Romans chapter 8, verse 28. The Apostle Paul, under
the inspiration of the Spirit of God, says, And we know that
all things work together for good. to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to His purpose. Let's pray. Our Father, we ask You this morning
to help us, frail creatures of dust. and struggling with the presence
of sin in our old nature that wars against the spirit of our
new man and new mind and heart. Lord, we do realize that we're
encompassed about with tribulation and trial and sufferings We ask
You to help us, to comfort us by Your Spirit, through Your
Word. Grant us faith afresh this morning. And help us as we worship, try
to worship, we try to hear, we seek. We ask You to bless the
preaching. The honor of the Lord Jesus Christ
is ours. desire, our hope, our plea. Speak, we ask You. Cause us to
hear. For Christ's sake, Lord, we ask
these things. Amen. We're looking at a little series. I guess you would
say the God that we worship. The God that these Scriptures
set forth. The true and living God. And
I'd like to speak this morning on the purpose of God in providence. Last week we looked at the purpose
of God in creation. The purpose of God in providence. Now that's a word that we hear. We hear the providence of God. The world looks at luck, fate. According to Romans 8.28, all things, now do you know how
much that encompasses? All things, providence. Now when we say providence,
what are we talking about? Well, providence to a believer,
which is only true providence, there is the providence of God,
is the Lord's government of this universe. It's His ability to
do and to accomplish to bring to pass that which He has eternally
purposed." The Lord is providentially working in this universe to do
that which He has purposed to do. It's His acts in directing all
things. We think that there's certain
things that he's not concerned about. It's all things. The Scripture says, John 5, 17,
But Jesus answered them, My father worketh hitherto, and I work,
he said. Now, the Lord has a reason for
doing that which he's doing. Obviously, he does. God's purpose in the work of redemption. The
Son is one with the Father and the Spirit. And from the foundation
of the world, Almighty God has been ordering everything that
comes to pass to the accomplishment of what He has ordained that
He will do. Providence. Psalm 3311 says,
The counsel, that is, the plan of the Lord standeth forever
the thoughts of His heart to all generations. And this is
a comfort to God's people that He is doing what He is doing
according to His purpose, counsel, and will, and He's going to do
it in absolute mercy and kindness, grace to His people for the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ. His counsel. It stands. He's God. This is His world. We're created. He is the Creator. He purposes. He accomplishes. And we're beholding the purpose
of Almighty God all around us. All generations have. Isaiah
40, 28 says, Has thou not known, hast thou not heard that the
everlasting God the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth,
faintest not, fainteth not. Neither is weary." There's no
searching of his understanding. You know, he's not like a farmer
or any of us that would work during the day and he kind of
comes to the end of the day and it's just time for him to rest. Because of weariness, he never
ceases. He never He stops. He never is
weary. He faint is not. I know to the
world, and sad to say, to we who are His people, called by
His grace, to us because of the frailty of this old man in which
we walk around. And we are walking around in
the same The body in which we were born. The same body in which we are fallen. This is the same
body. The only difference between a
believer and an unbeliever is that there has been something
new imparted. A new man. Something that is born from above.
And we're walking around in frailty, compassed about with sin, frustrations,
trials, and tribulations. And to us, too, in our old man,
we're just like the world. We look around and it appears
as though because of what we're seeing that the Lord's not in
control. Surely this chaos, It can't be
of the Lord. Surely all this wrath and this
trouble, and I look around, you do too, and it appears as though
this country that we're in that has been so highly favored, This is a mess. I was telling some of the men
a few minutes ago, the evidence of God's blessing upon a country
is when He restrains the evil of a country. He restrains it. We talk about our founding fathers,
and I'll tell you, I don't doubt for one second that there were
men and women back in the early days of this country when the
establishment of this country was being formed. The writers
of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, all of the foundingness
that God restrained the evil. But where you see God relaxing
His restraint. Take heed. Take heed. But this is what I know. The
Scripture says, Psalm 76, verse 10, Surely the wrath of man shall
praise Thee, and the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain. God's providence is mysterious. There are times It just seems
like confusion is the order of the day. And we look around and
we see events happening and we just scratch our heads and say,
how can this be to God's glory and my good? How can this be? Psalm 36 says, thy righteousness
is like the great mountains, thy judgment or a great deep,
O Lord, Thou preservest man and beast, God Almighty is in control."
Now you just rest right there. He is in control of all this.
Now that, you know, if I start looking at the events, I get
discouraged. If I start looking at circumstances,
I become perplexed. But to stop and to realize Almighty
God is ordering all of these things for His honor and His glory and
His grace and His purpose. And He's doing it for the good
of His people in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. It covers, that is, His providence. Everything. There's nothing too
small. There's nothing. If a sparrow
falls and hits the ground, an animal runs out in front of
your car and you hit it and you think, you know, oh, I wish I
wouldn't have hit that. And I do. I wish I would. I hit
a possum the other night. I hate that. How in the world could that be
God's honor in my good? How? It's mysterious. The number of the hairs of your
head are ordered and numbered by God Almighty. How can that
be? At the right time, for God's
glory and for My good and the realization of my frailty, God
Almighty, will cause a rooster to crow at the exact right time
when Peter denied Him the third time. God was honored and Peter
realized all of these things. God is working
even the wrath Yes, listen to Acts 2, 22, 23. You men of Israel,
hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God
did by Him in the midst of you as you yourselves also know Him,
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, Ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." Were the men doing what they
wanted to do? Yes, sir. You took, Peter said,
by wicked hands and slew the Lord of glory. You did that. according to the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God." How can that be? Somebody say,
well, I can see where that, I can see how that worked about, you
know, but everything else, every minute thing that comes about,
it happens. Surely not everything. Everything. Everything. The car didn't start. Why? God had a purpose. Stumped your toe and broke a
foot. God, surely the... All things. Oh, I wish I could remember that,
Carl. I wish I could remember that. I'm so forgetful. I am so doubtful. Almighty God, He has a purpose
in what He does. Ephesians 1.11 says, In whom
also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated. The destination
is ordered by God and the path to my the path to it. Being predestinated according
to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel
of His own will. But the question at hand is this.
What is the purpose of God in salvation? We know that He does
it. But what does the Scripture say
is the reason for why He does it? We know He does it. Here
it is, Colossians 1.18, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might have
the preeminence. All things. All things. First in God's sight,
and first in our affection for Him. Oh, if I could be remembering
these things, What would I be perplexed over? If I remembered,
and oh, as I said, how forgetful I am, if I would but remember Almighty
God before the foundation of the earth, the world, He established
in the eternal councils of His will that which He was going
to bring to pass. And He who is wisdom Himself,
who works all of these things after the counsel of His own
will, is going to bring honor to the Lord Jesus Christ by so
directing everything, every minute detail. In not just my life,
I'm talking about all of His elect's lives. Every star. Every planet. Every bug. Everything. That there's nothing
that is chaotic with Him. Nothing. Perfect order. And bringing all of these things
to the honor and the preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ, isn't
that just Wonderful that when my time is done upon
this earth, and they lay in the earth, this clump of dust, with
the assurance of knowing that He who is the firstborn from
the dead, that this body will rise again, in newness of life, changed. I was thinking about
this this morning. Changed. You know, when Adam was in the
garden before he rebelled against God, he walked with God. Scripture says he named the animals. He tended the garden. If he had a purpose, he walked. When He took of that fruit and
ate of that fruit, He changed. In the day that you eat thereof,
you're going to die. He changed. And it was just immediately
He was afraid. He changed. That change actually took place
in Him. It actually happened. I mean, before he knew it, he
was different. Scripture says we're going to
be changed. How? Quickly? Surely? Eternally? And I'm telling you, it will
happen in twinkling of an eye. Changed. He's working all these
things for the preeminence of His Son. In their end, God's people believe
Him and rejoice in Him. They're comforted. Boy, they'd
like to hang on to that comfort. But they find themselves struggling
with it. They find themselves not believing
Him as they ought, as they would desire. But they believe Him. Why is He working all things
after the counsel of His own will? Why does He not leave it in the
hands of His people to do it? Why does He not leave it? Well,
Job 4.18.19 says, Behold, He put no trust in His servants
and His angels He charged with folly. How much less in them
that dwell in houses of clay whose foundation is in the dust
which are crushed Before them all, I would desire, I would
truly desire, in my heart, in my new man, I would desire to
be faithful. I desire, I want to be faithful
to God. I want to be. I want to say the right thing
and I want to do the right thing. I want to be honorable. But I'm telling you, with the
presence of sin within me, the frailty of this flesh, I'm just
not. And I don't like it. Why does
he not trust me? Because I'm not able. Job 15, 15 and 16, Behold, he
putteth no trust in his saints, yea, the heavens are not clean
in his sight. How much more abominable and filthy is man which drinketh
iniquity. like water. Almighty God is the builder and
the sustainer of all things. And He's working all these things
for one reason. The purpose of God in providence
is that He might be glorified in all things in Christ. Man's salvation is not the reason
for God ordering all things. Man's salvation is not the ultimate
reason. God's glory is the reason for God ordering
all things. God's glory, in His glory, What did Moses ask Him? Lord,
show me Your glory. I will have mercy on whom I'll
have mercy. Because we believe it's by the
grace of God. Why? We're believing it's according
to the glory of God Almighty, His honor. that He will show
mercy and compassion, longsuffering. Listen to this in Revelation
4.11, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and
power, for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure
they are and were created. God's glory is the rule of His
action. God's glory. Oh, the providence of God is
executed in the wisest manner. What He does toward me, toward
you, toward anybody, is according to His wisdom. Romans 11, 33, Oh, the depth
of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable
are His judgments. and His ways past finding out. You thought, He said, I was one
likened to you. My ways are not your ways. The
way I handle things is not the way Almighty God says He does. The purpose of God in closing,
the purpose of God in His providence is that His righteousness, righteousness,
mercy, Grace, judgment, wrath. Almighty God has been pleased
to order all these things that He might be known in the person
of His blessed Son. Psalm 145, 17, the Lord is righteous
in all His ways and holy in all of His works, salvation of God's elect. That's
a marvelous blessing. That's a marvelous blessing that
God Almighty would show mercy to anybody. It is a wonderful
thought that we would leave this world with a substitute, an advocate,
a high priest, But you remember this, Almighty God has done what
He has done according to His providential dealings in everything
that comes about for the preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ, for
His honor, for His glory, for His praise. Two verses in closing, Ephesians
1, verses 11 and 12, Also, we have obtained an inheritance
being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh
all things after the counsel of His own will, that we should
be to the praise of His glory who first trusted in Christ.
May the Lord remind us, teach us, bring us to consider afresh. What is the purpose of God in
providence working all of these? Why does all of these? Why? That Christ might have the preeminence
in all things. And therein a believer can settle
down and say, Lord, You've done all things well. For Christ's
sake, and for the good of His people. Amen.