The Providence of God

Last Wednesday night we did a study that helps us see why most people in this world are religious

and have at least a basic understanding of right and wrong.

We looked at God's common grace and His natural law.

Well, tonight I want to sort of continue that line of thinking

by looking at how God is at work in every aspect of this universe.

He's always at work in everything.

Theologians call this God's providence.

I've given you on the outline a condensed version of last week's handout.

Look briefly at the major points.

If you are interested and you weren't here last week, you can read it when you get home.

If you looked at God's common grace and natural law,

common grace is the idea that God demonstrates His grace toward all people on a regular basis.

Jesus talked about it, so did Paul.

Timothy Keller has a good explanation about it.

Natural law.

God has revealed Himself and His law in a general way to all people.

He's written it on our hearts.

It's a part of being created in the image of God.

And Paul writes about it there in Romans chapter 2.

Romans 2 · chapter mention

He also talks about in Romans 1 how God has revealed Himself to everybody through nature,

through what He's created.

And God considers His revelation enough to make people aware enough about Him

that when they reject what He has revealed about Himself,

all people are guilty of sin.

They're without excuse.

Wayne Grudem explains this a good way there.

But we looked at that in detail last week and that's not for tonight.

Let's look at Roman numeral 2 now.

God's continuing work in His creation, the doctrine of providence.

I want to define it by looking at two things.

Millard Erickson.

Erickson is a Baptist theologian.

He is probably the second most read,

or his Christian theology is second most used in Southern Baptist seminaries.

Wayne Grudem is number one.

But Erickson is very respected.

He writes,

While creation is God's originating work with respect to the universe,

providence is God's continuing relationship to His creation.

By providence, we mean the continuing action of God by which He preserves in existence

the creation He's brought into being,

and He guides it to His intended purpose for it.

The Bible teaches that God created everything.

And the Bible teaches that God didn't just create this world.

He didn't just create it and wind it up and let it go.

God has continued since the day of creation

to be involved in guiding everything now in this fallen sinful world

according to His intended purpose.

He is God.

He's in control.

The abstract of principles,

that is still a governing document at Southern Seminary.

Teaching on the faculty there.

You've got to sign that along with Baptist faith and message.

It is the earliest written statement of faith of Southern Baptists.

Now Baptist 1689 wrote the second London Baptist.

I remember that date.

I don't remember when the first one was.

Baptists have been writing statement of faith since Baptists have been in existence.

But the first one,

Southern Baptist Convention was started in 1845.

The first statement of faith that was written by a Southern Baptist.

It was the abstract of principles.

And they have a section on God's providence.

Look at it.

God from eternity decrees or permits all things that come to pass

and perpetually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and all events,

yet so as not in any wise to be the author or approver of sin,

nor to destroy the free will and responsibility of intelligent creatures.

God's in control.

But when you and I do sinful things and stupid things,

we can't blame God.

But even in the midst of our sin and stupidity,

He's still in control.

And He can work in it, through it, around it

to accomplish what He wants to accomplish in this world and in our lives.

The idea of God's providence means that nothing happens by chance.

There are no accidents.

I saw one smart aleck one time make a statement like that,

and then he stumbled and fell,

got up and said, I'm glad that's over.

The outcome of things like rolling dice, flipping coins,

are ordered by God and stated there, you see, in His Word.

The lot is cast into the lap,

but it's every decision is from the Lord.

And there's a lot of places in the Old Testament

where God's people and pagans like in the book of Jonah,

which is a lot of places where God's people,

they so trusted that God was in charge.

Another way to describe this,

they so trusted in God's sovereignty,

that He was in control,

that they cast the lot, cast the die,

with the trust that God would make it what He wanted it to be.

It's just a matter of information.

When is the last time

believers cast lots in the Bible?

Huh?

That's right.

In Acts chapter 1,

Acts 1 · chapter mention

they chose Judas' replacement

by the casting of a lot.

And that was it.

Now,

we can do a study on that sometime,

but from that point on,

after that,

the Holy Spirit came

to indwell all Christians.

And from that point on,

as you read through the New Testament,

the apostles,

they made decisions

based on prayer,

their knowledge of God's Word,

and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

They made decisions

based on their God-given wisdom.

And when you see churches making decisions,

that's what they did.

And then we're casting a lot.

That's why we don't do that.

Now,

there's nothing wrong with,

you know,

if,

you know,

if I've got $5,

and I think,

I either ought to give it to Tommy or Millage,

which one should I give it to?

Flip a coin.

I don't see anything wrong with that.

Do you?

We can do that.

But the idea is,

God is in control

to the minutest detail,

even in the flip of a coin.

The lot is cast into the lap,

but it's every decision is from the Lord.

And Paul said

that God works all things

according to the counsel of His will.

I mean,

the Bible is just real clear

God's in charge.

God's providence is sometimes described

in terms of God's sovereignty.

It's really hard,

or at least it is hard for me,

to distinguish between

a definition of God's providence

and the definition of God's sovereignty.

I don't know if I was trying to get everything on two pages.

Wayne Grudem defines God's sovereignty

as God's exercise of power over His creation.

Very similar.

Very similar.

In fact,

if you read,

if you ever do a study of God's providence,

whoever's writing,

whoever's trying to explain it,

whoever brings out Scripture,

they're going to bring in that word sovereignty

to explain it as well.

And here's some good examples

of how the Bible is filled

with statements

about God's power,

God's authority,

God's sovereignty.

Job said to God,

I know that you can do all things.

No plan of yours can be thwarted.

The Lord does whatever pleases Him

in the heavens and on earth,

in the seas,

in all their depths.

It's everywhere.

And in Isaiah,

I say,

the Lord says,

my purpose will stand

and I will do all that I please.

What I want us to see in this,

this is helpful to us.

If we are truly Christians

and we believe

that God is who He's revealed Himself to be

in His Word,

we really believe

that the Bible is God's inerrant Word,

this should be comforting to us.

This should assure us

that God is in control.

Miller Derrickson says something along this line,

providence is in certain ways

central to the conduct

of the Christian life,

central to how we live our lives.

It means that we are able

to live in the assurance

that God is present

and active

in our lives.

We are in His care

and He can,

and can therefore face the future

confidently

knowing that things

are not happening

merely by chance.

We can pray

knowing that God hears

and acts upon our prayers.

We can face danger

knowing that He is not

unaware

and uninvolved.

But here's the rub here.

God is sovereign.

God's in control.

But everything doesn't happen

in our lives

like we want it to.

Everything that happens

to us and around us

is not just,

is not right,

is not good.

There are Christians

probably,

I don't have any idea,

but there's probably

Christians

who are grieving

the death

of their loved one

in El Paso

or Dayton, Ohio.

God's sovereignty

doesn't take away

the pain.

It does not

in any way

lessen

the loss,

the grief

that your child,

your spouse,

your parent,

your friend

has died

a senseless death.

So here's where

we've got to really trust it.

God knows

what He's doing.

We wish

that wasn't

what He allowed.

but He did.

Romans 8, 28

is one of the most,

one of the best

one verse statement

of God's providence.

And I think it helps

just to know

and we know

that in all things

God works for the good

of those who love Him

who have been called

according to His purpose.

not that everything

is good

but He is working

for ultimate good.

The story of Joseph

is the best example

of that.

It's one of the best

examples

of God's providence

or God's sovereign power

that you have

in all the Bible.

I want us to look

just,

you know,

sort of

in a general way.

I'm assuming

that everybody here

is familiar

with the story

of Joseph.

Joseph.

You should be.

Genesis 37

through 50

tells it.

Let's look

at some highlights.

Number one,

God works

through sin

to accomplish

His purpose.

God is not

the author

of sin

but He does

work through it.

God doesn't

cause sin

but He does

work through it.

God works

through the sinful

choices

of people

to do

His will.

As Job

said,

sin cannot

or nothing

can thwart

the purposes

of God.

Sin cannot

thwart

the purposes

of God.

Think about

the sinful

choices

of Joseph's

brothers.

They hated

their brother.

They were

jealous

of their brother

and nobody

made them

be that way.

They couldn't

stand the fact

that their

father favored

Joseph.

I think

that's a flaw

in the parent

and Joseph

probably shouldn't

have said all

he said about

his dreams.

He might have

fanned the flames

a little bit

himself

but they chose

to hate him,

to be jealous

of him.

They wanted

to kill him

remember.

But one

of the

brothers,

one of the

brothers

intervened

and led

them to

sell him

into slavery.

God allowed

that to happen

and we don't

always see it

but we see it,

look at it

on the scripture

there.

God used it

for a great

purpose.

As for you,

this is what

Joseph said

to his brothers,

as for you,

you meant

evil against

me but God

meant it for

good to

bring it

about that

many people

should be

kept alive

as they are

today.

And that

was God's

way of saving

the nation

of Israel

from starvation

back where

they lived.

That was God's

way of preserving

his chosen

people

and the

Savior who

came from

them.

Number two,

God works

through suffering

to accomplish

his purpose.

Joseph suffered

for years at

the hands of

his brother,

Potiphar's wife

and the cup

bearer who

forgot about

him,

resulting in

Joseph staying

longer in

prison.

But you have

to take your

hat off to

Joseph.

Through it

all,

he knew

that the

Lord had a

purpose for

this.

He knew

that the

Lord was

with him

and he

remained

faithful.

Look at

these examples

from Scripture.

The Lord

was with

Joseph and

he became

a successful

man and

he was in

the house

of his

Egyptian

master.

at the

end of

that chapter.

But the

Lord was

with

Joseph and

showed him

steadfast love

and gave him

favor in the

sight of the

keeper of the

prison.

This is God's

providence.

God worked

through the

sinful actions

of Joseph's

brothers

to put

Joseph in

Egypt.

God took

care of

Joseph in

Potiphar's

house after

he was

wrongly accused

by Potiphar's

wife.

God took

care of

Joseph in

prison and

then eventually

elevated him.

The next one

here, God

worked through

success to

accomplish his

purpose.

When Joseph

became second

in command

over all

Egypt, the

Lord used

that, that

success for

good.

Look at this

in Genesis

41.

Then Pharaoh

said to

Joseph, since

God has shown

you all this,

interpreting the

dream, there is

none so

discerning and

wise as you

are.

You shall be

over my

house and

all my people

shall order

themselves as

you command,

only as

regards the

throne, will

I be greater

than you.

God worked

through the

sin and the

suffering to

make him

successful and

provide a place

for his family

to come and

then to say to

them, there's

that passage

again, we read

a moment ago,

as for you,

you brothers,

you meant evil

against me, but

God meant it for

good to bring

about that many

people should be

kept alive as

they are today.

Now, let's

think about it.

The providential

workings of

God or the

sovereign work of

God, if you

want to think

about it that

way, should

help us to

trust that God

is involved in

the world.

He's involved in

this country.

He's involved in

our lives.

God's life is

for an ultimately

good purpose.

The world's not

going to last

forever.

It's going to

come to an end.

The United States

may not last

forever.

It may not last,

it may not be

anything like the

next 50 years as

it has been the

last 50 years.

We're not going

to live in this

world forever.

God is at work,

but we don't know

how he's at work.

It's wrong for us

as Christians to

think, well, God's

going to work in

this mess of a

country that we're

in right now and

everything's going to

turn out well.

It may not.

We may implode and

never not exist 50

years from now, 100

years from now.

We don't know, but

God is at work.

In times of

crisis, we don't

usually understand

what God is doing

as he works.

We don't usually

understand how he's

involved, what he's

doing, why he's

doing it.

That's where faith

comes in.

And we're not

talking about blind

faith, faith and

faith.

We're talking about

faith in God who

is good and who

is in control and

who has a plan that

he's working out in

this world that will

ultimately lead to

his glory and his

people's eternal

blessings.

More often than not,

we have to look back

over time to see how

God has been at work.

That's what Joseph had

to do.

He didn't see, he

didn't understand all

that in the middle, but

he could look back and

see it.

That's what he said in

chapter 50 verse 20.

But we'll never

understand everything.

Why God allowed

someone's sinful

choices to cause us or

somebody we love to

suffer?

We may not ever

understand that.

We may never know

that.

But there's nothing

wrong with asking

why.

Some people say, it's

wrong to question God.

It's wrong to question

if God knows what he's

doing.

It's wrong to question if

God is good.

But it's not wrong to

question and say, why?

The psalmist does.

Because, you know,

between you and God,

between me and God, we

all in here may be

honest.

And we just talk to him

and tell him what we

struggle with.

But we don't do a whole

lot of that in front of

one another.

Do we?

We keep that pretty

close.

Talk about everything

being great when it's

not.

Well, the psalmist, he

wrote this.

And a lot of the psalms

are written by David

King.

Look at this, just two

examples.

Why, O Lord, do you

stand far away?

Why do you hide

yourself in times of

trouble?

And then the other

one.

How long, O Lord, will

you forget me forever?

How long will you hide

your face from me?

Me?

Some people just get

mad at God because he

doesn't do what they,

because he doesn't do

what they want them to

do.

What, yeah, what they

want him to do.

Or they just ignore him.

Psalmist is just being

honest.

He feels distant from

God.

And he's talking to God.

You ever ask, you ever

been ticked off or your

spouse ticked off at you

and they ever ask you,

when are you going to

talk to me again?

Or you may like it and

hope they never talk to

you again.

You know, some, who's

according to who you're

married to.

How long are you going to

be mad?

You might ask somebody,

how long are you going to

be mad?

How long are you going to

be mean to me?

How long are you going to

cook what I want you to

cook?

How long before you fry

another chicken?

At least you're

communicating, right?

The psalm, what I want

you to see is the psalmist

is communicating.

It's okay to tell God

what you think because he

already knows it.

And if you think bad, you

know what I think?

God, I just think Jeff's a

jerk.

Lord, I know that's wrong

to think that.

So help me not to think

that.

That's a decent prayer.

If you think that, the

psalmist does stuff like

that.

And those are models for

how we should pray.

The Bible speaks very

little about why everything

works the way it does.

As someone pointed out, God

is not in the habit of

explaining, but he is in

the habit of sustaining.

And that's what a lot of

times he's just going to do.

Just get us through.

And when going back to the

tragedies, if it's your

loved one, friend who dies in

any kind of tragedy, even if God

told you why, it wouldn't help.

They'd still be gone.

Your heart would still be

broken.

And so God is going to mainly

sustain us.

Give us what we need for the

hour, the day, the week, the

month.

But we can trust that there is a

reason.

And we may not ever know it.

Or we may not ever know it this

side of heaven.

We may not know it just

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