your father gave this command before he died. And just kind of pause there.

[6:11] All right. The answer to stupidity is never lying. All right. And that’s what they do here. [6:18] They say, okay, we got to fix this. So lying has ruined all of our lives. So let’s continue [6:24] to ruin our lives. And here’s what liars do. Liars assume everyone else is just like them. [6:33] So if you are a liar, which some of you are, that’s why you assume everyone else is lying, [6:40] because you transfer what is true about you and you just assume everybody’s as wicked as you, [6:44] but they aren’t. Trust me, you’re the most wicked person you know. All right. And so when

[6:49] you assume other people’s lying, because what they do, it just starts this cycle of lying. [6:54] It just starts this cycle of wickedness. It just goes over and over again. And so they lie and they [6:58] say, dad said something that he didn’t say. And now please forgive the transgression of the servants [7:06] of God of your father. They even invoke God in this. And in verse 17, Joseph wept when they [7:13] spoke to him because Joseph was a man acquainted with grace. And so he weeps that they would think [7:18] he’s as wicked as they are. His brothers also came, fell down before him and said, behold,

[7:24] we are your servants. But Joseph said to them, do not fear. And so Joseph is almost like a Christ [7:35] like figure at this point in the narrative, because that’s something that Jesus said over and over [7:41] and then Joseph says something even more important. He says, I am not in the place of God. [7:46] He says, for I am I in the place of God as for you. And so when somebody starts saying stuff like [7:52] that, they’re pointing the finger. And if you’re the brothers, that’s where you get really scared. [7:56] All right. So somebody’s probably, you know, letting things go. Somebody’s sweating it out.

[8:01] Somebody’s crying. There’s pee in somebody’s pants at that point because he’s pointing the finger. [8:06] And this is a guy who’s the governor of all of Egypt, most powerful nation in the world at that [8:10] point. And he’s Pharaoh’s second in command. And he’s pointing the finger and saying, as for you, [8:14] get scared. You meant evil against me. Now they’re even more terrified. But here’s what Joseph [8:25] brings them. It’s a gospel message. He says, you meant evil against me. But God meant it for good [8:33] to bring about that many people should be kept alive as they are today. So do not fear.

[8:39] I will provide for you and your little ones. Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. [8:47] And so the main focus of today, if there’s a thesis, it’s just Genesis 50 20, one of the most [8:54] vital texts in my life. This is an anchor verse that gives me great comfort in everything that [9:01] comes into my life. Everything that goes out of my life is that what you meant for evil, God meant [9:07] for good. And so we can misinterpret that verse. And I just want to knock this out immediately. [9:12] He’s not saying what you meant for evil. God saw it and said, hey, that’s not right. And he

[9:20] caught it midair and he’s like, oh, I don’t want anything bad to happen. So I’m going to turn this [9:25] evil for good. That’s not what he’s saying. He said, you had a devious thought in your mind [9:32] that selling me into slavery would be a good thing for you, but a wicked sinful thing. You knew it. [9:40] You did it anyway. God was actually behind the scenes of your wickedness and he meant for good [9:49] what you meant for evil. So God didn’t turn it for good. God planned it for good. [9:57] Number one, this morning, God is so sovereign over all. God is sovereign over absolutely

[10:08] everything. Did you know that when God fulfills his promises, that reveals his sovereignty? [10:16] When God fulfills his promises, that reveals his sovereignty. [10:20] As Joseph looks to his brothers and he gives them a revelation of the sovereignty of God and how it [10:28] actually works out in creation. Now, sovereignty isn’t a term that you probably use very often in [10:34] your life. You may have heard it a couple of times. You may say it sometimes in Bible studies and [10:39] pretend you know what it means. But what it actually means is God’s exercise of rule over

[10:46] all of creation. That’s what sovereignty is. It is the attribute of God as king. [10:52] And so when you say God is sovereign over all, I’m saying God is king over all of creation. [11:00] Further than that, God exercises what it means to be king over all creation. Everything that [11:08] happens happens under the rule of God. And the narrative of Genesis lays a great foundation [11:15] for a proper understanding of God’s sovereignty. And by proper, I mean biblical. So we need to get [11:23] past our contrived notions that we can define the power of God by our own limited corrupt

[11:31] perspective and let the scriptures define wisdom and truth for us. And some of you people, [11:39] you’re sitting out there and you’re like, we’re going to talk about the sovereignty of God. I’m [11:43] uncomfortable. All right. I’m not cool with this. But what I want you to do with me this morning [11:48] is to kind of understand that you are not created to define truth from your perspective for God. [11:59] You are created to let God define truth for you from his perspective. And anywhere where your [12:07] feelings combat God’s truth, you need to change the way you feel. You need to change the way you

[12:17] understand things. Because the Bible is that objective lens that we are to see all of our [12:27] lives through. And we cannot define truth from our perspective. We need to let God define truth [12:32] for us from his perspective. And so the theme of Genesis is really in that conclusion of Genesis [12:40] 50-20. That’s why it happens at the very end of the book. I mean, Joseph explains to his brothers [12:46] the tension of the wickedness of man and the sovereign power of God. I talk to people all the [12:53] time. I was talking to a church planter on Friday. I was teaching a class with a roomful of pastors

[12:59] and he was talking to me about how he’s struggling to figure out in being a pastor, how he can [13:05] balance his life out. And I was like, well, you’re in the wrong gig for that, bro. You know, [13:11] but everybody is because life is not about balance. This is not Star Wars. There’s no balance in the [13:17] course, folks. Life is about tension. Because when you start talking about balance, what you’re [13:24] actually trying to do is make excuses for why you’re so lazy. Well, I can’t work too hard. I [13:28] got to get some balance in my life. You just want to sit down, don’t you? That’s what you’re

[13:32] actually trying to do. Life is actually about tension and getting tension right. Because if [13:39] you put too much tension, what happens? Everything snaps. It breaks. But if you put too little [13:46] tension in it, it’s worthless. Nothing’s happening. And so life is actually about finding [13:52] the proper amount of tension. But in this perspective, we need to let God define the [14:00] proper amount of tension between the wickedness of man and the sovereign power of God. Because [14:06] note first that Joseph does not excuse what his brothers do under the sovereignty of God.

[14:13] He looks them in the face and he says, You meant evil. What he means by that is you sinned. [14:22] You’re accountable for your sin. You’re responsible for your sin. You did not glorify God with your [14:29] actions, nor did you glorify God by what you meant, your motive, what you thought would happen. [14:36] Because what they thought would happen is that the prophecy that Joseph received when he had [14:42] this dream that they were going to bow before him, they thought they could get rid of that. [14:47] Like who does this guy think he is walking around like a peacock with his coat of many colors,

[14:53] thinking dad loves him more than we do. We’re gonna bow before you. Oh, good luck getting [14:58] us to bow before you when you’re in slavery. And so they meant great evil. But then God says, [15:08] you can’t undo what I’m doing. And so the whole prophecy was actually built upon Joseph getting [15:18] to Egypt. You know, it’s interesting, the harder we try to get out of God’s will, the quicker our [15:24] boat seems to sail in that direction. Read the story of Jonah in the Old Testament. Jonah’s like, [15:31] I can’t go to Nineveh. Let me get on a boat and go the opposite direction. Here comes a big fish.

[15:36] And so guess what? The Lord had orchestrated the whole thing so that we could receive prophecy [15:43] of what it looks like to run away from the will of God. Look, God’s going to hold you accountable [15:47] for your actions. God’s going to judge you for your motives. It’s going to happen. You cannot [15:52] run from God. He is King. He has authority over the entire universe. His will is going to be done [16:00] either to your benefit or to your detriment. And that is up to you because he’s given every [16:08] one of us the opportunity for all of it to be to our benefit through the cross and resurrection

[16:13] of Jesus Christ. If we place our faith in Christ, all of his glory will be to our benefit. If we [16:19] refuse, all of his glory is to our detriment. And we will just give God glory in a way that [16:24] isn’t beneficial to us. But we will all give God glory. If you go back a couple of chapters [16:31] previous, we start to see more of the sovereignty of God really playing out and how it actually [16:38] works. Look back in Genesis chapter 46. And so this is after the reunion of Joseph and his [16:44] brothers. And Jacob the father is going to Egypt because Joseph has requested him to. And it says

[16:50] in verse one of chapter 46, [16:52] So Israel took his journey with all that he had came to Beersheba. He offered sacrifices to the [16:57] God of his father, Isaac. And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, Jacob, Jacob. [17:05] And he said, here I am. I mean, what else are you going to say? And he’s, you know, in that [17:10] situation is okay, God, I’m right here. Obviously, you know that. Then he said, I am God, the God of [17:16] your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation.

[17:23] I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again. And Joseph’s hand [17:30] shall close your eyes. So here’s the question I have. How did God know that?

[17:38] How did God know Jacob would make it to Egypt? How did God know going to Egypt would lead [17:46] to Israel’s just exponential growth? How did he know that he would receive glory? How did he know [17:54] Joseph would be the one to close the eyes of Jacob? Because all of the ways that you try to [18:00] explain this away, that God just knew what was going to happen. He didn’t orchestrate what was [18:04] going to happen. He just, you know, made these great guesses in the big cosmic lottery of the [18:08] universe. No, he knew it because it was his will. He knew it because it would happen. That’s why

[18:17] God bats a thousand on his prophecies. That’s why everything God says will happen will happen, [18:23] because God knows what’s going to happen, because he orchestrates what’s going to happen. [18:27] Then you go to chapter 47, you get this amazing picture of Joseph as the king’s steward of Egypt. [18:32] Joseph making wheeling and dealing, making Egypt more bountiful. Then in 48 and 49, you have Jacob [18:40] blessing all of his sons. And guess what happens in those blessings? God reveals to Jacob, [18:46] this is what the tribe of your son will be like. Then he takes it to the next generation,

[18:52] and he says, Joseph, bring me your two sons. And he blesses both of them. And he says, no, [18:57] the older will not be the one that Israel’s dependent on, but rather the younger will be [19:02] the one. And God will make his tribe one of the leaders. How does God know this? Because it all [19:10] happens. Israel becomes a great nation in Egypt. Moses is risen up, leads them out of Egypt to the [19:18] promised land. Then all of the tribes exhibit the exact tendencies and attributes and actions that [19:24] Jacob says are going to happen. I’ll tell you how God is sovereign. Friends, God moves creation.

[19:34] God moves nations, and God moves people to accomplish his purposes. First, I want to talk [19:41] about God moving creation. In Nehemiah 9, 6, Ezra, he says, You are the Lord, you alone. You’ve made [19:48] heaven of heavens with all their hosts, the earth, all that is on it, the seas, all that is in them. [19:55] You preserve all of them, and the host of heaven worships you. That term for preserves literally [20:02] means that if God took his upholding hand off of his creation, it would all fall apart. It’s all [20:10] under God’s command. But he also moves nations. Look in Psalm 22, 28. It says, For the kingship

[20:17] belongs to the Lord. He rules over the nations. That is why if the mayor that you don’t want [20:27] to get elected gets elected, you don’t say, Oh God, America’s over. It’s over. God rules. God reigns. [20:40] That’s why when the board of delegates doesn’t go your way, you’re like, I’ve got to move out of [20:45] county. It’s over. Our God reigns. The nations bow to his will. Sure, the hope of glory might [20:57] not be in America, but it is in the Lord’s control. Never, ever, ever lose hope because the Lord reigns. [21:09] But most of us are pretty comfortable with that. So, oh yeah, creation depends on the Lord.

[21:13] Oh yeah, the nation might not go my way, but it’s certainly eventually going to go God’s way. [21:19] But then I say, he commands people. And you say, free will. Like that’s the trump card.

[21:30] And to that I say, friend, be weary when you begin to worship the will of man more than you’re [21:37] thankful for the will of God. That is very close to idolatry in my ears. [21:44] Your will is only good enough to earn you hell. How did your will do for you yesterday in your sin? [21:51] How did it do for you, you know, within 10 minutes of being out of bed this morning? [21:56] I catch myself in sin before I even click the alarm off.

[22:01] Usually it’s because of what I said as I did that. Well, you’re not better than me.

[22:08] Look in Daniel 4.35. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. [22:17] Sila, meditate on that. It went over way better. I at least got five laughs. In the first service, [22:24] I got zero. And to that I say, lighten up. All right, some of you are a little bristly right now. [22:31] It was a joke. All right. And he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among [22:40] the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say to him, what have you done? [22:49] You know what Daniel is saying? Daniel is saying, God is not accountable to you.

[22:55] He’s saying, the Lord doesn’t look to you and say, is it okay if I move in your life? [23:02] Is it okay if I redeem you to myself? Is it okay if I call you to believe the gospel in me? [23:09] Is that okay with you? No, the Lord has never asked a single person for their advice.

[23:17] The Lord does as he pleases. The Lord, he is God. He is king. And I tell you, the only proper [23:27] response to a sovereign God is submission to his plan and joyful worship at the work of his hand. [23:36] Now, you may note that I only quoted Old Testament passages, and I did that on purpose. There is a [23:42] misconception that the Christian understanding of God’s sovereign power is derived from the [23:48] letters of Paul alone in the New Testament. But I tell you, that is untrue. It is the whole of [23:55] scripture that shows us a God who plans and executes according to his will alone.

[24:04] So how do we apply that to our lives? Number one, the glorious truth is that sin cannot overcome [24:12] God’s plan. Sin cannot overcome God’s plan. Did you know that evil cannot succeed? [24:21] Ultimately, evil can never succeed. I can die at the hand of evil, so can you. It can cause [24:27] great pain. It can cause great discomfort. It can cause real suffering. But ultimately, evil is a [24:35] failure. Sin will not win. In Genesis 50-20, in summarizing what I would say is the theme of the [24:50] picture above, God owns God. God owns God. God owns God. God owns God. God owns God. God owns

[24:57] God owns God. God owns God owns God. God owns God owns God. God owns God owns God. God owns God. [25:02] God owns God owns God. God owns God owns God. God owns God owns God. God owns God. God owns God. [25:06] God owns God owns God. God owns God. God owns God. God owns God. God owns God. God owns God. [25:09] God owns God. God owns God. God owns God. God owns God. God owns God. God owns God. God owns [25:12] God owns God. God owns God. God owns God. God owns God. God owns God. God owns God. God owns [25:15] God owns God. God owns God. God owns God. God owns God. God owns God. God owns God. God

[25:18] No matter how dire the circumstance, no matter how deep the pain, no matter how torturous [25:25] the season, no matter how much endurance is necessary, evil cannot undo the promises [25:33] of God. [25:34] It can’t do it. [25:36] No matter how much endurance you’re going to need, you can always find hope in God’s [25:42] power.

[25:44] God has the power literally to take evil intentions, to take evil actions, to take evil moments [25:51] and make them work for good. [25:53] And he does, and he has promised to do so. [25:57] I tell you, Joseph experienced evil. [25:59] Did he not? [26:01] Joseph experienced the outcome of evil.

[26:04] Joseph suffered at the hand of evil, and God turned it for good. [26:10] No, it goes deeper than that. [26:13] God meant it for good. [26:17] And that is where our theology of suffering often falls short. [26:22] It’s because most of our theology of God’s work in our lives goes back about two days.

[26:29] You say, well, gosh, I don’t know about this. [26:31] I hope God can take this and work it to his glory. [26:35] I hope.

[26:38] You don’t need to hope that God is going to take anything that’s happening in your [26:45] life and work it for his glory. [26:47] You need to trust that God knew, that God planned, and God meant from all eternity [26:57] for everything that comes into your life and goes out of your life to bring him ultimate [27:03] glory. [27:04] Because it all will.

[27:05] God is not caught off guard by evil. [27:08] God has plans behind the evil that ensure that there is no evil that can undo his plans. [27:16] And I tell you, the work of Christ is great evidence for this. [27:20] If I were to ask you what the greatest evil has ever happened on the face of the earth, [27:27] I’m sure I would get a couple of good responses. [27:30] But I would turn back to you and say the greatest evil that’s ever happened is the

[27:34] murder of Jesus Christ. [27:36] Because that is cosmic treason. [27:39] It’s the murder of God. [27:42] There’s no greater evil than that. [27:44] I mean, everything that happened where the cross of Christ is concerned was unjust. [27:49] Those who lied about him, those who illegally tried him, those who abandoned him, those

[27:54] who beat him, those who tried to wash their hands of him, those who mocked him, those [27:58] who nailed him to the cross, those who pronounced him guilty, those who pronounced him dead. [28:02] It was an attempt by the wicked to silence and defeat the son of God. [28:07] More so, it was an attempt by Satan to destroy God. [28:12] Yet Acts 2-23 assures us that it was all part of the foreordained plan of God. [28:23] That God worked in the wickedness to bring himself the ultimate glory.

[28:30] See, because we are so foolish, we think that we can make God play by our rules. [28:35] Well, if we kill him, he can’t do anything. [28:38] It’s an interesting thing about God. [28:39] You kill him, he rises from the dead. [28:42] All right? [28:43] And that’s wild.

[28:44] All right? [28:45] That’s power. [28:46] That is planning for the glory of God. [28:50] And so God meant for the greatest wickedness that has ever happened on this earth to bring [28:55] him ultimate glory. [28:56] And it does.

[28:59] And it forever will bring him ultimate glory. [29:03] And friend, in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ, you must build a faith that realizes [29:09] that nothing anyone says or does to you can change God’s plan. [29:15] You will go through this life and endure much hardship. [29:19] You will. [29:21] You will see much evil.

[29:23] You will have people say things and do things that are sinful. [29:28] But the overarching application that God revealed through Joseph’s life and ultimately through [29:33] Jesus is that there is nothing that can undo his plan. [29:37] And because of that, you can trust him. [29:42] No circumstance can take the promises of God from you. [29:46] No person can take the future that God has for you away.

[29:51] Do not believe anyone’s words more than you believe the word of God. [29:56] God’s plans and promises will be fulfilled. [30:00] That is why, really, even though we don’t often want to hear it, Romans 8.28 is the [30:06] greatest anchor verse for suffering in your life. [30:09] It’s the greatest anchor verses. [30:10] And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those

[30:17] who are called according to his purpose. [30:19] And so what are the prerequisites? [30:21] That you love God. [30:23] Not the God that you have made. [30:27] Not the God of your definition, but the God of the book, the God of Scripture. [30:33] Do you love that God?

[30:34] Do you love God? [30:36] Do you love Jesus? [30:37] Do you love Jesus?

[30:39] Are you called according to his plan? [30:41] Do you have faith in him? [30:42] Have you trusted him? [30:43] Have you turned from your sin and given your life over to him? [30:45] Well friends, if those two things are true, here’s the ethic that should take you through [30:49] all of your life.

[30:51] It’ll all work together for good. [30:54] All of it. [30:54] No matter what comes into my life, the pleasant things, they’re going to work together for [30:59] good. [30:59] But guess what? [31:00] The unpleasant things?

[31:02] I mean, you ever had an unpleasant thing come into your life? [31:04] Oh yeah. [31:06] We all have. [31:08] But God, the audacity of this promise. [31:14] God says even that which you would say, please God, don’t bring that into my life. [31:20] God says, trust me even that far.

[31:24] I will work it for good. [31:29] It’s because he’s the God who took the greatest evil that has ever happened and laid our [31:35] sin onto it because Jesus had to die so that he could rise in victory over pain and death. [31:41] And a God that can do that is a God that I can trust. [31:45] I had the privilege of being in a conference a couple of years ago, and I’m probably going [31:50] to butcher his name, but there was this pastor, his name is Tobitian Yabwile, and he was speaking

[31:55] and the theme was revival in the midst of suffering. [31:59] And it gave really one of the most helpful just a couple of sermons that I’ve probably [32:04] heard in the past decade of my life. [32:07] And he gave us this great closing and he looked at us and he said, the because of the sovereign [32:13] power of God, the next time suffering comes into your life, you look at suffering and [32:20] you say, welcome my slave.

[32:24] How will you bring God glory this time?

[32:29] That is faith.

[32:33] That is the ethic to build a life upon. [32:36] That is what will keep you from despairing. [32:39] And that is the kind of faith that says what you meant for evil God meant for good.

[32:48] How does Paul respond to such an amazing promise in Romans 11? [32:53] He wrote this, he says, for who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his [32:57] counselor or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid for from him and through [33:04] him and to him are all things to him be glory forever. [33:10] Amen. [33:11] And so God gives Paul this amazing just treatise on the sovereignty of God from Romans 8 to

[33:17] Romans 11. [33:18] If you don’t know them, go read them. [33:21] And the Holy Spirit works in him and says, what is the just response to this message? [33:27] And he writes this worship song and he says, who has known the mind of the Lord? [33:32] Who has God ever looked at and said, hey, I need you on this one? [33:36] No one because God is greater than all from him comes all things, to him goes all things,

[33:43] and everything that comes out of my life will come directly through him as well. [33:48] To him be glory forever.

[33:53] What you meant for evil, God meant for good. [33:58] That will cause you to worship.

[34:04] Second way you can trust it is point number three this morning, that the gospel can be [34:09] trusted because of God’s power, the gospel can be trusted because of God’s power. [34:13] I was raised in a Christian almost raised in the church by the grace of God, I believe. [34:19] And what’s interesting is I don’t run across this story very often. [34:23] I’ve been in ministry for a long time at this point, and I don’t run into many people that [34:28] have never struggled with is the Bible the word of God?

[34:32] That’s never a struggle that I’ve had. [34:34] I’ve always trusted it, not just simply because I was taught it. [34:37] But then I said, I want to study it. [34:39] And so I started studying it and everything that I’ve studied just says, yeah. [34:43] And so it’s settled for me. [34:45] Yeah, it’s the word of God.

[34:47] It’s from him. [34:48] But the problems that I had didn’t come from that. [34:51] They came from being in it and getting questions like what this I don’t get that part. [34:57] I can’t how can and then that’s what really led me to study the scriptures with everything [35:02] that I have because when I was younger, the biggest flaw in fundamentalism, and I’ve [35:06] always been trying to put the fun back in fundamentalism, but the biggest flaw in

[35:11] fundamentalism was how it dealt with questions is that it basically said, just accept it [35:16] and move on. [35:16] I couldn’t do that. [35:18] I was just like, no, I don’t get that. [35:20] I want to understand it. [35:22] And so some of the things that I struggled with very young in life when I was young in

[35:27] the faith is I struggled with the notion that if sin could undo God’s plan in the Garden [35:36] and ruin everything, how do I know that it won’t undo Jesus? [35:44] How do I know that sin won’t undo what the cross earned for me? [35:48] And I just ruined life for some of you people. [35:50] I’m so sorry that I created a question you’ve never had before, but you need to deal with [35:55] it.

[35:55] I want to deal with it for you because when I actually said I want to know how I can trust [36:02] the Gospel, the answer was in the book.

[36:07] The answer is that God meant it for good. [36:11] What you meant for evil, God meant for good. [36:13] The answer is that the supposition of my question was off base to begin with. [36:19] Nothing in God’s plan was undone by the sin of Adam and Eve.

[36:26] They went right into the plan of God because before the foundations of the earth, God looked [36:34] at creation and He said, the purpose of creation is to get me the utmost glory that I could [36:41] possibly get. [36:42] And God planned that the utmost glory that I could ever get is that I redeem a people [36:49] from sin through the work of God, the Son, through His death, through His resurrection, [36:55] and I will work all of creation to that will end.

[37:01] And He did it.

[37:04] And you say, I don’t understand. [37:07] How could that be? [37:09] I don’t understand. [37:10] How could God work sin to His glory? [37:12] And that I said two things. [37:14] The first thing is, do not ever be so prideful to think that you have to understand something

[37:19] for it to be true. [37:21] Because that is you putting yourself in the seat of God and you are a terrible God.

[37:29] But number two, you better hope that that was God’s plan, because if it wasn’t, there’s [37:39] holes. [37:40] But it is because over and over and over, that’s what God does in every narrative of [37:50] scripture. [37:50] I mean, do you forget the time in Jeremiah where God looks to them and He says, hey, [37:55] those wicked Babylonians, I’m sending them in to take you to Babylon.

[38:00] That’s some crazy stuff because they’re seriously wicked people. [38:02] But hey, I’ve got a plan for you. [38:05] A plan to nourish you. [38:07] A plan to build you. [38:08] A plan that’s good. [38:09] And you’ve got to trust me, because for the next 70 years, you’re going to be in captivity

[38:13] to wicked people. [38:14] See, that’s what God does. [38:16] God lets wicked people be so stupid that they think they’re going to beat God. [38:21] And then God says, no, I was behind that one the whole time. [38:23] Sorry. [38:24] Still my glory.

[38:26] Still me. [38:27] You still can’t undo my plan. [38:29] Nothing can ever undo my plan because God is made to look so much more glorious when [38:36] we actually see the attribute of God that shows us nothing can undo his plan. [38:43] Nothing can undo his power to him be glory forever. [38:49] And I say this to say this one thing.

[38:51] You can trust the gospel.

[38:56] Because it is not some weak, puny God that tells you to trust it. [39:04] It is the king of the entire universe that proves you must trust it.

[39:15] In Genesis 315. [39:17] I mean, from Genesis 3 on, you get tragedy. [39:20] Then in Genesis 315, it says the child that is born to woman, that wicked serpent, [39:28] the embodiment of evil, he’s going to strike at the heel. [39:31] He’s going to strike at the heel. [39:32] And that’s why you’re scared of snakes, by the way.

[39:34] He’s going to strike at the heel. [39:36] But then he says the child born to woman. [39:39] Oh, yeah, serpent’s going to strike. [39:42] Serpent’s going to bite down as hard as that serpent can do. [39:46] But that child will crush the head of the serpent.

[39:53] On the cross, the serpent struck. [39:57] On the cross, the serpent bit. [40:00] On the cross, Satan did everything that he could do for Jesus to die, for Jesus to suffer, [40:10] for Jesus to endure hell. [40:13] And then three days later, the Lord said, oh, by the way, Satan, all my foreordained plan. [40:20] Your head is now crushed.

[40:21] You are the loser. [40:23] You cannot be victorious. [40:25] God has always been behind the scenes orchestrating everything and engineering everything to his glory.

[40:36] And so what do you do?

[40:38] If we build the faith, if we trust the power, what do we do with our lives?

[40:47] I believe this now more than I’ve ever believed, because when you get closer to 40 than you are 30, [40:53] you start thinking through, am I living my life the way I should be living my life?

[41:00] The biggest thing that I’m learning is that you need to base your entire life on the promises of God. [41:07] You need to base absolutely every aspect of your life on the promises of God. [41:14] You need to stop tinkering around with worthless trinkets that are going to die when you die. [41:25] And we’re playing a hand at Texas Hold’em. [41:27] You need to go all in on the promises of God. [41:33] You need to leave behind whatever you need to leave behind.

[41:37] You need to trust God for whatever you need to trust God for. [41:42] You need to lay it all on the line. [41:44] You need to go all in and say, Lord, whatever you lose for me needs to be lost for you, [41:51] because whatever I keep as I base my life on your promises, that and that alone is what I’m meant [41:59] to have, because Paul tells us in Ephesians 1.

[42:06] He says, in Jesus, we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose [42:13] of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first [42:19] to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. [42:24] In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, [42:29] and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance [42:37] until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory.

[42:44] Note the promise. [42:47] Note the guarantee. [42:50] Note Paul’s confidence. [42:52] He says, we have obtained. [42:55] How can we be so sure? [42:57] Because God works all things to the counsel of his will, and God has sealed our guarantee

[43:05] into our lives, and he guides us and moves us in the life that he has designed, and it will all [43:14] work to our possession of it and to the praise of the glory of God.

[43:23] When we look at audacious promises, we can then beg a few questions. [43:30] Why would I tell anyone to deposit the majority of their time in things like prayer and the word? [43:42] Because in the world those seem like, and even sometimes feel like, meaningless activities. [43:49] Why would I tell anyone that before you give your life over to anything, whether it be business, [43:56] whether it be a textbook, whether it be a career, you pour your life into the book. [44:03] You saturate your life in the book.

[44:06] You do not waste your time on the newest self-help that some ding-a-ling McGee has written before [44:13] you get into the book. [44:15] You just walk past the bestsellers that life way, and you get into the word of God, [44:21] and you just pour your life over. [44:22] Why would I tell anyone that I think it’s a good idea to sacrifice everything that our country has [44:29] to offer, go to the other side of the globe, to a people who don’t speak the language that

[44:36] they were born speaking, who don’t look anything like they look because they’re a different race, [44:41] they’re a different ethnicity, to give your life over into a nation where your life may be in [44:45] danger, and even worse, they eat gross food. [44:49] Why would I do that?

[44:52] Because God is sovereign.

[44:58] It is about His glory. [45:01] It’s not about my comfort. [45:04] Why would I tell any parent, never, ever, ever dissuade your child away from the ministry [45:11] of the word of God?

[45:15] Because in this world, so much of what we do looks foolish. [45:21] I say, because what you meant for evil, God meant for good. [45:32] Therefore, He is worthy.

[45:36] For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. [45:46] Friends, live your life in light of His glory.

[45:51] Wager absolutely everything that you have on the promises of God, and I promise, God promises, [46:00] you will not ultimately be disappointed. [46:04] Yes, you will endure hardship. [46:07] Yes, you will be betrayed. [46:09] Yes, you will be hurt. [46:11] But wager it all, because God will deliver on absolutely every audacious promise He has

[46:21] ever made, and the good news is that He’s proven that nothing can overpower Him.

[46:29] God meant it for good. [46:32] As the band comes up,

[46:35] friends, as we finish Genesis, I want you to walk away with the trust of God, [46:46] that you trust in God, that you believe that He is telling the truth in everything that [46:53] He says, and that impacts you so much that it does the craziest thing that I’ve ever [47:00] seen happen in a person’s life. [47:02] You know what the craziest thing I’ve seen? [47:04] Is that you believe Him so much that it changes the way you live, because that’s faith.

[47:10] That’s faith. [47:12] We gotta go all in.

[47:16] There’s some of you in here, and what I’m saying this morning, it’s almost foreign to you. [47:22] That’s because you’ve never trusted in Jesus. [47:25] You don’t know the power of God. [47:28] You’ve heard about Him. [47:29] You’ve never experienced Him. [47:30] You’ve heard the promises, but you’ve never experienced what it means to actually

[47:34] trust His promises, and your life shows it.

[47:38] Friend, to you, I want to tell you very simply, turn from your sin. [47:43] Trust in King Jesus, and He will save you. [47:47] Put your faith in Him, and He will be the friend that sticks closer than a brother. [47:52] He’ll never leave you. [47:53] He’ll never forsake you, and there’s coming a day where you will enter into His kingdom forever. [47:57] If that’s you, in just a moment, I’m gonna ask you to walk out into the foyer where

[48:01] somebody can pray with you, or somebody can answer any questions that you might have. [48:06] But if you’re in here, and you are a follower of Jesus, every week at Village, [48:10] we reflect on what’s called the Lord’s Supper. [48:12] The broken bread represents the broken body of Jesus, and the cup [48:17] represents the shed blood of Jesus. [48:20] And we reflect on it because it represents that God has invited us to fellowship at His table.

[48:26] And when we eat and drink, it represents that we have the life of Jesus Christ in our lives. [48:34] And we do it to proclaim to everyone, I believe the promises of God. [48:40] I believe they’re for me.

[48:43] And then we walk out the door, and we live in light of those promises. [48:47] But if you trust the promises of God, if you believe the promises of God, [48:54] when you are ready, come, eat, drink, and celebrate our promise keeping.