THE DOCTRINE OF THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
1 Chronicles 29:11-12 ESV Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.
The liberation of the Israelites from Egypt (Exodus 7–12).
Exodus 7:5 (NKJV) And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.”
Every plague was a direct assault on the “gods” of Egypt.
2. Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4–5).
Proverbs 21:1 “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.”
Psalm 22:28 “For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.”
Daniel 2:21 “He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings.”
3. Jonah.
Jonah 1:17 says, “And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah.”
Jonah 4:7 “God appointed a worm that attacked the plant [which was providing shade for Jonah]”.
4. The sparrows (Matt. 10:29–30). “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.”
“without your Father,” means his rule, his causal authority.
5. The Conversion of the Gentiles (Acts 13:13–52).
Acts 13:48 “And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed”.
God establishes what he has ordained without ever reducing us to robots.
6. Paul in Athens (Acts 16:16–33).
Acts 17:26–27 “He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us”.
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