Another Sermon Outline by Brian A. Yeager
God's Providence (Romans 8:28):
We Are Not God's Robots
I. Introduction:
    A. The faithful have God’s help (Psalms 121:2-3 and Hebrews 13:5-6).
    1. God hears His children (Proverbs 15:29 and I John 5:14-15).
    2. He provides for us (Luke 12:22-31).
    B. However, God does not control us or others (I Samuel 8:1-10).
    1. No one makes us sin or makes us do right (James 1:12-16; 4:17).
    2. God is sovereign [supreme authority] (Isaiah 46:9-10).
    3. God’s choice is to give us the ability to choose (Joshua 24:20-24,
    Judges 10:11-14, and Philippians 2:12-13).

II. Body: The question of “freewill” (Revelation 22:17).
    A. Accepting or rejecting the truth is in your hands (Luke 7:29-30, Acts 13:44-
    46, and Acts 26:26-29; cf. I Timothy 2:3-6).
    1. Salvation is conditioned upon each one’s choices (John 6:51,
    Romans 10:1-3; 20-21, and I Corinthians 15:1-2).
    2. We can ignore the truth (Matthew 13:14-15).
    B. Some think the Holy Spirit “opens their eyes” (Acts 1:5; cf. I Corinthians 2:9-
    16).
    1. They miss the point of the passages they use that teach inspiration
    and guidance for a period of time (John 14:26; 16:13, Acts 4:31, II Peter
    1:20-21; cf. I Corinthians 13:8-10, etc.).
    2. Folks, does the Spirit then fail when eyes are not opened (Acts 7:51;
    cf. John 6:63)?
    C. We need to apply some of these truths to our prayers (I Corinthians 14:15).
    1. God does not give preachers today “a ready recollection”, ability to
    simplify, knowledge of the truth, etc. (I Timothy 1:6-7 and II Timothy 2:15).
    2. God does not make your employer give you a raise (Ephesians 6:5-
    8).
    3. God does not implant knowledge, you have to learn (John 5:39).
    4. God does not directly tell you choices to make (Titus 3:1-3).
    5. If God did directly influence men, why would the Gospel need
    preached by man (Titus 1:3)?  Why does the Bible exist (II Timothy 3:15-
    17)?
    6. God won’t “keep us sound” (Titus 2:7-8; cf. Revelation 2-3).
    7. God won’t “send us visitors”, they need to seek to find (Luke 11:9).

III. Conclusion:
    A. God’s influence on us is through His word (James 1:19-25).
    B. We have our own two hands, feet, etc. controlling our future (I Timothy 4:1
    and I John 5:18-21).




© 2007 This material may not be used for sale or other means to have financial gain.  Use this as a
tool for your own studies if such is helpful!   Preachers are welcome to this work, but please do not
use my work so that you can be lazy and not do your own studies.  – Brian A. Yeager