TITLE: THE UNSEEN HAND

TEXT: GENESIS 45:3-9, & GENESIS 50:15-21

INTRODUCTION: (1) THE WORD PROVIDENCE IS A WORD THAT IS NOT USED A LOT IN THE VOCABULARY OF CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIANS.

* THIS WORD HAS BECOME OBSOLETE AND ARCHAIC TO MANY.

** YET AT ONE TIME THE WORD PROVIDENCE AND THE TRUTH OF PROVIDENCE WAS A COMMONPLACE TERM AND TRUTH AND EVEN A CENTRAL WORD TO CHRISTIAN EXPRESSION.

*** NOW I REALIZE THAT WORDS HAVE A HABIT OF SLIPPING IN AND OUT OF VOGUE.

**** ONE GENERATION’S PET PHRASES ARE SEEN AS OUT OF IT BY LATER GENERATIONS.

(2) FOR EXAMPLE IN THE FORTIES THE STANDARD RESPONSE TO A GOOD EXPERIENCE WAS SUMMED UP BY THE WORD “SWELL”.

* SOMETHING GOOD WAS SWELL.

** WELL, I DON’T EVEN USE THE WORD SWELL ANYMORE, ALTHOUGH IT IS A NEAT WORD.

*** BUT SWELL TURNED INTO GROOVY AND GROOVY TURNED INTO NEAT AND NEAT HAS TURNED INTO COOL, AND I’M TOLD COOL HAS EVOLVED INTO AWESOME OR SWEET.

**** AND IF SOMETHING IS REALLY COOL OR AWESOME OR SWEET, MY TERM IS BOSS, IF SOMETHING IS GREAT, IT’S BOSS! (RON LIKES FOR ME TO SAY THAT WORD).

(3) WELL, WORDS AND PHRASES CHANGE, THEY COME AND GO.

* BUT THE WORD PROVIDENCE IS TOO RICH, TOO HEAVILY LOADED, PREGNANT WITH THEOLOGICAL AND PRACTICAL MEANING, TO ALLOW IT TO PASS FROM OUR EVERYDAY LANGUAGE WITHOUT A FIGHT.

** IT’S A TERM OF PRINCIPLE, A TERM ROOTED IN BIBLICAL TRUTH THAT CAN TRANSFORM OUR LIVES.

*** FOR UNDERSTANDING AND APPLYING THIS TRUTH BRINGS PURPOSE OUT OF PROBLEMS, IT BRINGS PEACE IN THE TIME OF STORM AND ENABLES US TO PERSEVERE THROUGH TRIALS.

**** NOW AT THIS POINT OF MY INTRODUCTION OF THIS TRUTH TODAY, IT’S IMPORTANT TO DEFINE THIS TERM. WHAT DOES THE WORD PROVIDENCE MEAN?

(4) WELL, THE WORD PROVIDENCE IS DERIVED FROM A LATIN PREFIX AND ROOT.

* THE PREFIX PRO MEANS “BEFORE” OR “IN FRONT OF”.

** AND THE BASIC ROOT COMES FROM THE LATIN VIDERE, WHICH MEANS TO SEE.

*** NOW WHEN WE PUT THE PREFIX AND THE ROOT TOGETHER WE HAVE A WORD THAT MEANS “TO SEE BEFORE-HAND”.

**** YET FROM THOSE WORDS WE MIGHT BE TEMPTED TO CONCLUDE THAT PROVIDENCE SIMPLY REFERS TO THE FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD.

(5) AND THE TRUTH OF PROVIDENCE BIBLICALLY INCLUDES SOME REFERENCE TO GOD’S FOREKNOWLEDGE, BUT IT IS BY NO MEANS EXHAUSTED BY THIS IDEA.

* FOR INHERENT IN THE WORD PROVIDENCE IS “PROVISION”, “CARE” AND “GUIDANCE” IN DIRECTING HUMAN AFFAIRS.

** SPECIFICALLY WE ARE TALKING ABOUT PREPARATION, CARE AND SUPERVISION WHICH ARE NECESSARY TO SECURE GOD’S FUTURE DESIRED RESULT.

*** THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION OF FAITH STATES IN CHAPTER 5 IN SECTION ONE UNDER PROVIDENCE THAT: “GOD, THE GREAT CREATOR OF ALL THINGS, DOTH UPHOLD, DIRECT, DISPOSE, AND GOVERN ALL CREATURES, ACTIONS AND THINGS, FROM THE GREATEST EVEN TO THE LEAST, BY HIS MOST WISE AND HOLY PROVIDENCE, ACCORDING TO HIS INFALLIBLE FOREKNOWLEDGE AND THE FREE AND IMMUTABLE COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL, TO THE PRAISE OF THE GLORY OF HIS WISDOM, POWER, JUSTICE, GOODNESS AND MERCY.”

**** TO ADD TO THAT, THE SHORTER CATECHISM’S ANSWER TO QUESTION 11 STATES: “GOD’S WORKS OF PROVIDENCE ARE HIS MOST HOLY, WISE AND POWERFUL PRESERVING AND GOVERNING ALL HIS CREATURES AND ALL THEIR ACTIONS.”

(6) TO FURTHER DEFINE THIS BIBLICAL TRUTH, LORRAINE BOETTNER WRITES: “THE SCRIPTURES VERY CLEARLY TEACH THAT ALL THINGS OUTSIDE OF GOD OWE NOT MERELY THEIR ORIGINAL CREATION, BUT THEIR CONTINUED EXISTENCE, WITH ALL THEIR PROPERTIES AND POWERS TO THE WILL OF GOD.” (END QUOTE)

* NOW CONSIDER THESE INTRODUCTION SCRIPTURES ALONG THIS LINE OF THOUGHT. “HE UPHOLDS ALL THINGS BY THE WORD OF HIS POWER” – HEBREWS 1:3.

** “HE IS BEFORE ALL THINGS, AND IN HIM ALL THINGS CONSIST” – COLOSSIANS 1:17.

*** “THOU ARE JEHOVAH, EVEN THOU ALONE; THOU HAST MADE HEAVEN, THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS, WITH ALL THEIR HOSTS, THE EARTH AND ALL THINGS THAT ARE THEREIN, THE SEAS AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM AND THOU PRESERVEST THEM ALL” – NEHEMIAH 9:6.

**** “IN HIM WE LIVE AND MOVE AND HAVE OUR BEING” – ACTS 17:28.

- HE IS “OVER ALL, AND THROUGH ALL AND IN ALL” – EPHESIANS 4:6.

* AND THEN ROMANS 11:36 SAYS: “FOR OF HIM AND THROUGH HIM AND TO HIM ARE ALL THINGS, TO WHOM BE GLORY FOREVER AND EVER, AMEN.”

(7) IN SUMMARY, TO MORE SIMPLY DEFINE PROVIDENCE, “IT IS THE UNIVERSAL SOVEREIGN REIGN OF GOD. IT IS GOD’S PRESERVING AND GOVERNING ALL HIS CREATURES AND ALL THEIR ACTIONS (JOB 9:5& 6; PSALM 104:10-25; 145:15; 147:9; MATTHEW 6:26-28; LUKE 12:6-7; ACTS 17:25-28.

* AND GOD’S GENERAL PROVIDENCE INCLUDES THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE, ESPECIALLY THE AFFAIRS OF MEN.

** AND GOD’S SPECIAL PROVIDENCE IS GOD’S PARTICULAR CARE OVER THE LIFE AND ACTIVITY OF THE BELIEVER, READ ROMANS 8:28&29.

*** AND THEN ERIC LANDLY IN HIS BOOK “THIS IS MY FATHER’S WORLD” SAYS: “BECAUSE GOD SUSTAINS THE UNIVERSE’S MOMENT-BY-MOMENT EXISTENCE, NOTHING COMES ABOUT INDEPENDENTLY OF HIS WILL.

**** HE GOVERNS ALL CREATURES AND EVENTS SO THAT THEY ACCOMPLISH WHAT HE INTENDS, EITHER BY THEIR ACTING FREELY (AS THROUGH HUMAN CHOICE) OR CONTINGENTLY (AS WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENS THAT DID NOT HAVE TO HAPPEN) OR NECESSARILY (AS WITH THE LAW OF GRAVITY).

- THUS GOD, IN WAYS BEYOND OUR UNDERSTANDING, WORKS IN AND THROUGH EVERYTHING TO BRING ABOUT HIS GOOD PURPOSES.” (END QUOTE)

(8) NOW TO PUT ALL THESE DEFINITIONS TOGETHER, GOD GOVERNS HIS UNIVERSE. IT IS NOT THAT GOD IS MERELY INTERESTED IN THE “BIG PICTURE OF EVERYTHING”, ITS MANAGEMENT OF HIS CREATION IS MICRO-MANAGEMENT, CONCERNED WITH AND INVOLVED WITH THE SMALLEST DETAILS.”

* THE UNSEEN HAND OF GOD GOVERNS THE AFFAIRS OF OUR LIVES. HE IS PROVIDENTIALLY BEHIND THINGS IN THEIR TIMING BRINGING ABOUT WHAT HE HAS ULTIMATELY ORDAINED.

** AND I USE THE TERMINOLOGY “UNSEEN HAND” FOR ALTHOUGH WE DO NOT SEE HIS HAND VISIBLY WITH OUR PHYSICAL EYES BY WHAT HAPPENS IN OUR LIVES, WE KNOW THROUGH THE EYES OF FAITH THAT HIS HAND IS BEHIND WHAT ULTIMATELY HAPPENS IN OUR LIVES.

*** AND I REMIND YOU CHRISTIANS TODAY, THAT NOTHING OR NO ONE CAN PLUCK YOU OUT OF HIS HAND, READ JOHN 10:27-29. (ALSO NO ONE OR NO THING CAN SEPARATE US FROM HIS LOVE).

**** BELOVED, THE UNSEEN HAND OF GOD IS ALWAYS THERE. BECAUSE OF THAT I’VE TITLED THE MESSAGE TODAY, “THE UNSEEN HAND”.

(9) AND UNDER THAT TITLE, WE’LL LOOK AT 3 POINTS. NO. 1 THE PRINCIPLE OF PROVIDENCE; NO. 2 THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDENCE; AND NO. 3 THE PEACE AND PERSEVERANCE OF PROVIDENCE.

* AND WITH THAT OUTLINE IN MIND, WE’LL JUMP INTO OUR FIRST TRUTH, THE PRINCIPLE OF PROVIDENCE.

I. THE PRINCIPLE OF PROVIDENCE

A. NOW I REALIZE TO BEGIN WITH, THAT IN MY INTRODUCTION TODAY I HOPEFULLY ANSWERED SOME QUESTIONS, BUT ALSO I CREATED SOME.

* SO I WANT TO FURTHER ELABORATE AND ILLUSTRATE FROM SCRIPTURE SOME MORE TRUTHS ABOUT THIS DOCTRINE.

** FOR THE GREAT DOCTRINE OF PROVIDENCE IS SEEN CLEARLY THROUGHOUT THE WORD OF GOD IN THE LAWS OF NATURE, THE COURSE OF HISTORY AND THE VARYING FORTUNES OR LACK THEREOF IN INDIVIDUALS.

*** ALL THINGS, BOTH IN HEAVEN AND EARTH, FROM ANGELS DOWN TO THE TINY ATOM, ARE ORDERED BY GOD’S PROVIDENCE.

**** GOD IS INTIMATELY CONCERNED AND INVOLVED WITH EVERY DETAIL IN THE AFFAIRS OF OUR LIVES.

1. AND THIS IS PROFOUND TO ME, GOD IS TRANSCENDENT, HE IS ABOVE AND BEYOND US, ABOVE SPACE AND TIME, YET HE IS PERSONAL, COMPASSIONATE AND LOVING, CONCERNED ABOUT US, PERSONALLY INVOLVED IN OUR LIVES.

* HIS LOVE AND GRACE IS MANIFEST BY THE CROSS AND SUPPLYING OUR DAILY NEEDS AND GIVING US THE BREATH OF LIFE TODAY.

** YET HE IS HOLY AND WILL JUDGE SIN, GOD IS TRANSCENDENT AND HOLY, YET HE IS LOVING AND PERSONAL.

*** AND IN THE AFFAIRS OF OUR LIVES, GOD IS NO MERE SPECTATOR OF THE UNIVERSE HE HAS MADE, BUT IS EVERYWHERE PRESENT AND ACTIVE, THE ALL-SUSTAINING GROUND AND ALL-GOVERNING POWER OF ALL THAT IS.

**** LET ME ILLUSTRATE THIS FROM SCRIPTURE BEGINNING WITH NATURE OR THE PHYSICAL WORLD.

***** IN NAHUM 1:3 THE WORD OF GOD COMMUNICATES “JEHOVAH DOETH HIS WILL IN THE WHIRLWIND AND IN THE STORM AND THE CLOUDS ARE THE DUST OF HIS FEET.”

2. IN EXODUS 9:26 IT SAYS: “ONLY IN THE LAND OF GOSHEN WHERE THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WERE, THERE WAS NO HAIL.”

* MATTHEW 5:45 SAYS, “HE MAKETH HIS SUN TO RISE ON THE EVIL AND THE GOOD, AND SENDETH RAIN ON THE JUST AND THE UNJUST.”

** MATTHEW 10:29 SAYS: “ARE NOT THE SPARROWS SOLD FOR A CENT? AND YET NOT ONE OF THEM WILL FALL TO THE GROUND APART FROM YOUR FATHER.”

*** BEYOND THOSE SCRIPTURES, CONSIDER THAT THE FAMINE IN EGYPT APPEARED TO MEN TO BE ONLY THE RESULT OF NATURAL CAUSES; YET JOSEPH COULD SAY IN GENESIS 41:32, “THE THING IS ESTABLISHED OF GOD, AND GOD WILL SHORTLY BRING IT TO PASS.”

**** THEN IN AMOS 4:7 THE SCRIPTURES SAYS SPEAKING OF OUR GOD OF PROVIDENCE: “AND I ALSO HAVE WITHHOLDEN THE RAIN FROM YOU WHEN THERE WERE YET 3 MONTHS BEFORE THE HARVEST; AND I CAUSED IT TO RAIN UPON ONE CITY, AND CAUSED IT NOT TO RAIN UPON ANOTHER CITY.”

***** ACTS 14:17 SAYS: “HE (GOD) GAVE YOU FROM HEAVEN RAINS AND FRUITFUL SEASONS, FILLING YOUR HEART WITH FOOD AND GLADNESS.”

3. THEN TWO LAST VERSES UNDER NATURE AND THE PHYSICAL WORLD.

* ISAIAH 40:12 TALKS ABOUT THE GREAT DETAIL WITH WHICH GOD DOES THINGS; IT SAYS: “WHO HATH MEASURED THE WATERS IN THE HOLLOW OF HIS HAND, AND METED OUT HEAVEN WITH THE SPAN AND COMPREHENDED THE DUST OF THE EARTH IN A MEASURE, AND WEIGHED THE MOUNTAINS IN SCALES, AND THE HILLS IN A BALANCE.”

** AND THEN IN MATTHEW 6:26 IN TALKING ABOUT THE BIRDS OF GOD’S CREATION, JESUS SAID: “BEHOLD, THE BIRDS OF THE HEAVENS, THAT THEY SOW NOT, NEITHER DO THEY REAP, NOR GATHER INTO BARNS; AND YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER FEEDETH THEM.”

*** NOW BEYOND NATURE AND THE PHYSICAL WORLD, GOD’S PROVIDENCE IS OVER THE NATIONS.

**** IN DANIEL 4:17, IN REGARD TO GOD’S HUMBLING OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR IT SAYS, “TO THE INTENT THAT THE LIVING MAY KNOW THAT THE MOST HIGH RULETH IN THE KINGDOM OF MEN, AND GIVETH IT TO WHOMEVER HE WILL, AND SETTETH UP OVER IT THE LOWEST OF MEN.”

4. IN ISAIAH 40:15 IT SAYS: “BEHOLD, THE NATIONS ARE LIKE A DRIP FROM A BUCKET, AND ARE REGARDED AS A SPECK OF DUST ON THE SCALES; BEHOLD, HE LIFTS UP THE ISLANDS LIKE FINE DUST.”

* PSALM 47:7 SAYS: “FOR GOD IS THE KING OF ALL THE EARTH; SING PRAISES WITH A SKILLFUL PSALM.”

** DANIEL 2:21 SAYS: “IT IS HE WHO CHANGES THE TIMES AND THE EPOCHS; HE REMOVES KINGS AND ESTABLISHES KINGS; HE GIVES WISDOM TO WISE MEN AND KNOWLEDGE TO MEN OF UNDERSTANDING.”

*** PSALM 33:10 SAYS: “THE LORD NULLIFIES THE COUNSEL OF THE NATIONS; HE FRUSTRATES THE PLANS OF THE PEOPLES.”

**** JOSHUA 21:44 SAYS: “AND JEHOVAH GAVE THEM REST ROUND ABOUT…JEHOVAH DELIVERED ALL THEIR ENEMIES INTO THEIR HANDS.”

5. JUDGES 6:1 SAYS: “THEN THE SONS OF ISRAEL DID WHAT WAS EVIL IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD; AND THE LORD GAVE THEM INTO THE HANDS OF MIDIAN SEVEN YEARS.”

* AMOS 3:6 SAYS: “IF A TRUMPET IS BLOWN IN A CITY WILL NOT THE PEOPLE TREMBLE? IF A CALAMITY OCCURS IN A CITY HAS NOT THE LORD DONE IT?”

** AND THEN IN HABAKKUK 1:6 IT SAYS: “FOR BEHOLD, I AM RAISING UP THE CHALDEANS, THAT FIERCE AND IMPETUOUS PEOPLE WHO MARCH THROUGHOUT THE EARTH TO SEIZE DWELLING PLACES WHICH ARE NOT THEIRS.”

*** SO GOD’S PROVIDENCE GOVERNS THE NATIONS.

**** BEYOND THAT GOD’S PROVIDENCE GOVERNS INDIVIDUALS. READ PROVERBS 21:1, PSALM 37:23, PROVERBS 16:9, JAMES 4:15, ROMANS 11:36, PSALM 34:7, PSALM 118:6.

6. THEN PHILIPPIANS 2:13 SAYS: “FOR IT IS GOD WHO IS AT WORK IN YOU, BOTH TO WILL AND TO WORK FOR HIS GOOD PLEASURE.”

* ACTS 4:27 & 28 SAYS: “FOR TRULY IN THIS CITY THERE WERE GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST YOUR HOLY SERVANT JESUS, WHOM YOU ANOINTED, BOTH HEROD AND PONTIUS PILATE, ALONG WITH THE GENTILES AND THE PEOPLES OF ISRAEL, TO DO WHATEVER YOUR HAND AND YOUR PURPOSE PREDESTINED TO OCCUR.

** AND FINALLY IN JOHN 19:11 JESUS SAID: JESUS ANSWERED, “YOU WOULD HAVE NO AUTHORITY OVER ME, UNLESS IT HAD BEEN GIVEN YOU FROM ABOVE; FOR THIS REASON HE WHO DELIVERED ME TO YOU HAS THE GREATER SIN.”

*** NOW ALL OF THESE SCRIPTURES AND OUR TEXT TODAY COMMUNICATE THAT GOD’S PROVIDENCE IS UNIVERSAL, OVER NATURE, THE PHYSICAL WORLD, NATIONS AND MANKIND.

**** AND BECAUSE GOD’S PROVIDENCE IS UNIVERSAL, HE THUS SECURES THE COMPLETE FULFILLMENT OF HIS PLANS. GOD’S PROVIDENTIAL CONTROL EXTENDS OVER ALL.

7. GOD AGAIN IS A MICRO-MANGER WHEN IT COMES TO HIS CREATION AND THERE ARE NO CONTINGENCY PLANS OR PLAN B WITH HIM.

* R. C. SPROUL SAID AND I QUOTE: “IT IS SAID THAT GOD KNOWS ALL FUTURE CONTINGENCIES, YET HE DOES NOT KNOW THEM CONTINGENTLY.” (I LIKE THAT).

** HE WENT ON TO SAY, IF WE WERE TO ASK GOD ABOUT SOME FUTURE POSSIBILITY, HE WOULD NEVER ANSWER US BY SAYING, THAT DEPENDS.

*** AND BELOVED, FROM OUR LIMITED PERSPECTIVE, WE REGARD THE FUTURE IN TERMS OF CONTINGENCIES.

**** WE HAVE PLANS B AND C IN CASE PLAN A FAILS.

8. FOR TO OUR FINITE MINDS, FUTURE EVENTS APPEAR CONTINGENT.

* AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS WE ARE CONTINGENT BEINGS, DEPENDENT UPON SOMETHING OUTSIDE OURSELVES FOR OUR VERY EXISTENCE.

** BUT UNDERSTAND THAT GOD IS NOT DEPENDANT OR CONTINGENT. HE KNOWS WHAT HE KNOWS ABSOLUTELY.

*** SPROUL SAID: “GOD FOREKNOWS WHAT HE FOREKNOWS BECAUSE WHAT HE FOREKNOWS HE ALSO FORE WILLS.” END QUOTE

**** AND WHAT GOD FORE WILLS IS ALWAYS GOOD, FOR HIS GOODNESS IS A PART OF WHO HE IS AS GOD, PSALM 34:8 SAYS; (READ IT).

9. ALSO READ PSALM 86:5, PSALM 107:1, PSALM 119:68.

* SO GOD IS GOOD AND CANNOT BE OTHERWISE AND HE CANNOT BE JUDGED FROM OUR FINITE, IMPERFECT STANDARD AND OUR LIMITED KNOWLEDGE AND PERSPECTIVE.

** AND GET THIS, GOD DOES NOT CHANGE HIS MIND BECAUSE HE RECEIVES NEW INFORMATION OR NEEDS TO CORRECT AN ERROR.

*** HE HAS AN ETERNAL PLAN THAT CONTAINS NO DEFECTS, ALTHOUGH THERE ARE THINGS THAT HAPPEN FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE THAT SEEN UNFAIR AND UNJUST.

**** AND EVEN THE GREATER QUESTION OF EVIL AND SUFFERING IN OUR WORLD COMES TO OUR MIND AS WE THINK OF PAIN AND SUFFERING AND THINGS THAT ARE UNFAIR AND NOT JUST.

10. R.C. SPROUL IN HIS BOOK “THE INVISIBLE HAND” CAN HELP US HERE IN A LONG QUOTE THAT I WANT TO COMMUNICATE.

* HE SAID: “TO SAY IT IS GOOD THAT EVIL EXISTS IS NOT THE SAME THINGS AS SAYING THAT EVIL IS GOOD. TO SAY EVIL IS GOOD IN ITSELF IS EVIL, AS SCRIPTURE SO CLEARLY DECLARES. EVIL IS EVIL.

** HOWEVER, TO SAY THAT IT IS GOOD THAT THERE IS EVIL IS SIMPLY TO DECLARE THAT GOD IS GOOD AND THAT HIS PROVIDENCE EXTENDS TO ALL THINGS, INCLUDING EVIL. GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY STANDS OVER EVIL, AND HE IS ABLE TO BRING GOOD OUT OF EVIL AND TO USE EVIL FOR HIS HOLY PURPOSES.

*** WHEN I SAY IT IS GOOD THAT THERE IS EVIL I’M SAYING THAT EVIL COULD NOT EXIST FOR A SECOND APART FROM THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD. THAT GOD ALLOWS, PERMITS, OR ORDAINS THAT THERE BE EVIL MEANS HE DEEMS IT GOOD TO ALLOW IT.

**** HE ONLY ORDAINS WHAT HE WILLS SHOULD TAKE PLACE. HIS WILL IS PERFECTLY AND ABSOLUTELY RIGHTEOUS. IF HE WILLS THAT EVIL SHOULD EXIST AND IT COULD NOT POSSIBLY EXIST IF HE DID NOT WILL IT, THEN WE MUST CONCLUDE THAT IN HIS SECRET COUNSEL HE HAS GOOD REASONS THAT EVIL SHOULD EXIST.

11. THE ONLY REASONS HE HAS FOR ANYTHING ARE GOOD REASONS. HE WILLS WHATSOEVER HE WILLS ACCORDING TO HIS GOOD PLEASURE. THERE IS NO BAD PLEASURE TO BE FOUND IN HIM OR IN HIS WILL. EVIL IS REAL, AND IT IS EVIL. BUT EVIL IS PROXIMATE, NOT ULTIMATE. IT IS NOT THE FINAL ANSWER OF GOD WHO WORKS ALL THINGS ACCORDING TO HIS INSCRUTABLE BUT RIGHTEOUS WILL.

* EVIL IS A PROBLEM TO CHRISTIANITY, BUT IT IS NOT FATAL TO CHRISTIANITY. IN ALL THINGS WE MUST INTERPRET THE UNKNOWN IN LIGHT OF THE KNOWN, NOT THE KNOWN IN LIGHT OF THE UNKNOWN. WHAT IS KNOWN IS THAT GOD EXISTS AND THAT HE IS GOOD.

** WHAT IS ALSO KNOWN IS THAT WE SIN AND THAT ONLY GOD CAN SOLVE THAT PROBLEM AND THAT HE HAS SOLVED IT FOR US IN CHRIST.”

***AND I SAY AMEN TO THAT.

**** BELOVED GOD IS NOT THE AUTHOR OF SIN OR EVIL, BUT HE USES IT FOR HIS PROVIDENTIAL PURPOSES AS HE DID IN JOSEPH’S LIFE IN GENESIS AS WE READ IN OUR TEXT TODAY.

12. PSALM 76:10A SAYS: “FOR THE WRATH OF MAN SHALL PRAISE THEE.” GOD USES THE WRATH OF MAN AND HIS SIN TO BRING TO PASS HIS PROVIDENTIAL PURPOSES, WHICH AGAIN ARE ALWAYS GOOD.

* ONE LAST QUICK THOUGHT UNDER THE PRINCIPLE OF PROVIDENCE.

** GOD IS NO MERE SPECTATOR OF THE UNIVERSE HE HAS MADE, BUT IS EVERYWHERE PRESENT AND ACTIVE, THE ALL SUSTAINING GROUND, AND ALL-GOVERNING POWER OF ALL THAT IS.

*** AND EVIL WILL NOT PREVAIL, AND THERE WILL BE ULTIMATE JUSTICE ALTHOUGH IT APPEARS AT TIMES THAT THINGS ARE OUT OF CONTROL. GOD’S GOOD PURPOSES WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED WHICH IS A LEAD IN TO OUR 2’D POINT TODAY THAT I WILL NOT TAKE AS MUCH TIME ON, AND THAT IS THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDENCE.

II. THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDENCE

A. NOW THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE OF PROVIDENCE IS TO BRING ABOUT WHAT GOD HAS GRACIOUSLY DECREED.

* AND IN THE PROCESS GOD IS GLORIFIED AND WORSHIPPED AND GOD WILL BE GLORIFIED AND WORSHIPPED.

** BELOVED, IF WE UNDERSTAND THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD AND LOVE THE GOD OF PROVIDENCE, WE ARE ABLE TO WORSHIP HIM WITH THE SACRIFICE OF PRAISE HE INHERENTLY DESERVES WHEN THINGS OCCUR THAT BRING PAIN, SORROW AND AFFLICTION IN OUR LIVES.

*** THIS UNDERSTANDING OF PROVIDENCE IS VITAL TO ALL WHO WOULD WORSHIP GOD. IT IS A WORSHIP OF FAITH THAT IS ROOTED IN TRUST.

**** A TRUST IN GOD’S GOODNESS, A TRUST IN GOD’S HOLINESS, A TRUST IN HIS HIGHER WAYS, A TRUST IN HIS PERFECTIONS.

1. PSALM 62:8 SAYS: (READ IT). ALSO READ PROVERBS 3:5&6 AND ROMANS 8:28.

* NOW HOW DO WE KNOW THIS? WELL, OUR TRUST GROWS THE BETTER WE KNOW GOD, FOR THE BETTER WE KNOW HIM, THE MORE WE TRUST HIM.

** AND HOW DO WE GET TO KNOW HIM IN A GREATER WAY, BY SPENDING TIME WITH HIM, LISTENING TO HIM BY READING AND STUDYING AND MEMORIZING AND MEDITATING AND LISTENING TO HIS WORD.

*** AND WE GET TO KNOW HIM MORE AS WE TALK TO HIM IN PRAYER AND THINK ABOUT HIM.

**** AND THE MORE YOU KNOW GOD, THE MORE YOU’LL TRUST HIM EVEN WHEN YOU’RE HURTING. (WE MAY WAIVER BUT WE COME BACK TO THIS ANCHOR OF OUR SOUL).

2. AND LISTEN, WHEN WE TRUST GOD AND WE WORSHIP GOD, EVEN WHEN WE ARE HURTING, GOD IS GLORIFIED.

* GOD USES PROVIDENCE TO BRING ABOUT HIS PURPOSES WHICH HE HAS DECREED AND GOD IS AND WILL BE GLORIFIED IN THIS PROCESS, READ REVELATION 4:11 AND ROMANS 11:36 AGAIN, I PETER 4:16&19, PSALM 119:67&71.

** AND THEN IN REVELATION 19:1&2A AS THE PROVIDENTIAL PURPOSES OF GOD’S JUDGMENTS ARE FULFILLED IN REVELATION CHAPTERS 6-18, IT SAYS: “AFTER THESE THINGS I HEARD AS IT WERE, A LOUD VOICE OF A GREAT MULTITUDE IN HEAVEN SAYING, HALLELUJAH! SALVATION AND GLORY AND POWER BELONG TO OUR GOD, BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS.”

*** SO GLORY BELONGS TO GOD EVEN AS HE JUDGES THE EARTH IN REVELATION 6-18 DURING THE TRIBULATION AND HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS.

**** NO ONE IS JUDGED WHO SHOULD NOT BE JUDGED. GOD IS JUST IN HIS JUDGMENT IN FULFILLING HIS PROVIDENTIAL PURPOSES, EVEN WITH THOSE WHO GO TO HELL.

3. FOR THERE IS NO ONE IN HELL WHO DOES NOT DESERVE TO BE THERE. AND FOR US IN CHRIST, GOD HAS HAD MERCY ON OUR SOULS.

* AND MANY PEOPLE ASK THE WRONG QUESTIONS WHEN IT COMES TO GOD’S WRATH AND WHY PEOPLE GO TO HELL AS THEY HAVE NO UNDERSTANDING OF GOD’S HOLY FURY AND WRATH.

** AND THE QUESTION SHOULD NOT BE, WHY DO PEOPLE GO TO HELL? THE QUESTION SHOULD BE, WHY DOES ANYONE GO TO HEAVEN?

*** AND THE ANSWER IS GOD’S MERCY AND COMPASSION IS WHY HIS ELECT GO TO HEAVEN, ALTHOUGH THEY ARE UNWORTHY IN THEMSELVES, BUT MADE WORTHY IN CHRIST.

**** AND GOD IS GLORIFIED IN HIS PROVIDENTIAL PURPOSE OF SAVING HIS ELECT. AND THE BOTTOM LINE IS THE GLORY OF GOD.

4. I WANT TO QUOTE R.C. SPROUL ONCE AGAIN FROM HIS BOOK “THE INVISIBLE HAND.” SPROUL SAID: “THOUGH WHAT GOD DOES IN HIS PROVIDENCE BENEFITS US, IT’S HIGHEST VIRTUE IS FOUND IN IT’S GLORIFICATION OF GOD HIMSELF.”

* “GOD’S UPHOLDING OF HIS CREATION REFLECTS UPON HIS OWN GLORY, AND THAT GLORY IS NOT A DIVINE VICE BUT IS THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE GOOD.”

** IF GOD WERE CENTERED ON SOMETHING LESS THAN HIMSELF, THAT FOCUS WOULD REFLECT A DEFECT IN HIMSELF AND RENDER HIM LESS THAN GOD AND UNWORTHY OF OUR WORSHIP.” END QUOTE

*** AND FOR US TO GLORIFY GOD, WE MUST BE GOD CENTERED. AND WHEN WE ARE GOD CENTERED TRUSTING IN HIS PROVIDENCE WE WILL HAVE PEACE AND PERSEVERANCE IN THE MIDST OF ANY STORM.

**** WHICH IS A SEGUE TO OUR THIRD AND LAST POINT TODAY, THE PEACE AND PERSEVERANCE OF PROVIDENCE, WHICH ALSO WILL BE MY CONCLUSION AND APPLICATION.

III. THE PEACE AND PERSEVERANCE OF PROVIDENCE

A. NOW TRUST, FOCUS AND GOD-CENTEREDNESS LEADS TO PEACE, PERSEVERANCE AND I MIGHT ADD SPIRITUAL PROSPERITY.

* AND WE AS HUMAN BEINGS ARE CALLED TO BE GOD-CENTERED IN OUR THINKING. GOD CENTEREDNESS IS A VIRTUE AND SELF-CENTEREDNESS IS A VICE.

** AND YOU KNOW WHAT THE FRUIT OF SELF-CENTEREDNESS IS? ANXIETY, WORRY AND ANXIOUS CARES.

*** AND ANXIETY IS A THIEF, IT ROBS US OF JOY AND PEACE.

**** BUT CONFIDENCE, TRUST AND BEING GOD FOCUSED AND GOD CENTERED BRINGS PEACE AND PERSEVERANCE TO GO THROUGH WHATEVER GOD HAS ORDAINED FOR US.

1. ISAIAH 26:3 SAYS: (READ IT) ALSO READ ISAIAH 57:20&21 IN CONTRAST TO THOSE WHO ARE NOT GOD CENTERED AND TRUSTING IN GOD’S PROVIDENCE.

* READ PHILIPPIANS 4:4-9 (GOD FOCUS).

** ISAIAH 31:1 SAYS: “WOE TO THOSE WHO GO DOWN TO EGYPT FOR HELP AND RELY ON HORSES, AND TRUST IN CHARIOTS BECAUSE THEY ARE MANY AND IN HORSEMEN BECAUSE THEY ARE VERY STRONG, BUT THEY DO NOT LOOK TO THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL, NOR SEEK THE LORD!”

*** AND BROTHERS AND SISTERS AS WE LOOK TO THE LORD AND TRUST IN THE PROVIDENTIAL CIRCUMSTANCES IN OUR LIVES, WE WILL HAVE PEACE AND REST.

**** AND IN FOCUSING ON THE LORD AND KNOWING HIM BETTER WE WILL LEARN TO TRUST HIM; AND IN TRUSTING HIM WE WILL FIND REST AND PERSEVERANCE TO GO ON.

2. AND YES FROM OUR LIMITED PERSPECTIVES THERE ARE PLENTY OF ACCIDENTS THAT DETERMINE SO MANY TRAGEDIES.

* BUT WHEN FOCUSING ON GOD’S PROVIDENCE, TO THE EYES OF FAITH, THERE ARE FINALLY NO ACCIDENTS, ONLY INCIDENTS; AND IN THESE, PAUL ASSURES IN ROMANS 8:28, GOD IS WORKING FOR OUR GOOD.

** AND DEAR SAINTS, THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD IS OUR FORTRESS, OR SHIELD, AND OUR VERY GREAT REWARD.

*** IT IS WHAT PROVIDES PEACE AND PERSEVERANCE FOR CHRISTIANS.

**** TWO LAST THINGS, A QUOTE OF SOMEONE AND A QUOTE OF A HYMN AND I’LL PRAY.

3. B. B. WARFIELD SAID ABOUT THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD: “A FIRM FAITH IN THE UNIVERSAL PROVIDENCE OF GOD IS THE SOLUTION OF ALL EARTHLY PROBLEMS.”

* “IT IS ALMOST EQUALLY TRUE THAT A CLEAR AND FULL APPREHENSION OF THE UNIVERSAL PROVIDENCE OF GOD IS THE SOLUTION OF MOST THEOLOGICAL PROBLEMS.” (END QUOTE)

** A HYMN BY AUGUSTUS TOPLADY BRINGS PEACE AND PERSEVERANCE, IT SAYS:

*** A SOVEREIGN PROTECTOR I HAVE,

UNSEEN, YET FOR EVER AT HAND,

UNCHANGEABLY FAITHFUL TO SAVE,

ALMIGHTY TO RULE AND COMMAND.

HE SMILES AND MY COMFORTS ABOUND;

HIS GRACE AS THE DEW SHALL DESCEND,

AND WALLS OF SALVATION SURROUND

THE SOUL HE DELIGHTS TO DEFEND.

****INSPIRER AND HEARER OF PRAYER,

THOU SHEPHERD AND GUARDIAN OF THINE,

MY ALL TO THY COVENANT CARE

I SLEEPING AND WAKING RESIGN.

IF THOU ART MY SHIELD AND MY SUN,

THE NIGHT IS NO DARKNESS TO ME;

AND, FAST AS MY MOMENTS ROLL ON,

THEY BRING ME BUT NEARER TO THEE.

4. CHRISTIANS, TAKE COURAGE AND HAVE HOPE IN THE UNSEEN HAND OF GOD.

* IF YOU ARE NOT A CHRISTIAN, THEN REMEMBER, THIS SOVEREIGN GOD OF PROVIDENCE IS THE GOD AGAINST WHOM YOU REBEL.

** QUIT FIGHTING AGAINST HIM. REPENT OF YOUR SINS AND TURN TO HIM FOR SALVATION.