Sovereignty Of God Quotes

Almost all doctrinal error is really truth perverted. Truth wrongly divided. Truth disproportionately held and taught. ~ Arthur W. Pink

Why do we calculate our forces, and consult with flesh and blood to our grievous wounding? Jehovah has power enough without borrowing from our puny arm. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

The sovereignty of God is the only foundation for worship in the midst of tragedy. ~ David Platt

God is more interested in declaring than explaining. ~ Matt Chandler

God is the I AM that I AM not the I AM that we wish. ~ Jen Pollock Michel

The core problem seems to lie in the classical-philosophical equation of power with control, and thus omnipotence with omnicontrol, an equation that forces the problem of evil to be seen as a problem of God's sovereignty. If it is accepted that God is all-loving and all-powerful, and if maximum power is defined as maximum control, then by definition there seems to be no place for evil. If goodness controls all things, all things must me good. ~ Gregory A. Boyd

People, especially the young, wanted to hear about God and not man. ~ Billy Graham

The sovereignty of God is that golden sceptre in his hand by which he will make all bow, either by his word or by his works, by his mercies or by his judgements. ~ Thomas Brooks

The church growth movement has made many lasting contributions to our practice of ministry. But its overemphasis on technique and results can put too much pressure on ministers because it underemphasizes the importance of godly character and the sovereignty of God. ~ Timothy Keller

If God be denied, then His sovereignty and infallibility accrue to other agencies. ~ Rousas John Rushdoony

My friends, I do not believe it is preaching Christ and him crucified, to give people a batch of philosophy every Sunday morning and evening, and neglect the truths of this Holy Book. I do not believe it is preaching Christ and him crucified, to leave out the main cardinal doctrines of the Word of God, and preach a religion which is all a mist and a haze, without any definite truths whatever. I take it that man does not preach Christ and him crucified, who can get through a sermon without mentioning Christ's name once; nor does that man preach Christ and him crucified, who leaves out the Holy Spirit's work, who never says a word about the Holy Ghost, so that indeed the hearers might say, "We do not so much as know whether there be a Holy Ghost." And I have my own private opinion, that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and him crucified, unless you preach what now-a-days is called Calvinism. I have my own ideas, and those I always state boldly. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism. Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the gospel, if we do not preach justification by faith without works; not unless we preach the sovereignty of God in his dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor, I think, can we preach the gospel, unless we base it upon the peculiar redemption which Christ made for his elect and chosen people; nor can I comprehend a gospel which lets s ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

John Quincy Adams resolved to the discipline of rejecting argument for argument's sake would he sees that a fellow cabinet member is trying to draw him in to debating proposals the president will already reject. ~ Paul C. Nagel

The Christian story, centered as it is on the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the only story for making sense of desire and loss. ~ Jen Pollock Michel

Every time a believer mounts from this earth to paradise, it is an answer to Christ's prayer. A good old divine remarks, Many times Jesus and His people pull against one another in prayer. You bend your knee in prayer and say 'Father, I will that Thy saints be with me where I am'; Christ says, 'Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Those who understand God's sovereignty have joy even in the midst of suffering, a joy reflected on their very faces, for they see that their suffering is not without purpose. ~ R.C. Sproul

It is a strange misunderstanding to make Paul either a fatalist or a particularist; he is the strongest opponent of blind necessity and of Jewish particularism, even in the ninth chapter of Romans. But he aims at no philosophical solution of a problem which the finite understanding of man cannot settle; he contents himself with asserting its divine and human aspects, the religious and ethical view, the absolute sovereignty of God and the relative freedom of man, the free gift of salvation and the just punishment for neglecting it. Christian experience includes both truths, and we find no contradiction in praying as if all depended on God, and in working as if all depended on man. This is Pauline theology and practice. ~ Philip Schaff

And if you need to read that sentence again, no shame. It's complicated - as complicated as the sovereignty of God. Yet as simple as if. Gustave Eiffel did not build his tower so Lora and I could kiss on top of it. Nevertheless, his if made it possible. And it's your ifs that open doors of opportunity for others, most of whom you won't meet on this side of eternity. But make no mistake about it, every little if makes an exponential difference across time and eternity. History ~ Mark Batterson

The call of God is a call according to the nature of God; where we go in obedience to that call depends entirely on the providential circumstances which God engineers, and is not of any moment. The danger is to fit the call of God into the idea of our own discernment and say, "God called me there." If we say so and stick to it, then it is good-bye to the development of the life of God in us. ~ Oswald Chambers

Believing in the sovereignty of God injects courage in the act of desire. ~ Jen Pollock Michel

Supporting God's Scriptural ability to give or restrain man's desires, Jerry Bridges points to an amazing verse tucked away in Exodus 34:24. As Israel's people abandon their defense entirely to have a feast before Him three times per year, God says the surrounding peoples will be entirely devoid of even the logical desire to possess their land. ~ Jerry Bridges

On observing 1963 America for the first time, the author says that organization and standardization to a certain degree compete with divine providence. ~ Karl Barth

C.S. Lewis had come to demand of his nightly prayers a "realization," "a certain vividness of the imagination and the affectations" – a sure recipe for sleeplessness and misery. ~ Philip Zaleski

The sun was shining, but Christ had hidden Himself, and all the world was black to you; or it was night, and since the bright and morning star was gone, no other star could yield you so much as a ray of light. What a howling wilderness is this world without our Lord! If once He hideth Himself from us, withered are the flowers of our garden; our pleasant fruits decay; the birds suspend their songs, and a tempest overturns our hopes. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Desire, if it is to be trusted, is to be inspired by a holy vocabulary. ~ Jen Pollock Michel

Worship is the launching pad for life. ~ Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

God's comprehensive rule should ultimately stir faith, not frustration. I say ultimately because the biblical writers asked tough questions long before we did. They saw injustice and wondered about the purpose for the duration of evil. They were frustrated at times. They cried out to God, beat their chests, shed many tears, and endured much suffering. The sovereignty of God was not an abstract doctrine to faithful followers - it kept them hopeful, it helped them persevere, and it can do the same for Christians now. ~ Mitchell L. Chase

It is not that God is the spectator and sharer of our present life, howsoever important that is; but rather that we are the reverent listeners and participants in God's action in the sacred story, the history of the Christ on earth. ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The becoming attitude for us to take is that of godly fear, implicit obedience, and unreserved resignation and submission. But not only so: the recognition of the sovereignty of God, and the realization that the Sovereign Himself is my Father, ought to overwhelm the heart and cause me to bow before Him in adoring worship. At all times I must say Even so, Father, for so it seemeth good in Thy sight. ~ Arthur W. Pink

The Bible attitude is not that God sends sickness or that sickness is of the devil, but that sickness is a fact usable by both God and the devil. ~ Oswald Chambers

The more God-centered our worship practices, the more mercy-centered our life. ~ Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

He also went invisible, yet stayed (such privilege hath omnipresence). ~ John Milton

God chose to introduce Himself to us in the first verse of Genesis as a Creator. And yet so few Christians really understand the power of creativity to influence the culture. ~ Phil Cooke

Freewill does not impune the sovereignty of God, it in fact affirms it. ~ R. Alan Woods

Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world" (Acts 15:18). From the beginning God purposed to glorify Himself "in the Church by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world without end" (Eph. 3:21). To this end, He created the world, and formed man. His all-wise plan was not defeated when man fell, for in the Lamb "slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8) we behold the Fall anticipated. Now will God's purpose be thwarted by the wickedness of men since the Fall, as is clear from the words of the psalmist, "Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee: the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain" (Ps. 76:10). ~ Arthur W. Pink

There is no health in those who are displeased by an element in Your creation, just as there was none in me when I was displeased by many things You had made. Because my soul didn't dare to say that my God displeased me, it refused to attribute to You whatever was displeasing. ~ Augustine Of Hippo

That which should distinguish the suffering of believers from unbelievers is the confidence that our suffering is under the control of an all-powerful and all-loving God. Our suffering has meaning and purpose in God's eternal plan, and He brings or allows to come into our lives only that which is for His glory and our good. ~ Jerry Bridges

When we complain about the weather, we are, in reality, murmuring against God. ~ Arthur W. Pink

The sovereignty of God is absolute; yet it is never exercised in condemning men who ought to be saved, but rather, it has resulted in salvation of men who deserved to be lost. ~ Charles R. Erdman

A pine cone cannot fall from a tree unless God is involved. A bumblebee cannot pollenate a flower or sting your arm apart from the will of God. Money cannot enter or exit your bank account apart from the sovereignty of God. Little Ernest cannot be born or be buried in that grave just a half-mile from my house apart from God's will. Legislation cannot be passed in this country or in any other apart from God's sovereignty. You hold this book in your hands because God sovereignly allows you to hold this book in your hands. Everything is under His sovereign rule. Some of us believe that God is a bit like the president. He has a lot of power and authority, but there are checks and balances to limit Him. He is limited by our human choices, the events of the future, the wrongs of the past, or by those who do not believe in Him. Some of His legislations could be vetoed. His popularity can ebb and flow. But God is not like that at all. There are no limits to His rule and power. ~ Justin Buzzard

In our instinctive rebellion against pain, we are children again, and demand an active will to wreak our vengeance on. ~ George Eliot

We cannot infer from prosperity that God is pleased with us, nor can we infer from adversity that he is displeased with us. ~ Wilson Benton

Our culture says 'live your dream,' but God calls you to place your dream on His altar and to keep it there at all times. It is good to have hopes and dreams for the future, but we have no rights. There are no certainties. Any dream can become an idol and, if it does, God will bring it down. ~ Colin S. Smith

We do not pray to inform God of our needs, because He knows what we need before we ask.

What is prayer like for you?

Is it a religious ritual that you perform out of habit?

Is it a spiritual discipline that you practice because you want to be the best Christian you possibly can be?

Is it a mechanism by which you can bring your "shopping list" to God in order to have your needs met?

Or are you running to meet your Lover, to commune with Him, hungering to find your joy in Him, and to be fulfilled in His presence? ~ Bill Mills

All authority of governments on earth originates from the Sovereignty of God alone. ~ Abraham Kuyper

To the one who delights in the sovereignty of God the clouds not only have a 'silver lining' but they are silver all through, the darkness only serving to offset the light! ~ Arthur W. Pink

That eye which sees anything good in the creature is a blind eye; that eye which fancies it can discern anything in man, or anything in anything he can do to win the Divine favor, is as yet stone blind to the Truth of God, and needs to be lanced and cut, and the cataract of pride removed from it! ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

The clearest sensation that a human being has when he experiences the holy is an overpowering and overwhelming sense of creatureliness. That is, when we are in the presence of God, we are humbled and become most aware of ourselves as creatures. This is the opposite of Satan's original temptation, You shall be as gods. ~ R.C. Sproul

The myth of redemptive violence is, in short, nationalism become absolute. This myth speaks for God; it does not listen for God to speak. It invokes the sovereignty of God as its own; it does not entertain the prophetic possibility of radical judgment by God. It misappropriates the language, symbols, and scriptures of Christianity. It does not seek God in order to change; it embraces God in order to prevent change. Its God is not the impartial ruler of all nations but a tribal god worshiped as an idol. Its metaphor is not the journey but the fortress. Its symbol is not the cross but the crosshairs of a gun. Its offer is not forgiveness but victory. Its good news is not the unconditional love of enemies but their final elimination. Its salvation is not a new heart but a successful foreign policy. Its usurps the revelation of God's purposes for humanity in Jesus. It is blasphemous. It is idolatrous. ~ Walter Wink

If you believe that God overrules all things for good, and only permits apparently evil happenings for good and the achievement of great ends unbeknown to you, then all is well. All is well because you believe in the sovereignty of God. ~ Henry Thomas Hamblin

Forget happiness. You were called to a throne. How will you prepare for it? That is the question of virtue, Christian style. ~ N. T. Wright

Worry and anxiety reflect our hearts' distrust in the goodness and sovereignty of God. Worry is a spiritual issue and must be fought with faith. ~ Kevin DeYoung

That's the excitement in obedience, finding out later what God had in mind. ~ Brother Andrew

She did not find these riches (of fulfillment). They were a gift from God. ~ Lyle W. Dorsett

There are many themes found in the Book of Psalms that are generally not found in modern music. These include the fear of God, the righteousness and justice of God, the sovereignty of God, the judgement of God, the evil of sin, spiritual and physical warfare, the arch enemies of the Christian, the destruction of the wicked, the reality of hell, the blessedness of the church, the vicious attacks upon the church, the commandments of God, the dominion of David's son, and so on. Without the backdrop of these truths, the themes of love, mercy, faith, and salvation become largely meaningless. ~ Kevin Swanson

The presence of hope in the invincible sovereignty of God drives out fear. ~ John Piper

It is well for us when prayers about our sorrows are linked with pleas concerning our sins - when, being under God's hand, we are not wholly taken up with our pain, but remember our offences against God. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

We think in terms of apostolic journeys. God dares to put His greatest ambassadors in chains. ~ Watchman Nee

Always, in Lincoln's mature theology, there is paradox. There is starting this, yet there is also tenderness; there is melancholy, yet there is also humor: there is moral law, yet there is also compassion. History is the scene of the working out God's justice, which we can never escape, but it is also the scene of the revelation of the everlasting mercy. ~ Elton Trueblood

Sin is cosmic treason. Sin is treason against a perfectly pure Sovereign. It is an act of supreme ingratitude toward the One to whom we owe everything, to the One who has given us life itself. Have you ever considered the deeper implications of the slightest sin, of the most minute peccadillo? What are we saying to our Creator when we disobey Him at the slightest point? We are saying no to the righteousness of God. We are saying, God, Your law is not good. My judgement is better than Yours. Your authority does not apply to me. I am above and beyond Your jurisdiction. I have the right to do what I want to do, not what You command me to do. ~ R.C. Sproul

It is by suffering that Christ brings it in to the kingdoms of this world ~ L. Michael Morales

A WORD OF CAUTION The material in this chapter is "tough stuff." It should be read, studied, and prayed about when life is more or less routine. It should be stored up or hidden in our hearts (see Psalm 119:11) for the time of adversity when we must draw upon its truth. Above all, we need to be very sensitive about instructing someone else in the sovereignty of God and encouraging that person to trust God when he or she is in the midst of adversity or pain. It is much easier to trust in the sovereignty of God when it is the other person who is hurting. We need to be like Jesus, of whom it was said, "A bruised reed he will not break" (Matthew 12:20). Let us not be guilty of breaking a bruised reed (a heavy heart) by insensitive treatment of the heavy doctrine of the sovereignty of God. ~ Jerry Bridges

The greatness of the man's power is the measure of his surrender. ~ William Booth

Almightiness and wisdom combined will make no failures. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

I didn't know how faith felt when it grew incrementally. ~ Jen Pollock Michel

As leaders, it all comes down to trust. Do you trust the sovereignty of God? ~ Christine Caine

He writes that synergism gives the "fallen creature . . . ability to control God's free and sovereign work of salvation." Then he audaciously associates all Christians who are not Calvinists with belief in this doctrine. White believes that the act of receiving (as in receiving God's grace) is a type of "work" that takes away from the sovereignty of God. He therefore concludes that a man's free will to receive the gospel somehow "controls God's work of salvation. ~ Micah Coate

We must worship God before we can reverence parents or women, or root out flunkeyism and money-worship. ~ Thomas Hughes

If we know our original blessing, we can easily handle our original sin. If we rest in a previous dignity, we can bear insults effortlessly. If you really know your name is on some eternal list, you can let go of the irritations on the small lists of time. Ultimate security allows you to suffer small insecurity without tremendous effort. If you are tethered at some center point, it is amazing how far out you can fly and not get lost. ~ Richard Rohr

It is a self-evident truth that a person who truly prays and seeks God's wisdom in life recognizes the sovereignty of God and is committed to seeking God's wisdom in life's important choices. ~ Ravi Zacharias

On what grounds would God be told that He can bring death to millions of people at the end of a normal life span, but that He may not do it in any other way? ~ Donald Grey Barnhouse

Luther looks at all the jobs that are out there and he says, These are the masks of God, behind which He wants to remain concealed, and do all things. Christians have to be profoundly appreciative of good work done on absolutely everything. ~ Timothy Keller

If there is one single molecule in this universe running around loose, totally free of God's sovereignty, then we have no guarantee that a single promise of God will ever be fulfilled. ~ R.C. Sproul

If we teach Truth but not the Source of Truth, we don't really succeed in passing on our faith. ~ Kevin Thoman

You can't believe what a lovely planet we have until you see her from outside. ~ Robert A. Heinlein

God sat over the dark nothing and wrote you and me specifically into the story, and He put us in specifically with the sunsets in the rainstorms as though to say, Enjoy your place in My story, the very beauty of it means it's not about you, and in time that will give you comfort. ~ Donald Miller

The author points out strikingly different reactions to calamity. While many passengers of a devastating shipwreck were thankful to be alive, future presidential assassin Charles Guiteau saw his being spared as proof of his exceptionalism rather than of the grace from which he benefited. ~ Candice Millard

The seed of acceptable devotion must come from heaven's storehouse. Only the prayer which comes from God can go to God. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

The free-will of man cannot impune the sovereignty of God, and conversely the sovereignty of God would not impune the free-will of men. ~ R. Alan Woods

The battle belongs to the Lord, and we already know that He wins the war. ~ Jared Brock

Though the absolute sovereignty of God over our lives is consistently taught throughout Scripture, it is not the uncaring sovereignty of a despot but of a God who is just as loving and caring as He is sovereign. But we have to by faith believe that truth when His ways are different from that which we desire. My ~ Jerry Bridges

All the arguing in the world won't change the mind of the Umpire. ~ Pride Of The Yankees

Man is most free when he is most guided. ~ Elton Trueblood

Dismally enough, some of us are insecure in such a way that we cannot bear the thought of the sovereignty of God, the thought of His Being as greater than ourselves; it moves us into feelings of insignificance. Nonetheless, allow me to personally and peacefully maintain that if I were to worship and obey anything, I would like it far greater than myself or any person or human system, preferably to a point where it, in all its majesty, makes me feel lost and even 'creatural' in my basic humanity. Only this God - He who is great beyond human measure, yet still considers His creation precious - I find to be more than worthy of praise; otherwise, I bow down and worship nothing. And if the thought of such a superior and almighty God were to indeed offend me, I would have to remember that it is because I am only as significant as the things which I am idolizing, things which are ultimately separating me, the creation, from my ultimate Creator. ~ Criss Jami

Some may object that to speak of election or predestination is to limit the kingdom of God to a few. Does it make God a capricious tyrant? We must answer that such objections usually stem from a refusal to accept that we are faced here with a mystery that is not given to us to solve. There is also a radical misunderstanding which maintains that God's sovereignty in election removes man's responsibility. Such is not true. How divine sovereignty and human responsibility work together we cannot know. The Bible makes it clear that they do. // Let us remember that Jesus discriminated and limited the numbers of the saved: 'Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it' (Matthew 7:13-14). This is in line with the Old Testament teaching that only a faithful remnant of Israel would be saved. ~ Graeme Goldsworthy

God is not an actor within the larger scheme of things. He is not a muscle-bound Jupiter, bullying the littler ones. He is the Author of the whole thing. We never ask how much of Hamlet's role was contributed by Hamlet, and how much by Shakespeare. That is not a question that can be answered with 70/30 or 50/50 or 90/10. The right answer is 100/100. Hamlet's actions are all Hamlet's and they are all Shakespeare's. Douglas Wilson ~ Douglas Wilson

The sovereignty of God is often questioned because man does not understand what God is doing. Because He does not act as we think He should, we conclude He cannot act as we think He would. GOD ~ Jerry Bridges

In brokenness comes beauty, divine fragility. ~ MercyMe

Immediate are the acts of God, more swift than time or motion. ~ John Milton

It is a most blessed thing to be subject to the sovereignty of God. ~ John Calvin

A big part of me needed something outside myself to tell me who I was. The thing that had been designed to tell me who I was was gone. ~ Donald Miller

Often the question of, "Who am I?" should be answered with, "Whose am I? ~ Matt Chandler

Most Christians salute the sovereignty of God but believe in the sovereignty of man. ~ R.C. Sproul

We must remember that all stations are as much about life as they are obviously about death. All is redeemed. All is grist for transformation and glory. ~ Megan McKenna

Some Christians live in such fear, they act as if they believe in the sovereignty of Satan rather than the sovereignty of God. ~ Steven J. Lawson

This illustrates the working of all false religions. They originate in man's desire to exalt himself above God, but they result in degrading man [287] below the brute. Every religion that wars against the sovereignty of God defrauds man of the glory which was his at the creation, and which is to be restored to him in Christ. Every false religion teaches its adherents to be careless of human needs, sufferings, and rights. The gospel places a high value upon humanity as the purchase of the blood of Christ, and it teaches a tender regard for the wants and woes of man. The Lord says, "I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir." Isaiah 13:12. When ~ Ellen G. White

One of the great wonders of Christianity is that you were born into your times, to set your times aright. ~ John Eldredge

Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance. It is laying hold of His willingness. ~ Martin Luther

Guidance, like all God's acts of blessing under the covenant of grace, is a sovereign act. Not merely does God will to guide us in the sense of showing us his way, that we may tread it; he wills also to guide us in the more fundamental sense of ensuring that, whatever happens, whatever mistakes we may make, we shall come safely home. Slippings and strayings there will be, no doubt, but the everlasting arms are beneath us; we shall be caught, rescued, restored. This is God's promise; this is how good he is. ~ J.I. Packer

What defines us as Christians is not most profoundly that we have come to know him but that he took note of us and made us his own. ~ John Piper

I long to see Christians get beyond themselves and start seeing the glory of God as it pertains to their own life. We need great people who understand that their success is wrapped up in the sovereignty of God. If we can do that, a faith, power, energy and zeal will emerge that will take us forward in the things of the Holy Spirit. We must become overwhelmed with who God wants to be for us! ~ Graham Cooke