God’s Sovereignty Guarantees His Word’s Success

This week, a guest speaker (Sammie Placencio) was invited to preach at the Sunday Evening worship service at Fellowship Reformed Church in Mt Pleasant. Mr. Placencio is currently a Pastoral Resident at University Reformed Church in East Lansing. He is enrolled in an M.Div. Program at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids. Plancencio preached a sermon titled “From Discouragement to Certain Purpose,” which directed our attention to the sovereignty and God’s power and the success of his Word.

The sermon text came from Isaiah 55, verses 8-11: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

In his first point, Placencio highlighted how God, in his sovereignty and divinity, has an understanding of life circumstances that is much higher than ours. Though it requires humility, as creatures it’s wise and right that we would trust in the Lord’s superior understanding.

In his second point, Placencio explained how Isaiah 55 encourages us to have confidence that God’s word will be productive. An analogy of water bringing refreshment and life to fruitful crops is a picture of how the Word of God works among God’s people.

And in his third and final point, Placencio helped us to appreciate how God’s sovereignty guarantees that His Word will always accomplish his purposes. Sometimes the purpose is to bring healing. Sometimes the Word brings hardening. God’s plan determines. Yet his sovereignty isn’t intended to produce carelessness for Christians, but it should instead bring perseverance. Because of God’s sovereignty, we can be confident in our speaking, trusting that God will cause his Word to bear the fruit he intends.