Title: The Decrees of God
Text: Various
Speaker: Matt Heft
Date: August 4, 2024 (Evening)
There is no recording of this service, due to it being held outside.
What a wonderful evening together. I’m Matt Heft, an elder here at Gateway Church. Before I get started, I wanted to make sure that we took a moment to thank all of the staff and volunteers that made this entire evening possible. The planning has taken months. Thank you! I tell you what, let’s give all of them a big, “God loves you and we love you too!”
I also want to acknowledge my wife this evening. As of today, she has put up with me for 23 years. Happy anniversary, Amberly! Now they told me that I need to be finished at dark, which only leaves me a couple hours to fit everything in, so let’s get rolling. Tonight, we’re going to cover questions 7 and 8 in the Westminster Shorter Catechism. I want to start by reading both of these questions and answers for you.
And before any of you get too concerned, I will not speak until dark...dusk, maybe, but not dark.
Here are those two questions:
Question 7 – What are the decrees of God?
Answer – The decrees of God are his eternal plan based on the purpose of his will, by which, for his own glory, he has foreordained everything that happens.
Question 8 – How does God carry out his decrees?
Answer – God carries out his decrees in creation and providence.
Ok, we’re going to pretend for a second that all the adults sitting here understand those answers...but we do have some kids in the crowd. We want to make sure that they can repeat this when they get home.
What are the decrees of God? Let me try to restate it. The decrees of God are his big plan that covers everything in the past, present, and in the future. God decided on each detail of the plan, so that everyone and everything would be in awe of him.
The first thing we want to see is that God has an eternal plan. In our house, we like to play board games. The ones that get the most playing time are strategy games like Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, and one called Splendor. Being strategy games, you don’t just make your current move. No, as you make your current move, you have to think about your plans and all the future moves that you or others could make. I can only think out four or five moves, because usually, someone is going to do something that I wasn’t expecting, and they’re going to totally mess up my plan. But you see, God’s not like that. God’s big plan isn’t going to get messed up. Even though it covers every detail of the past, present and future, no one can keep his big plan from happening. Psalm 33:11 tells us, “the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations”. He not only knows his plans, he has the power to see his plans through.
Do you know what I find so reassuring about that? I can’t mess it up. God has a plan that stretches from eternity past to eternity future. It’s a great big plan that encompasses everything about our world and universe, and it includes all the little details about my speck of a life. And I can’t mess it up! God is in control! He’s in charge! If we know that God has a plan for eternity past and eternity future. And nothing and no one can mess up his plan, that should give me such peace. That should give me the opportunity to relax and rest in him. Everybody take a deep breath...and exhale. That probably felt good, do it again. You can relax. God’s got this.
The next phrase in this answer is that his eternal plan is “based on the purpose of his will”. Oh wait. I’m not as relaxed now. I could relax when I thought he had an eternal plan that I thought was based on my will and how I want things to go. A plan that is based on what I see as the right way to do things. As we grow in his likeness, our will should start to look more and more like his will. But oh so often, even as a follower of Jesus, my will, the thing I desire, takes precedent. I’m happy with God and his will, as long as it lines up with what I want.
I’m sure there are stories out here in this crowd of how God brought you through difficult circumstances. And although it may not have been what you would have planned or wanted, you look back on your life story, and you can say with confidence that God drew you closer to him through those challenges and struggles.
On the national stage, I can’t think of anyone who embodies this more than Joni Eareckson Tada. At the age of 17, she was paralyzed from the neck down in a diving accident. If you’ve never heard of her, there are several books that tell her story and how she has faithfully served God through hurt and hardship. Maybe her story would resonate with you too.
Not only does God do things that are in his will, and not mine, but he also does things are for his glory and not for mine. When I think of God’s glory, I think of his reputation; how he is perceived by his creation. When we say that God does things for his glory, think of his reputation. He wants his creation to see him for all that he is, for all of his attributes. He wants his reputation to be lifted up and exalted. Even Gateway Church’s Mission statement emphasizes this. Gateway Church exists to glorify God by making disciples of Jesus Christ. Gateway Church exists to build up the reputation of God. We do that by making disciples of Jesus. Not of ourselves. This isn’t about my reputation or Pastor Josh’s, but about God’s reputation. He is the one that’s to get all the glory.
And finally, in this question, God foreordains everything that happens. He has pre- established all that has and all that will happen. This makes me think of the prophets, especially prophets like Daniel, and how God would speak to them in dreams and visions revealing what was going to happen in the future. But it also makes me think of a couple verses that remind us that God has a plan specific for each one of us. Ephesians 1:4 says “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Quick recap. What are the decrees of God? The decrees of God are his big plan that covers everything in the past, present, and future. God decided on each detail of the plan, so that everyone and everything would be in awe of him.
Now on to Question #8. How does God carry out his decrees? God carries out his decrees in creation and providence.
How does God carry out his big plan? He does it by two things: his creation and his providence. We should be marveling at these on a daily basis, but sadly, we don’t.
Let’s first look at God’s providence. God’s providence is the fact that God oversees everything that happens in the world so that it happens exactly as he decided. Did any of you see someone tonight that you haven’t talked to in a while, or did you have a conversation that you weren’t expecting to have, here, in this setting? Perhaps that’s God’s providence at work. We like to use words that would strip these events out of God’s control. You know, words like coincidence, fluke, random chance, an accident. Going back to my scenario. Maybe God had a reason for you to run into that person tonight, or for that conversation to happen that you weren’t expecting. Wouldn’t it change how we perceived and reacted to events like that, if we truly believed that God was behind each one of them? At a minimum, I think it would humble us in prayer, but I think it would also make us more attentive and we would actively listen for his voice.
Someone may argue, Matt, in your example of God’s providence, you’re talking about little things, but what about those really big things? What about those things that are so painful that I can’t even talk about them. Here’s something that I want you to remember. God limits, orders, and controls all things for his glory and our good. Let me say it again, God limits, orders and controls all things for his glory and our good. Since you probably don’t have a notebook with you tonight, you can pull out your phone and send it in a text to a friend, God limits, orders, and controls all things for his glory and our good. Who you talked with tonight, that’s God’s providence. That life situation that you or a loved one is dealing with right now, that’s God’s providence. And why? It is for his glory and our good. Do I understand it. Probably not. But I know that it is for his glory and our good.
Ephesians 1:11 highlights this as well. “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will”
The second way that God makes known his decrees is through creation. In Revelation 4, John is conveying a vision he was given about the heavenly throne. (I’d encourage you to read the entire chapter in the coming week.) There are elders surrounding the throne of God and this is what they say to God as they cast their crowns at his feet. “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
Of all the things that these elders could have praised God for, the top thing on their list is that he created all things. By God’s will, all things were created.
Here’s one thing I want you to remember tonight. Creation grants ownership. Think about it...if I paint a painting, we would say that I created that painting. We have laws in the United States and around the world that you cannot just copy my painting and sell it. Although, if you could copy any of my artwork and make money, more power to ya. We have copyright laws that allow the creators of works of art to have exclusive rights to use and distribute their creations. As a society, we recognize that creation grants ownership. Perhaps that’s why as a society we want to push back so hard against God being the creator of everything.
I want to dive deeper into this topic of creation with you, but time won’t allow for it tonight. You may not be aware of it, but through the Bible app, a different elder has been leading the congregation through a different devotional for about a week each month. I want to invite you to join me starting tomorrow. For the next 11 days, we’ll be working our way through a devotional entitled, “God of Creation”. If you don’t know how to connect with Gateway Church on the app and this devotional plan, I’ve asked Emily Bingley to be available to help explain how to do that...assuming you have internet access out here.
Back to Question 8 and the answer...How does God carry out his decrees? He carries out his decrees in creation and providence.
Going back to Revelation. I said that the verse we read about God creating all things came at the very end of the chapter. In the very next verses, we are told of a scroll with seven seals on it. The question is asked, “who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” And here we see the Lamb of God, Jesus, come into the scene. In Revelation 5:9, it says, “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”
Creation grants ownership. We belong to God. But because of sin, we were held in captivity, in bondage. We were forced to worship someone else. But through the blood of Jesus, the lamb that was slain, we can be purchased back for God. We can be redeemed.
We can look around here this evening and love God’s creation. We can even acknowledge God’s hand in this beautiful creation. But have you ever stopped to think that through Creation, through the events that happen in your life, that he is trying to show you that he has a big plan. He has a big plan for the universe, but he has a big plan for you as well.
God made a beautiful creation to show this. But as beautiful as the creation is around us, maybe we should be even more in awe of the fact that he has made us a new creation. The Bible tells us that in Christ, we are a new creation. If you have never thought about the fact that you’re a sinner that is in need of a savior, I hope tonight you’ll seek out someone who can talk with you more about how to accept what Jesus did for you with the shedding of his blood, and have your sins washed away.
If tonight’s prayer partners could stand and wave I’d appreciate that. Perhaps tonight, thinking about the providence of God has stirred your heart and you feel that you need to pray with someone. Or perhaps there are some challenging things going on in your life and you want someone to pray with you for healing in those situations, whether they be physical, emotional, or spiritual healing. If there is any reason you may want to pray with someone, we’ve asked these folks from Gateway Church’s family to stand along the outside. They’re here to pray with you and encourage you. Feel free to get up and go to them at any point between now and even after the service.
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