God’s Sovereignty versus Human Rebellion (Genesis 50.20)

Praise and thanksgiving before the word

The service opens with praise and thanksgiving. God is proclaimed the excellent King of glory, who holds everything together by the word of His power, the sovereign God who does whatever He wants, the Lord of heaven and earth.

He is given glory, worship and thanks, and a prayer is heard that God’s glory would rise higher and higher and fill the whole earth, as a river fills the sea.

Introduction: our responsibility and God’s part

The Holy Spirit draws our attention to responsibility

The Holy Spirit wants to draw our attention to the fact that we can never take our responsibility off ourselves. We do what God tells us to do, regardless of whether what we expect or think is happening.

God’s part and man’s part

We must always understand that there is God’s part and there is man’s part. No human being can take on God’s responsibility, and God is not going to take our responsibilities upon Himself. That is why God wants us to learn to look to Him.

An extreme position: “I do nothing”

But, thank God, this does not mean that we do nothing at all. It is wrong to think like this: “Here I am looking only to the Lord, let Your will be done, whatever You want, but I do nothing.”

“Everything is already decided” – who really decides

That is precisely why, before the elections, a call went out to go and vote. This is our responsibility.

Many said: “Everything is already decided, it does not matter whether you vote or not.” Yes, it is already decided, but do you know who decides it?

The Lord God decides. The preacher wants to introduce us to our God, and this is the reason why God says: give thanks for everything.

Give thanks for everything

God can say this because no matter what happens, He governs everything. He does not merely observe, He governs everything.

God is such that He can take the evil of the wicked and use it as a resource for the fulfilment of His will.

The purpose of this sermon

This is what we are invited to reflect on, so that we never again become upset over what has happened or is happening, but learn to say: “Lord, thank You. Hallelujah,” instead of “Oh my God, not again.”

This is not just comfort, but truth: God turns the cunning of the wicked against themselves.

Theme: God’s sovereignty versus human rebellion

What to call this theme

If we give the sermon a title, it could be called God’s sovereignty versus human rebellion, or human evil and God’s sovereignty.

God allows man to make a choice

God will allow man to make his choice. God will allow people to resist Him, to devise something against Him and against His truth. He can allow this, and He uses it as part of His sovereign plan.

This is our God

The preacher wants to show many places from the Bible so that we can see that this is our God.

The outcome of the elections in Latvia

Whatever the outcome or result of the elections in Latvia, if God’s children living in Latvia do not stop praying and do not stop doing what God and His Word lays upon us as a responsibility, God’s destiny for Latvia will be fulfilled.

To the question “when?” there is one answer: this is not our business, God has His own time.

The devil wants to wear out and disappoint God’s children

The devil wants God’s children to be worn out and disappointed. This is connected not only with the elections, it is in life in general.

You see evil around you, you see that something is not happening although you read that God wants it, and you ask the Lord a question: why is this happening?

Asaph’s lesson

The classic example is Asaph. He observed that there was evil around him, that the wicked prosper, that their plans seem to be crowned with success, and that people who want to live rightly and are honest do not receive from their labour.

Asaph was grieved and did not know what to do: join these people or leave God. But in revelation he understood that they are on a slippery path.

Psalm 73:17-19 17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end. 18 Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. 19 Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors. (NKJV)

It is a question of time: they will fall. If you do not want to fall, do not step onto the slippery path.

God destroys the plans of the cunning (Job 5:8-14)

Eliphaz’s words about God

We open Job, chapter five, verses eight through fourteen. Scripture must be read carefully and we must let this passage speak to us.

Job 5:8-14 8 But as for me, I would seek God, And to God I would commit my cause – 9 Who does great things, and unsearchable, Marvelous things without number. 10 He gives rain on the earth, And sends waters on the fields. 11 He sets on high those who are lowly, And those who mourn are lifted to safety. 12 He frustrates the devices of the crafty, So that their hands cannot carry out their plans. 13 He catches the wise in their own craftiness, And the counsel of the cunning comes quickly upon them. 14 They meet with darkness in the daytime, And grope at noontime as in the night. (NKJV)

These are the words of Eliphaz, Job’s friend. He speaks about God, who does many great and unsearchable things, but what is said in the twelfth and thirteenth verses is especially important.

Who the cunning people are

Cunning people are sly, deceitful, manipulating people who have a scheme. They never walk a straight path, they go by a cunning way. They are everywhere, and, unfortunately, they are also in the church.

God destroys their plans

The Bible says that God destroys their plans, and as a result of what they started, their hands cannot accomplish it.

They will begin, but not finish

It is not said that they will not begin. They will begin, and it will even look as though everything is going right and well for them. But the problem is that the end is always very important, and God knows the end from the very beginning.

What God has already purposed will be fully fulfilled in the end. That is why they will not be able to finish it.

Being on God’s side, not on the side of parties

We must always think about God’s plans and about being on God’s side, and not on the side of some parties and factions. When people become divided from one another because they have taken up certain groups or parties, it grieves.

God laughs, and His people can laugh with Him

The word “catches” means to set a net. It is very interesting how God works. In many places of Scripture it is said that God laughs, but for some reason God’s people cannot laugh together with God, because sometimes reality is so oppressive that laughing does not work.

A prayer about focusing on God’s wisdom

Not to be crushed by reality

The prayer here is this: “Lord, help me not to be crushed by what I see around me. Help me, Lord, to focus on Your wisdom, so that I can laugh together with You, even when I see the plans of wicked people, when I see the cunning of those who in their own eyes call themselves wise.”

God allows evil, but catches the wicked

God destroys the cunning plans of wicked people, and all of it turns against them. This extends to all spheres.

God allows them to do what they have devised, but uses it as His sovereign plan in order to catch them.

The wicked will be caught. There are state structures that do this, but God promises it completely: they will be caught precisely by their own plans and by their own cunning schemes.

Human wisdom versus God’s wisdom (1 Corinthians 3:19-20)

God gave man a mind

Here God’s wisdom and human wisdom are set side by side. God gave man a mind, and if you look at what man has invented, you can be horrified at humanity’s abilities.

Man is already on the verge of creating an artificial human who can practically do things even better than a human.

Man builds a trap for himself

God does not stop this, because in His sovereign plan evil will be punished.

Everything man does, excluding God, is born out of pride, out of the thought that we can do without God, without His wisdom and without His truth. All of this becomes a trap that will catch him himself.

Only God is able to do this: man builds a trap for himself and rejoices in it, saying: “Look, we can do it without You, Your wisdom is outdated.”

Some say that biblical wisdom is outdated, that there are more modern wisdoms, that two thousand years ago it was outdated, and we are modern. But God says that He will catch the wise in their own cunning, and all their plans work against them.

Do not be wise in your own eyes

1 Corinthians 3:19-20 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; 20 and again, “The LORD knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” (NKJV)

God warns: do not be wise in your own eyes.

Proverbs 3:5-6 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. (NKJV)

God says: without Me you can do nothing. Man says: let us see what we can do without You. God says: good.

That is why it is written that their counsels become futile, empty in the end.

God is not against development, but against wisdom without Him

God created man with a mind and desires that we develop, that we be intelligent and thinking people. He is not against education and not against development, because He is the one who gave man a mind.

It is about something else: when a man uses his mind and his understanding against God’s way, God’s plans or desires, when he relies on his own cleverness and cunning, he in the end falls into a trap.

Worldly, human wisdom is itself the trap into which those who compose it fall.

God resists the proud

James 4:6 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” (NKJV)

When a man by his pride sets himself against God, the Bible says that he will fall and fall. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Christ crucified – God’s power and God’s wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:23-24)

One of the striking examples

Let us read 1 Corinthians, chapter one, verses twenty-three and twenty-four. This is one of the striking examples of how God is able to use evil, human arrogance and human cunning, to fulfil His will and His plan.

1 Corinthians 1:23-24 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (NKJV)

Christ must be at the centre of my life

Christ is for us God’s wisdom, God’s wisdom and God’s power. Christ is my wisdom and my power. He must be at the centre of my life.

I must study His life, take example from Him and pursue His goals and His will.

He became a stumbling block for many

But this Christ, when He came into the world, became a stumbling block for many people. He got in the way, He was like a bone in the throat, including for religious people, because they did not want to accept His standard.

They called His wisdom foolishness, and they had an alternative to this wisdom.

Heaven laughs

As a result they crucified Him. Do you think they celebrated that evening when He was arrested and crucified?

They rejoiced and celebrated because they had got rid of Him. But the Bible says that heaven laughs, God laughs.

Why? Because when a man rejects God’s wisdom, he becomes foolish and insane.

Man shows his wisdom, and God shows that this wisdom is futile, that it is zero, that it is foolishness.

God controls the season and the times

Throughout Scripture we see this. When we study the books of Kings, we see different kings. All the kings who thought they were wise – we see how God allows them to rule, and we see their end.

God allows it because He controls the season and the times, and He waits for a certain moment.

1 Corinthians 1:19-20 19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” 20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? (NKJV)

The Lord calls the reasoning of the wise futile, empty.

Why human wisdom sometimes prevails

There is divine wisdom and there is human wisdom. Sometimes it seems that human wisdom prevails, and God’s children ask: “Lord, why? We prayed, we are praying, we do what You say, and sometimes it is as if human wisdom prevails.”

God says that it is not so. We must look from God’s perspective. Everything that the godless or the cunning wise men of this world have planned and that so far prevails – is a trap.

God catches the wise in their own cunning.

God turned evil into redemption (Acts 4:25-28)

A coalition against the Anointed One

Let us open the Acts of the Apostles, chapter four, verses twenty-five through twenty-eight.

Acts 4:25-28 25 who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: “Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain things? 26 The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the LORD and against His Christ.” 27 For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. (NKJV)

Here the Bible says: Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, the people of Israel. They all came together. They consulted together and decided what they would do: we will not let this Jesus rule over us, we will not let His influence spread in our country.

They consulted together against the Anointed One. The Anointed One is Christ and everything He represents: His values, His programme, the heavenly programme. Everything He represents – they are against it.

They gathered together, and they could outwit and persuade people.

“Your hand and Your purpose determined before”

The twenty-eighth verse is very interesting: to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.

The intention of Herod, Pilate, the Gentiles and all the people of Israel, who were against what God wanted, through these actions became the fulfilment of God’s sovereign plan.

God’s sovereign will proved to be higher than their resistance and rebellion.

Evil ceased to be evil

Their evil ceased to be evil, because God turned this evil into redemption.

Who believes that God will not change?

Who believes that God is able to turn evil into redemption?

When they were doing this evil and thinking: “We will show You, we will do what we want, we will not let Your will be fulfilled here, because we have a desire not to approve Your will,” – God says: do it, do it.

This is Jesus, God’s Jesus. He is not for evil, but human hearts are wicked, and God knows it.

Peace and confidence for those who are with God

There are people who have known Him as God, and therefore they understand: it does not matter what concerns evil, if we will be together with God.

If we give thanks to God for who He is, for His ability to turn evil into part of the fulfilment of His sovereign plan, then, first of all, we will have peace. The devil cannot wear us out. We can be calm, we can be confident.

And then out of this evil you see something beautiful, you see redemption from God, and this changes your prayer.

How they prayed

Look how they prayed in this place in Acts. They prayed, trusted in the word of God and said:

Acts 4:29 29 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, (NKJV)

The devil wants them to be silenced, to speak no more. They were threatened, and the enemies celebrated their victory, as it seemed to them. But they quote the Word of God and see how different people gather together against God’s Anointed One, against His programme and His values.

The righteous go through threats

This does not mean that there will be no threats. The righteous will go through various problems and persecutions.

People will not understand: why are you not on the side of what everyone is doing?

The answer is this: I do not think that I am righteous. I believe in God’s word, I believe in God’s truth, I am on the side of truth.

The narrow path leads to life

Jesus said that there is a wide path and there is a narrow path. I will not walk the wide path, I will walk the narrow path, which in the end leads to life.

Matthew 7:13-14 13 Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (NKJV)

Yes, there is narrowness on this narrow path, there are inconveniences, but in the end – it is life.

The preaching of the cross

We see that God turned what they devised as evil into salvation.

That is why it is said that the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, that is, stupidity to those who are perishing. Why? Because they think they are wiser.

What is this way of the cross?

And God turns it into His wisdom, which saves to this day.

Joseph and the word “but God” (Genesis 50:20)

Coalitions of evil

A few more thoughts. Genesis, chapter fifty, verse twenty. This is Joseph.

There are always coalitions of evil. Coalitions is not a political word, we see it in God’s word: they gather together, they build plans together.

Joseph represents God’s truth. He was very honest. So when his brothers did something cunning, he told his father, and as a result he became inconvenient for them. “What shall we do with this Joseph? Let us get rid of him.”

Plans concerning the future

Dear friends, while we are here, there are people who are making plans concerning the future of this country. They make plans, they consult together, day and night, and not only about this country, but about Europe and about the world. They have it all clearly determined, what will be.

And God laughs. Why then can His people not laugh?

Can God turn evil into good

If we have this revelation, we will be calm. This does not mean that we will have no difficulties and that we will not be uncomfortable.

It is about what kind of God you believe in, what your God is able to do, how you see God.

Is He able to turn evil into part of the fulfilment of His sovereign plan, so that what was evil ceases to be evil, because God takes it as an instrument to fulfil His will, and those who composed it are caught in this evil and fall into the pit they were digging?

Genesis 50:20 20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. (NKJV)

The central word here is “but God.” Let us all say together: “but God.” He turned it into good.

A coalition against one

The word “meant” speaks not of one person, but of a coalition, of a group of people. This is a rebellion against one who was honest. He had no chance in that democratic system: one against everyone, there are no options.

So what happened to him? He ended up in a pit, he ended up in slavery, he was slandered, he ended up in prison. He went through difficulties.

Difficulties do not mean that you are not with God

Therefore, Christians, we must understand one thing: when no difficulty occurs, that is not a sign of blessing.

If you are told that if you are with God, you will have everything and there will be no difficulties, throw out these thoughts, because they do not correspond to God’s truth.

If some prophet or someone else ministers and gives only comfort, you can say: thank you for the comfort, but I will remain in the truth.

Christ’s cross and our cross

Do not forget to look at the cross. Did Christ go through difficulties or not?

Did He have pains and sufferings or not?

Did He have a cross or not?

And what does He say to His disciples? “I have a cross, you will have your own. Take up your cross and follow Me.” Focus on Him.

The divine factor

Joseph said: you devised all this for evil. But God.

When I hear horrifying pictures, I say that people have forgotten the divine factor. This is so terrible! There is no way out! They have forgotten the divine factor.

What does this mean? God will turn all of it – the darkness, all these threats, all this lawlessness and meaninglessness – He will turn it into good.

The wicked digs a pit for himself (Psalm 7:15-17)

God prepares grateful people

Let us open the Psalm, chapter seven, verses fifteen through seventeen.

Psalm 7:14-16 14 Behold, the wicked brings forth iniquity; Yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood. 15 He made a pit and dug it out, And has fallen into the ditch which he made. 16 His trouble shall return upon his own head, And his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown. (NKJV)

God prepares us to be prepared people: people who can be grateful always and for everything, people who can rejoice when they fall into any temptation or trial, because they know in whom they have believed, and know that God is sovereign over all authority.

How revelation about God affects our life

Who among us has a revelation of such a God?

How does this revelation affect your reactions, your thinking, your actions?

Do you allow the enemy to capture your heart with fear, anxiety and worry?

Or perhaps you are not worried about anything, because you have already given up and become indifferent: what will be, will be.

God wants our participation

When God wants your participation, He wants the resource of your faith, the resource of your proclaiming and declaring His will.

He wants this. He does not want you to be indifferent, and He does not want fear to capture your heart. He wants you to be involved in His plans.

Proclamation instead of fear

Say: I do not care what Satan thinks, I do not care what the kings of the earth think. I believe in God, who can take evil and turn it into good, so that it becomes salvation for many people.

Latvia will see salvation, as long as there are God’s children who stand on His side, who proclaim His word, who will not stop praying – and God’s will will be accomplished for their nation.

Progress in this passage of Scripture

In this passage of Scripture there is even a kind of progression: the wicked conceived iniquity, he devised it, someone planted the seed, he became pregnant with evil, he planned it, he dug a pit, he gave birth to a lie and spreads this lie.

One of the devil’s tricks

One of the devil’s tricks is to spread a lie and present it in such a way that people believe it is the truth. There are people who call evil a lie that suppresses the truth.

God says here that this becomes their own destruction. This evil does not simply disappear, but turns against themselves.

The only salvation is repentance

The only salvation is repentance. This is what we pray for: that people would repent. Because when repentance happens, a person realises that this is evil, and he turns around.

Haman: a pit for the one who dug it (Esther 3:8; 7:9-10)

There are two laws

The second example we see is very striking. There is a certain Haman. He loves power, he loves everyone bowing before him, he loved being feared. Haman goes: come, bow down. Who remembers this?

The Book of Esther, chapter three, verse eight.

Esther 3:8 8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other people’s, and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain. (NKJV)

Look: there are two laws. There is always God’s law and there is the law of the land.

When there is a conflict, some people allow the law of the land to swallow their faith for the sake of recognition, for the sake of wealth, for the sake of glory, for the sake of their own benefits. But there are people who hold to God’s law.

“I have made a choice”

You have already made your choice. Who here has already made their choice?

You must remind yourself: “I have made a choice.” There is a song like that: “I have made a choice.”

God allowed Haman to act

Haman persecuted Mordecai, who represented God’s people. When this situation reached its climax, Haman prepared a gallows for Mordecai.

If you look at this story, read it again if you have long forgotten it, and you will see: God allowed him to do this.

He was succeeding, everything was going well for him, this plan seemed to go smoothly. But God’s people suffered and felt threatened, and the only thing they could do was go to God. They prayed, they fasted, they trusted in the Lord.

Our responsibility when evil advances

What should we do?

What responsibility do we have when we see evil, when we see that the wheel of evil is winning or advancing forward?

We have no other options. We do not need to do evil in order to overcome evil. Only good can come from us. Only right words can come from us.

We will not curse anyone, on the contrary, we bless.

We know the God who turns evil into good

Because we know the God who is able to turn evil into good. We believe in good, we want to see good.

We want to see, in doing God’s will, our life. We want to see the fulfilment of God’s will for our church and for our country. This is what is very important that we do not miss.

Look, this is Esther, chapter seven, verses nine and ten.

Esther 7:9-10 9 Now Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, “Look! The gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.” Then the king said, “Hang him on it!” 10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided. (NKJV)

The wicked dig a pit and rejoice in it, and as a result they fall into it themselves, because the wisdom of fools, the wisdom of the wicked, God will destroy.

Conclusion

God does not merely observe

God does not merely observe, He participates. He has a perfect will, and it will be fulfilled. There are various things that happen between the fulfilment of His perfect will, and we are involved in it.

God wants to involve us, so that we know Him, believe in Him and obey Him. And then everything that was planned as evil, He will turn into good.

Obedience from beginning to end

In Joseph’s story we see that he knew his God. He believed in his God and was obedient to God from beginning to end.

Only in this way can God turn evil into good. If at any of these stages we become part of the system of evil, we will fall into that pit together with the wicked.

Guard your heart

Guard your heart. Do not allow evil to bend you, so that you become part of this system. There is no future for this system.

The God of heaven has decreed, and it does not matter who thinks otherwise. The God of heaven has decreed, and no one has changed it.

Make your choice

So let us make our choice, on whose side we will be. Not just with words, but with the heart, with thinking, with a way of life, with proclamation.

Proverbs 12:13 13 The wicked is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, But the righteous will come through trouble. (NKJV)

That is, by what we say, we can be ensnared by our own words.

God is not late

Therefore we truly need God’s grace. In order not to become upset, we need God’s grace. So that we can see that no matter what happens around us: God is not late.

He will come and reveal His glory. The most important thing is that when He comes, you are still there, that you are still remaining with Him.

Question and answer

How to pray for those who do evil

A question was asked. My own brother asks it very often: he lives in places where there is so much evil and so much demonic evil, where people use demonic powers and destroy the lives of other people.

And he often had a prayer that God’s fire would come, a radical prayer: just everything.

We discussed with him, and I say: let them live and see how God blesses you.

Psalm 23:5 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. (NKJV)

The question is very interesting: how do you know when to pray that God would remove those who do evil, or to pray that God would open their eyes?

General principle: bless

If we follow biblical wisdom, God says that we should pray for enemies and bless those who hate us. Nowhere is it said that we should remove them.

Matthew 5:44 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, (NKJV)

General principle and a specific word

We take the general biblical principle: we pray for enemies and bless. But when God gives a rhema, a specific word, we must obey.

There is a time when God may say: enough, and He will say to you: remove.

Example: a meeting in France

I was at a meeting when the apostle John was still alive. We gathered in France, prayed and worshipped, and at some point a specific word came concerning a certain leader. God specifically said that he would leave.

And there was prayer, and two weeks passed, and everything was fulfilled. But there was a word, a specific word.

Example: a shop

In my story there was a moment, which I have told about, concerning a shop. We had such a shop in our city. I usually do not do such things, but that day the Holy Spirit prompted me to do it.

I told that woman that I was dismissing her. She asked: who are you? I did not answer her. I said what I had to say.

Then some time passed, I do not remember how long. Not only was she dismissed, she was deprived of work altogether, and this shop closed completely.

After that time I did nothing of the kind. God no longer gave me such a prompting. We simply need to be sensitive in the spirit.

Jeremiah 1:10 10 See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant. (NKJV)

But God’s general principle is this: we bless, we want people to see.

The example of Saul and David

Another example. Saul was king of Israel for forty years. Because he was wrong, God replaced him, but God did not remove him. He anointed David, and David served him.

At one point anger took hold of Saul, and he ran everywhere, he paid the army of the country and people to catch David and to kill him. He could not remove David.

And a moment comes when David gets the opportunity to remove him, even not with his own hands. His men were ready: come on, give the order, just say the word. They could bring his head to David. These are warlike people. Do you remember this story?

David did not raise his hand against the anointed one

And what did David do? He says: no, we should not do this. I cannot go against the anointed one. Do you see what he called him?

God Himself removed Saul

He did not allow it. But God, who says: “He is My anointed one,” – did it Himself.

1 Samuel 26:9-11 9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out his hand against the LORD’s anointed, and be guiltless?” 10 David said furthermore, “As the LORD lives, the LORD shall strike him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall go out to battle and perish. 11 The LORD forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the LORD’s anointed.” (NKJV)

Discerning the rhema

Therefore, when we are not evil people, we are good people.

The general principle and God’s rhema. But we will know this rhema if God speaks. If it comes from the fact that I wanted it so much, it is not a rhema, it is your hurt, it is your grief. It is a problem from love, not from hatred.

Closing prayer and blessing

In closing, the congregation thanks the Lord for His wisdom, which is higher than all human wisdom, and for the fact that His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, as heaven is higher than the earth. A request is heard to leave behind one’s own ways and thoughts and to accept God’s.

A prayer that this word would encourage everyone who will hear it, and would fulfil that for which God sends it. Thanksgiving that God raises up people who come to know their God and are obedient to Him, and through whom He glorifies His land.

Blessing is proclaimed over Latvia, the neighbouring countries, Europe and the whole world, and a prayer is heard: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” After that, the distribution of the elements of the Lord’s Supper begins.