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Divine Providence
We sometimes sing a well-known hymn by
Joseph Addison,
When all Thy mercies, O
my God, My rising soul surveys, Transported with the view, I’m lost In
wonder, love and praise.
Thy Providence my life sustained, And
all my wants redressed,
While in the silent womb I lay, And hung upon the breast.
William Cowper, - another hymnwriter, - was
often given to depression and yet he wrote some of the most beautiful hymns,
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But
trust Him for His grace; Behind a frowning providence He hides a
smiling face.
Providence is not the religious word
for luck or fortune. It is not something that might come your way or
might not. Simply set out … in providence God preserves and governs His
creation so that it will accomplish all He made it to achieve.
If you didn’t believe in Divine Providence I
cannot see or understand how you can have any basis for your faith. Divine
Providence is the doctrine of Scripture that teaches God does all things for
His glory and ultimately for the good and benefit of His people.
God can do absolutely anything but He only
does that which is in accordance with His decrees that emanate from His
Providential will. … This, - as is anything to do with the Nature and Person
of God, - is a massive subject that no matter how much you say about
it you would never even be able to adequately ‘scratch the surface’. But
here are just three simple headings to help you to think just a little bit
clearer and systematically about this subject of God’s Providence
that is so central to our faith.
God’s Providence
directs us to have confidence
in Him.
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When you are standing on ground that seems
it might be ready to give way at any moment this doctrine calls upon you
to realise that underneath you and all around you are the everlasting arms
of the Almighty God. |
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… The Lord spoke to Job out of the
whirlwind, 38:11
Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves
be stayed. Here and no further!
“God holds the keys of all unknown and I am glad!” |
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It’s not simply that God knows the
paths you take; but the Word of God says He directs your paths. You
don’t stumble on to them and then He works something out accordingly … in
some sort of a reaction to get you out of the mess you got yourself into.
No, He is not a God of reaction … He is a God of direction!
Ps. 135:6 Whatsoever
the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and
all deep places. |
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He will not guide you along paths that
will completely envelope you, or into which you will sink and never be
seen again. |
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He allows happenings in your life for
reasons that, - at this point in time, - may only be known to Him. You
can’t understand why the burden of your heartache is so heavy, but
He understands and He has promised He would never leave you or
forsake you. |
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When David was hiding from Saul in a cave
at En-Gedi he felt God’s presence, he wrote
Ps. 142, I cried unto the LORD
with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication. 2
I poured out my complaint before him; I showed before him my trouble. 3
When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In
the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. 4 I
looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know
me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. 5 I cried unto thee, O
LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.
6 Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my
persecutors; for they are stronger than I. 7 Bring my soul out of prison,
that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou
shalt deal bountifully with me. |
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When Paul was sailing on that ship on the
way to the island of Malta he addressed the crew,
Acts 27:21 Sirs, ye should
have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained
this harm and loss. 22 And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for
there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship. 23
For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I
serve, 24 Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar:
and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. 25 Wherefore,
sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was
told me. 26 Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island. |
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This is not ‘fatalism’ … where the
unbeliever says ‘if it’s going to happen it will happen’. No, this is
God’s providence that brings confidence in Him … for
he knoweth the way that I
take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold (Job 23:10). … |
God’s Providence
directs us to have courage in
Him.
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Confidence
and courage are very closely related … but courage is surely an
outworking and the evidence of being confident. |
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Oh yes, I believe what you’re
saying; … but courage is being able to rely upon that belief. |
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The Confession says, “Nothing
happens by chance or outside the sphere of God’s providence”. What God
plans, He executes … He always brings to pass. |
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God, if you like, is the controlling
factor behind all things. |
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When the early Christians were mauled
by the lions in the Circus Maximus and torched along the Appian Way … |
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When the Reformers and martyrs were
beheaded and burned at the stake … |
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When the two young Covenanter women were
tied to a wooden pole on the sands of the Moray Firth and they drowned as
the tide came in … |
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Yes, … we have got to say it! … God’s will
and God’s decree was in action … and these men and women who were
tremendous testimonies of grace God imparted to them courage to
withstand the hour. |
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When I had meningitis, along with the
fears that such an illness brings … no matter how hard it would have been,
Pearl and I would have understood the words that Eli said to young Samuel,
I Sam 3:18 It is the
LORD: let him do what seemeth him good. |
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It can be hard, it can be difficult, it
can shatter your world … but even when this world is shattered the child
of God has the confidence in the providential care of God that
directs him/her to have courage in our God. |
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You know, it’s one thing saying these
things when all is going well … but the strength of this subject of
God’s providence is surely borne out when you have nothing to hold on
to but this truth. |
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Some of the most beautiful trophies of
grace have shone all the more in times of great affliction … and how did
they shine so brightly? … because of their confidence and
courage in God’s providential care. … Then also
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God’s Providence
directs us to have contentment
in Him.
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Confidence, courage, contentment,
- these three words share much more than simply their two opening letters.
These three words are grounded upon our understanding of the Sovereignty
of God in all things. |
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The Psalmist says,
103:8 The LORD is merciful
and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. 9 He will not always
chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. 10 He hath not dealt with
us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11 For as
the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that
fear him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed
our transgressions from us. …
Ps. 121:3 He will not
suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. 4
Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The
LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. 6 The sun
shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD shall
preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. 8 The LORD shall
preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even
for evermore. |
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This isn’t ‘luck’ or ‘good fortune’ or
anything else the world wants to call it. No matter what they say, the
world is not out of God’s control. |
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Even in the midst of anarchy, - religious,
political or anything else, - God has His finger on the pulse of this
world! |
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Job wept in his pain,
19:26 though after my skin
worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27 Whom I shall
see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another. |
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The supreme example is our Saviour,
Is. 53:11 He shall see of the
travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall
my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. |
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Paul wrote,
I Cor. 13:13 There
hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God
is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able;
but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be
able to bear it. |
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Where is the solace or contentment alcohol
or drugs can bring? They can offer nothing that lasts … but the
contentment the child of God knows is in the confidence that
God knows all things, and God does all things well. |
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It’s the contentment when you sit
at the bedside of someone who is dying, and you read to them from the
Scriptures, and you pray with them and you see that even in the midst of
pain, suffering and heartache there abides a contentment that is
not of this world. |
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Many a time I come away with such a sense
of gratitude that God called me into the ministry to be with such people
that He, - in His Providence, - is holding tightly in His grasp. |
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There are often discouragements some
professing members of the church family bring … but it is a joy to be with
a saint soundly saved, - confident and courageous, and
content … just on the brink of entering into eternity with God. |
Conclusion
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What good is doctrine if it
is not relevant to your faith and your daily walk? I hope you see that the
doctrine of Divine Providence is a living article of faith. |
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It is not ‘pie in the sky’ …
but the realistic way God’s people are privileged to live. |
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As it says, God hardens the
hearts of some while, - with the same Gospel, - He softens the hearts of
others. He abandons some, - He rejects them, - while others He
saves. |
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This subject is as vast as
eternity; try to understand it and put it into a body of words that would
satisfy man’s craving for knowledge and you’ll rob it of its mystery. |
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It is simply what the Bible
says, - the Book of instruction that God has had written. To the believer
who trusts in its truth this doctrine of Divine Providence is the basis of
our confidence, our courage and our contentment. |
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