Be not fearful of creatures, as they cannot initiate their own motion. It is God alone who governs and controls them. If you have an encounter with them, God who controls them has sent them. They cannot do anything but execute God’s will. God obstructs them in their activity and causes them to depart again. Who would fear a sword, stick, or stone when it is lying upon the ground and does not move since it is not in anyone’s hand? If it is God’s will, anyone desirous to curse you will bless you; if they desire to slander you, they will praise you; and if they desire to kill you, they will kiss you. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. 8:31).

Wilhelmus à Brakel
The Christian’s Reasonable Service, Vol. 1
(Reformation Heritage Books, 1999), p. 351.

Recommended:

Compatibilist Freedom

Augustine and Compatibilism

"Soft" Determinism

Determinism vs. Fatalism

The Author of Sin

Vincent Cheung, "Chosen in Christ"

Vincent Cheung, "The Problem of Evil"

Vincent Cheung, Systematic Theology

Vincent Cheung, Ultimate Questions

Martin Luther, The Bondage of the Will

Gordon Clark, Predestination

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