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The Sovereignty of God
L. R. Shelton, Sr. When we speak of the Sovereignty of God, we mean God exercising His supremacy. We mean that God is elevated
infinitely above the highest creature, and that He is the Most High, Lord of Heaven and Earth. When we speak of the Sovereignty
of God, we mean that God is subject to none, influenced by none and is absolutely independent, that He does as He pleases, only
as He pleases, always as He pleases, and none can thwart Him, and none can hinder Him. He is absolute Sovereign. According to
Isa. 46:10, He says, "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." Then He says again in Dan. 4:35,
"He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his
hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?"
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When we speak of the Sovereignty of God, we affirm according to God's Word in Rom. 9:20-22 that He has the right (as a
potter over the clay) to fashion every individual as He chooses, whether to honor or to dishonor; He has a right to dispose
of His creatures as He pleases in Heaven or Hell. Who is man that he should speak against his Maker! God is sovereign and
on the throne as the Despot of the universe. And let me say here, every individual who is ever saved comes to recognize the
Sovereignty of God. You are brought to the place where you sign your own death warrant, and you stand before God for Him to
cast you into Hell or to save you as He pleases. You are at His disposal: He can save you or damn you. Now that is not the
"god" of the average pulpit today. The "god?" of the twentieth century is a helpless, effeminate being whom
man can push around and bully as he pleases. The "god" of the twentieth century pulpit is an object of pity rather
than the God on the throne, who inspires reverence and obedience in His creatures. The "god" of the twentieth
century pulpit is a disappointed, dissatisfied and defeated being.
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Why did He let Methuselah outlive all his contemporaries? Why did God enable Samson to have superhuman strength that
no other man possessed? Here is one man who makes his millions; here is another who lives in rags. Remember, Deut. 8:18
says, "But thou shall remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth." Why does
God let one man preach the unsearchable riches of Christ to multitudes and then keep another one in seclusion and let him
deal with a small number? Why does He put one on a pinnacle and let the world hate him and drive him from pillar to post,
and then put another where the world never hears from him? God is sovereign, and sits on the throne, and does as He
pleases with His own. Now, my friend, those are truths you can't get around. No, you can't.
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God is a law unto Himself. You may say, "Well, I don't see that." All right, listen to God's Word, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated" (Rom. 9:13). Now, God said that before they were ever born. He did that to let us know that the reason for His love was not in Jacob or in Esau but in Himself. Of the two, Esau was a better man, outwardly, than Jacob. The marvel of God's grace and the exercise of His love is manifested in the ones He selects and chooses to be the objects of His love. Why did He choose me? I don't understand it. There was nothing in me to attract His love, but He chose me, accepted me in the Beloved (Eph. 1:6), drew me with the lovingkindness of an everlasting love (Jer. 31:3), and shed abroad His love in my heart by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5). Now, listen to Eph. 1:3-5,
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we
should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ
to himself according to the good pleasure of his will."
We see here in this Scripture that it was "in love" that the Father elected, chose and predestinated His
children; in other words, before the foundation of the world God elected His family according to the good pleasure of His
will. He did not select a single one of us because He saw some good in us, or saw that we would believe, for we were no
different from anyone else, and the only thing that made the difference was His distinguishing, sovereign grace. And He
chose each one according to the good pleasure of His will.
To me this is one of the greatest, most comforting truths in God's Word - to think that I have been an object of His love
before the foundation of the world, and that He knew me before I was ever born. Now, this great truth of God's Word
deflates us and destruts [sic] us and takes all our pride and all our importance away from us. That is the reason you
hate the God of the Bible – because this leaves you at the disposal of a sovereign God.
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