Sermon Tone Analysis

*Sovereignty 4.*

Who still says “grace” before they eat their meal?

*[P]* It may be considered old-fashioned and become just a habit – but it is a good one – acknowledging that all you have to eat is provided by God, thanking Him for what He faithfully and constantly gives in abundance.

Our family always said grace and watch out if it was my Mum’s turn!

Her long prayer meant that the meal got cold – so I had it reduced to the bare minimum: “Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for this good food.

Amen!” then we could get down to the serious business of eating.

But it is good to give thanks.

Not only the meat but also the veges.

*[Psalm 145:15-18*/ The eyes of all look hopefully to You, and You give them their food in due time, opening Your hand, and satisfying the desire of every living creature.

יהוה is righteous in all His ways, and loyal in all His works.

יהוה is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth./]

Saying Grace is acknowledging the reality: that יהוה gives us our food; yes, the meat, but also the veges.

And that is what I want to talk about today: the veges!

I have been looking at the sovereignty of God.

And we saw His sovereignty over inanimate things; *[P]* יהוה controlling events as easily as we direct streams of water.

We looked at events on earth; air, land and sea; but also יהוה’s control over things outside this planet, the celestial order in its vastness but also His control over the miniscule detail, down to seemingly random events.

But I limited it to things without life, without a life and a will of their own.

Now let’s turn to living things.

The Bible says: [*John 1:4*/ In Him was life, and the life was the light of humanity./

*Acts 3:15*/ You killed the Originator of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses!/]

He made life, all life came from and originated with Him – so is it surprising that He controls it, does with it whatever He wants?!

But let’s not get carried away, let’s limit ourselves to vegetation, to what the Bible says about plants – they still don’t have a lot of free-will to override.

So let’s look at plants – I don’t know whether you have got green fingers?

Some people can make things grow, with others it is a disaster.

It seems as if how well your garden grows depends upon your gardening skill.

We determine how well things grow – or do we?

[*Genesis 1:11-13*/ And God said, “Let the earth produce green plants that will bear seed—fruit trees bearing fruit in which there is seed—according to its kind, on the earth.”

And it was so.

And the earth brought forth green plants bearing seed according to its kind, and trees bearing fruit in which there was seed according to its kind.

And God saw that it was good.

And there was evening and there was morning, a third day./]

God made each kind of plant *[P]* – and what He made was good.

He was pleased with what He had made.

It suited the purpose for which He had designed it.

He made different “/kinds/” – He repeats “/each according to its kind/” – He emphasizes that – it is important.

He made each to be a specific way and separate and distinct from others.

He was particular about keeping things distinct – and His people under the old covenant were not even allowed to sow different kinds of seed in the same paddock.

Now, we were never under those old covenant rules – but they do reveal God’s heart in preserving the separate kinds that He made – what He thinks of our cavalier sticking bits of genetic material from totally different organisms into another, I hate to think!

He gave man dominion; but I fear we have arrogantly interfered with יהוה’s sovereign creating according to kind.

We like to blur the distinctions and mix things together, lump things together but God separates and makes distinct – according to His sovereign will.

That is a big part of the creative process – I have been doing some jigsaw puzzles: you empty the box and have this mess of pieces.

I separate all the blue sky pieces and put them in a honey pottle, then I put the green piece in another.

Then I join the like pieces together – you separate, then bring together in order.

Bring order out of the chaos.

That is what God did at creation – it was formless and void and He separated: light from dark, water from water, land from water.

Then He brought together in order – He created.

If you make something then it is yours to with as you decide.

And that is exactly what God does.

Just as we saw with inanimate matter – He uses living things for His purpose and has absolute control over them.

So do my green-fingers cause the plants to grow?

[*Psalm 147:7*/ Sing to יהוה with thanksgiving; sing praises to our God with lyre,/ /who covers the heavens with clouds, who provides rain for the earth, who causes grass to grow on the mountains./]

יהוה causes the grass to grow.

*[P]* Jesus was teaching a spiritual principle but He drew it from a fact that is patently obvious: [*Mark 4:26-27*/ And He said, “The kingdom of God is like this: like a man scatters seed on the ground.

And he sleeps and gets up, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—he does not know how./ ] It grows by itself.

I haven’t a clue what biochemical processes are going on when I sow a seed; I just stick it in the ground, I don’t do anything that makes it grow.

We boast about our fine gardens – but who makes them grow?! [*1 Corinthians 3:6-7*/ I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing it to grow.

So then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who is causing it to grow./

] Again, Paul is talking of spiritual things, but he draws the analogy from the evident fact that it is God who causes the plants to grow, not us and our green fingers.

Jesus said: [*Matthew 6:28-30*/ And why are you anxious about clothing?

Observe the lilies of the field, how they grow: they do not toil or spin, but I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was dressed like one of these.

But if God dresses the grass of the field in this way, although it is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not do so much more for you, you of little faith?/]

Who dresses the grass of the field?

God does!

It doesn’t just happen – God is involved in the every-day process of plants growing, even mundane grass.

One of the original purpose of vegetation was to provide food *[P]* [*Genesis 1:29-30*/ And God said, “Look—I am giving to you every plant that bears seed which is on the face of the whole earth, and every kind of tree that bears fruit.

They shall be yours as food.”

And to every kind of animal of the earth and to every bird of heaven, and to everything that moves upon the earth in which there is life I am giving every green plant as food.”

And it was so./]

So it is יהוה who causes the plants to grow in order to provide food for the creatures He made: [*Psalm 147:14*/ He makes your border peaceful; He satisfies you with the finest of wheat./]

We may grizzle about the silver-beet – but all our food comes from God, it is His goodness, His blessing.

There are those who deny God, those who hate Him – but still He provides them with food every day.

God is good, His love endures forever!

[*Psalm 65:9-13*/ You care for the land and water it; You greatly enrich it.

The stream of God is filled with waters.

You provide their grain, for so you have established it.

You drench its furrows, penetrating its ridges.

With rains You soften it; its growth You bless.

You crown the year with Your bounty, and your wagon paths drip with richness.

The pasturelands put on flocks, and the valleys clothe themselves with grain./]

Our food comes from God – the food we eat, it is the blessing of God! [*Psalm 104:14-17*/ //You are the One who causes grass to grow for the cattle and herbs for the service of humankind, to bring forth food from the earth, and wine that makes glad the heart of man, so that their faces shine from oil, and bread that strengthens the heart of man.

The trees of יהוה drink their fill, the cedars of Lebanon that He planted, where birds make their nest.

/*Psalm 104:27*/ They all wait for You to give them their food at the proper time./]

And in the New Testament, Paul preaching in Lystra said: [*Acts 14:17*/ And yet He did not leave Himself without witness by doing good, giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying you with food and your hearts with gladness.”/]

All the food we eat comes from His supply – He GIVES it freely and abundantly, so it good to return thanks.

That is why we say “grace”.

It is good to acknowledge the Source.

Some churches have harvest festivals with the purpose of giving thanks and acknowledging God’s provision.

You bring the veges you have grown to church – unfortunately instead of glorifying God, it tends to become more of a glorifying of man by showing off your prize marrow.

Here is a well-know harvest hymn: *[P]*

/We plough the fields and scatter \\ The good seed on the land, \\ But it is fed and watered \\ By God's almighty hand: \\ He sends the snow in winter, \\ The warmth to swell the grain, \\ The breezes and the sunshine, \\ And soft, refreshing rain./

\\ Refrain: *[P]* \\ /All good gifts around us \\ Are sent from heaven above; \\ Then thank the Lord, \\ O thank the Lord, \\ For all His love./ \\ *[P]* \\ /He only is the Maker \\ Of all things near and far; \\ He paints the wayside flower, \\ He lights the evening star; \\ The winds and waves obey Him, \\ By Him the birds are fed; \\ Much more to us, His children, \\ He gives our daily bread./

\\ *[P]* \\ /We thank thee then, O Father, \\ For all things bright and good, \\ The seed time and the harvest, \\ Our life, our health, our food.

\\ Accept the gifts we offer \\ For all Thy love imparts, \\ And what Thou most desirest, \\ Our humble, thankful hearts./

Israel was an agricultural society – they depended on יהוה’s sovereign control in causing plants to grow – it was a matter of faith.

It had practical ramifications – every seventh year you were not to plant anything, it was a year of rest, “Shemita”.

Were you going to trust יהוה’s sovereign control over plants growth to provide for you in that year that you didn’t plant anything?

God causes all the growth that we see around us – it happens all the time so we take it for granted and regard it as ordinary – but יהוה is sovereign, not only is He causing that ordinary supply – He is sovereign and steps in in supernatural supply.

When He led His people out of slavery in Egypt through the Sinai wilderness, He provided food for the best part of 2 million people *[P]* – supernaturally, every day – manna came down from heaven.

[*Deuteronomy 8:3*/ “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the יהוה./]

Not only did יהוה provide them with food – but they were meant to draw a lesson from His sovereign control over that material supply.