Priscilla Shirer: The Sovereignty of God

I'm G have a teenager this year um Jackson is our oldest then Jerry Jr is our second son and then our little one his name is Jude I told the lady this weekend Jude is our surprise boy we still don't know how he got here he slipped in by the skin of his teeth and so we got Jude I named him Jude on purpose cuz that is as close as I could get to Revelation cuz it's finished it's the end of the line it's over so we got Jackson Jerry Jr and Jude we live in a fairly rural part of the Dallas Fort Worth area and we actually like it that way because we feel like we're worlds away even though it only takes about 10 12 minutes or so to get to everything we need in the city it just feels nice and slow and lazy kind of sleepy and quiet we like it there are you know horses over there on somebody's property and cows over there on somebody else's property and our neighbor directly across the street happens to be one of my closest friends for the past 12 years or so and she has a pond at the front of her property we love so much and we love living out there um we have you know lots of trees and anytime my boys have the nerve to say to me that they are bored I say Oh no you're not you see that tree right there go play with it you can eat it you can play tag with it I don't care what you do with it but you're not going to be bored out here in the country today boy I'm the kind of Mama that believes they need to go outside and so I send them outside we have those creeks and those trees and bugs and mud and things boys need in their life and that pond we love that pond because I will take the the three boys fishing we will get the fishing poles that I bought on sale at the local Super Walmart around the corner and The Tackle Box that I also found on sale there we have several things in The Tackle Box some extra uh bobbles because we always seem to lose those little Bobbers across the water and we've got extra hooks we always seem to need extra hooks I also have some scissors in that tackle box and I also have some gloves because y'all know I don't mind going fishing but I ain't going to touch no fish so we grab all of that stuff and any hot dog meat we have left over from the week that's our bait and we walk across the street to the pond and we fish we love this one particular corner on the pond because there are some she some trees that shade this particular Corner nicely and because it seems like all the fish seem to gather right there in this little particular Cove on the pond and so we will fish right there we love fishing right there because when we put the line in the water within about 5 minutes we've got a fish on the line we take it off throw it back in celebrate the catch and then we put the line back in within 3 to 5 minutes we've got a tug and we've got a fish we catch fish very regularly every time we put that line and in fact if we're out there for an hour we got 10 12 fish that we've caught before we leave instant gratification this is the kind of fishing a six-year-old needs in his life we enjoy so much fishing at home that I thought the boys would enjoy fishing as well just in general no matter where we were and so we go to a Christian Camp every single summer as a family they have a lake down by the dining hall one morning the boys woke up early dining hall wasn't even open for breakfast yet I said boys let's grab our fishing gear that we brought with us let's go down to the lake and fish until it's time for breakfast so we grabbed those same fishing poles the same Tackle Box we walked down to the lake and we fished and fished and fished Not only was did we not catch anything there wasn't even a bite on the line it seemed like all the fish were asleep under the water and I just became intent and intentional I wanted to figure out why they weren't responding I was trying hard to get some response from those fish have you ever been doing something for your kids and then you realize it becomes more about you than the kids and I got all serious and intentional and I actually looked up and realized my kids weren't even there on the dock anymore they had run off to a nearby Field they were throwing the football with each other I looked over to the yard and I said boys I didn't come out here for my health this morning I came out here for y'all get over here and let's fish one of them yelled back to me and said Mom I don't like fishing like that the other one yelled over to me my second son and he said yeah Mom fishing ain't supposed to be that hard I sat there with the lon in the water for just a few more minutes and I thought about what my second son had said fishing is not supposed to be that hard it occurs to me that in a group this size there are very many of many of you who this sunny Sunday Morning has met you at a time in your life where maybe you would not verbalize those exact same words but honestly you feel a little bit discouraged because you have been investing your time your energy your effort your experience your creativity your ideas you have been investing in a relationship in a Ministry in a business in an organization and you feel like you've been putting in so much of yourself and getting so little back and you knew that that fishing trip when you signed up for it that marriage or starting that Ministry or starting that business or parenting that child you knew it was going to require some work because all fishing trips do you just didn't think it was going to be this much work and you didn't think you would invest this much and yield so few results and so you're a little bit discouraged because as you as a church have been talking about finishing strong you've hit these Pockets along the way in your journey where you feel like you've been fishing and fishing but you haven't been catching anything there haven't been any benefits that that in your mind equal to the investment that you have been putting in it's like when you walk down the aisle and you said I do you knew that that assignment that marriage that fishing expedition was going to require some work because all fishing Expeditions do but these two years later or five or 10 or 20 years later you just did didn't know it was going to be this much work or when you had that baby and you held that sweet precious thing in your arms those first couple hours you know that they always so sweet in the first couple hours and you held that baby in your arms but now these 10 years later these 16 or 21 or 30 years later you didn't know it was going to be this much work or you said yes to be a follower of Jesus Christ and you told him you would go wherever he leads you just didn't know he was going to lead you here to do this in this way you thought that it was going to be yes some work but not this hard and you certainly didn't think you'd have to give so much of yourself and in exchange be prepared to to catch so little and so I want to talk to any of you to get today who are a little bit discouraged because you do want to finish strong you just feel like along the way you've had some fishing trips that have gone bad that you've been investing yourself and pulling in so little and you're discouraged and you need some encouragement to continue There is encouragement for us today from the story of a man in scripture and listen this brother didn't just fish for 30 minutes or 45 or an hour this brother fished all night long and caught absolutely nothing his story is found in Luke Chapter 5 if you still actually use a Bible with paper Pages turn on over to Luke Chapter 5 or you can use your iPhone your iPad any manner of eyess just get on over to Luke chapter 5 if you don't have a Bible it's okay because the person next to you cannot wait for you to lean over and um look on their device with them Luke 5 verse 1 now it came about that while the multitude were pressing in around him that's Jesus pressing in around Jesus and listening to the word of God Jesus was standing by the lake of janzer the lake of janzer is another phrase for the Sea of Galilee verse two says and he saw somebody say he saw saw he saw two boats Lying by the edge of the lake but the fisherman had gotten out of them and they were washing their Nets let's just start right here in these two verses y'all because we get an opportunity here to see Simon the fisherman exactly the same way Jesus saw him when he approached on this particular day at this point in the story Simon has already done his fishing all night long he is discouraged and disappointed frustrated probably irritated he has gotten out of the boat he has abandoned that which represents his disappointment and discouragement and when Jesus shows up he sees Simon already out of the boat already washing his net I love when authors of the scriptures are this descriptive when they want us to know so much juicy detail that they don't leave it out because in verse one he gives us a whole lot of information he wants us to know that Jesus is surrounded by a crowd of people and he doesn't use the word crowd he uses the word in the original language that translates to multitude he wants you to know that there aren't a couple dozen people here or even a couple hundred Scholars say there were probably thousands upon thousands that were with Jesus that day and the author goes to great detail to make sure you know that they were not just gathered they were not calmly casually sedately sitting and listening to the word of God like you are this morning he says that the multitude was pressing in on Jesus I want you to get the picture here Jesus is being backed up against the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee he has nowhere else to go because the people have pressed him there these people are a clamoring chaotic confusing group of people who are trying their best to to VI for position to get as close as they possibly can they want to be like the woman with the issue of blood who was able to force her way through the crowd enough that she was able to get close enough and Reach Out And Touch the Hem of His Garment so that power left him and went to her do you remember that story these people wanted to be like like that like that woman they brought their needs with them they brought their ailments with them they brought their friends and their loved ones that are in need of a touch from this miracle worker because let me tell you something even if they weren't yet quite sure about this whole Messiah business they didn't know about salvation and Redemption and all that that what they did know was that when this man showed up blind people could see what they knew beyond any reasonable doubt was that when this man showed up deaf ears could hear the lame could walk the dead were raised and what they knew for sure was that they had heard good teaching before from the religious leaders of the day the Pharisees and the Sadducees but the scripture tells us that when Jesus opened up his mouth his words were dripping with an awe and an authority they had never ever heard before and so wherever Jesus was a multitude followed because they had never seen a phenomenon like this so This Crowd is pressing in on Jesus it is chaotic it is clamoring it is confusing they are screaming at the top of their lungs they want to get close to Jesus this is the picture the author is painting and in the midst of all this confusion and all this chaos with people Ving to get close to him I mean just think of how you would feel if Jesus were your Bible study teacher and with all of that chaos and confusion swirling on all around verse two says Jesus saw one man who' had a bad night fishing I have good news for you this morning it doesn't matter how big the crowd gets it doesn't matter how big People's Church ever becomes it doesn't matter how many services you have to contain to gather in all of the people who come from the four corners of this city to be a part of this service it doesn't matter how many other needs are being vocalized To God In Prayer you need to know know that no matter how big the crowd and no matter how many needs you serve a God who sees you that you are not lost in the crowd that he is fully aware and concerned and and engaged in the details of your life and mind we serve a god who's got his eyes on you and if you're discouraged because you've had a fishing trip gone bad because you've been investing so much of yourself and you're wondering if anybody sees if anybody knows if anybody's aware if anybody's going to appreciate or applaud or value what it is that you've put in you need to know that your spouse might not know and your kids might not care and your best friend may not be aware and your parents may not be interested you need to know that even if nobody in your sphere of influen sees you serve a god who's got his eyes on you he knows all about your fishing trip he knows all about what you've invested in what you've given he knows about how it hurts your heart that you're seeing so little uh benefits from this investment that you've been making you serve a God who sees you and never in a million years y'all should we hear this fact that God sees us never should we hear that and it roll off of our shoulders casually as if it's no big deal God God sees us the god of the universe cares about me this is God we're talking about y'all know he don't need us right he chooses to be in relationship with us this is the god of the universe he's the one that at the appointed hour this morning made sure that the sun was in its place he's the one that will hold it steadily there until it swaps places with the moon later on this evening he is the one that will hang every single star in its place who knows every single one of them by name and by number he is the one that is controlling the throws of the universe that is making sure that galaxies that scientists have not even yet discovered that they are exactly where they need to be and will remain there he is the one that is making sure while you and I are sitting in this room that the planet that we are on spins spins on its axis at just the right speed not too fast nor too slow that you and I cannot sustain life here he is the one controlling the throws of the entire universe and in the midst of all of that he sees about you he cares about me so if you're the one who goes to sleep at night but actually you don't sleep because there are minutes that turn to hours of you fretting and worrying and wondering whether or not you can fix this fishing chip trip problem in your life your spouse is sound asleep and they don't don't know or if you're the one who has cried so many tears and you're wondering if the tears have gotten lost in the carpet fibers of your bedroom floor you need to know that every single one of those tears has been captured in the palm of almighty God that if you brother are the one who's had sweat bubbling up on your brow as you've tried to figure out how you going to get past this dilemma in your marriage or your finances or on your job you need to know that your wife might be unaware or that your boys on the job might be unaware but you need to know your God has seen every single one of those beads of sweat the moments you've stayed awake the time you spent on your knees not one of those prayers has ricocheted off the ceiling and gone nowhere every single one of them have reached the ears of your God his eyes have seen and his ears have heard and Isaiah 59 says that his arm is not so short that he cannot save and you and I have a god who's got his eye on us but not only that verse three takes it one step forward look what verse three says it says Jesus got into one of the boats which was Simon's he got into one of the boats not just any boat Simon's boat and then he asked Simon to push out a little way from the land Jesus then sat down he began teaching the multitudes on the shore from Simon's boat listen to that first line again Jesus got into one of the boats the author wants to make sure sure you know this wasn't just any old regular boat this was Simon's boat I will tell you that in my uh personal just quiet time that if I'm reading through a passage of scripture and something is repeated in a very short space of time I know it's not repeated because God likes to hear himself talk I know it's repeated because I'm supposed to pay attention like when you see in the scriptures truly truly I say to you verily verily that's like show enough for real that's what that means so I pay attention the same thing is true if there is something that is contrasting in a very short space of time something is different than than it reads somewhere else that means because I know the Bible is inherent and I know that it is infallible that I'm to pay attention to what the nuances there are trying to to teach me so when I read in verse three that Jesus got into the boat what's most intriguing to me about that is not that Jesus got in in verse three it's that in verse two Simon got out in verse two Simon gets out of the boat in verse three Jesus gets into the boat the very thing that was disappointing and discouraging and irritating enough to Simon in verse two that all he wanted to do was get out of it is the very thing in verse three when Jesus is looking for a place to stand to declare his message he deems fit to plant his feet and turn into a pull pit so that he can Proclaim his message to those who were gathered what does this tell us it tells us not only that he sees you it tells us that he will use the part of your life you think is useless the abandoned boat platform of your experience the season of your journey that really all you want to do is get out of it and move on and abandon it and go somewhere else with your journey that empty place is most likely where Jesus is going to plant his feet in your experience and Proclaim his power and his goodness and His glory not only to you but to the people who are on the shore of your life your sphere of influence the folks in your job and in your high school classroom and on your University campus and in your neighborhood and in that organization they're going to see the glory of God because you have emptiness that was filled by a savior who sees you and loves you he's going to use the part of your life you think is useless be encouraged my friend there is nothing beyond the repair of God there is nothing beyond the use of God there is no vain fruitless portion of your journey we serve a God who can use anything at any time any way he chooses he's good like that he uses the part of your journey that you think is useless my my mom is a Master Chef actually she's not really technically a Master Chef she's just my mama and there's no cooking like your mama's cooking and I don't know about you guys but I grew up um you know on Sundays there was really rarely this going out to eat dinner business on Sunday mom cooked Sunday dinner right it was this whole thing it was very exciting I remember her starting sometimes on Saturday night and she would have a roast or something cooking all night long I remember getting up I remember smelling it all night long and then we would get up on Sunday we hadn't even gone to church yet we were starving we wanted whatever she had been making the yeast rolls would be rising the Mac maoni and cheese would be bubbl I'm making y'all hungry aren't I yeah it was this huge experience this Sunday dinner I loved it so much and now as a mom with three children myself and a husband I know how much work Sunday dinner is I appreciate my mom so much more and I still for the life of me can't figure out how she did it because I have one oven my mom only has one oven no double ovens I cannot for the life of me figure out how you get all that food on the table all hot at the exact same time something's going to be cold at my house cuz I can't figure it out I just I can't do it so between all the dinner and all the dishes oh my I appreciate my mom so much more and I also know why she didn't cook nothing on Monday or Tuesday she was tired ain't nobody got time for that this is what she would do though she would go into the refrigerator and look at the leftovers little broccoli a little macaroni a little chicken left on onion she would take all that stuff out she would chop it all up reconfigure it dice it put it all together she would probably pour in some cream of mushroom soup stir that in sprinkle some cheese on top because you know cheese makes everything all right then she would put it into the oven at 350 and she would sit there at 350 waiting for the exact right moment when it was all bubbly and perfect she would pull it out of the oven then she would give it this French sounding name and set it on the table in front of us we thought it was this brand new m masterpie but it wasn't something brand new it was just leftovers in the hands of a master okay let me tell you what God is going to do with the useless portions of your journey and of your life and mind what he's going to do is take a good peek at all of that then he's going to pull it out he's going to chop it up reconfigure it he's going to rearrange it then he's going to pour the cream of Holy Ghost on top of that thing stir it in sprinkle on some grace and mercy because you know grace and mercy makes everything better then yes he's going to put you in the oven of fire and trial and he will leave you there at for just the right amount of time like any good Master Chef he's going to pull you out before it's too much and then y'all then he's going the best part is he gives you a brand new name he stamps you with himself and then he sets you down in front of a lost and dying world that needs to know our God is M good that's what he does it's his best work his finest work is when he takes our messes and makes a message out of them it's his greatest work upon us to take what we think is useless and to show us how useful it can be so here's Simon with all of this emptiness this empty platform no fish inight but it is turned into a pull pit from which Jesus proclaims the message that he had that day can I tell you that the people on your job and the people in your neighborhood high school student the folks in your class they do not need to hear us talk about how good Jesus is what they need is to see somebody who had some emptiness and Jesus filled it they need to see a marriage that was hanging on by a thread but now the two of you are not still just married you are happily married and it is a testament to emptiness that he filled the world needs to see somebody who was lost and now they're found blind but now they see and when they see the message of Christ being proclaimed through our experience that is when they want to know about this God we serve and this is how he does it he uses the empty platforms of our experience the tough portions of our journey where we feel like we're not yielding any fruit he uses that as an opportunity as margin in your life to step in and make his presence known and put his power on display through your life I believe that God is Sovereign somebody say sovereign Sovereign Sovereign do you believe that okay about four of you okay let me tell you what sovereignty is sovereignty means that our God uh existed before time began eternity passed Genesis 1:1 is not the beginning for for God the only reason why there was a Genesis 1:1 is because God already existed so that he could say Let There Be and there was God has been in eternity past he has seen all of time from the beginning Genesis 1 one all the way to the end of the spectrum of time which you and I have not yet seen but he has not just stopped there Our God has also already seen into eternity future so he has seen all of the spectrum from eternity past through time and history into eternity future but sovereignty does not just mean he's seen it sovereignty means he's got the whole thing in the palm of his hand sovereignty is what allows you and I to do what Psalm 46:10 says Be Still cease striving chill out and know that I am God sovereignty means that last week that thing that happened to you surprised you but God was not in the heavens going oops that one slipped past me nope he's Sovereign he's already been there and done that sovereignty means he's got your back yes okay you believe he's sovereign it's still only like 10 of y'all do you believe he's ((applause)) Sovereign all right so we're going to apply his sovereignty to Luke Chapter 5 Okay God already knows Simon is out in the deep water all night long fishing this is an experienced fisherman y'all he this is what he does he fishes on the Sea of Galilee he always catches fish but this night he casts out his net brings it in shocked no fish he cast it out again brings it in disappointed discouraged shocked no fish now the Midnight Hour is coming 1:00 a.m. 2:00 a.m. it's the bleakest time of night he's becoming more and more frustrated and discouraged and disappointed every time he pulls in that net and there are no fish because he could not in his Humanity know what Jesus in his sovereignty would have been aware of what Jesus would have known was that there was a morning coming and Jesus would have known that in the morning there were going to be a multitude of people gathered and they were going to need to hear his message he knew he was going to need to try to find a place to stand to make sure that his voice would be Amplified in such a way that everybody from the very front row of that group all the way to the furthest reaches of that group would not miss one word that was going to come out of his mouth and so Jesus knew listen that if he allowed Simon to catch all his own fish the platform of that boat would have been so filled with a bunch of flipping flopping fish there would be no room for his feet so in his sovereignty he allowed Simon to fish and catch nothing so that there would be margin for Jesus to stand you may be in your life right now in a position where no matter what you do you're not going to catch fish and this is a hard part of this message because I don't know about y'all but when I fish I like to catch something if I'm going to devote my time or my energy my effort to a circumstance if I'm going to pour that in I want the benefits from all this that I'm investing amen but sometimes God will purposefully specifically strategically put you in a position where no matter what your skill is no matter how talented you are no matter the diplomas on your wall no matter how much money you have no matter how many connections you have made no matter who you are or what you've done no matter how hard you fish you're not going to catch anything because if you and I can always catch our own fish we will work ourselves out of an opportunity to see what it's like for his feet to be in our lives so listen if you're discouraged today because you've got some emptiness don't let that discourage you you ought to look up in holy anticipation because if he's allowed the emptiness that means he intends to fill it he's going to use the part of your life you think is useless he's going to make something out of that emptiness he's going to use it as a he's going to turn that empty platform into a pull pit where he's going to declare his glory so as far as we can tell Simon's the only person on the boat with him he sits in Shallow shallow water in the boat with Jesus while Jesus is speaking to the crowd but then Jesus turns to Simon after he finished speaking to the crowd finished preaching the message he turns to Simon and verse four and he says push out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch push out into deep water I like shallow water you see in shallow water I can stand up on my own two feet deep water is when I'm in over my head Jesus says Simon let's go deep Simon had a front row seat for that message everybody else was on the Shore Simon was in the boat sitting right there looking right up at Jesus while Jesus was speaking to the crowd Jesus turns to him after hearing the Sunday message and says let's see if it worked let me tell you the point of church the point of you gathering on this Sunday is not so that you and I can sit together and applaud the message and say Amen to the message and then go outside and not be willing to go deep when God calls us to it we have wasted our time and energy if Sunday after Sunday Pastor Herbert stands and he teaches you and I the truths from scripture and yet we go out and live not in response to what it is that we've heard the beauty of the church is that what we hear when we have a front row seat to the teaching of Jesus that when the Holy Spirit Whispers to our heart on Monday let's go deep we say yes sir because I believe what I heard in church on Monday y'all this is like a huddle a huddle in a football game we when we go to football games you know you don't mind the Huddle you appreci apprciate that the team is huddling but if they huddle for 3 hours you're going to have a problem with that because we didn't pay all that money per ticket to watch 11 Men in Tights bending over huddling that's not what we came for what we came for is to see the difference that the Huddle is going to make on the field of play well y'all this is the Huddle this is easy up in here we can wave our hands we can applaud we can celebrate we can fellowship with one another enjoy the Huddle but at some point here in a few minutes we're going to break huddle and we're supposed to leave these doors and score touchdowns for the kingdom of God because we've huddled so I'm telling you right now I'm I'm telling you right now that the reason why the Lord allowed me the privilege to be here from Dallas today the reason why you came on this Sunday morning I know some of you this morning were like I don't think I'm gon to be able to make it to church and yet somehow you came to church and let me tell you the reason why because he wants you to know right now that in the days and weeks coming up the holy spirit's going to whisper to you trust me come to deep water and he wants you to know right now that if you will trust him and come to Deep Water you were setting yourself up for something spectacular because look what happens in Simon's experience Simon answers and he says to him Master we've worked hard all night long we've caught nothing we've already tried this Jesus but at your bidding I'll go anyway and when they had done this they enclosed a great quantity of fish and their Nets began to break and so Peter Simon Peter signaled to his Partners in the other boat for them to come and help them and they came they filled both the boats and both of them began to sink y'all that's a lot of fish the waters that had been completely fruitful unfruitful completely unproductive the night before all of a sudden now the waters are just teeming with fish there are fish everywhere almost as as if the fish could not wait but to get in the boat in fact you know that Jesus could have said fish get in the boat and you know fish would have just started jumping into the boat just jump to the boat this is the same God who said to the winds and the waves peace be still and they obeyed so he could have done it but he didn't do that he said Simon you come to deep water with me you cast out your net in other words he allows us to act in faith in order to be a participant in the recip receiving his miracle and Promises in our life do you know that there are over 8,000 promises written in the scripture for daughters and sons of God promises in the scripture are basically opportunities for us to experience God there are over 8,000 of them in the scriptures do you know that most of those he did not put in our hand he put them in our Reach In other words we have to do our part in order to grab hold of his part and so yeah he's going to call you to deep water and he's going to ask you to trust him cast out your net in that empty place where you already feel like there's no hope why would I do this again well you do it again because it's different this time Jesus is in the boat with you yeah so fish were coming out of everywhere so many fish that verse seven says Simon signaled to his partners it it's specific to tell us that he signaled wants us to know he didn't call out to them if it would have been me think about it I would wouldn't we have called out hey yo get over here you are not gonna believe this that's not what he did he signaled the scripture does not tell us why but I wonder if the author has gone to so much length to make sure we know how Simon called them I wonder if the reason why he signaled and didn't speak is because he was speechless y'all when his brain tried to come up with the right words to describe what he was seeing happening in front of him his brain couldn't even come up with the right vernacular so the best he could come up with was I want to ask you when's the last time God stunned you speechless and I want to suggest to you that as you you think about finishing strong in your life every single time you and I come across a season or a pocket in our marriage or in our parenting or on our job or in these relationships that we have with others the when we come across these empty places where we're fishing and catching nothing I want to suggest to you that the purpose is because he's setting you up to stun you speechless that he's putting you in a right position so that you can know what it's like to have the feet of Jesus in major circumstances and then to follow him by faith and see what it is like when in obedience he responds to you and reveals to you and shows you and allows you to be a Beholder of his miracles in your life and I think the reason why we're here on this Sunday morning is because he wants you to know right now that if you'll come deep if I'll come deep when he calls us we'll get to see Ephesians 3:20 now unto him who is able to do exceedingly a abundantly above and beyond like lots of fish anything you can ask or even think to that great God be the glory in the church that's us and in Christ Jesus both now and forever somebody ought to say