Ishmael LaBiosa: ⁓ you've asked me all these hard questions. You're working me pretty hard over the summer. I ask you for the questions and now you've given them to me. And so today I hope to to help you. ⁓ I want to put the question on the table today, but before I tell you even what the question is, although you should have the proclaimer, you should see it, ⁓ I do want you to listen today very pretty closely, because what I've noticed when I try to talk about this particular question That people can't engage their minds long enough before their emotions begin to speak. And this is what I want today. I want you to just listen to the scriptures. And I'm going to try to set some truth on the high ground. And I'm not going to just try to speak to your head today. I think this topic actually speaks to your heart and actually has a great deal to do with how you view the world. And how you view God and your place in it. You say, Rusty, what's this question today? Here it is, the one you asked, question number nine. What is the relationship between God's sovereignty or God's rulership and human responsibility and free will? This longstanding tension, which some people feel is genuine consternation, between God's divine sovereignty and human responsibility actually Is probably one of the most persistent fault lines among some Christians in Christians' teaching. But this is what I want to say today. I'm gonna hopefully give you five big ideas that will help you out. Scripture repeatedly affirms both of these realities divine sovereignty and human responsibility without apology. The Bible says in Ephesians 1 11. That God works all things according to the counsel of His will. Isaiah forty six ten, God says, I declare the end from the beginning. And yet, oftentimes, sometimes in the same verse, when it says that, it says, yet still, that humans are fully accountable for their choices. They are commanded to repent. And the Bible says that each person on the last day will be judged. according to their works. Centuries of debate on this particular topic usually have shown us that there are two poles, two ditches that we need to stay out of. One extreme, I think when people try to answer this question, is the extreme called libertarian free will. I actually know some theologians who think this And I could not disagree more with them. Because this is what they say. You ready for this? That God does not actually know the future. That God only knows possibly what could happen, but he doesn't actually know what is happening ⁓ what will happen because he has given over you so much freedom that God is He thinks He knows and He's guessing along. But doesn't actually know. That view of God stands in so much contradiction to the God of the Bible. God is not guessing what will happen. The Bible says God in fact knows the future. So that's one ditch I hope you stay out of. Although in some circles that has become all the vogue, the guessing God, which to my opinion is no God at all. On the other hand, there are extremes to go the other direction. A hard determinism. I have no problem saying God is in control. If God's not in control, well, who else is? But ⁓ you can become so deterministic that you evacuate human responsibility. You are responsible for your actions. And the biggest problem that if you go too far the other direction, I do not believe. God created evil. Okay? God is not the author of evil. But if you become overly deterministic, you don't just say God's in control of everything. You say that God is the cause of evil. And I don't think that's the vision that the Bible gives. The Bible gives the vision that God indeed allows evil. He created the possibility of evil because he created free human beings, but it is Your decision that is responsible for the evil. However, your evil never thwarts the plan of God. And so especially on that particular ⁓ level, I wanna full throatedly say God is in control, but not the author of evil. What I would like to propose, and I think this could bring down the temperature in some context, is a vision of real compatibilism. That God can be sovereign and man can be free, but we need to make sure that we speak rightly about the nature of God's control and the genuine nature of our responsibility. I see God's sovereignty and human freedom as two rails of a train track. The train runs only when both rails are present and parallel. Neither rail, remove either rail and the train derails. And scripture lays down these two parallel truths. Let me give you some examples. In the book of Genesis, the famous story of Joseph. Joseph's brothers actually meant their actions that they demonstrated toward Joseph for evil. And yet in the same in the same story, God says, while you meant it for evil, Joseph's brothers. God says that he meant the same act for good Genesis 5020. And in some ways, that's a summation of the whole story of the life of Joseph, that which others did to her Joseph. God still used their real decisions, but never did it thwart his plan. In the New Testament, one of the disciples of Jesus, Judas, freely betrays Jesus. ⁓ and yet in the same kind of context as Judas' betrayal, it said that Judas' betrayal fulfilled the hand and the plan of God that he had predestined Acts 4 27 and 28. So you say, what do you say, Rusty? I say God sovereignly. God's sovereignty remains exhaustive. There is no maverick molecule that gets away from God's plan, but humans are genuinely responsible because ⁓ because God has said them to be responsible. Compatibilism, which I propose, ⁓ also undercuts the moral charge that God is not the efficient cause of evil, ⁓ yet he ⁓ never allows human sinfulness to thwart his larger redemptive plan. Those are some of the big ideas I want to put out, but I'm going to give you five big ideas today that I think will shape this question. And hopefully when this question ever comes up again, you won't just say, ⁓ I don't can't even think about this. You could pull out your proclaimer and say, well, you know, Rusty's given a lot of verses here and a few arguments and define some terms so maybe we can have a more coherent conversation. Here's the first big idea. By the way, I you have the scriptures. I encourage you. Check me out. Read the scriptures behind me. I give you the idea. I'll read some of the scriptures. They just won't make it on the screen. The first big idea is God has a perfect, eternal plan where he decides and controls everything that will ever happen exactly as he wisely wants. He already knows it all. Let me read some Bible verses just to set the context here. The prophet Isaiah really paints the picture of the sovereign God. Isaiah forty-six, nine and ten. The prophet Isaiah says, Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other. I am God and there is no one like me. Now what distinguishes God in this context, it says, the prophet Isaiah, I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying, My plan will take place And I will do all my will. Now that's a statement of God's sovereignty, if there ever was a statement. ⁓ Ephesians chapter one, verse eleven. If the Apostle Paul says, We have also received an inheritance in him, predestined according to the purpose of the one who works out everything. Listen to this, in agreement with the decision of his will. Now some people, especially Americans. It's give me freedom or give me death. And if I and I love Patrick Henry, by the way, but i if you start tampering with anybody's freedom, they feel like you've given them death. And ⁓ sorry for the misquote of Patrick Henry. I don't know how that got in the message. But nevertheless, ⁓ you know, I just want to say you want God to be in control. If God is not in control, well who else is in control? This is really a clash of worldviews, by the way. ⁓ you should not love your freedom so much that you think you're in control. Actually there's another worldview, a worldview that doesn't believe in God, that basically says We're really going nowhere. We're just bouncing around by our own decisions. We came from nothing out of randomness. We will go into oblivion in randomness. And whatever happens in the meantime, if it feels meaningful to you, well, that's great. But there really is no underlying meaning because we're just all doing the best we can. Does that sound like a good worldview to inhabit? And honestly, I I've just noticed Christians who they don't like the idea that God is in control. May I say I love the idea that God is in control. Because the very God who created the world, who made you in his image, has a plan and a purpose for your life and his world. Now that is far in a field better than there is no meaning, there is no purpose. And I guess you have freedom, whatever that means, to do nothing that is meaningful. Christianity uniquely says you inhabit a world full of meaning and purpose because God is in control. And He has a plan and a purpose for humanity. And I do think that sometimes we need to be reminded of the fact that that truth Is not one to shy away from, but actually is a truth that should cause us to praise. Thank you, Jesus, that you are in control, especially in moments. And by the way, this is not just a head thing, this is a hard thing, especially when life is out of control. Especially when situations come about like Fred's death, that take your breath away. D is God still able to be in control and to work out his plan in spite of this? And the Bible time and again says yes. And that to me is a a place of devotional comfort, not a place of angst. So I just want to set that truth on the high ground to say this might not ought to be a doctrine that you just put away and put a lid on it. You might ought to set it on the table and look at it from time to time. Now let's notice some of the areas where this creates a ripple or two. Here's the second big idea. I'll explain it, but I want to give some terms after I read this, and then I'll kind of progressively explain this second idea. The second idea is God's care for his world is very detailed. Because he chooses the exact world to create and sets up people and situations, knowing how they will freely choose, so everything happens just as he plans while still letting them make real choices. You know, some people say, to what degree is God in control? And this is where I'd like to marshal out some words of Jesus. The level at which God is in control, and the level of which and by the way, God's control is rooted in his care. by the way, sovereignty, which we need to talk about that word in a moment, and providential care are in the same basket. Listen to this. In in Matthew chapter ten, it says it says in verse twenty nine and thirty, Jesus says, Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny? This is what you call an insignificant Commerce. Two sparrows sold for a penny? But listen, Jesus used this as an opportunity to talk about God's providence. Jesus says, yet not one of them falls to the ground without your father's consent. You say, is God in the details? Well, that sounds like God's in the details. I mean, how many I mean a I mean, how many of you came here and there are a bunch of dead squirrels and you probably ran over them? You know what I'm saying? And every time a tire hits squirrel, God says, I love that. It won't thwart my plan. You know. Would you drive a little better though? You know, and and ⁓ and a sparrow falls? Not without the father's consent. And in the same in Jesus' same, he says, But even the hairs of your head and some of you it's not too hard, but that's another story. Have been counted, you know. Three. ⁓ you know, for some. Nevertheless, sorry about that, I shouldn't do bald jokes. That's really bad, especially in a sovereignty. ⁓ sermon. ⁓ praise God, I still have my hair, but ⁓ now I'll probably lose it because I did that, you know, and I have to join the club. Let's ⁓ let's ⁓ let's talk about some terms, all right? And you say why are you talking about these terms? Because they're in Bible. ⁓ and I talk about the Bible. So here's the first term, just so you know what these terms mean. Divine sovereignty. Boy, doesn't that sound important? The word sovereign just means ruler. If I say where is the sovereign? Where is the ruler? And sovereignty divine, God's. It just talks about God's rulership, that God has complete control over everything. Now, this is the second word, usually gets lost in the shuffle. And I actually think this word is important and is more important to some people than other people, but this idea of foreknowledge that I do not know the future. I don't even really know the past all that well. I mean, in dribs and drabs. But God certainly knows the future and the past, by the way. And the idea of foreknowledge is God knows everything that will happen before it does. Now I just want to make a point here that I'll lean into in just a few moments. That ⁓ I've it's been interesting. I work with Pastor Ishmael. This is another illustration that I haven't run by him, but ⁓ he works for us, so it's fine. This is a good one. This is a good one. And ⁓ every now and then, the Pastor Ishmael's been here a few years, I've been here a little longer than a few years, and and in certain some church situations, I've I know some of you enough, I can almost foreknow what you're gonna do. And I'll tell Pastor Ishmael, I'll say, you know, you we plan in all this, and and this person and this person, this person are gonna do just like this. He goes, nah. And then after it's over, he goes, How'd you know that? I said, This ain't my first road yet. You know, I done been around the block. I dunno I've seen ⁓ seen what's happened. Now, notice this one truth. My ability to potentially and I'm guessing, okay, I don't really know. I'm guessing. It's an educated guess. My educated guess, if I happen to be right about what you're gonna do, let me say this very carefully, didn't force you to do it. I just knew you well enough that I could guess what you would do, but you still freely went out of your own volition and did it. And I do think that truth is sometimes lost, that God's foreknowledge of events has not forced anybody to do anything. God just knows. And I think that is often sometimes lost in the shuffle that God's foreknowledge didn't require force. He's just a wee bit smarter than you are. And can read that brain of yours, ⁓ maybe the Lord knows you better than you know yourself. Now these second these these last two terms are the ones where people get into consternation and you know, bring your blood pressure down a bit because I'm gonna show you that in in Christianity there's been a debate on this, and I'm not gonna resolve it. I'm just gonna share you the debate. I'll give you my two cents along the way. Is predestination, the word means to set our destiny ahead of time. And then election, you should know what election means. Because I did preach a sermon on the Christian and government. And so if you have an election, why do we call it an election? Because you choose. That's what you do. You go pick one candidate over another. All right. So that's where people say, Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, God's choosing. What's going on here? And here is the debate. Some people say, Well, wait a minute, how has God Choosing, choosing his plan and and how's he doing this? Well, one group over here, which I have no problem with, says that God's decisions are based upon the mere pleasure of his will. You say, well, why'd God choose that? Because he's God. I mean, he has the prerogative to do what he wants to do. Okay, so I think that's ⁓ what's wrong with that, by the way? They let God be God? Everybody else, you know, quiet down. Let God make the decisions. And God's decisions are never outside of his character. And and the other main physician said, Well, wait a minute. yes, it could be according to the mere pleasure of his will, but oftentimes in the same context where it said, God chooses something, the word foreknowledge is there. It's often right there in the text. For example, 1 Peter 1. It it Peter's talking to Christians and it says, chosen, there's the word, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. It says right there. So others would say, other theologians would say, No, God looks God can look down through the corridors of time. And he can see who will choose him. And on the basis of that he chooses them. And that's the big debate. And you land on one side or the other, and honestly, I'm gonna move on because I can stick ⁓ I need to finish here. But here's the deal. ⁓ either you just say, I'm just gonna let God have his prerogative to do his plan, or on the basis of his foreknowledge, he collaborates. You have to make that decision. I'm not gonna be overly heavy handed with you on that one. Here's the third big idea. We really do have the freedom to choose according to what we want, and it fits with God's plan. There are some key texts in the Bible that we need to hear. Romans ten thirteen. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Or John three sixteen. For God loved the world in this way that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes will not perish, but have eternal life. Now here is the reality. While God's appeal to salvation ⁓ is to all, listen carefully to this, that I believe that Christ's death, if all believed, then Christ's death would be sufficient for their salvation. But here's what I know based upon past history, not future, all have not believed. And so, however you square this. Christ's death is sufficient for all, hypothetically, but is only efficient for those who trust in him. And so we have to have that that truth. And in the only way a person can access the death of Jesus is through faith in him. And so that truth ought to also be noted. Now let me give you two arguments. This is probably the best part of my sermon, and I got five minutes to give it to you. And I can do that no problem. Let me tell you where the consternation is. Here are two arguments that have helped me. They may not help you, but they'll help me. And if they help me, well, I'll be helped. And that may be the end of it. This is what I found out pastorally that gives people consternation. And here it is. They say, Well, if God's done all this choosing way back when, and then I decide to choose way down here, what God decided way back there invalidates what I've done way up here. And that really gets people upset. And I can understand that because it does that set up does sound like God's decision has eclipsed my decision completely. Here is your thought experiment of the day. You actually got two of them. Here's your first one. So the classic argument of the relationship Between God, listen carefully, and time itself. Clearly God does not relate to time like we do, because I don't even know what I'm gonna do in the next ten minutes. Hopefully wrap this sermon up. You know what I'm saying? That'll certainly happen. But God experiences, it seems, time all at once. God experiences the beginning from the end. He sees the future as well as he sees the past. And sometimes when you ask God what time is it, he says, Well, it's now because I am. All right. Now notice this. You ready? Here's here you're with me. If God were to choose outside of time, And I were to choose inside of time, we actually would choose at the Same time. That's a compatibilistic argument. That's not a bad argument, by the way. And that would ⁓ you say, does that solve all the problems? No, but it certainly challenges this God is just like me. He must relate to time just like I do. Okay, another argument, this other argument has helped me. Maybe it will help you. is Is ⁓ it relates to God's foreknowledge. This view came from a Spanish theologian who tried was working through these issues. And he said that ⁓ God knows, and clearly God knows, all future possibilities. And by the way, let's talk a little bit about human freedom. When we say human freedom, we say you have real freedom, but clearly anybody who thinks about it, you have real freedom. I said that. But your real freedom is limited. I mean, if I said, can you r get up and run 50 miles for me? You say, I'd love to. But I'm limited. Right? So whatever we mean by human freedom, it's ⁓ it's a real freedom, but it it clearly has limits. Because you have limits. Because you're not infinite, you're finite. Okay. So here's the other argument: that God knows all future possibilities. He knows all future possible situations. But and God also knows, ready for this? If you were in a particular situation, like I was making a moment ago with Pastor Ishmael, my little argument, that God knows what you would freely choose within a given situation. And so therefore, God chooses to create a particular situation of which He knows you will freely choose to do X within the particular situation. That actually protects. Both God's genuine control and your genuine freedom. You say, Man, I need to read up a little bit more about that. Okay, well it's called middle knowledge if you want to get on that train. And but I think again, there's another pot there's another scenario that I've created that actually show both can be true, at least in the perimeters of my argument. So what do you you say, Well, Rusty, what do I say about all of this? Well, let me just give you my Fourth point, I'll kind of drive the final two points on the ground pretty quickly. The fourth big idea is this: God already knows everything that will happen because of his eternal plan, so he is sure his purposes will happen, and we are still responsible for the choices that we make. I just want to read these two scripture verses, and I'm gonna move off a point four, that actually in the same verse affirms. God's control of the situation and human freedom. I mean, they're right there in the same verse. It says in Acts 2 23, and this is talking about the death of Jesus. Though he was delivered up according to God's determined plan and foreknowledge. So there it is. He said, Look, you use lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him. It's like moral responsibility in the context of God's control. Acts four, twenty-seven and twenty-eight. It says, For in fact, in this city, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. I mean, you read a verse like that and you're jerked between you are responsible, God's in control. This did not take God by surprise. You are still responsible for your decision. And that is the tone and tenor of of the entirety of the Bible. You say, okay, Russ. You know why mostly and I this is my final final point, the fifth point, which is gonna lead me into next week's sermon, which is equally difficult. You guys have good questions. I have to give you that much. You know why most people are like, Okay, okay, okay. I see God's in control and that's better. But if they say, if God's so in control, look at this mess. Look at my life. Look at me. And you know what I want to say to this? God's plan is not done yet. Okay? And that's a that's that's a comfort. Now the the question we'll probably ask next week is why does God allow allow pain and suffering in the meantime? That's a big question, bigger than this one. But here's this fifth big idea. You say, well, if God's in control, why such the mess? And the sample the simple answer is God has not yet brought his plan to completion. I mean, that's the whole essence of the Bible. The fifth big idea is God has given us the sure promise of what will ultimately happen in the future. And that is a comfort to us because that which He has said will come to pass, will come to pass because history has a goal. Let me just say this to you give you a bit of a preview of coming attractions. God's answer to your suffering is not an argument. Isn't that nice? God's answer to your suffering Will ultimately be an event. Let's think about Fred. God does not come down from heaven and say, Very sorry, Rusty Fred is dead. Let me give you an argument. Okay. Actually, the way in which the grief that I experience, which is nothing in in comparison to his own family, the grief that I experience will be fully resolved one day. You know why? Because the Lord will return. Fred will be raised, and I'll be raised with him. And that, and that, and the pain and the grief, and actually the beauty of that moment will be so glorious that Paul says the suffering of this present time is not worth comparing to that. And that's God's answer. You say, you know, God says, people say, I don't like how you run in this place, God. He said, I ain't finished yet. You'll be well pleased when I'm done. I just want to read this last Bible verse to you that most people quote the first part of it. Let's quote the whole thing, okay? And here's the Bible verse: Romans 8.28. Boy, we love to quote Romans 8.28 and not 829. But 829 and 830 actually support Romans 828. And this is what it says: for we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God. For those who are called according to his purpose, you say, ⁓ yes, Amen. You say, Well, how do you know that? For those he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, so that we would be the firstborn among many brethren, and those he predestined, he also called, and those he called, he also justified, and those he justified, he also glorified. What then are we to say about these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Let me just say something. I am so glad that my salvation is not primarily dependent upon me. I put my hand in the hand of Jesus and He says, I'll take it from here. You know, I was there in eternity past. I saw you before you ever were. I intervened in time and space and died on the cross. I saw you when you were born. ⁓ I I I was there when you came to faith. And I'll be there when the job is done. Saddle up, Rusty. We got some more to do. And honestly, the idea that I would want enough freedom to say, well, I'll just do salvation by myself. Honestly, praise God that all things work together for the good, because God is the one who's doing the good. That He Who began a good work in me? He, God, He will finish the work, not me. And honestly, that is not a place of consternation. That's a place of praise. I look around and I see an anxious world. I actually shared this long ago when I was doing clinicals. I said, you know, and not all anxiety is a tough one to deal with, and there's a lot of layers to it. But I could only help but notice some of the Christian people who came to me who were nose deep in anxiety, one of the big issues was deep down in here, they did not believe in their hearts that Jesus says, you know, one of the sparrows that falls is not without your father's consent. And then you know what Jesus says? Are you not much better than they are? He says, if that's how I take care of birds. You don't think I see you? You don't think I see your life? You don't think I see your struggles? You don't think I see your hurts? And I'm not just here suffering with you. One day I'll overcome it all. Think about, I quoted her in the first service, the late Cory Tin Boom, who helped Jewish people during the Holocaust and then ultimately ended up in a concentration camp herself. And you know what she said? I mean her life is intolerable. She tries to help the Jewish people and then ends up in a concentration camp herself. She was famous for saying in the famous book, The Hiding Place, there is no panic in heaven, only plans. That her lot in life did not take God by surprise. God wasn't like, ⁓ sorry, Corey, didn't see that coming. That even in that, God was able to work out his plan and to bring about ultimate good, which ultimately will be not this side of heaven but the other side. I think this difficult question needs devotional respect because ⁓ You either believe history has a goal and God is in control, or you don't. And it has Christian life consequences where you land on that truth. If you're here today, the offer of salvation is genuine. If you if you if you today say, God, I don't want to receive you. You can't say that. You can't harden your heart against the Holy Spirit. But today, the offer is extended. If you're not a Christian, why not today turn from sin and self and put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and today come and be saved? And then Christian today. Are you resting in God's providential care? You know who's the hardest to rest in God's providential care? The one whose life is not great. And you know what you need to say? God is not surprised by this moment, and God is not done with his plan yet. That can propel you forward to walk by faith and not by sight. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we ask you. God, when we say you're sovereign over us, when we say you are in control, when we say all things work together for the good, may that Nad just lit us. To thank, may it lead us to worship. That you are the God of heaven and earth. You're seated on the throne. That you are greater than us, though you love us. You are higher than us, though you humbled yourself. And so, God, we give you praise that we stand here with your plan yet not fully seen, proclaiming you. Because we know you see it. And because we know you will bring it to pass. In Jesus' name. Amen.