Infinite Fellowship Ministries

The Sovereignty Of God – Part 2: Sermon By Apostle Gobanga

Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. 

Ephesians 1: 9-13 (KJV)

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 

Romans 8:28 (KJV)

God has total control of the past, present and future. Nothing happens out of the knowledge of God. The devil has been permitted to do what he does.

When something is considered good and perfect in God’s sight, it has stood the test of time. It has attained fulfillment.

God does not dwell in time but He is a good that uses time to fulfill His will. The opportune moment is called Kairos.

God works out His purpose in the context of time and space. He has oversight over everything that is tangible and has reality. We exist as God’s reality in that we are created in the image and likeness of God.

God will do everything possible to protect His purpose even in suffering. He uses suffering to sanctify and consecrate us for His purpose.

Sometimes God will allow one to go through heartbreaks to sanctify one for His purpose. He can allow one to lose one’s job in order to attain to His prophetic purpose for one to be placed in the right career.

If Joseph was not sold into slavery and later imprisoned, he would not have risen to be Prime Minister in Egypt. He later recognized that it was the doing of the Lord. He also by prophetic insight knew that Israel was going to later leave Egypt and inherit Canaan as promised to Abraham. Moses was the man that was the instrument of liberation after 400 years of captivity.

God’s sovereignty factors in positive and negative happenings in one’s life. We should not harbour anger and bitterness towards others because God could be using them to align us. We can be very subjective in how we view our grudges forgetting that we too have been tools in the hands of God to subject people into process that propels them to their destiny.

Sovereignty means God has rule of dominion and the right to exercise His authority over His creation. He gives men positions of authority according to His pleasure and purpose. It may look like evil rulers are getting away with their wickedness but God remains sovereign and continually works to establish His purpose. World War II was atrocious to the Jews under Hitler but it caused Israel to be formed in 1948.

God’s sovereignty is also the exercise of government on all in accordance to His prerogative and His rights. He has ownership and absolute right to exercise His sovereignty.

God operates within the context of His nature; He doesn’t operate outside it. He refers to His nature before He does anything. God’s purpose, will and actions are as a result of His nature; they are an expression of it.

The word of God is powerless without His nature. The same applies to His promises. It is the nature of God that gives His word power. The name of Jesus expresses the purpose of God. Calling on the name Jesus is invoking His nature.

There is no wisdom or counsel that is against God for in Jesus lie the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Nothing can rise up against God and succeed.

God’s sovereignty also has respect for the laws of nature e.g. planting and harvesting, because the earth is modulated by natural laws. There are also events of providence factored in by sovereignty of God that cannot be ignored. These natural laws operate for both the just and unjust. He allows the rain to fall on both the righteous and the wicked.

When you come to the place where you love and forgive people as God does, you are able to touch base with the sovereignty of God. You are able to see their purpose in your life.

There are things that God will not disclose to you regarding what is going on in your life and in society. Allow God to be God.

God is in control over all kingdoms. He installs and removes leaders according to His purpose. There are certain people in a nation who will never rule regardless of what they say or do. Euphoria doesn’t run a nation. 

Kenya is a prophetic nation in East and Central Africa. Everything that happens on earth and in our nation is in accordance to His purpose. We need to seek God before we vote. We need to cease being people from our various tribes. God doesn’t reason the way we as humans do. God looks at the one who has captured what is in His heart. 

The sovereignty of God works with His omniscience (all-knowing nature) from eternity past. God factors in all decisions that man will make. He then puts it into His overall plan for humanity, which is called the divine decree.

The divine decree of God refers to His eternal purpose in accordance to the counsel of His will. In the doctrine of divine decree, God works out everything according to the counsel of His will to attain His eternal purpose. There are things that God has ordained that must come to pass.

God’s decision making is free and voluntary and His actions are in line with His decree – eternal, holy and wise. The actions of God cannot be separated from His decrees just as man’s actions can’t be separated from his decisions.

Man sees God’s plans as many decrees because he is bound by time and space. But in truth, God only has one decree because He sees everything from past, present, future as in the here and now.

For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. 

Isaiah 57:15 (KJV)

In God’s eyes, history encompasses the present and the future. He declares the end from the beginning.

Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. 

Isaiah 46:10 (KJV)

God’s infinite mind has a lot to do with your future. Man’s finite mind thinks of things as they come. It thinks that each successive event has an independent purpose from the next. Infinite understanding doesn’t proceed step by step.

And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us. 

Acts 15:8 (KJV)

When you receive a prophetic word of promise, God may not always reveal what happens in between. Infinite wisdom is that God speaks about the future but will not tell you about the in-between. This can be a period of heaviness. He may appear silent but it doesn’t mean that He’s still not at work during this period between two glories. Between Malachi and Matthew, God did not speak but was setting the stage for the coming of the Messiah.

God consecrates one even when one is denied of various opportunities until His appointed time. There are people who have been waiting on God for good jobs and yet God is using this opportunity to consecrate one. God has factored in job loss and breakups in light of His purpose.

God’s present disappointments play into His eventual elevation. He gives you present disappointments for a season of consecration. We have to be less shortsighted and more focused on our prophetic destiny. If you are operating in the sovereignty of God, there are certain challenges that are ordained to preserve you from missing your destiny.

God used the Romans to rule over the Jews because the Jews lacked the capacity to set up the infrastructure for the spread of the Gospel and the functionality of a government able to govern such a large expanse.

God’s sovereignty has factored in your mess and your weaknesses. It sees you as the best and the best is yet to come.

God’s infinite mind has everything to do with your future. Man’s mind constantly thinks about the successive progression of events. However, God’s mind leaves some level of mystery due to the deficiency of man’s capacity to grasp the whole counsel of God’s will.

The decree of God is His purpose about the future in light of the past and present. Never define yourself in light of your past but in light of what God has spoken. You can’t attain your future unless you capture the heart and mind of God about your past and present in light of the circumstances He brings your way.

The decree of God is His eternal and immutable (unchangeable) will. No one can thwart what God has decreed about you, even yourself. The stage/context His decree happens is time and space. Judas was factored in the grand scheme of things in so far as Christ’s crucifixion was concerned.

The decree of God relates only to God’s transitive works. When you consider the Trinity, you can only distinguish them by their relationship to each other not what each does.

God the Father is the source of everything. The Son is begotten of the Father. The Spirit proceeds from the Father. However, the Father never decreed the existence of the Son. The Son has been with the Father since the beginning. Neither did the Father and Son decree the existence of the Holy Spirit. They have eternally existed as One.

The decree of God has nothing to do with the activities of the Trinity in the context of time and space. This is because the decree is necessary and not optional.

However, the decree of God factors in events that come to pass in time and space. It is conceived and ordained in eternity but executed in the context of time and space.

There may seem to be sequence in the execution because our finite understanding is bound by time but there is no sequence in the ordination of divine decree. God sees His decree in one perfect present – this is God’s infinite view.

E.g. In our finite view, there were 33 years between the incarnation and crucifixion of Jesus. But from God’s eternal view, the incarnation, crucifixion and ascension all happened at once. The Lamb of God was slain from the foundations of the Earth as per the eternal covenant of redemption.

God saw you when you were being conceived and born, going to school and getting to where you are here. He has seen your children after you, your death and even your appearance in His presence. He has seen it all!

Divine decrees from God’s perspective are one single act and not a succession of events as seen by man.

Therefore, we should find comfort in the things we go through because God has already figured it out. One should not play victim in this life. God has taken care of everything and knows what will happen after one has undergone frustrations.

Because God is immutable, there are no sequences or changes of experience in Him since He has seen the end from the beginning. 

When Adam was being created Jesus was being crucified, Abraham saw Christ.

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. 

John 8:56 (KJV)

Do not trade God’s timing for your deadline. Our impatience is because we lack an eternal perspective.

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 

Colossians 3:1-2 (KJV)

We allow circumstantial pressures to deviate us from the prophetic destiny. Let us arise into an eternal perspective.

God gives you substance for purpose. He doesn’t just give you things for the sake of it.

Abraham was childless when all his age mates had children and grandchildren. Ishmael was conceived because of the will of man. Isaac is a type of the spirit while Ishmael is a type of the flesh. That which is of the flesh will die but that which is of the spirit lives.

God spoke of Isaac when Ishmael was not born. God elected Isaac as His chosen one not Ishmael. His choices are not beholden to man’s opinion.

God is looking for people who understand His purpose and flow with Him. As INFEMI, when we understand what God has spoken to us, then we will not fight with other fellowships. When we start fighting with people, we digress but when we pray for our enemies and those who persecute us then we attain to maturity.

Jews were rejected by God because they rejected Christ. A true Jew is one who has been born in their spirit not one born as a Jew. One who is circumcised in the spirit and not necessarily in the flesh.

In the Spirit, there are people who have despised themselves because of lacking in one way or another. God wants us to see ourselves as He does; as successful.

Jacob was going to rule over Esau as it had already been decreed.

God would rather work with people who are willing to venture and make mistakes rather than those who do nothing. He loves adventurous people. 

God will have mercy on whosoever He will show mercy. He raised Pharaoh to demonstrate His power and hardened his heart in that He knew that it was in his heart was not to let the children of Israel go.

When you see people living in wickedness, it does not mean that God has authored wickedness. They have chosen this path and He has just left them to their own devices.