BOTHERSOME QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS - We all have them, right?
(Please Note: Every answer has been provide
by God Himself!)
Q. Has God purposed or decreed all things that have come to pass and all things
that ever will come to pass?
Answer: "But our God is in the heavens: He hath
done whatsoever He hath pleased"
(Ps 115:3).
"Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did He in heaven, and in earth, in the seas,
and all deep places" (Ps 135:6).
"That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there
is none beside Me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create
darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD
do all these things" (Isa 45:6-7).
"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am
God, and there is none like Me, 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"
(Isa 46:9-10).
"Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?
Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?" (La 3:37-38).
"Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid?
shall there
be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?" (Am 3:6).
"The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against
the Lord, and against His Christ . . . For to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel
determined before to be done" (Ac 4:26,28).
"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" (Eph 1:11).
"For of Him, and through Him, and to Him,
are all things: to Whom be glory for
ever. Amen" (Ro 11:36).
Q. Is God's eternal purpose or plan ever thwarted or defeated by any of His
creatures? Does God ever fail to achieve anything He determines to do?
Answer. "Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the
victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine; Thine is the
kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as Head above all. Both riches and honour come of Thee, and
Thou reignest over all; and in Thine hand is power and might; and in Thine hand it is to make
great, and to give strength unto all" (1Ch 29:11-12).
"But He is in one mind, and who can turn Him? and
what His soul desireth, even
that He doeth" (Job 23:13).
"Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in
awe of Him. For He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. The LORD bringeth
the counsel of the heathen to nought: He maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The
counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations" (Ps 33:8-11).
"The LORD hath prepared His throne in the heavens; and
His kingdom ruleth over
all" (Ps 103:19).
"A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps" (Pr 16:9).
"There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD,
that shall stand" (Pr 19:21).
"Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?" (Pr
20:24).
"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water:
He turneth
it whithersoever He will" (Pr 21:1).
"The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying,
Surely as I have thought, so shall it
come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand" . . . "For
the LORD of hosts hath purposed,
and who shall disannul it? and His hand is stretched out, and
who shall turn it back?" (Isa
14:24,27).
"So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto
Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto
I sent it" (Isa 55:11).
"And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and
He doeth
according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay
His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou?" (Da 4:35).
"Ah Lord GOD! behold, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power
and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee" (Jer 32:17).
"For with God nothing shall be impossible" (Lu 1:37).
"Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth He yet find fault? For
who hath resisted
His will?" (Ro 9:19).
Q. Does the natural man have any desire to seek God or any ability to understand
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ?
Answer. "There is none that understandeth, there is
none that seeketh after God"
(Ro 3:11).
"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (Joh 3:3).
Q. Does the natural man have any ability to come to the Lord Jesus Christ for
salvation without God the Father graciously granting him that ability and
effectually drawing him to Christ?
Answer. "No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him:
and I will raise him up at the last day" (Joh 6:44).
"And He said, Therefore said I unto you, that
no man can come unto Me, except it
were given unto him of My Father" (Joh 6:65).
Q. Were certain members of Adam's fallen race unconditionally elected to
salvation by God the Father in eternity past?
Answer. "According as He hath
chosen us in Him before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: Having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself,
according to the good pleasure of His will" . . . "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" (Eph 1:4-5,11).
"But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the
Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth" (2Th 2:13).
"Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began" (2Ti 1:9).
Q. Were certain members of Adam's fallen race given to the Lord Jesus Christ by
God the Father in eternity past and designated as His sheep? Do all of Christ's
sheep come to Him for salvation and follow Him as Lord? Were they His sheep
before they repented and believed on Him?
Answer. "All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to
Me I will in no wise cast out" (Joh 6:37).
"As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life
to as many as Thou hast given" . . . "I have manifested Thy name unto
the men
which Thou gavest Me out of the world: Thine they were, and
Thou gavest them Me;
and they have kept Thy word" . . . "I pray for them: I pray not for the world,
but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine" . . . "Father, I will
that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may
behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me: for Thou lovedst Me before the
foundation of the world" (Joh 17:2,6,9,24).
"And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold:
them also I must bring, and
they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold, and one Shepherd" . . .
"But ye believe not, because ye are not of My sheep, as I said unto you. My
sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: And
I give unto them
eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out
of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is
able to pluck them out of my Father's hand" (Joh 10:16,26-29).
Q. Were certain members of Adam's fallen race ordained to eternal life by God
the Father in eternity past? Did their ordination to eternal life precede or
follow their belief or faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? When were their names
written in the Lamb's Book of Life?
Answer. "Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And
the Lord added
to the church daily such as should be saved" (Ac 2:47).
"And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the
Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed." (Ac 13:48).
"And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not
written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world"
(Re 13:8).
"The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the
bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall
wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life
from the foundation of
the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is" (Re
17:8).
Q. Were certain members of Adam's fallen race redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ
when He shed His blood and died on the cross in their place for their sins?
Answer. "I am the Good Shepherd: the Good Shepherd
giveth His life for the
sheep" . . . "I am the Good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine.
As the Father knoweth Me, even so know I the Father: and
I lay down My life for
the sheep" (Joh 10:11,14-15).
"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as
silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your
fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and
without spot" (1Pe 1:18-19).
"He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His
generation? for He was cut off out of the land of the living:
for the
transgression of My people was He stricken" (Isa 53:8).
"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for
He
shall save His people from their sins" (Mt 1:21).