June 14, 2026

“The Sovereignty of God”

Message by Rev. Alan Perkins

Good morning! This week, we continue our series on what we believe. And this morning’s message deals with the basic question of who is in charge. Who is ultimately in control of everything that is happening in the world? Who is running things? Is it powerful political leaders, or billionaires? Is it the people, the population at large who vote and choose who to put into office? Or are there perhaps some shadowy figures behind the scenes who are pulling the strings and making the decisions that affect our lives? If you could somehow
pull back the curtain and expose what is really going on, who or what would you see?

We’ll, all of those may play a role. But as Christians, we know that none of those things is what matters most. Because there is a spiritual power at work as well, and that spiritual power is actually much more significant than the people and political processes that we can see and observe. That’s important. Because if we’re at the mercy of powerful people and forces beyond our control, then all we can do is somehow try to survive. All we can do is try to avoid coming into conflict with those powerful forces that rule our lives. But on the other hand, if this world’s powers are under the control of an even greater power, a spiritual power, and if we have access to that spiritual power, then we have hope. Hope that we can not only survive, but thrive, and succeed, and prevail. In that case, we aren’t just helpless victims being acted upon by others. Because the one who is truly in charge is our Father, who is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

And that’s what I’d like to examine this morning. I’ll start with a quote from our Statement of Belief: 

“We affirm that God is sovereign over all, and that this sovereignty is expressed and realized through Jesus Christ. Therefore, we affirm the Lordship of Christ over the world and the church.”

“We affirm that God is sovereign over all.” That’s a pretty comprehensive statement, isn’t it? “All”. All what? Well, all nations, first of all. The United States recognizes 197 countries in the world as independent states. And every one of those 197 nations entities is under the sovereign control of our God. Every single one. From global powers like the U.S. or China, down to tiny little Monaco, which is less than 1 square mile in area. God is sovereign over all of them. 

Not only that, but God is sovereign over all human rulers, regardless of how they came to power, and regardless of what kind of political system they rule over. Whether it’s a democracy, or a monarchy, or a military dictatorship. There is not a single political leader, anywhere in the world, at any level of government, who is not under the sovereign authority of our God; whether it’s Donald Trump, or Vladimir Putin, or Xi Jinping of China. In our country, this includes people like judges, and members of congress, and governors. Every person in authority. That’s true, by the way, whether or not they acknowledge God’s authority over them. Even if they have no intention of serving God; even if they are actually seeking to oppose God and do evil, he is still sovereign over them. He is ruling over all. 

And by “sovereign”, we don’t mean just that God is all-powerful. We aren’t saying that he has the ability to do as he pleases, but that he is just sitting back and watching things unfold. No, by “sovereign”, we mean that God is actively engaged, and actively carrying out his will in the world. As the Statement of Belief puts it, God’s sovereignty “is expressed and realized through Jesus Christ.” It is an active, not a passive, sovereignty. 

Let me show you that the Bible does teach this; that God is sovereign over everything and everyone. We’ll start with Jeremiah 32:17,

17 “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.”

This statement is part of a prayer by the prophet Jeremiah, in the sixth century B.C.. At that time, the city of Jerusalem was on the verge of being captured and overrun by a foreign king, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. And Jeremiah has some things to say about that. But first, he wants to establish that no matter what happens to the city and to its people, it will be according to God’s will. Because nothing is too hard for our God. He can save the city, and protect it from Nebuchadnezzar’s invading armies. Or he can cause it to fall. Both of those outcomes are equally within God’s power to accomplish. How do we know that? 

Because he is called the “Sovereign Lord”. This title is used of God 288 times in the Bible.
It indicates that God alone is ruler over all things. He has the power and the authority to command whatever he wishes. There is no one who can prevent him from carrying out his will. And the basis for that comes from Creation. Everything that exists in the earth—its great seas, and mountain ranges, and land masses, and all of the plants and animals that inhabit it, and also everything that exists in the heavens—the billions of planets, and stars and galaxies, across the vast expanse of space—all of that came from the mind and hand of God. All of it came into existence by his power. Everything that exists was made by God, and therefore, everything that exists is ruled by God. 

This is a recurring them throughout the Bible, and especially in the Old Testament; that the God who was powerful to create the heavens and the earth is also powerful enough to rule over them, and to rule over mankind. And that as the Creator, he has not only the power, but the right to do so. Here’s an example from the prophet Nehemiah:

“Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. 6 You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.” (Nehemiah 9:5-6)

According to Nehemiah, why should God be worshipped, and why should his name be exalted? Why is he alone the Lord, the supreme sovereign over all? Because he made the heavens, and the earth, and everything in them. And he made us—you and I—as well. Therefore, he has the right to demand our service and our obedience. Do you ever think about that, by the way? That as your maker, your creator, God has the absolute right to require from you anything that he desires? Why? Because you didn’t make yourself. God made you. And therefore, he is your sovereign lord, and you owe your life to him. Think of that the next time you’re considering whether to obey God or not, or the next time you sense him calling you to serve him in some way. 

What do the Psalms tell us?

The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth;
    you founded the world and all that is in it. (Psalm 89:11)

The Lord does whatever pleases him,
    in the heavens and on the earth,
    in the seas and all their depths. (Psalm 135:6)

Everything belongs to God, because he made it. And therefore, he does whatever he chooses, wherever he chooses, however he chooses. His power and authority are absolute. 

This principle has lots of implications. For example, in the realm of politics. Now, you won’t hear partisan politics coming from this pulpit. I respect that we have a full spectrum of political views in the church. But there are some general principles that apply, because politics is simply a term for how human beings govern themselves. And that falls under the sovereign lordship of God. Listen to what these verses from the book of Daniel tell us about how rulers come to power.

17 “. . . the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of people.’ (Daniel 4:17)

What does this tell us? That God is sovereign over “all” kingdoms on earth, as we saw before. But not only that, God determines who comes to power. Whether a ruler’s path to power was an election, or a military coup, or a hereditary monarchy, it was ultimately God who put them where they are. God gives the kingdoms of the earth “to anyone he wishes”. Does that mean they are always good men, or good women? That they are always wise, and godly, and highly capable? If only. No, obviously not. Daniel was clearly correct when he stated that God makes rulers out of the “lowliest of people”. Lowly in terms of their background, perhaps, and also sometimes lowly in terms of their character and intellect. And although each of us might have different opinions as to which rulers have most clearly demonstrated that principle, the basic point Daniel is making is that while God puts people in power, that doesn’t mean they are always good, or wise, or capable people. Nor do they need to be. Because they aren’t in control. They aren’t pulling the strings. God is. 

In Daniel’s case specifically, he was referring to Nebuchadnezzar, who had invaded Israel and taken its people captive. And Nebuchadnezzar was anything but a wise and intelligent ruler. You may remember that this was the king who set up a golden statue of himself, 90 feet tall, and commanded that everyone in his kingdom had to bow down and worship it. And when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to do so, he had them thrown into a fiery furnace. Happily, God protected them, but that decision shows how wicked and foolish this king was. In fact, at one point, God punished him by driving him out in the wilderness, to live among the wild animals and eat grass like an ox. Yes. God punished him by making him a vegetarian. This was not a wise and godly ruler. And yet, Daniel tells us that Nebuchadnezzar, and all human rulers, come to power according to God’s sovereign will. 

Here’s another passage:

Then Daniel praised the God of heaven 20 and said:

“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
    wisdom and power are his. 21 He changes times and seasons;
    he deposes kings and raises up others. (Daniel 2:19-21)

“He changes times and seasons.” We’ve seen this in our own country, haven’t we? We’ve experienced the political winds blowing one way and then another. And when those political “times and the seasons” change, it is because God changes them. Daniel also tells us here that God “deposes kings and raises up others”. It is God who decides when to bring one leader down and raise up another one. And that includes those who are good and wise, as well as those who are wicked and foolish. What are we to make of this? 

What this tells us is that God is always working out his good and wise purposes in the world, even when he does it through leaders who are not themselves good or wise. For example, in the case of Nebuchadnezzar, God told Israel that he was going use this foreign king, this ungodly man, to punish them for their disobedience. In Jeremiah, we read this:

8 Therefore the Lord Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words, 9 I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin.” (Jeremiah 25:8-9)

Note that God, speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, refers to Nebuchadnezzar as “my servant” in verse 9. Now, did Nebuchadnezzar consider himself to be a servant of Israel’s God, Yahweh? Was it his plan to carry out this prophecy? Definitely not. Nebuchadnezzar was a devout follower of the Babylonian religion, and he worshiped Babylonian gods like Maruk and Nabu. He had no intention of serving the God of the Bible. And yet, he did. God used him to accomplish his plans for Israel, which at that time were to discipline and chasten them for their disobedience, by taking them into exile in a foreign land. 

Now later, God did the exact opposite. After the people of Israel had been in bondage in Babylon for a generation, God raised up another pagan king, Cyrus, to free them from captivity and return them to Jerusalem. We read about this in the book of Isaiah:

“1 This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of.

5 I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God.
I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me,

13 I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight.

He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the Lord Almighty.” (Isaiah 45:1, 5, 13)

Let’s look at this. God, speaking through the prophet Isaiah, calls Cyrus “his anointed”.
In other words, God appointed Cyrus to his position and ordained him for this task. Now again, did Cyrus agree to this? He did not. In verse 5, God says to Cyrus, “I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me”. Cyrus didn’t even recognize the God of the Bible, much less intend to carry out his purposes. And yet verse 13 tells us that God raised him up. Why? So that he would rebuild Jerusalem, according to the prophecy. God used Cyrus, a pagan king, to carry out his plan, which in this case was to bless Israel and return them to their homeland. And Cyrus did that even though it did not benefit him; verse 13 tells us that there was no “price or reward” offered to Cyrus. He simply did it because God moved him to do so. He was God’s unwitting servant. 

All right. Let’s attempt some application. I’ll try to be careful. We live in a time of extreme political polarization, both in our country and throughout the Western world. That at least, we can all agree on. Right and Left, conservatives and liberals, seem farther apart than at any time in recent memory. And not only far apart on issues, but also just angry and contemptuous of one another. Political violence is rising. People seem to feel that they are justified in physically attacking those they disagree with. They are convinced that the future of America, and the future of our democracy, are at risk. They see those on the other side of the political divide as not just wrong or mistaken, but as evil, and malicious. They accuse the other side’s leaders of intentionally trying to destroy the country. In a recent poll conducted by NPR, 30% of adults agreed with the statement that, “Americans may have to resort to violence in order to get the country back on track”. Three out of ten. That’s scary.

What should our response to this be as Christians? Obviously, we need to do what we can to lower the temperature, but how? By starting with ourselves. By reminding ourselves that no human being, even someone powerful, with evil intentions, can thwart the purposes of God. God is in control. Full stop. And therefore, no president, no judge, no congressman, no billionaire, no news reporter, no political party or leader—no one on the face of the earth—can prevent God from carrying out his good and wise purposes. And that also means that no one can carry out any destructive or foolish plans of their own unless God permits it, for his purposes. And therefore, we should not fear what men will do. Nor should we put our hopes in men or women to save us. Why? Because God is using every one of these leaders, no matter where they are on the political spectrum—and again, whether they acknowledge him or not—God is using them as his instruments to bring about his purposes. Just like he did Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus. They literally cannot do anything to stop, or even slow down, what God has planned. So that’s our foundation, our bedrock conviction. God is in control, not people. Listen to the words of the Psalmist:

3 Do not put your trust in princes,
    in human beings, who cannot save.
4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
    on that very day their plans come to nothing.
5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God. (Psalm 146:3-5)

“Do not put your trust in princes”. Or in government officials. And also, do not fear what they may do. Now, I know that many people are quite troubled and agitated by what they hear and see in the news. And I would like to say a couple of things about that. First, please keep in mind that most of those sources of news and information are designed to keep us watching, and reading, and scrolling. That’s their goal. That’s how they make their money. How do they do that? By making us angry. “Rage-baiting”, is the term for it. In other words, they are manipulating our emotions to keep us engaged with their content. And so, for the sake of our mental health, not to mention the sake of our sanctification and holiness, we need to limit our exposure to it. Because in large doses, it is simply poison. So when you feel your anger and fear starting to rise up, just put down your phone. Read the Bible instead. That’s the antidote to the poison. And moreover, if that poison seeps into the church, Satan will use it as a wedge, to divide brothers and sisters from one another, as he has in many churches. But we can’t let that happen. Because what we are doing here is much more important than what anyone is doing in Washington. 

Let me say that again: whatever it is that you are tempted to be angry, or upset, or worried about with respect to national politics, it is far less important than the Vacation Bible School that we will be hosting this week. Because what is at stake here are the eternal souls of those children. Politics is far less important than the peanut butter and jelly we are collecting for the Richwood food bank. Because that collection is a testimony to the love of Christ for the needy of our community. And politics is far less important than the Bible study on Monday nights, or the women’s group, or the Hope Center meal on Tuesday. Because all of those things concern the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so those are the things that should be engaging our minds, and our emotions, and our energies. Not whatever the latest political outrage is on social media. Amen?

But the thing I want to emphasize, and this is critical, is that we need to put our trust in God, and not in people. Because God is in control, even when it seems that things are spinning out of control. And so we need to pray. We need to pray that God will accomplish his purposes, even through those who don’t know him or acknowledge him as Lord. We need to ask that God will influence the minds and hearts of leaders, to do the right thing, even those who don’t know him. And God can, and will do that. Listen to Proverbs 21:1:

1 In the Lord’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water
    that he channels toward all who please him. (Proverbs 21:1)

Imagine a stream of water flowing through your hand. Imagine turning it this way and that. And realize that it is just as easy for God to change the mind and heart of a leader, whether it’s a king, or a judge, or a governor. Because God is sovereign. He is sovereign over the affairs of men, and he is sovereign over the minds and hearts of men. And he can use even unrighteous people to accomplish his purposes.

Now, perhaps you don’t really believe that your prayers can make a difference when it comes to big national or world events. Let me give you another example from Scripture.
A little earlier, I spoke of God using a pagan king, Cyrus, to return Israel to their homeland. But did you know that this was in response to a prayer by one man? In the book of Daniel, chapter nine, he begins to pray. He confesses all the sins of Israel for which God had punished them by bringing them into exile in Babylon. And here is the response:

20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill— 21 while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. 23 As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. (Daniel 9:20-23) 

As soon as Daniel began to pray, the angel Gabriel was sent to tell him that God was going to release Israel from their Babylonian captivity. And so when God raised up Cyrus, it was in response to prayer by one man, Daniel. And our prayers can have the same impact. So if you’re concerned about what is happening in the world and in our country, the right response is not to be angry or anxious; that accomplishes nothing. The right response is to pray. 

I’m going to give you one more example from Scripture. We’re almost done. It concerns the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. When Jesus was killed, his followers were convinced that everything they had hoped for was lost. They thought that Satan and the forces of evil had triumphed. But none of that was true. Because three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. And the point I want to make is this: even that supremely wicked act, carried out by people whose intentions were evil, was under the sovereign control of God. Because God had a plan to redeem it and to use it for a good and redemptive purpose, which was the salvation of mankind. And so when it seemed that God had been defeated, and that evil had triumphed, he was actually in control and carrying out his purposes. 

After the resurrection, the apostles Peter and John were praying, and they said this:

“27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.” (Acts 4:27-28)

Herod, and Pilate, and the Gentiles, and the people of Israel conspired to together to arrest and crucify Jesus. They had no intention of serving God’s purposes. And yet they did. They did what God’s “power and will had decided beforehand should happen.” 

And God is in control today, just as he was then. However it may seem to us; whether you rejoice day to day in what you see happening, or whether you mourn what is happening, God is in control. And in the end, he will bring about his good, and wise, and redemptive purposes, regardless of who is in power. So as you look around you; as you survey what is happening in the world, don’t despair. Because despair is a sin. Instead, put your faith in God. Because He is working out his plan, and no one can thwart him from doing so. And when it seems that things are going well, remember to put your trust in God and not in men. Because God alone is sovereign, and God alone is worthy of our trust and confidence. 

Let me close by bringing this principle home to each one of us. Because God is not only sovereign over the world, and over world events, he is also sovereign over each of our worlds, and over the events of each of our lives. And just as we can trust God’s sovereign power with respect to what is happening nationally and globally, we can also trust God’s sovereign power with respect to what is happening locally, in our own homes, in our own circumstances, and in our own relationships. Whatever the intentions of other people might be, they cannot thwart God’s purpose for your life. They cannot prevent God from blessing you, and caring for you, and providing for you. Because they are not sovereign, God is. However strong or powerful they may appear to be, God is far stronger and far more powerful. And whether they intend to do so or not, God will work through them to carry out his plans and purposes. Therefore, we don’t need to fear them; we only need to place our trust in the God who loves us, the God who gave his son’s life to save us, and pray. I’ll end with the words of the Psalmist:

The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)

And the answer is “no one”. Amen?

The First Baptist Church of Richwood - June 14, 2026