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The god of modern religion?
by Don Fortner
"The Lord does whatever pleases him
throughout all heaven and earth,
and on the seas and in their depths." Psalm 135:6
The very foundation of our confidence
and faith in our God is his sovereignty.
Were he not sovereign, absolutely, universally
sovereign, we could not trust him implicitly,
believe his promises, or depend upon him to
fulfill his Word.
Only an absolute sovereign can be trusted absolutely.
We can and should trust our God implicitly because
he is sovereign.
Nothing is more delightful to the hearts of God’s children
than the fact of his great and glorious sovereignty.
Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most
severe troubles, and when enduring the most heavy
trials, we rejoice to know that our God has sovereignly
ordained our afflictions, that he sovereignly overrules
them, and that he sovereignly sanctifies them to our
good and his own glory.
The God of the Bible is utterly unknown in this religious
generation. A God who is not sovereign is as much a
contradiction as a God who is not holy, eternal, and
immutable. A God who is not sovereign is no God at all.
If the god you worship is not totally sovereign, you are
a pagan, and your religion is idolatry. You would be just
as well off worshipping a statue of Mary, a totem pole,
a spider, or the devil himself as to worship a god who
lacks total sovereignty over all things.
The god of this generation no more resembles the
sovereign Lord of heaven and earth than a flickering
candle resembles the noon-day sun.
The god of modern religion is nothing but an idol,
the invention of men, a figment of man's imagination.
Pagans in the dark ages used to carve their gods out
of wood and stone and overlay them with silver and gold.
Today, in these much darker days, pagans inside the church
carve their god out of their own depraved imaginations.
In reality, the religionists of our day are atheists, for there
is no possible alternative between a God who is absolutely
sovereign and no God at all.
A god whose will can be resisted,
whose purpose can be frustrated,
whose power can be thwarted,
whose grace can be nullified,
whose work can be overturned,
has no title to Deity.
Such a god is not a fit object of worship.
Such a puny, pigmy god merits nothing but contempt.
When I say that God is sovereign, I
am simply declaring that God is God.
He is the most High, Lord of heaven
and earth, overall, blessed forever.
He is subject to none.
He is influenced by none.
God is absolutely independent of, and
sovereign over, all his creatures.
He does as he pleases,
only as he pleases,
and always as he pleases.
None can thwart him.
None can resist him.
None can change him.
None can stop him.
None can hinder him.
He declares, "Everything I plan will come to
pass, for I do whatever I wish." Isaiah 46:10
"All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing.
He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven
and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back
his hand or say to him: "What have you done?" Daniel 4:35
Divine sovereignty means that God sits upon the
throne of universal dominion, directing all things,
ruling all things, and "working all things after the
counsel of his own will" (Ephes. 1:11).
God’s sovereignty is irrefutably revealed in
the eternal predestination of all things.
God chose certain men and women in eternity to
be the objects of his saving grace and predestinated
those elect ones to be conformed to the image of his
dear Son (Rom. 8:28-29). Before the world began God
sovereignly determined that he would save some, who
they would be, and when he would save them. Having
determined these things, our great God infallibly secured
his eternal purpose of grace by sovereign predestination.
Eternal election marked the house into which God’s
saving grace must come. Eternal predestination marked
the path upon which grace must come. And sovereign
providence led grace down the path to the house at
the appointed time of love.
God's indisputable sovereignty is conspicuously revealed
in the salvation of sinners by his almighty grace (Rom. 9:8-24).
God chose to save some, but not all. He gave Christ to die for
some, but not all. He sends his gospel to some, but not all.
He gives his Spirit to some, but not all. He causes some to
hear his voice, but not all.
He planned it.
He purchased it.
He performs it.
He preserves it.
He perfects it.
He shall have all the praise for it.
"Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him." Psalm 115:3
Let us, therefore--
believe him confidently,
walk with him in peace,
submit to him cheerfully,
serve him faithfully,
and honor him supremely.
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