Sermon Notes: 10.30.2022
Series: Ruth: Road to Redemption
Message: The Supremacy of God in All Things
Text: Ruth 1:3-5; 1:19-20, 2:1-5
Date: October 30, 2022
INTRODUCTION
Quote: Tony Evans -
Our God is sovereign. That means there's no such thing as luck. Anything that happens to you, good or bad, must pass through His fingers first. There are no accidents with God. I like the story of the cowboy who applied for health insurance. The agent routinely asked him, 'Have you ever had any accidents?' The cowboy replied, 'Well no, I've not had any accidents. I was bitten by a rattlesnake once, and a horse did kick me in the ribs. That laid me up for a while, but I haven't had any accidents.' The agent said, 'Wait a minute. I'm confused. A rattlesnake bit you, and a horse kicked you, Weren't those accidents?' 'No, they did that on purpose.
TEXT: Ruth 1:3-5; 1:19-20; 2:1-3
A. What do I mean by the supremacy of God in all things?I mean that God is sovereign over all things. I want to first give you the Biblical case for God’s Sovereign rule.
Quote: John Frame
“The term sovereignty is rarely found in recent translations of Scripture, but it represents an important biblical concept. A sovereign is a ruler, a king, a lord, and Scripture often refers to God as the one who rules over all. (see John Frame, The Doctrine of God, 21–115).”
B. This is not something we should fear, but fully embrace! It shouldn’t be too difficult to understand. This helps us understand how big God is and how small we are.
C. If we don’t grasp this, we won’t fully understand our text in Ruth…and ultimately, we won’t fully know and appreciate God’s grace and mercy working in us to conform us into the image of His son.
D. These are in no particular order:
"Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities." Isaiah 53:10–11 ESV
Quote: Warren Weirsbe Be Reverent (Ezekiel): Bowing Before Our Awesome God
“Though His people were in exile and their nation was about to be destroyed, God was still on the throne and able to handle every situation. In His marvelous providence, He moves in the affairs of nations and works out His hidden plan.”
Isaiah 46:10NASB95
“ [10] Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure”
Psalm 115:3 NASB95
But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.
Quote: John Piper
“Whenever God acts, he acts in a way that pleases him. God is never constrained to do a thing that he despises. He is never backed into a corner where his only recourse is to do something he hates to do. He does whatever he pleases.”
Acts 4:27-28 NASB95
For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, [28] to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.
Romans 8:28 NASB95
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Quote: Jerry Bridges
That which should distinguish the suffering of believers from unbelievers is the confidence that our suffering is under the control of an all-powerful and all-loving God. Our suffering has meaning and purpose in God's eternal plan, and He brings or allows to come into our lives only that which is for His glory and our good.
Jerry Bridges, Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts
CONCLUSION
A. Final thought on this: because God is sovereign over all things, we can trust that no matter what we go through we can know that:
1) It’s not a surprise to Him
2) we can trust Him
3) he’s working it out for our good and His glory!
Quote: CH Spurgeon
When you go through a trial, the sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which you lay your head.
Psalm 62:6-8 ESV
He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. [7] On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. [8] Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah
It Is Well with My Soul - Spoken Word by Lloyd Newell
Life can be so unpredictable—joys and sorrows, beautiful blessings and distressing difficulties can come unexpectedly. Our life’s dreams and plans can change in an instant. We all know this to be true. So how can we find peace amid such turbulence?
Horatio Spafford knew something about life’s unexpected challenges. He was a successful attorney and real estate investor who lost a fortune in the great Chicago fire of 1871. Around the same time, his beloved four-year-old son died of scarlet fever.
Thinking a vacation would do his family some good, he sent his wife and four daughters on a ship to England, planning to join them after he finished some pressing business at home. However, while crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the ship was involved in a terrible collision and sunk. More than 200 people lost their lives, including all four of Horatio Spafford’s precious daughters. His wife, Anna, survived the tragedy. Upon arriving in England, she sent a telegram to her husband that began: “Saved alone. What shall I do?”
Horatio immediately set sail for England. At one point during his voyage, the captain of the ship, aware of the tragedy that had struck the Spafford family, summoned Horatio to tell him that they were now passing over the spot where the shipwreck had occurred
As Horatio thought about his daughters, words of comfort and hope filled his heart and mind. He wrote them down, and they have since become a well-beloved hymn:
When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll—
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to know
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Perhaps we cannot always say that everything is well in all aspects of our lives. There will always be storms to face, and sometimes there will be tragedies. But with faith in a loving God and with trust in His divine help, we can confidently say, “It is well, it is well with my soul.”
Message: The Supremacy of God in All Things
Text: Ruth 1:3-5; 1:19-20, 2:1-5
Date: October 30, 2022
INTRODUCTION
Quote: Tony Evans -
Our God is sovereign. That means there's no such thing as luck. Anything that happens to you, good or bad, must pass through His fingers first. There are no accidents with God. I like the story of the cowboy who applied for health insurance. The agent routinely asked him, 'Have you ever had any accidents?' The cowboy replied, 'Well no, I've not had any accidents. I was bitten by a rattlesnake once, and a horse did kick me in the ribs. That laid me up for a while, but I haven't had any accidents.' The agent said, 'Wait a minute. I'm confused. A rattlesnake bit you, and a horse kicked you, Weren't those accidents?' 'No, they did that on purpose.
TEXT: Ruth 1:3-5; 1:19-20; 2:1-3
A. What do I mean by the supremacy of God in all things?I mean that God is sovereign over all things. I want to first give you the Biblical case for God’s Sovereign rule.
Quote: John Frame
“The term sovereignty is rarely found in recent translations of Scripture, but it represents an important biblical concept. A sovereign is a ruler, a king, a lord, and Scripture often refers to God as the one who rules over all. (see John Frame, The Doctrine of God, 21–115).”
B. This is not something we should fear, but fully embrace! It shouldn’t be too difficult to understand. This helps us understand how big God is and how small we are.
C. If we don’t grasp this, we won’t fully understand our text in Ruth…and ultimately, we won’t fully know and appreciate God’s grace and mercy working in us to conform us into the image of His son.
D. These are in no particular order:
- we see it in the life of Joseph. “What man meant for evil, God meant for good.”
- We see it in the life of Job. “The Lord giveth and the Lord Taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
- We see it again in Exodus. How God used the evil intentions of man (Pharoah) to accomplish His purposes in His people.
- We see this at the Cross of Calvary:
"Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities." Isaiah 53:10–11 ESV
Quote: Warren Weirsbe Be Reverent (Ezekiel): Bowing Before Our Awesome God
“Though His people were in exile and their nation was about to be destroyed, God was still on the throne and able to handle every situation. In His marvelous providence, He moves in the affairs of nations and works out His hidden plan.”
Isaiah 46:10NASB95
“ [10] Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure”
Psalm 115:3 NASB95
But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.
Quote: John Piper
“Whenever God acts, he acts in a way that pleases him. God is never constrained to do a thing that he despises. He is never backed into a corner where his only recourse is to do something he hates to do. He does whatever he pleases.”
Acts 4:27-28 NASB95
For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, [28] to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.
Romans 8:28 NASB95
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Quote: Jerry Bridges
That which should distinguish the suffering of believers from unbelievers is the confidence that our suffering is under the control of an all-powerful and all-loving God. Our suffering has meaning and purpose in God's eternal plan, and He brings or allows to come into our lives only that which is for His glory and our good.
Jerry Bridges, Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts
CONCLUSION
A. Final thought on this: because God is sovereign over all things, we can trust that no matter what we go through we can know that:
1) It’s not a surprise to Him
2) we can trust Him
3) he’s working it out for our good and His glory!
Quote: CH Spurgeon
When you go through a trial, the sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which you lay your head.
Psalm 62:6-8 ESV
He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. [7] On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. [8] Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah
It Is Well with My Soul - Spoken Word by Lloyd Newell
Life can be so unpredictable—joys and sorrows, beautiful blessings and distressing difficulties can come unexpectedly. Our life’s dreams and plans can change in an instant. We all know this to be true. So how can we find peace amid such turbulence?
Horatio Spafford knew something about life’s unexpected challenges. He was a successful attorney and real estate investor who lost a fortune in the great Chicago fire of 1871. Around the same time, his beloved four-year-old son died of scarlet fever.
Thinking a vacation would do his family some good, he sent his wife and four daughters on a ship to England, planning to join them after he finished some pressing business at home. However, while crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the ship was involved in a terrible collision and sunk. More than 200 people lost their lives, including all four of Horatio Spafford’s precious daughters. His wife, Anna, survived the tragedy. Upon arriving in England, she sent a telegram to her husband that began: “Saved alone. What shall I do?”
Horatio immediately set sail for England. At one point during his voyage, the captain of the ship, aware of the tragedy that had struck the Spafford family, summoned Horatio to tell him that they were now passing over the spot where the shipwreck had occurred
As Horatio thought about his daughters, words of comfort and hope filled his heart and mind. He wrote them down, and they have since become a well-beloved hymn:
When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll—
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to know
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Perhaps we cannot always say that everything is well in all aspects of our lives. There will always be storms to face, and sometimes there will be tragedies. But with faith in a loving God and with trust in His divine help, we can confidently say, “It is well, it is well with my soul.”
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