God Loves… Himself

The late deservedly celebrated Dr. Young, though he affected great opposition to some of the doctrines called Calvinistic, was yet compelled, by the force of truth, to acknowledge that “there is not a fly but has had infinite wisdom concerned not only in its structure, but in its destination.” Nor did the late learned and excellent Bishop Hopkins go a jot too far in asserting as follows: “A sparrow, whose price is but mean, two of them valued at a farthing (which some make to be the tenth part of a Roman penny, and was certainly one of their least coins), and whose life, therefore, is but contemptible, and whose flight seems giddy and at random; yet it falls not to the ground, neither lights anywhere, without your Father. His all-wise Providence hath before appointed what bough it shall pitch on, what grains it shall pick up, where it shall lodge, and where it shall build; on what it shall live, and where it shall die.” Our Savior adds, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. God keeps an account even of that stringy excrescence. Do you see a thousand little motes and atoms wondering up and down in a sun-beam? It is God that so peoples it, and He guides their innumerable and irregular strayings. Not a dust flies in a beaten road but God raiseth it, conducts its uncertain motion, and, by His particular care, conveys it to the certain place He had before appointed for it; nor shall the most fierce and tempestuous wind hurry it any further. Nothing comes to pass but God hath His ends in it, and will certainly make His own ends out of it. Though the world seems to run at random, and affairs to be huddled together in blind confusion, and rude disorder, yet, God sees and knows the concatenation of all causes and effects, and so governs them that He makes a perfect harmony out of all those seeming jarrings and discords. It is most necessary that we should have our hearts well established in the firm and unwavering belief of this truth, that whatsoever comes to pass, be it good or evil, we may look up to the hand and disposal of all, to God. In respect of God, there is nothing causal nor contingent in the world. Augustus Toplady

It is so striking how fundamentally different the thinking of the men above was as compared to the thinking of today. In the modern day men start with everything from a man centered point of view and God is thought to be in the service of man. In the past (with the men above and others in that day as well) men thought of God as the starting point and that everything followed from there. They thought of God as being centered upon Himself and not man. They thought of God as gloriously do all for Himself and His own glory.

The doctrine of the sovereignty of God permeates the whole of the doctrine of God and all the doctrines of Scripture. When Moses cried out for God to show him His glory, the Lord declared that He would be gracious to whom He would be gracious. That is sovereignty and it is an aspect of the divine glory. Indeed, it is a brilliant aspect to that glory and it is a beautiful aspect to that glory. This doctrine of sovereignty is at the heart of what it means to be God. This doctrine of sovereignty is at the heart of the Gospel of grace alone. However, in our day men want to water the sovereignty of God down and make it out to be less than what sovereignty really is. They do so in order to be popular with men and to climb the ranks of denominations.

When men water the sovereignty of God down, they are attacking the very nature of God and the very glory of God. If the sovereignty of God is watered down, then the so-called sovereignty or freedom of man is lifted up and exalted to the throne of God. The Gospel is changed from the Gospel of grace alone to the gospel of mostly grace but a little of the acts of men. This simply cannot be tolerated as it is a different Gospel and a different God. We cannot expect for God to come down and show Himself in glory if we are going to water the truths of Him down. We cannot expect God to use the message from our lips to truly convert sinners if we are not going to preach the truth of God and the truth of grace.

Many claim to be seeking revival today, but apart from standing on the full sovereignty of God there will be no true revival. There may be false things rise up, but when the truth of God is not declared we cannot expect revival to happen. No, it is not because God is waiting on us to get the message right, but He is not making hearts in ministers and so-called ministers with the right message. We must cry out to the sovereign God to give us hearts that love Him and His sovereignty and His sovereignty in Jesus Christ. If we don’t really want that, then we must seek Him to give us that desire. There will be no real revival until ministers are broken from self and pride and they seek the glory of the sovereign God in truth from the heart.

The late deservedly celebrated Dr. Young, though he affected great opposition to some of the doctrines called Calvinistic, was yet compelled, by the force of truth, to acknowledge that “there is not a fly but has had infinite wisdom concerned not only in its structure, but in its destination.” Nor did the late learned and excellent Bishop Hopkins go a jot too far in asserting as follows: “A sparrow, whose price is but mean, two of them valued at a farthing (which some make to be the tenth part of a Roman penny, and was certainly one of their least coins), and whose life, therefore, is but contemptible, and whose flight seems giddy and at random; yet it falls not to the ground, neither lights anywhere, without your Father. His all-wise Providence hath before appointed what bough it shall pitch on, what grains it shall pick up, where it shall lodge, and where it shall build; on what it shall live, and where it shall die.” Our Savior adds, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. God keeps an account even of that stringy excrescence. Do you see a thousand little motes and atoms wondering up and down in a sun-beam? It is God that so peoples it, and He guides their innumerable and irregular strayings. Not a dust flies in a beaten road but God raiseth it, conducts its uncertain motion, and, by His particular care, conveys it to the certain place He had before appointed for it; nor shall the most fierce and tempestuous wind hurry it any further. Nothing comes to pass but God hath His ends in it, and will certainly make His own ends out of it. Though the world seems to run at random, and affairs to be huddled together in blind confusion, and rude disorder, yet, God sees and knows the concatenation of all causes and effects, and so governs them that He makes a perfect harmony out of all those seeming jarrings and discords. It is most necessary that we should have our hearts well established in the firm and unwavering belief of this truth, that whatsoever comes to pass, be it good or evil, we may look up to the hand and disposal of all, to God. In respect of God, there is nothing causal nor contingent in the world. Augustus Toplady

The natural eye of man sees things as happening according to luck or perhaps a series of random events. The natural eye of man does not see anything but confusion in terms of the acts and events of men in the world. The natural eye cannot see anything but what happens and the natural mind cannot behold the sovereign hand of God working all things according to His purposes. The natural man has no ability to behold the sovereign hand of God in the small events, though he may understand something when large “natural” disasters strike. The spiritual man, that is, the one with the eye of faith, is able to “see” the hand of God working in these events.

We know that unpleasant things befall most if not all of men. The natural man thinks that it is bad luck or perhaps that God has it out for him, but the spiritual man (though it may take a while) knows that God is in control and nothing can happen to him apart from God’s will. The spiritual man will eventually come to the point where his heart will submit to that sovereignty as God works His softening work in the heart of that person. When we fight events and happenings in our hearts, what we are really fighting is God’s right to rule over us and to do with us as He pleases. The spiritual man understands this at some point, but the natural man ridicules spiritual things.

Every effect has a cause or perhaps a series of causes. The natural man thinks of these things as random, but every single cause and effect is governed by God and is the outworking of His plan which is a beautiful harmony of effects and causes. The wisdom of men cannot see this at all, but that is not because the wisdom of God is less than that of men, but it is because men cannot rise to the level of God’s wisdom. His ways are not only higher, they are a lot higher. The quicker that the heart learns this principle the quicker the heart learns what God is doing to humble it and break it from self.

The heart must learn to rest in this great truth as a basic fact or it will be wavering all over the place. Regardless of what happens in the world or to each individual soul, regardless of what “comes to pass, be it good or evil, we may look up to the hand and disposal of all, to God.” While this is absurd and even crazy in the thinking of the natural man, this is what brings the spiritual man great comfort and abiding peace. God does not behold the world as if there are causes and effects that do not flow from Him, but instead there is nothing caused and nothing is truly contingent other than Himself. This is God’s world and He reigns and rules all things in accordance with His eternal plan. Oh how delicious this is to the soul that is taught of God to bow and know that if the Lord did it, then it is for a holy and good reason.

The late deservedly celebrated Dr. Young, though he affected great opposition to some of the doctrines called Calvinistic, was yet compelled, by the force of truth, to acknowledge that “there is not a fly but has had infinite wisdom concerned not only in its structure, but in its destination.” Nor did the late learned and excellent Bishop Hopkins go a jot too far in asserting as follows: “A sparrow, whose price is but mean, two of them valued at a farthing (which some make to be the tenth part of a Roman penny, and was certainly one of their least coins), and whose life, therefore, is but contemptible, and whose flight seems giddy and at random; yet it falls not to the ground, neither lights anywhere, without your Father. His all-wise Providence hath before appointed what bough it shall pitch on, what grains it shall pick up, where it shall lodge, and where it shall build; on what it shall live, and where it shall die.” Our Savior adds, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. God keeps an account even of that stringy excrescence. Do you see a thousand little motes and atoms wondering up and down in a sun-beam? It is God that so peoples it, and He guides their innumerable and irregular strayings. Not a dust flies in a beaten road but God raiseth it, conducts its uncertain motion, and, by His particular care, conveys it to the certain place He had before appointed for it; nor shall the most fierce and tempestuous wind hurry it any further. Nothing comes to pass but God hath His ends in it, and will certainly make His own ends out of it. Though the world seems to run at random, and affairs to be huddled together in blind confusion, and rude disorder, yet, God sees and knows the concatenation of all causes and effects, and so governs them that He makes a perfect harmony out of all those seeming jarrings and discords. It is most necessary that we should have our hearts well established in the firm and unwavering belief of this truth, that whatsoever comes to pass, be it good or evil, we may look up to the hand and disposal of all, to God. In respect of God, there is nothing causal nor contingent in the world.        Augustus Toplady

This quote, and those Toplady quoted, are simply magnificent. These set out a God that is really God. We can behold with what seems to be a breath taken away how glorious God is in perfect sovereignty. Not a speck of dust can blow in a person’s eye apart from His specific will for that dust, for the wind, and for the person’s eye. There can be nothing that happens apart from His will and apart from God’s purposes and plans. The world is not running on its own and it does not run according to natural laws as such, but instead it is in the wise and almighty hands of the living God. Each person does not walk, drive, or live in any way in a real chaos, but only what may seem to be chaos to a worldly way of thinking. Every event is in the hands of God and nothing happens apart from His will.

It is like a ray of light into a dark world to hear the biblical truth that nothing comes to pass but that God has His purposes for it. Oh how beautiful to know that there is not a single thing that can happen to us (His people) that is random or does not come through His hand of love. Everything that befalls a person has a purpose and it is God’s purpose. We may never know why God brings small or large events to pass, but we can know that His purposes are wise and good. We may know that the events may bring pain and sorrow, but they are always for the best and that is defined what is for His glory and His glory is what is best for His people.

It is so true in our modern world that there seems to be so many events that are random and are simply the result of blind luck or fate. How the world seems to be spinning out of control while the leaders are confused and seemingly have no way of dealing with things. Yet things are not out of the control of God, though they are out of the control of man. Indeed we may feel hopeless and helpless as we see wars and acts of terror in other lands and even in our own nation, yet while we are helpless in truth we are not hopeless. God is in control and His will must be done. We can have great comfort in knowing that God reigns, and not with a weak hand, but with an omnipotent arm. Stonewall Jackson (Confederate General) said that if God willed for him to be safe in battle he was as safe as if in his own bed. It was said that he was unflinching as bullets sailed around him. This is how the believer is to live as life unfolds in breathtaking fashion. Nothing can happen to us unless God intends it. After all, we are His whether we live or whether we die.

The late deservedly celebrated Dr. Young, though he affected great opposition to some of the doctrines called Calvinistic, was yet compelled, by the force of truth, to acknowledge that “there is not a fly but has had infinite wisdom concerned not only in its structure, but in its destination.” Nor did the late learned and excellent Bishop Hopkins go a jot too far in asserting as follows: “A sparrow, whose price is but mean, two of them valued at a farthing (which some make to be the tenth part of a Roman penny, and was certainly one of their least coins), and whose life, therefore, is but contemptible, and whose flight seems giddy and at random; yet it falls not to the ground, neither lights anywhere, without your Father. His all-wise Providence hath before appointed what bough it shall pitch on, what grains it shall pick up, where it shall lodge, and where it shall build; on what it shall live, and where it shall die.” Our Savior adds, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. God keeps an account even of that stringy excrescence. Do you see a thousand little motes and atoms wondering up and down in a sun-beam? It is God that so peoples it, and He guides their innumerable and irregular strayings. Not a dust flies in a beaten road but God raiseth it, conducts its uncertain motion, and, by His particular care, conveys it to the certain place He had before appointed for it; nor shall the most fierce and tempestuous wind hurry it any further. Nothing comes to pass but God hath His ends in it, and will certainly make His own ends out of it. Though the world seems to run at random, and affairs to be huddled together in blind confusion, and rude disorder, yet, God sees and knows the concatenation of all causes and effects, and so governs them that He makes a perfect harmony out of all those seeming jarrings and discords. It is most necessary that we should have our hearts well established in the firm and unwavering belief of this truth, that whatsoever comes to pass, be it good or evil, we may look up to the hand and disposal of all, to God. In respect of God, there is nothing causal nor contingent in the world. Augustus Toplady

The typical person in the modern world is simply blind to the greatness and glory of God. A fly is nothing but a nuisance to the person that is absorbed with self and self-interest and who cares about the lowly sparrow. The typical person in the modern world has a naturalistic mindset and sees all things in a physical sense as if the deepest reason for all things is a result of natural laws and blind chance. A person gets sick simply because of either a genetic issue or because of a virus or bacteria. A person gets well simply because of proper medication. A person lives as if all things are on his or her shoulders and abilities.

For the person with the biblical understanding of God absolutely everything happens as a result of Divine providence. This person lives with the understanding that each and every hair that s/he has is numbered by God. God does not number each hair of a person simply as an act of bare knowledge, but that text of Scripture points to the reality that God knows absolutely everything about us and that His people are in His intimate care. It is not that all things will happen according to the way our fallen hearts will desire for them to happen, but all will happen according to the infinite wisdom and plan of God. We must seek Him for hearts that will bow in sweet surrender and absolute submission.

Toplady points us to the great truth that we would have much benefit to meditate on and that truth is that as a truck drives down a dusty road, each bit of dust is in the hand of God. Every bit of dust is raised by God and the motion of it according to His divine plan. Each bit of dust in under His particular care and He moves it precisely to the place He has appointed it. Regardless of the wind and regardless of all the other things going on around that bit of dust and all those bits of dust, they cannot move that dust in any location other than what God has ordained for that dust to go. The path and location of dust points us to the fact that nothing can come to pass unless God ordains it so and it will happen for His purposes.

As we think and meditate upon great truths like this, it should give us a great firmness in our faith in God. All that happens to us can only happen if He has planned it from all eternity and that for the good of His people. All that goes on around us, in us, and happens to us is not apart from His specific and careful plan that was planned with infinite wisdom. As each particle of dust cannot move apart from the great goal of His glory, so God works all events in the lives of His children for His glory as well. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, but only God can work that in and for His people. Only God can give us hearts to enjoy His glory.

The late deservedly celebrated Dr. Young, though he affected great opposition to some of the doctrines called Calvinistic, was yet compelled, by the force of truth, to acknowledge that “there is not a fly but has had infinite wisdom concerned not only in its structure, but in its destination.” Nor did the late learned and excellent Bishop Hopkins go a jot too far in asserting as follows: “A sparrow, whose price is but mean, two of them valued at a farthing (which some make to be the tenth part of a Roman penny, and was certainly one of their least coins), and whose life, therefore, is but contemptible, and whose flight seems giddy and at random; yet it falls not to the ground, neither lights anywhere, without your Father. His all-wise Providence hath before appointed what bough it shall pitch on, what grains it shall pick up, where it shall lodge, and where it shall build; on what it shall live, and where it shall die.” Our Savior adds, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. God keeps an account even of that stringy excrescence. Do you see a thousand little motes and atoms wondering up and down in a sun-beam? It is God that so peoples it, and He guides their innumerable and irregular strayings. Not a dust flies in a beaten road but God raiseth it, conducts its uncertain motion, and, by His particular care, conveys it to the certain place He had before appointed for it; nor shall the most fierce and tempestuous wind hurry it any further. Nothing comes to pass but God hath His ends in it, and will certainly make His own ends out of it. Though the world seems to run at random, and affairs to be huddled together in blind confusion, and rude disorder, yet, God sees and knows the concatenation of all causes and effects, and so governs them that He makes a perfect harmony out of all those seeming jarrings and discords. It is most necessary that we should have our hearts well established in the firm and unwavering belief of this truth, that whatsoever comes to pass, be it good or evil, we may look up to the hand and disposal of all, to God. In respect of God, there is nothing causal nor contingent in the world.       Augustus Toplady

It may be that the word “sovereignty” does not communicate what it used to. The fact that God is sovereign does not mean that He rules at a distance and controls the big things or controls things when He is pleased to do so, but that from all eternity He has ruled over the smallest of details and will do so for all eternity future. Not the smallest thing can escape Him as He is in full control of it and it can not move or do anything that He is not in full control of. Nothing can happen apart from His plan and apart from His permissive will. Even more, nothing can happen apart from His concurrence with it and apart from His giving energy to the movement of His creatures. The presence of God is simply everywhere and as such nothing can happen apart from His wisdom and His power. While many want to protect God from such control since there is so much evil, God does not need our help. He is and always will be sovereign.

When we think of the thinking of Bishop Hopkins on the sparrow, it brings our thinking closer to where it should be. There is nothing that the sparrow can do but go according to the will of God for it. While the sparrow is nothing or less than nothing in our way of thinking, yet it is under the supreme Ruler and His sovereign care and guidance for it as it carries out His sovereign plan for it. In the sovereign care and plan of God, that little sparrow and all little sparrows have branches planned from them to rest on and food planned for them to eat. God has planned lodging for them and has it planned where they will build a nest. He has planned where it will live and how long it will live. He has also planned the precise moment it will die and how it will die. The Lord God omnipotent reigns and He reigns over all things at all moments and in all places.

When we turn to think of the children of God, it is no small thing to recognize that the very hairs of all men are numbered regardless of how much hair they have and regardless of how curly or knotted it is. In terms of His particular sovereignty over each of His children, we must bow in utter humility and reverence before Him. He is perfectly in control of each aspect of our being, even to each blood cell and each subatomic particle our bodies are made of. Our every breath is in His hand and apart from Him we could not lift and drop our arms. Our chief and really only real business is to deal with the living God. We are in His hands to do with as He pleases as the clay is in the hands of the potter to do with as the potter pleases. Apart from Christ we can do absolutely and utterly nothing spiritual or good, which means we must receive it from Him first. The glory is His and His alone and when man tries to stick his so-called ability and freeness in then man is intruding upon the very nature of God. God will be God, so we must seek Him to give us hearts to bow to the supreme glory of His sovereign rule.