My Assurance – God is in Control – Part 2 – Dr. Charles Stanley

God always gives His best to His children. But sometimes His will includes something we might not choose for ourselves. How do we reconcile God’s generous love with the difficulties He allows? Dr. Stanley responds to this intricate question in part two of this four-sermon set. For more messages from Charles Stanley, including this week’s broadcast, go to https://intouch.org/watch

male announcer: In Touch,
the teaching ministry of

Dr. Charles Stanley.

Next on “In Touch,”
part two of

“My Assurance:
God Is in Control.”

Dr. Charles Stanley: If God is
in control and He is a good God,

then why would he allow sin
and pain and evil to enter

the universe.

Well, that question has been
asked since the very beginning

of time and people have
had all kinds of answers.

There have been hundreds
and hundreds and thousands of

volumes written about it.

And so, some
people have concluded,

“Well, there is no God.”

So that settles that issue
that we are just the products of

evolutionary process.

Some people would say,
“Well, there is a God,

but He is not a good God,
because if He were He would not

allow sin and
suffering and pain and death.”

Others would say,
“Well there is a God,

but He certainly
is not in control,

because if He were He
would destroy evil,

suffering, pain, and death.”

Now all of us would
agree that there is evil,

suffering, pain, and
death in the world,

but that does not mean that
God didn’t create this earth;

does not mean that
God is not good,

and it does not mean
that God is not in control.

So, what we want to do in this
message is to look at all this

to see, according
to the scripture,

is God still in control in
the light of all these things?

So, I want you to turn if you
will to the hundred and third

Psalm.

Just want us to read a few
verses of this Psalm because

here God states certainly His
position in creation and above

all creation.

When he says in verse nineteen
of the hundred and third Psalm:

“The LORD has established
His throne in the heavens;

and His
sovereignty rules overall.

Bless the LORD, you His
angels, mighty in strength,

who perform His word,
obeying the voice of His word!

Bless the LORD oh
all you His hosts,

you who serve Him,
doing His will.

Bless the LORD, all
you works of His,

in all places of His
dominion; bless the LORD,

O my soul!”

Now when the Bible talks
about God’s Sovereignty,

the Bible speaks
of God’s control.

What, what is He
referring to here?

God’s Sovereignty
is His Supreme,

listen, His Supreme authority
and control over all the

universe including mankind.

His supreme authority and
control over all the universe.

It simply means this.

That everything and
everybody is in His mind,

in His sight, in His
grasp, in His power,

in His presence,
and in His control.

There’s not anything that is
beyond the control

of Almighty God.

Now with that in mind there are
lots of questions that

people have.

“Well if, if this is true,
then why do these

things happen?”

So just to remind
you a few moments,

last time in the first
message in this series,

we talked about the fact all the
way through the Old Testament

and the New Testament it’s very
evident that God is sovereignly

ruling and in control of the
events in the lives of men of

nature, for example of animals,
of mankind and of nations.

God is in control.

Well, the question
comes, “Well, first of all,

why all of this?”

If He’s in control, why
didn’t He do it some other way?

So that’s what I want to
talk about in this message.

And, I want to begin
by simply saying this.

There are several things about
the creation that you and I

could agree on
without any question.

First of all, that is if
we do believe the Bible.

That God created this world.

Secondly, because
He’s a good God,

He created it good.

He says in fact in that first
chapter after everything He

created, he said, “And
God saw that it was good.”

When He finished the creation,
He saw that the whole creation

was good.

The third thing we know about
without any doubt is simply

this, and that is there
is evil in the world.

So, the question is, how does
this good God who created the

world, and He is a good God
who created everything good.

How do we explain the
presence of evil in the world?

Is God an evil god?

No, He’s not.

And so, we have to
ask the question,

well, if this is true, how is it
that this good God has allowed

evil in the world?

Well, it is here by
His permissive will.

That is, if God did not
allow evil in the world,

that means that there was a
power and a force greater than

God Himself, and therefore it
intruded into this perfect world

that God had created.

If that’s true then
that means that God is no–

He is not in control, and you
and I do not have any assurance,

and you might as well forget
Romans eight, twenty-eight,

“Knowing that all things work
together for good to those who

love God,” because all things
are not working together for

good to those who love God
because God’s not in control.

But if He is in control,
then God had to permit,

listen, God had to allow, He
had to permit evil in the world.

Now somebody says, “Where
did it come from?”

Well, let’s think about evil in
this way because we have to ask

the question, well,
did God create?

Did He create evil?

And so, I want us to
turn to a verse here.

Turn if you will to Isaiah
chapter forty-five for a moment

and let’s just deal with a verse
that I’m sure some of you have

probably read and you’re
thinking about right up front

and so I want to clarify this
right in the very beginning.

Certainly, God allows evil in
the world and God also uses evil

in the world to accomplish His
purpose which we will illustrate

in a few moments.

Isaiah chapter forty-five and I
want you to notice a verse here.

And just to explain that
I–first of all, I want to read

this seventh verse.

Well, let’s begin
with verse six.

I want to read this verse in
the New American Standard.

Some of you have a King
James and I want to clear up

something.

Look at this.
Beginning in verse six.

He says, “That men may know from
the rising to the setting of the

sun that there is
no one beside Me.

I am the LORD, and there is
no other,” I am the Lord,

there is no other.

“The One forming light
and creating darkness,

causing well-being
and creating calamity;

I am the LORD who
does all these.”

Now, if you happen to be
reading in a King James version,

here’s what it would say.

It would say, “The one who
is forming light and creating

darkness, making peace and
creating evil,” as if God

creates evil.

Now the Hebrew word’s a
little two-letter word, “ra”.

And it does not mean evil
but it does mean calamity.

It means misfortune and
adversity and hardship and

so forth, which God
does indeed create.

There’s no question about that.

It’s all through the scriptures
that often times God has created

calamity and difficulty and
hardship and even persecution of

His own people
because of their sin.

God does not create evil.

Now let’s look at evil if
we might in this fashion.

For example, let’s say that if
God created everything good,

then did He create evil
or is evil something else?

Think about it in this light.

If I think in
terms of blindness,

what is blindness but the
absence of light or the

absence of sight?

What is poverty but
the absence of my needs?

What is evil but the absence of
righteousness and goodness

and holiness?

And so when we think in
terms of God creating evil,

God did not create evil.

God has certainly allowed evil,
and He has allowed something in

the mind and the corruption
of man’s heart which

we’ll get to in a moment.

So, having allowed
evil in the world,

we have to ask
ourselves the question,

“Why would God do that?”

Well, think about this.

If He is in control, God has
allowed evil in the world for

a divine purpose.

God has allowed evil,
not that He created evil,

He doesn’t make anyone sin.

We’ll come to that
in a few moments.

But He has allowed evil in
the world for a divine purpose.

God doesn’t do
anything without purpose.

He is either in control
or He’s not in control.

If He’s not in control,
we have no assurance.

If He is in control, we have
assurance over the affairs

no matter what is going on.

We know that God is in
control and ruling and reigning

over every affair of man.

Now with that in mind, let’s
think about something else.

Since He’s this kind of God
and He’s allowed evil into the

world, we have to ask
ourselves the question,

what avenue by–what
avenue did it come?

In other words,
where did it start?

Well, usually we want to think
in terms of Genesis chapter

three when the Bible
says, “And Satan the serpent,

tempted Eve.”

But that’s not the
beginning of evil in the earth.

Go back to Genesis chapter two
for a moment and let’s look at

this and I want you to just
follow along here with me.

And just follow with me now
and I want to keep bringing us

up-to-date of where we are so
we’ll see the continuity here.

If you’ll go back to Genesis
chapter two and I want you to

notice something
in this chapter.

Beginning in verse fifteen,
now God’s created this wonderful

world, and the
scripture says that,

beginning in verse fifteen,
“Then the LORD God took the man

put him into the garden of Eden
to cultivate it and to keep it.”

Remember that everything
that God has done now

He says that it was good.

Verse–in fact,
chapter one of verse–

and verse thirty-one
of Genesis says,

“And God saw all
that He had made,

behold, it was very good.

And there was evening
and there was morning,

the sixth day.”

So, God says it’s all good.
But look what He says here now.

Verse sixteen: “The LORD
God commanded the man,

saying, ‘From any tree of
the garden you may eat freely;

but from the tree of the
knowledge of,” listen,

He didn’t say it
was an evil tree.

He says it is a “tree
of the knowledge of

good and evil
you shall not eat,

for in the day that you eat from
it you shall surely die.'”

Now this was a very specific
command given to Adam

very clear, no
question about it.

God told him, He says, “This is
exactly what’s going to happen

if you eat of this tree.”

Why was the tree there?

The purpose of the
tree is very clear.

The purpose of the tree is
that, that tree symbolizes God’s

absolute authority over all
mankind and over all creation.

That tree symbolized God’s
absolute control and authority.

It symbolized who He was.

He is the head of the whole
human race and all of creation.

So He placed it there and
as a result of doing so,

man finds himself at this
point in this wonderful,

wonderful environment, a God
of love has placed him there.

And now, we find that he’s
facing the possibility of sin.

God does not cause him to sin.

So, but I want you to see that
God has placed the tree there

and there is the possibility.

Then I want us to look
at Satan for a moment.

And you’ll recall back
in that third chapter,

that Satan comes on the
scene and He tempts Eve.

Now, let’s go if you will to the
fourteenth chapter of Isaiah

for a moment.

And in this chapter, we have an
account of Satan beginning in

the verse twelve,
the scripture says,

“How you have
fallen from heaven,

O star of the morning,
son of the dawn!

You have been cut
down to the earth,

you who have
weakened the nations!”

Verse thirteen: “But
you said in your heart,

‘I will ascend to heaven; I will
raise my throne above the stars

of God, and I will sit on
the mount of assembly in the

recesses of the north.

‘I will ascend above the
heights of the clouds;

I will make myself like
the Most High.’

Nevertheless, you will be
thrust down to Sheol…”

If you turn to the twentieth
chapter of the Book of the

Revelation, and you look if
you will in that tenth verse of

almost the last chapter there,
the twentieth chapter of

the Revelation.

You’ll find God giving to
John the final account of what’s

going to happen to Satan when
he says in verse ten: “And the

devil who deceived them was
thrown into the lake of fire and

brimstone, where the beast
and the false prophet are also;

and they will be tormented day
and night forever and ever.”

Satan was a fallen angel whom,
if you’ll notice back in that

passage, whom the Bible
says that he was cast down.

And if you’ll notice he
says in verse twelve,

“You have been cut
down to the earth.”

Now listen carefully.

There are two things the
Bible does not answer.

And if you will recall, we
mention in Deuteronomy chapter

twenty-nine in case you
may have missed that.

Deuteronomy
twenty-nine, twenty-nine,

everyone should take note of
this verse because here’s

what it says.

The scripture says, “The secret
things of the Lord,” of the Lord

our God, “belong to Him, but the
things revealed to us and to our

sons forever, that we
may observe all the

words of this law.”

Which simply means that
God made it known to

His children in the very
beginning there are some things

that He will not tell us.

Now, God does not tell us
anywhere in the Bible why and

how Satan had a negative,
evil thought and decided that he

wanted to be like God.

The Bible doesn’t answer that.

So, for me to try to give you
some reason why I think He did

is not even, is not even
legitimate because the Bible

doesn’t answer that question.

The second thing the
Bible does not answer is,

why God allowed him to
be thrust to the earth.

Now we may could say,
“Well, in order that temptation,

so forth.”

But the possibility of
temptation was there even

without the devil.

And so God cast him
to earth and He says,

“Your final
destination’s gonna be the pit.”

And He says in Second Peter
chapter two verse four that all

the other fallen angels who
followed with him were cast into

the pit and ultimately,
they’ll all end up in

eternal fire and judgment
at the end of the ages.

Now, so Satan does play
a part in a temptation.

He certainly does tempt
Eve here in the garden.

And of course, as a
result there is a fall.

So, what I want you to see
is that God’s created

a perfect world.

He has said that
everything in it was good.

He is a good God.

He has allowed evil, He has
allowed the possibility of sin.

He placed a tree there,
the tree of good and evil,

and the question is, “Why
did God place the tree there?”

Well, that tree symbolizes God’s
ultimate authority over all

mankind and over all humanity.

And therefore, when Adam
comes to face that tree,

here’s where we are.

There is a testing ground.

That is, the tree is the
testing ground for Adam,

for example, and Eve.

Now somebody says, “Well, let’s
think about this for a moment

because I got a question here.

Why is it that God created
the world in the first place?

All these things
are gonna happen.

Why did He create it
in the first place?”

Well, certainly God did not
have to create the world.

He did not have–He could
have created the world and just

enjoyed waterfalls and beautiful
mountains and fog in the

morning, however
He wanted to do it.

He could have never let it rain
if He didn’t want to because He

certainly created it so
that it didn’t have to.

And so God had this awesome
creation but He placed in this

creation a man and a woman.

So humanity’s there.

He didn’t have to, He chose to.

Why did He do it?

Well, when I think of what the–
all the scripture teaches from

Genesis to Revelation,
my conclusion,

this is my own
personal conviction about it,

that God created this world in
order to express this awesome,

great, powerful, good love
that He is and that He has.

And so He created man in
order to express His love toward

mankind and to
receive love in return.

So therefore, if God wants to
create a man to whom He can

love, and a woman whom He can
love and receive their love in

return, then we have to
ask ourselves the question,

“What kind of person, what kind
of man and woman could this be?”

Well, in order for that
love to be genuine and real,

God must create them with the
possibility of making choices.

And so He created them with a
possibility of choosing to love

Him or choosing to disobey Him.

Choosing to follow Him or
not to choose to follow Him.

For example, you chose your
spouse because you loved that

person and because
that person loved you.

They had the capacity to
love you or not love you.

It was not a forced issue.

And so, if man
had not had a will,

a choice, he would have
been a robot and not a man.

And so, God did not,
create those kind of creatures.

And so He created man with
the capacity to make choices.

And the first-choice man had to
make was to either acknowledge

that God is supreme and
authoritative in the universe,

that He is in control,
He deserves man’s love

and devotion,
or he does not believe that.

And so, He created the
capacity and the capability

of disobeying God.

So, what we have to say
now, ask now is this,

“What about this
free will of man?”

That is, does man
have a free will?

And often times
people say, “Yes,

I do believe that
man has a free will.”

And so, let me put it this way.

There’s no doubt in my
mind that Adam and Eve,

now listen carefully,
had a perfectly free will.

It was a will that was bent
toward and inclined toward God.

But it is a will that also had
the capacity and the capability

to move in the other direction.

I believe they’re the only two
persons who’ve ever been created

who had a free will.

Your will and my will,
our wills are not free.

It is, they are free
only up to a point.

So, when somebody says,
“Well, I have a free will.”

No, you don’t.

If God created all
mankind with a free will,

there would be no safety,
there would be no assurance,

no peace because if every man
could do or every woman could do

anything they wanted to do
any time they wanted to do it,

can you imagine what kind
of world this would be?

And it’s bad enough when
man’s will is limited.

Man does not have a free will.

It is a limited free will,
limited to those things that

don’t interfere with God’s
purpose and God’s plan in our

life and in the lives of others.

So, we have a
perfect earth, a perfect–

listen, a perfect universe,
perfect people that God placed

in a perfect environment with a
capacity to love or disobey God.

They chose to fall,
as a result of their–

as a result of
their wrong choices.

And their choice
that they made, not a will

like ours because we don’t have
a free will, they did.

We no longer have a free
will, we have a will that is

contaminated and corrupted
by an old sin nature and God

absolutely is
control of all things.

If He did not, can you imagine
what some people would be doing

today in this world?

So, our wills are limited.

Now.

If God does evil,
then that means He is not

a righteous, holy God.

So, while He does
not commit evil acts,

He indeed allows evil to happen,
allows evil to take place,

and in the process, God uses the
evil for good no matter what.

Now, you have to believe that or
you can’t believe Romans eight,

twenty-eight when it says,
“We know that all things work

together for good to
those who love Him.”

The truth is it really says,
“For we know that God causes all

things to work together for
good to those who love Him,

to those who are called
according to His purpose.”

He didn’t say He just caused
everything to turn out good.

He causes, He engineers,
He governs, He rules,

He reigns, He is
sovereignly in control of

every single thing of our life.

And, He says He will turn every
single thing in our life to

something good.

That is, those of
us who love Him,

those who are called
according to His purpose.

He’s talking about believers.

You say, “Well, I know some
things in my life that haven’t

turned out for good.”

Well, let’s wait a minute now.

Have you looked at it
from God’s perspective?

Somebody says, “Well, look at
the suffering and look at the

sin, look at the pain and look
at the sin in my life and

look at the
discouragement I have.

Look at all the things that
have befallen me that it,

surely God’s not in this.”

Who says He’s not?

What’s God’s ultimate purpose?

And I can say, from
conviction and from experience,

I can tell you.

It doesn’t make any difference
what you have to go through.

It doesn’t make any
difference how difficult.

It doesn’t make any
difference how painful.

It doesn’t make any difference
whether we understand it or not.

You know what?

If you and I will
respond in the right fashion,

you and I will see God’s
good handiwork in our pain,

in our suffering, in our
hurt, in our loss in life.

God absolutely is working
something good and there is no

exception because He
says He causes all things.

Listen, what does
all things include?

It includes everything.

All things to work
together for good.

What about pain?
Yes.

What about suffering?
Yes.

What about hurt?
Yes.

What about wars and
tribulation and trials?

Do I understand how
God works all these

things to good all the time?

No, I don’t.

I can understand how I see
good in my own life at times.

I can see how He works out good
in other people’s lives often

times when they don’t
even see that it’s good.

But some things I
don’t understand.

There’s nobody who fully
understands every reason why God

allows certain things to happen.

You and I wouldn’t do it God’s
way, but my, my, my, how unwise

we are about a lot of things.

God allows sin to run
its course in some areas.

God prevents it in some.

Man fell in the garden and the
whole earth has suffered

the results of man’s fall.

And when you and
I come to glory,

there’s not gonna
be any of that.

And so, people say, “Well, I
just can’t believe that God is

a good God and allow
this to happen.”

You know why?

Because we don’t understand
God’s viewpoint of how He’s

working things for good.

I don’t understand why
certain things happen.

I don’t understand why they
happen to certain people.

But either God is in
control, if He’s not–

and if He’s not in
control of all things,

I’m here to tell you we
have a major problem.

But listen, if He is
not in full control,

He is not in control.

Listen, you can’t have
partial obedience and obedience.

Obedience is full
obedience; partial obedience

is disobedience.

God’s either in full control or
there’s something left out

He’s not in control of.

If He’s not in full
control, He’s not in control.

And if He’s not in full
control, He’s not sovereign.

If He’s not sovereign, we
don’t have any assurance.

All our assurance
is based on our own,

on our own capacity to face life
the best we can in a world

that seems to be heading
in the wrong direction

very, very hard.

Now I can understand, my friend,
if you’re one of those persons

who’s hurting over something
in your life and your husband

walked out and left you or your
wife walked out and left you and

here you are going through
pain and suffering and you said,

“You mean to tell me
that God did that?”

Listen carefully, I
never said God did it.

Did God allow it?
Yes, He did.

Does God have a good purpose
for allowing it?

He always has a good purpose
for everything He does.

I may hurt, I may cry,
I may weep,

I may go through all kinds of
pain and suffering and hurt.

Does that mean that God
is evil, that God’s bad,

that God’s not in control?

No, it doesn’t.

Because He says He
causes all things to

work together for good.

You know what?

There are gonna be some things I
may never see the good in till

I get on the other side.

But you know what?

God’s under no
compulsion to give me full,

absolute, total understanding of
all His ways because does He not

say, “My ways are not your ways,
My thoughts are not

your thoughts.

My ways are
higher than your ways,

My thoughts are higher
than your thoughts.”

God is in absolute
control of all things.

Now where does that leave us?

Thank God, this is
where it leaves us.

Look at this.

Here’s a good God who created a
good world and placed man and

a woman in this perfect world.

Gave them an absolute
free will bent toward Him,

but with a capacity to
love or not to love,

to obey or not to obey, so
that they would not be robots,

but they could become full
persons with this free will,

will limited
naturally to some degree.

But it was a free will to
choose right and wrong.

They made a wrong choice.

In the process of that
wrong choice they failed,

the whole earth
suffered the consequences.

From that moment on,
God’s still in control.

And He has governed all down
through the centuries man’s

activities,
nations that have risen,

nature, animals,
man, you name it,

God has been in
absolute total control.

And as you look at the
scriptures and if you and I

could see on the other side of
some things that we don’t see on

this side we would see God’s
control and what His

ultimate purpose is.

Do we un, listen, does God say
you’ll always understand all the

suffering, hurt, and
pain that you go through?

No, He did not, but
here’s what He said.

We know, we can know
this, that listen,

God causes all things to work
together for good to those who

love Him, to those who are
called according to His purpose.

Sometimes He’ll use evil
persons and evil people,

evil things to
accomplish His purpose.

But God will
accomplish His purpose.

He is in full control.

Now if He’s not, would you
please tell me what assurance,

what confidence, what hope you
have apart from your own innate

abilities and talents and
possessions to live this life

out with any peace,
any joy, any assurance,

any confidence, or any
hope of eternal life?

You don’t have any.

And so, I would say
to you, my friend,

if you’re not a believer
you have no assurance,

no hope of anything whatsoever.

This is why the wisest thing you
could possibly do is to accept

the Lord Jesus Christ who went
to Calvary at the cross and died

for your sin and mine.

The wisest thing you can do is
to accept the truth that He died

at that cross and paid your
sin-debt in full and the moment

you’re willing to say to
Him, “I’ve sinned

against You, Father.

I do believe that
Jesus died in my behalf,

and I am accepting Him as
my personal Savior and the

confession of my sin.

And I do accept, I do receive
You as my Savior and my Lord

and Master.”

My friend, then the Spirit of
God seals you as a child of God.

You know what God begins to do?

Then God begins to put
the pieces of your life

back together.

Then He begins to work in
your life in such a fashion

that God’s goodness can
be expressed in you,

through you, for you, to you.

And you can begin
to see this good,

wonderful God who’s been there
all along begin to do what?

Begin to work in your life
His marvelous works of grace.

That is His offer to every
single person who will

believe Him.

♪♪♪