Hold your place here in Daniel
chapter 4. And I want you to go over to
the book of Acts. To the book of Acts. I'm speaking
tonight on the subject of divine, the last word, providence. Now that word providence is only
used one time in the Bible. though there are many, many illustrations
of the doctrine of God's providence. But only once in the scriptures
is the actual word used, and it's here in Acts chapter 24.
This is when Paul is standing in front of the Felix. The Jews have hired a very capable
orator and lawyer to represent their case against the Apostle
Paul, and he's a man by the name of Tertullus. And so I'm only
going to read the first two verses of Acts 24, and I don't have
time to get into the context fully, but here we'll find this
word that I'm trying to hit on tonight and try to define tonight,
and it's the word providence. Okay, you're there. Acts 24,
1, and after five days, Ananias, he's the high priest, he descended
with the elders, so he's got the whole of the Sanhedrin with
him. That's 70 men, a body of 70 men,
the highest court in Israel, and then the high priest makes
the 71st man. And with those men was a certain
orator whose name, Tertullus, who informed the governor against
Paul. And when he was called forth,
Tertullus began to accuse him or bring his accusation against
the apostle Paul, saying, first of all, he begins by buttering
up Felix. Seeing that by thee, Felix, we
enjoyed great, great quietness, and that very worthy deeds are
done unto this nation by thy providence." The word providence
in this place is made up really of two portions. One has to do
with knowing, knowing a need, knowing a situation, and what
Tertullus is saying to Felix, You know the difficulties that
Israel has had to undergo. You know the problems that we've
had. And you came, and the rest, the
second part of the word providence is you came to provide for us. You have ably made provision
for Israel. And that's a definition of the
word When we talk about God's providence, God's providence
is He knows all things and the reason He knows all things is
because He ordained all things. He has predestinated all things.
That's the reason the Lord has an exact knowledge of all things,
not only concerning His people, but concerning everything within
His creation. But He also makes provision for
his people, but he makes provision according to his own will for
everybody, working all things as he wills to do, and for the
people of God, as we just read there in a few minutes ago, Romans
8, 28, working all things together for our good. So our subject
tonight is divine providence. Now, go back to Daniel 4. Daniel
4. Now as we get into the book of
Daniel, and obviously I'm not going to do an exposition of
Daniel tonight, but Judah is in captivity to Babylon. They are exactly in the location
and in the condition that God would have them to be in. First
of all, because of their own rebellion, because of their own
idolatry. Therefore they're in Babylon.
And Isaiah and some of the other prophets foretold the time that
they would be taken into captivity and be taken to Judah. And then
they would be released under the decree of Cyrus and they'd
go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple and begin to worship
the Lord once again by means of sacrifice because the first
thing that they rebuilt was the brazen altar. But they're in
Babylon because God put them there because of their own rebellion. But there's another reason. And the other reason is there's
a lost sheep in Babylon. He's a king. He's a heathen. He's an idolater. He's a man
who hates God's people and who hates God. But that man, the
Lord's going to send him a preacher, and the preacher's name is Daniel.
Look back to chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. In the third year, Daniel 1,
1 and 2. In the third year of the reign
of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar, king of
Babylon, unto Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim,
king of Judah, into his hand." Who gave Judah and the king of
Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar? The Lord did. This is not by
accident. This is on purpose. This is the
unfolding of that which God had predestinated and which He's
bringing to pass by His providence. Jehoiakim king of Judah into
his hand with part of the vessels of the house of God, which he
carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his God. And he brought the vessels into
the treasure house of his God. And I only read those two verses
to show you that Judah is in captivity to Nebuchadnezzar and
the Babylonians. according to the purpose of God. All things happen according to
the will of God. What we would call good things
and what we would also call things that are contrary to our flesh,
things that are very unpleasant. Daniel is one of the preachers
of the gospel. And we know that all of the prophets
spoke of our Lord Jesus Christ and wrote of Him, and we have
that in the Scriptures. Our Lord said that. And the Lord sends them into
Babylon to punish them for their idolatry, for their negligence
in worshiping God and forgetting about Messiah who's going to
come into the world to save his people from their sins by his
substitutionary sacrifice. But also he sends them there
because Nebuchadnezzar has got to hear a preacher. He's got to hear somebody tell
him the truth about God. And when we get over here to
chapter four, Daniel has interpreted a dream for him. And I don't
have time to go into all of this. This bears, it's worthy of exposition
of this passage of scripture. But I want you to look down at
verse 35, verse 34 and 35. At the end of the days, and I'll
read this again, I, Nebuchadnezzar, and remember, he's the one telling
the story. And if you read the beginning
of chapter 4, you'll find that it's Nebuchadnezzar who says,
I, Nebuchadnezzar, and he gives, I think we could put it this
way, he gives his personal testimony. This is what God did to me. God
brought me down. God humbled me. I was a proud,
arrogant, heathen king, an idolater. But God brought me low. I found
out who God is. This is important knowledge to
find out who God is. And he learned because the Lord
taught him. So in verse 34, at the end of
the days, I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes into heaven. Now
remember, he's like a beast of the field. He had to lift up
his eyes toward heaven because right now, just before this,
his eyes are on the earth. He's eating grass like a beast. And in that, he's like every
man and woman by nature, we're looking down always. We're feeding
upon the things of this earth. That's what we do. We're totally
caught up with the world and the things of the world. We're
looking down. We're looking down. But when
God begins to do a work of grace in our hearts, that's when we
begin to lift up our eyes and look toward heaven. to look toward
the Lord. So he said, I lifted up mine
eyes unto heaven and mine understanding returned unto me. We lost all
spiritual understanding in Adam's fall. We're ignorant of the things
of God. We're ignorant of who God is.
We're focused on the earth. We're focused on materialism. We're focused on things that
please us and please our family. We're totally absorbed with those
things. But then in regeneration, God
gives us understanding again. We had understanding in Adam,
but we lost that understanding. And he said, I bless the most
high. What happens to somebody that God is teaching of his identity,
of his greatness, of his glory? I'll tell you what happens. You'll
bless the most high and you'll see that he's the most high.
You're not high, you're low. You're low. He comes down here
in the next verse and he says, He says, all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing. That is in comparison to God,
everybody is as nothing and God is all. And Nebuchadnezzar is
beginning to learn that, he's beginning to find that out. So
I'll finish reading verse 34. My understanding returned unto
me and I blessed the most high and I praised and honored him
that liveth forever, whose dominion." Now we're getting into the issue
of divine providence. Our God dominates. He rules. He has the authority over all. His dominion doesn't start in
time, His dominion started from everlasting and it goes to everlasting. All things were made by Him according
to His will. And all things fulfill the purpose
of God in making them. Make no mistake about it, God
has His purpose for every creature under heaven, every creature. whether they be wicked or whether
they be righteous by the grace of God and through the imputed
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord has dominion
over all. No one is independent of the
rule of God. When Lucifer fell, was he acting independently of
God? Well, of course not. when Adam
fell in the garden? Was he acting in a manner that
was not according to that which God would have him do? Could not God have stopped Lucifer
from what he did? Well, sure he could have. Could
not God have stopped Adam from doing what he did? Sure he could
have. Therefore, we must come to this
conclusion, all things good and evil are according to the purpose
of God, who predestinated all things. It says here in verse
35, he doeth according to his will. Do you remember that our
Lord Jesus in John chapter five, he said to the Jews, who hated
him, he said, my father worketh hitherto. And I work. Here's the father working. The
father has been working all along. Now it's not a labor such as
our labor is. Our Lord is not expending any
energy that would deplete him of strength or energy like it
does us. But He is active. That's what
He's saying. He is active. And our Savior
said, as the Father is active, so I am active. He does His will according to
His will. He doeth according to His will
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
Well, who's in heaven? The angels. He does His will
there. Everything that's done in heaven
fulfills the will of God. And he doeth his will among the
inhabitants of the earth. Always and at all times, the
precise will of God, what God has predestinated is coming to
pass. Now that should give great comfort
to all of the people of the Lord. His will is done among the army
of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
his hand nor say unto him, what doest thou? And then he says, at the same
time, my reason returned unto me, and for the glory of my kingdom,
My honor, my brightness returned unto me and my counselors and
my Lord sought unto me and I was established in my kingdom and
excellent majesty was added unto me. What Nebuchadnezzar is saying
is, the Lord brought me down and the Lord has raised me up.
And this is certainly a picture of salvation. The Lord humbles
us. He brings us low. He brings us
to fall before Him and makes us to realize we really don't
know anything spiritually. We may know a good many things
about physical events and physical things. But as far as that which
is spiritual and eternal, the things of God, the things concerning
God's salvation, the things concerning our own depravity, we really
don't know anything. And we have to be taught. And
the Lord did teach this man. You see, God does his will at
all times and in all places. Job 23, 13 says he is of one
mind and who can turn him. And what his soul desireth, even
that he doeth. Here is God dealing with one
man. And everybody he deals with,
he deals with them individually. He must himself do a work of
grace in your heart and in my heart as he did here with Nebuchadnezzar. He does his will everywhere.
Which brings us to the doctrine of predestination. It is that great truth that God
purposed all things that would ever be that would ever exist,
that would ever happen before the world began. By predestination the Lord ordained
all things that would ever exist and the purpose for which those
things and those people exist. This predestination will be fulfilled
by what we call divine providence. And we must not make this mistake
that a lot of people make concerning providence. They'll say, well,
it was all providence. No, it wasn't all providence. It was all the providence of
God. If you want to read an interesting article, Robert Hawker, if you
have Robert Hawker's concordance and dictionary Read what he has
to say. He talks about people who are
always attributing things to providence, but they don't say
it's the providence of God. It's the Lord who knows all things,
and with that knowledge, He does according to His will with everybody
and with everything. God does as He pleases. to fulfill his purpose. In the great work of providence,
God himself brings all things that he determined before the
world began to fruition. I know people use the word accident. They use the word luck. Words of that nature. But really,
those are the wrong words to use. All things are according
to the providence of God. It's His providence. And we must remember that God
who purposed all things purposed our salvation, predestinated
our salvation, and predestinated that those He saves will arrive
at the destiny that He Himself ordained before the world began.
What is our destiny as the people of God? Conformed it to the image
of Christ. Isn't that right? Romans chapter
8, if we'd continue to read, and we did read a couple of verses
that had to do with this, That which God purposed for us and
that which God is doing for us is teaching us of the Son of
God with the end in view that in eternity we will be conformed
to the image of Jesus Christ. As one writer said, God loved
his son to such an extent that he ordained to have a whole family
just like him. Not that we would be gods. but they would be holy and blameless
and pure before the Lord. Conformity to Christ and an entrance
into the family of God were predestinated to that. In Ephesians chapter
1, Paul talks about predestinated unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ himself. Everybody God ordained unto salvation
before the world began will be brought by sovereign, almighty,
invincible grace into the family of God to enjoy the Savior, to
worship the Lord Jesus Christ, and He'll do so by that regenerating
power. which gives us a right and a
privilege when we're brought to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
to say, I'm a child of God. That's what you're predestinated
to be. Conformed to the image of Christ,
be a member of the family of God. So here's what divine providence
is. It's the great truth that our
Lord by exercising authority over all things will bring everything
he predestinated to pass. God's predestination is absolute,
it is unconditional, and it is independent of his creation.
and independent of the people whom he has predestinated to
be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ and predestinated
to the adoption of children by himself. You say, what do you
mean by independent of us? We have nothing to do with it.
That's what I'm saying. This is a work of God. Divine
providence rules over both the elect and the non-elect. And God who predestinated all
things for the elect and the non-elect brings everything to
pass according to his sovereign will and pleasure in providence,
his providence, and all things will work out exactly as he determined
before the world began. So it can say this. Simplify
it. Predestination is God's eternal
purpose. Providence is God bringing His
eternal purpose to pass. Predestination is God's determination
of everything. It's the Lord who marked out
the existence and the destiny of everything. Every angel, every
demon, every righteous man, every unrighteous man. providence that
governs everyone and everything that God has created. Now I want
you to go to Ephesians chapter 1. When we talk about the works
of God, we mean God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit. But our Lord Jesus has been given
a special role in the kingdom of God and in all of God's creation. Because we read, it pleased God
that in Christ should all the fullness of the Godhead dwell
bodily. And as a result of his redeeming
work upon the cross of Calvary, as a result of Him saving His
people by shedding His blood unto His death, as a result of
Him bringing in everlasting righteousness for all of His children, God
has given to that man, the Lord Jesus Christ, authority and dominion
over all things. Our Lord Jesus, before he ascended
back to heaven, he told his disciples, all power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth. That is all dominion, all authority. He has been given the dominion
and the authority to fulfill the predestination of the triune
Godhead in time. And that's what we're gonna read
here in Ephesians chapter one. I'm going to begin, don't have
time to read all these verses, but I'm going to begin at verse
18. Ephesians 1.18. The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened that ye may know what is the hope of his
calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance
in the saints and what is the exceeding greatness of his power
to usward who believe according to the working of His mighty
power which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead
and set Him at His own right hand in heavenly places." The
same power that raised the Lord Jesus from the dead has got to
be at work in your heart and in my heart in order to bring
about spiritual life. That's what he's saying. This
matter of being born again, and I'm gonna speak on being born
again more extensively this coming Sunday night. It's not a minor
thing. It's not a matter of you making
a decision. It is a creative act of our Lord,
our Lord Jesus Christ. The same power that raised him
from the dead's gotta raise you, gotta raise me. Now watch this. He has been set At His own right
hand, God has set Christ at His own right hand in heavenly places,
far above all principality and power and might and dominion
and every name that is named, not only in this world but also
in that which is to come, and hath put all things under His
feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church,
which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all. Who is exercising the authority
needed and the power that is required to bring everything
that God has predestinated to fruition, to fulfillment? It's our Lord Jesus Christ. He's
been given all dominion and authority because He was faithful to fulfill
the redemptive work assigned to Him, a work which He volunteered
to do back in the covenant of grace before the world began,
back in eternity. He is accomplishing today that predestinated work of the
triune God. King Jesus is. He said this in his high priestly
prayer. You don't have to turn here,
but his high priestly prayer in John 17. He says, as thou
hast given him, speaking of himself, authority or power over all flesh,
that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given
him. And I'll just mention this and
I'll let you go tonight. Consider the dignity and the
authority given to Christ. All things are put under his
feet. All things are subject to his will. There is a man in
glory, seated at the right hand of God on a very real throne,
having absolute authority and dominion and power over every
single thing that exists. It doesn't matter where it is.
Now this power and authority belong to him from eternity.
But as the God-man, this is the emphasis, as the God-man, he
earned the right to have all authority and all power. It belongs to him by right of
inheritance as a reward for doing the work of redemption. His dominion is over the righteous
and the unrighteous. Let me give you one last reference.
Go back to the book of Job. Job, look at chapter 12. I'll show you how extensive his
authority is. Job chapter 12. There's no limit
to his authority. There is no expiration to his
authority. There's never any weakness for
him to fulfill that which he's pleased to do. Job 12, a very interesting verse here.
Verse 16. Job says, in strength and wisdom. The deceived and the deceiver
are His. The deceived and the deceiver
are His. Who do they belong to? Who owns
them? Who controls them? Who has dominion
over them? Who has authority over the deceived
and the deceiver? You remember our Lord Jesus,
He warned, He said, false Christ will come, deceiving many. Many deceivers are raised up.
Who raised them up? Who has dominion over them? We were deceived. I was deceived
and you were deceived. deceived by the great deceiver. And yet, the deceived and the
deceiver are both under the dominion of the Lord, and He uses them
to fulfill His predestinated purpose. And in overruling the
deceiver, and in ruling over the deceived, He exercises His
providence. Let us learn that nothing and
nobody, no devil, no horrible person in this world. Think of
the very worst people you can think of. None of them are independent
of the Lord. All of those who were deceived
and who deceived others pertaining to our Lord Jesus Christ, the Sanhedrin, they deceived
multitudes. The false priests, the false
prophets, they spent their years as adults teaching and preaching
falsehoods. And yet, They belong to the Lord
as far as His property. I told somebody just last week,
I said, God will use everybody. You have a purpose in this world.
I don't know what it is. But whatever God's purpose is,
the Lord Jesus Christ is going to bring to fulfillment that
purpose in you. See, the Lord had a purpose for
Lucifer. Could He have stopped him? Sure.
God had a purpose for Adam. Could He have prevented him from
his rebellion? From defying the order of God? Well, certainly He could have,
but it wasn't His will to. And I rejoice to know that the
will of my Lord is always accomplished. It may require my flesh to suffer. It may require the church of
our Lord Jesus Christ to have difficult times. But it's all according to His
predestinated purpose And He brings all of these things to
pass by His good providence. So let us rejoice in the Lord.
Well, I'll continue with this subject next Wednesday night,
the Lord willing. Get your psalm books out, and
I decided we'd sing this 274.