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The Sovereignty of God: Part Four
'Personal' from John W. RitenbaughGod's management of His creation is absolute and unwavering. He rules over the nations with active governance, ensuring that His will is accomplished precisely as He has determined. No force, whether human or angelic, can delay or alter His purpose, for His counsel shall stand with unyielding assurance. He is not an absentee landlord but is deeply and intimately involved in the operations of His creation, sustaining, maintaining, guiding, and propelling all things by the word of His power. God does not merely create and step aside to let impersonal laws govern; instead, He actively manages and directs everything according to His purpose. He speaks, and light appears; He commands, and the waters gather as He desires, shaping and controlling His creation with precision. From the Flood to the confusion of languages at Babel, and the plagues on Egypt, His involvement is evident as He supervises events and determines outcomes, even using the inanimate elements of creation to execute His will. His sovereignty extends to daily affairs, both in times of blessing and disaster. He sends snow, frost, and hail, and at His word, they melt; He causes the winds to blow and waters to flow. God selectively exercises His authority over nature, protecting or punishing as He sees fit, whether through plagues, famines, or earthquakes, increasing their intensity and occurrence as part of His purposeful plan. He even commands animals and tiny organisms to act according to His will, demonstrating His dominion over every aspect of creation. God's management ensures that His spiritual purpose overrides all, blessing or cursing based on His sovereign choice, often beyond human expectation or natural law. He is moving events at His pace, preparing His people for the Kingdom on His schedule, and no unreadiness on their part can delay Him. His faithful involvement guarantees that His purpose will resolve far better than any human design or natural process could achieve.
The Sovereignty of God (Part Four)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughGod's management of His creation is absolute and unyielding. No one can stay the hand of God or turn Him from the successful conclusion of any purpose of His. He has ways of getting us to yield, molding and shaping us into what He desires so that we will be ready when the time comes. God always has alternatives, and if we will not cooperate, He can replace us with someone better, for we are the weak of this world. There is every reason to be encouraged that He will use every means at His disposal to prepare and save those He has called into His purpose, right on time, because nobody stops Him from doing what He sets His mind to do. God works against deadlines that He sets for Himself, scheduling events with precision. His sovereignty ensures that if He has a deadline for the return of Jesus Christ, it will come off exactly when He has planned it. No plan of God will be held up by any person or group who is not prepared; it will happen in spite of us. He actively manages His creation, not stepping aside to let impersonal laws govern, but sustaining, maintaining, guiding, and propelling the universe with continuous power. The stability of creation speaks of His ongoing involvement, and if He stopped, the creation would cease to operate. God governs both the animate and inanimate aspects of His creation. He overrules mankind's dominion, ensuring that sin does not destroy everything, as seen in events like the Tower of Babel where He intervened. He manipulates the elements, as during the Flood and the plagues of Egypt, tweaking the laws of creation to achieve His purposes. The wind and sea obey Him, and He causes natural phenomena like earthquakes to occur as part of His plan. His authority is evident in every aspect, ensuring that everything happens right on time, and if we yield to Him, we will be ready as He prepares us for His purpose.
The Sovereignty of God: Part Five
'Personal' from John W. RitenbaughGod's management of His creation is marked by precise timing and sovereignty over time, as seen in the orderly movements of heavenly bodies that allow us to organize our lives through calendars. He sets deadlines in His dealings with humanity, ensuring events unfold according to His schedule. Beyond this, He oversees the earth, which requires management due to built-in entropy, and has granted mankind a limited dominion to manage in His likeness. However, due to mankind's mismanagement and spiritual failings, He actively intervenes, overruling for His purpose. God's hands-on involvement extends to the inanimate elements of creation, such as weather and natural disasters, and to the animate elements as well. He commands mighty angels, as shown in His directives to gather out offenders from His kingdom, demonstrating His sovereignty over them. Even evil spirits and satan himself are subject to His control; satan must heed His sentences, cannot act without His permission, and departs at the command of Jesus Christ. Ultimately, satan's fate is determined by God's discretion, from binding to final judgment. Over mankind, God's sovereignty is absolute, whether events appear chaotic or not. He either rules or is ruled, and no human perversity can thwart His plan. He can overrule man's actions, as seen in historical interventions, and work through individuals like Pharaoh and Judas to fulfill His will, often without their awareness. He determines the preappointed times and boundaries of nations, manipulating events among both Israelites and Gentiles toward His purpose. His oversight spans millennia, encompassing angels, demons, nations, and individuals, moving all toward the successful conclusion of His divine intent. God's management is evident in the smallest details, as He wills even the fall of a sparrow, and extends to the vast scope of human affairs, where He directs the steps and hearts of kings and governors. No ruler can resist Him, and while He does not inspire evil policies, He oversees and allows them for His ends. Fulfilled prophecy further reveals His intervention and control over human events, with specific predictions underscoring His authority over history and individuals, high or low. Humanity continues to live only at His pleasure, unable to move or act without His permission, highlighting His absolute power over all creation.
The Providence of God (Part Three)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughGod manages operations in the lives of those called according to His purpose by keeping them in all places. He guards, protects, preserves, and provides for them while bringing about the end He has in mind. He engineers situations that may appear bad or like curses yet turn out for good in order to preserve life and fulfill His overall plan. Events radiate outward from actions like ripples on a pond, and God fits into every event without allowing anything to occur in a vacuum. He restricts free moral agency when necessary, just as a wise parent does to protect children and ensure productive lives. For His children there is no time and chance because He is too serious about His responsibilities and His name. He began a good work and will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Providence involves both foresight and provision. He sees in advance and supplies exactly what is needed at the time He sees best in order to bring about His purpose. He does not merely observe but watches over affairs in a pro-active way. He is the prime mover of action in the universe, and His will is worked out regardless of human manipulations or deceptions. He is involved from the beginning, moved by what occurs, and always provides what is needed first for His purpose.
The Sovereignty of God (Part Two)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughGod manages all creation as the sovereign Ruler whose counsel and pleasure stand without hindrance from time, angels, nations, or individuals. He bears His people from the womb through old age, carrying and delivering them while declaring the end from the beginning. This management appears in His direction of empires, dynasties, and priesthoods, as when He sets up kingdoms, overthrows others, and maintains the line of Zadok forever. He governs nations through a governor-like control that regulates events according to His will, exercising power in ways that sometimes appear dormant for centuries between major interventions such as the flood, the Exodus, and the establishment of Israel under David. Within these operations God chooses whom to show mercy and whom to harden, raising Pharaoh to display power and determining the extent of every rulership so that no one can stay His hand or question His decisions critically. This management extends to personal lives, where God grants or withholds healing, deliverance, strength, long life, and gifts according to His purpose. He selected one man at Bethesda for healing while leaving others, lengthened Hezekiah's life by fifteen years yet denied Moses entry into the land, and allowed some faithful to escape the sword while others endured stoning or crucifixion. Such choices require living faith that trusts God's unseen presence in mundane and tragic circumstances alike. The same sovereignty that formed all things for His pleasure before the foundation of the world now directs the building of the spiritual temple. Acceptance of His management energizes faith, prevents resentment, and prepares believers to cooperate willingly as He molds each vessel for honor or dishonor, ensuring that His purpose alone prevails.
The Sovereignty of God (Part Five)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughGod exercises precise management over His creation by setting and meeting deadlines according to His schedule, directing the movements of heavenly bodies to illustrate His orderly work in both physical and spiritual realms. This management requires trust from those who observe the frequent difference between His timing and human expectations. The earth itself needs active oversight, which God provides through limited human dominion while overruling natural laws and human mismanagement to advance His purpose. He demonstrates this involvement in inanimate elements such as weather by sending or withholding rain, snow, frost, and wind on specific locations and peoples, as seen in His dealings with Israel. These actions serve to draw attention to Himself, whether through blessings that follow obedience or through judgments that follow disobedience. Such selectivity shows that uniform natural laws operate under His direct command rather than independently, and He extends similar oversight to the church with even greater intimacy because its members are begotten by His Spirit. This management extends to animate creation. God directs animals to fulfill specific roles, from bringing them to Adam for naming and to Noah for preservation, to instilling fear of mankind after the flood, to controlling individual creatures such as ravens, bears, lions, fish, and donkeys to accomplish His will. He likewise commands both good and evil angels, sending them to carry out judgments or to influence events while remaining fully subject to His authority. Over mankind, God's management operates through free moral agency yet reaches into personal thoughts, national boundaries, and historical movements so that every life contributes to His ultimate spiritual purpose. Even when individuals appear to act independently, He maneuvers leaders and circumstances to fulfill His plan, as with Pharaoh, Judas, and the nations. His spiritual purpose consistently overrides all other factors, allowing apparent curses to serve greater ends and requiring trust that His sovereignty produces outcomes far superior to human expectations. This comprehensive rule provides the foundation for genuine peace.
Fearing God's Worthiness
CGG WeeklyGod's management is presented as the culminating proof of His worthiness to receive not just honor and glory, but all honor and glory, a truth Revelation 19:1 affirms belongs to Him alone. This worthiness stands apart from the trivial competitions of everyday life, such as choosing which fruit is best or which item to purchase, and instead points to something far weightier: God's supreme right to our trust, respect, and worship. Worship itself is defined as reverent honor and homage, and it is produced only when we grasp both God's willingness to help us and His worthiness to be trusted. Willingness alone, however sincere, is insufficient without competence, just as no one would want to be treated by a doctor who is willing but incompetent. God's management of creation demonstrates that He possesses both. This worthiness is most fully expounded in Job 38-42, where God speaks to Job out of a whirlwind, challenging him with, "Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?" God's voice thunders with a power beyond even the fiercest storm, and He dares Job to adorn himself with majesty and glory if he wishes to contend with Him. This challenge exposes the folly of questioning God's management, since He alone laid the foundations of the earth, holds back the sea, commands the waves, calls forth the morning, stores treasuries of snow and hail for times of trouble, binds the Pleiades, looses Orion, directs the constellations, and guides the lightning. Through this overwhelming display, God declares His absolute mastery over creation and humanity's utter incompetence to grasp even the smallest part of it. The purpose of this display is not merely to awe Job but to teach a spiritual lesson: the same God who commands the physical dawn has the power to make the Morning Star rise in human hearts, as noted in II Peter 1:19. His management extends beyond the physical realm into the spiritual creation He is forming within His people. Because nothing is too hard for Him (Matthew 19:26) and nothing takes Him by surprise (Isaiah 46:9-10), believers can find comfort in His complete awareness of every circumstance in their lives. This assurance becomes vital when facing trials requiring great leaps of faith, for one can trust that God has already evaluated every situation, and that even suffering or death in defense of the faith serves His greater plan. This confidence in God's management is exemplified by the apostle Paul in Acts 20:22-24, who presses forward despite uncertain and dangerous circumstances. Believers are called to emulate this same endurance, relying on the power of a willing and worthy Creator to run with patience the race set before them (Hebrews 12:1). Christ, the Author of salvation, has already blazed the trail (Hebrews 2:10), the saints of old sacrificed to preserve this message (Hebrews 11), and ultimately nothing can separate believers from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39).
The Sovereignty of God: Part Three
'Personal' from John W. RitenbaughGod's management of His creation forms the central thread that ties together every illustration offered, beginning with the assurance that He does not oversee His works randomly. He knocks down Jericho's walls once and never repeats the miracle; He permits Stephen's martyrdom while sparing John from boiling oil; He heals Hezekiah but not Paul; He acts on behalf of one who never asked for healing while passing by others. These selective interventions demonstrate that God actively administers the outworking of His purpose, choosing when and where to act according to His own will, not according to human merit or request. This raises the practical question of whether believers are willing to live within this relationship despite being mystified at times, trusting His goodness and severity even when others of great faith endured horrific suffering. This sovereign management extends into how God distributes His love and grace. He does not love all people equally, loving instead in the sense of always doing what is right within His purpose. Scriptural evidence—David's expressed hatred toward God's enemies, God's declared love for Jacob and hatred for Esau before either had done good or evil—shows that His choices are not based on works but on the good pleasure of His will. Deuteronomy 7:7-8 confirms Israel was chosen not for greatness but simply because God loved them and kept His oath; Ephesians 1:3-6 applies this identical principle to believers, chosen before the foundation of the world according to His pleasure alone. Grace itself, defined as favor to the undeserving, reigns supreme over law, sin, and death precisely because God is sovereign Giver of law and Master of resurrection, dispensing grace to whomever He chooses, as the parable of the vineyard laborers illustrates. God's governance is further revealed in creation's design. Before anything existed, He alone determined its form—diversity of size, ability, temperament, and function among creatures, illustrated by contrasts like the cheetah and tortoise, the lion and the ox. Proverbs 16:4 affirms that all things, even the wicked, were made for Him and His purposes. Humanity's significance rests not on inherent worth but on being the focus of God's creative and redemptive work; apart from this, mankind is merely animated clay. Psalm 135 declares that whatever the Lord pleases, He does, in heaven, earth, and sea, leaving no room to challenge His prerogative. This governance is not distant but active and ongoing, particularly in the church, where God is forming His own image in His people. Examples such as John the Baptist's humble acceptance that "a man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven" model the proper response—submission rather than rivalry or self-promotion, as seen in the refusal to proselytize among brethren. Ultimately, this understanding of divine management prepares believers for the coming Beast's flatteries, since recognizing God as active, sovereign Ruler over all affairs—rather than the world's coming deceiver—forms the foundation for standing firm and remaining loyal to Him alone.
How Big Is God?
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughWe must not have a one-dimensional perspective of God. Our puny minds can only grasp a tiny sliver of what God really is.
Image and Likeness of God (Part Five)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughThe true nature of God differs greatly from the trinitarian concept. Having created us in His form and shape, God is developing us into His character image.
The Unique Greatness of Our God (Part Four)
CGG Weekly by Richard T. RitenbaughThe Bible tells us that, far from being the unconcerned and inattentive Creator that the Deists envisioned, God is intimately involved in His universe.
Themes of Ruth (Part Two): God's Providence
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughAs we count the 50 days toward Pentecost, we should consider the events of our lives, coming to understand that they reveal God's on-going maintenance.
Why We Observe Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughWe keep Unleavened Bread because of what God did to bring us out of sin (typified by Egypt). While God compels us to make choices, He is with us all the way.
Eternal Security (Part 1)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughSome of the harshest criticism we receive is for our position opposing the doctrine of eternal security and stating that works are required for salvation.
Self-Government and Responsibility (Part One)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughWe need free moral agency to be transformed into God's image. Unless one has God's Spirit, he cannot exercise the internal control to be subject to the way of God.
His Eye is On the Sparrow (Part One)
Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)As God has His eye on the sparrow, He has had His eye on us through the entire process of scattering so the tests we have endured will bear good fruit.