will never satisfy God's justice
or God's law. But here's what does. I, even
I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for my own name's sake, for my
own sake. You often ask that question,
why have you redeemed me? Why have you saved me? I don't find an answer when I
look in myself, do you? God gives you an answer. I love
the scriptures, always gives you the answer. You don't even
have to guess why God does something. He said, I do it for my namesake,
for my sake. Listen, for this, I will not
remember thy sin. Now to the sinner, That is the
most gracious statement that God could ever speak to your
heart. I can't forget them. Can you count the sins, your
own sins, this morning? Can you count them? I says, I
won't remember them. I'm not going to do it for you.
I'm going to do it for me, for my own namesake. I'm so thankful that we have
a Savior that actually saves. I don't want a Savior that can't
save. I don't want a Savior that makes salvation possible. I need
a Savior that's actually done it. And I'm thankful He's done it.
You know what? He'd done it before I knew He
did. And then He told me about it. He called me. And that call was just as effectual
as his sacrifice. Just as effectual. And I'm still
here. You, the believer, why are you
still here? These two men are going to stand up and tell you
the same thing that we've told you for years. They're not going
to change. Their message is the same. They're
going to preach two different texts. But you listen, the same
one they're going to exalt. Exalt the same Christ, the same
Savior. The world can't understand why in the world you want to
hear the same thing. And I know you do. Why? Because
He keeps you. That's the only reason I'm here.
You know the difference between a true God and a false God? The
false God needs to be carried. The true God carries me. Pray for these men as they come
this morning, and we're gonna sing the hymn in your bulletin
this morning. Stand together, we'll sing, Hide
Thou Me. Sometimes I feel discouraged
and think my life in vain. I'm tempted then to murmur and
of my lot complain. But when I think of Jesus and
all he's done for me, then I cry, oh rock of ages, hide thou me. O rock of ages, hide thou me. No other refuge have I but thee. When I start fail, I wander far,
far from thee. Then I cry, O rock of ages, hide
thou me. Sometimes it seems I dare not
go one step further on. And from my heart all courage
has slipped away and gone. But I remember Jesus and all
his love for me. And I cry, oh rock of ages, hide
thou me. Oh, rock of ages, hide thou me. No other refuge have I but thee. I start, though I wander far,
far from thee. Then I cry, oh, rock of ages,
hide thou me. Oh, friend, it's Jesus, your
anchor for my soul. So tender, true, and gracious,
I'm safe in his control. My help in time of danger, my
strong defense is he. Oh, thou blessed rock of ages,
guide thou me. Oh, rock of ages, hide thou me. No other refuge have I but thee. With life's dark veil I wander
far, far from thee. And I cry, oh, rock of ages,
hide thou me. I think you may be seated. and turn over to the next page
and we'll sing face to face with Christ my Savior. ? Face to face with Christ my Savior
? Face to face what will it be ? When with rapture I behold
Him ? Jesus Christ who died for me ? Face to face I shall behold
Him Far beyond the starry sky. Face to face in all his glory,
I shall see him by and by. Only faintly now I see him. ? With the darkened veil between
? On a blessed day is coming ? When His glory shall be seen
? Face to face I shall behold Him ? Far beyond the starry sky
? Face to face in all His glory
? I shall see Him by and by ? But rejoicing in His presence ? When
our banished grief and pain When the crooked ways are straightened,
And the dark things shall be plain, Face to face I shall behold
Him, Far beyond the starry sky. Face to face in all His glory,
I shall see Him by and by. Face to face, oh blissful moment. Face to face to see and know. Face to face with my Redeemer,
Jesus Christ who loves me so. Face to face I shall behold Him
Far beyond the starry sky Face to face in all His glory I shall
see Him by and by I've been very encouraged. I
know that you guys have been studying. That's good. But I've
been listening. And I'm encouraged every time
I hear it. But I know this. I'm not alone. I've heard this, people call. People I haven't heard from in
a long time. And they're listening, and they're
so thankful for the messages. Very thankful. Thank you for
the labor that you put into these things. And people keep saying,
this conference has been short. I keep telling them, I said,
I'd much rather you say, man, I wish you'd had more than to
say, man, I wish you'd have quit three days ago. So I'm thankful
for the time we have. It has gone fast. It has gone
fast. And I pray for Brother Dave as
he comes and preaches the gospel to us. God's mercy. As a matter
of fact, let's go to him in prayer. I missed that a minute ago. Our
gracious Father, thank you for this time that you've given us.
Thank you for the services that we have had, that you have blessed
us with. And even today we look forward
to your grace and mercy to pour out your Spirit once again upon
our hearts. Our hearts are dry, cold, I ask you to please refresh our
hearts and minds. Renew us by the power of your
spirit in our minds and our hearts. Help us to see things as they
really are and not as how we think or feel. Give these men
liberty, not for any glory to them, or any glory to us. Do it for your own namesake.
Do it for your own glory and your own praise. May Christ be
exalted, praised, magnified. May His work be declared with
plainness and boldness of spirit. We even pray, Father, You would
forgive us our failures. our sins. And this we know we
have because of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray in His name,
for His sake. Amen. Brother David, come preach. Go ahead. You are right. I'm eager, but I, no, go, please,
you won't pass, you won't pass. Everybody wants to last longer
anyway. I am. I jumped the gun. That's what
you get for telling me I did a good job earlier. You did a good job officiating.
There it is. ? All bound to love divine that
flows ? ? From my Savior's pain and sighs ? ? My sins are all
those whom He writes and is wise ? ? Mercy cleansing every stain
? ? Now rushing o'er me like the flood ? ? And now this wretched,
this vilest one ? ? Is extending himself ? ? All bound to grace
? From the law have set me free. From sin or wrong, from Calvary's
tree, love and justice have reigned. Praise the Lord, the Christ has
reigned. The curse defeated by the Lamb. Yes, I was once a slave
by birth. Now I'm free in Christ I'm sure. A well of joy is mine to drink, for
my Lord has come to bear victorious. Forevermore the ancient road
is laid to rest. Hallelujah, Christ is King, alive
and free. ? My tongue in thorn ? ? Praying the
praise ? ? Glory be to God alone ? ? Hallelujah, Christ is King
? ? Alive and reigning on His throne ? ? My tongue in thorn
? Glory be to God the Lord. Glory be to God the Lord. That was good. I want to personally, Teresa
and I both, want to thank this church for having us in your
hospitality. It's been wonderful. We always
say it's an honor to come somewhere else and preach. And the reason
we do is because it is. This has been no exception. As
you said, the thing is, it just goes by too quick. Kevin, thank
you for the messages you preached. It's been a blessing in my heart.
And I suppose if we could narrow the gospel down to one word,
it would be Christ. But if we had to use two words,
I think two appropriate words would be, but God. but God. If you turn with me
in your Bible to Proverbs chapter 16, when I gave Terrence the
title, Fred said, Ephesians 2, and I'm like, well, we could
go there. We could go a bunch of places, Romans. But I wanted
to start here in Proverbs chapter 16, verse 9, if you would. Give you a moment to get there. but God. Here Solomon writes, a man's
heart devised his way, but the Lord, but God, directed his step. Turn over just a couple pages
to Proverbs chapter 19, verse 21. It says, there are many devices
in a man's heart, nevertheless, but God. Nevertheless, the counsel
of the Lord, but God, that shall stand. Now, the word
devices speaks of the schemes and the plans and the intentions,
ideas devised in men and women's hearts. and minds. Because of
sin, these devices are conflicting, they're selfish, they're misguided,
especially when compared to the will and the purpose and the
counsel of God. But the Lord's counsel, His purpose,
His sovereign will, will ultimately stand, prevail, and come to pass
for one simple reason. Because he's God. He's God. I hear men today preach a little
G God is what I call him because that's all he is. He's just a
little G God. No more than just an idol that
wants to do something, trying to do something. That's not my
God. That God can do nothing. My God
can do anything and he can do everything. His counsel's eternal. It's unchanging. He said so himself. He said,
my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. Nothing happens by accident.
My pastor, Brother Maurice, one time was in a car accident. Nobody was hurt, but toward the
two vehicles up, and the fellow that he hit, got plum mad. And he was walking around the
car assessing the damage of his car. And he said, well, what
do we have here? What do we have here? And he
wasn't happy. And Brother Montgomery said,
an unfortunate occurrence? That's what it was. It wasn't an accident. There
are no accidents. Everything comes to pass according
to the counsel, the will, and the purpose of God Almighty. His counsel shall sustain. He
shall do all His pleasure. Whether it's the rise and fall
of nations or one single sparrow falling to the ground. God is actively involved in all
events, big or small. The Lord has established His
throne in the heavens and His kingdom rules over all. We make our plans, planning on
going on vacation. Well, you may go, you may not.
You ever had a vacation plans board? Oh yeah, I'm sure we all
have. You know, we think, we strategize,
we determine what paths in life we want to take. Some of you
young folks are planning to go to college, maybe some planning
on getting married. Men and women devise their way,
but the Lord directs our steps. Divine and sovereign providence
governs the outcome. Now that word directive there
in the verse means establishes, orders, controls our actual steps. The Hebrew word strongly implies
God firmly setting and making sure what it is that we do. And I find great comfort in that. Why? Because as a child of God,
as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, He's working all things
together. by the counsel of His own will.
And He's working them all together for you, child of God. That's
what He said in Romans 8.29. All things work together for
good. To the world, everyone in it? No, to them who love God. Be called according to His purpose. God has the prerogative. as God
to direct our steps. He can override our human intentions,
or He can just simply let us have our own way. I remember
when I first began to hear the gospel, and I would hear men
pray, Lord, don't let me have my way. Now I know what they
mean. I'll mess it up. I'm sure to
mess it up. But He cannot fail. He works
all things together for our good. Men and women today attribute
much of the goings on in this world to luck, whether good or
bad. Brother Fortner used to say that
the world blames and credits everything to three fictitious
ladies, lady luck, misfortune, and mother nature. But divine
providence and intervention grounds the believer's faith in a sovereign
God. When you believe in sovereignty,
you believe in a sovereign God. There is no other God but a sovereign
God. There is no other grace but sovereign
grace. It's just sad that we have to
qualify those things as sovereign because this world has no idea
what we're talking about. They have no idea who God is. They have no idea what grace
is. Grace to most people is you helping
God out to accomplish His will. This glorious truth and teaching
is found all through the scriptures and it's usually and easily found
by two words, but God. It seems that folks in this world
believe this world to be a spinning roulette wheel. When your number
hits, whether it's good or bad, it's just a matter of chance.
But anyone who knows anything about a sovereign God knows that
luck, chance, fate, Had nothing to do with it. It all goes back
to two words. What are they? But God. That little three-letter word,
but, used as a conjunction means on the contractory, except or
unless. As a preposition, it means apart
from, except for, with the exception of. As a noun, the word but means
an argument or an objection against what is said. And as an adverb,
the word but means only or just or no more than. In whatever
form the word is used, it points to contrast, opposition, exception,
limitation, and it qualifies the previous statement before. salvations of the Lord, but God. In the scriptures, it's often
used to interject man's problem. You might say, well, I don't
have any problems. Oh, yes, you do. One big one, sin. And it's often that word but
is often used as a turning point where God intervenes. Reveal that all things work together
for your good. And unless God intervenes, all
of us are heading to hell on roller skates, fast as we can. God overrides evil intentions. That's what Joseph told his brothers. They threw him into a pit. He
got sold into slavery. You know the story. And Joseph
said, But as for you, you thought evil against me, but God, he
meant it for good. To bring to pass as it is this
day, to save much people alive. But God shows us something of
human love versus divine love. Romans 5, 7, and 8, for scarcely
for a righteous man will one die. Peradventure for a good
man, some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love
toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us. But God, but God. Human love is limited and cautious,
but God shows a sacrificial love, a love that's given when it was
not deserved. We had our ways in the lust of
the flesh. We fulfilled sin's desires in
the flesh and of the mind. We were children of wrath, even
as others. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love, wherewith he loved us. But God and his
intervention shows us something of God's determination between
life and death. And regardless of our fleshly
and carnal desires, God in mercy loves us, those who Christ died
for. And God introduces mercy and
sovereign grace into our lives. And we see that if it wasn't
but for God, we would die in our sin. But God reveals to us
concerning death and resurrection, Acts 13, 29. I won't turn you
to these, but listen to this. And when they had fulfilled all
that was written of Him, they took Him down from the tree and
laid Him in the sepulcher. Their will was accomplished,
they thought. We've gotten what we wanted since
the day He was born. It's over finally. We can relax. But God, raised him from the
dead. Man executed the Lord Jesus Christ,
but it was by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. God's the first cause of everything. God vindicated the one who was
perfect. Why? Because Christ's blood paid
for our sin. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission of sin, no forgiveness of sin. And his resurrection proves that
God accepted his perfect work of righteousness for you, Mike. It wouldn't have raised him if
it hadn't. You see, justice was fulfilled. Christ said, it's
finished, and God said, that's enough. I'm paid in full. Releasing from the grave, death
releasing. And that goes for you and I who
are found in Him. Man fails, but God's faithful.
We sin, but God saves. We're dead, but God gives life. But God. If God's not in control
of everything, then our faith has no foundation at all. God's not reacting to the world. God is ruling over the world.
Divine providence gives us comfort even in suffering. You know, I can remember men
preaching when I was a young lad. And I thought, well, you
know, I got to get saved, you know, which is a ridiculous statement
in and of itself. Because I want to tiptoe through
the tulips. You know, I want everything to
be all right. It didn't work out that way. It's oftentimes
the beginning of suffering, isn't it? No suffering is wasted. No
pain is random. No hardships are meaningless. Divine providence encourages
us to trust and rest in the one who loved us. Knowing that God
governs all things, always. allows and causes us to stop
trying to control everything ourself. It didn't work out too good for
me to try to control things myself. And we can rest with peace and
comfort and assurance when life is uncertain. Isn't that what the wise man
Solomon tells us in Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 and 6? Trust
in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him,
look to Him, trust in Him, and He shall direct your path. Divine providence produces true
worship and gratitude. When you realize God is the one
that provides every breath, every heartbeat, every meal, every
possession, every blessing, we can stop worrying about circumstances
that arise. Why don't we? Why don't I? But it's then when we do that
we can truly worship. We can truly be thankful. We
can truly rest. Why is it that we have to labor
to enter into rest? You ever thought about that?
We have to work to rest. Because we don't really believe
like we should. I think every child of God loves
those blessed words Paul gives us there in Romans 8, 28. I think
we love them, no doubt, but I think we very often doubt them because
we look within to ourselves. Why do we do that? We look to
ourselves instead of looking to the very God that they speak
of. And we know all things. How many
things? All things. Work together for
good to the whole world. No, to them that love God. To them who are thee called according
to His purpose. You know, it's easy to have faith
when you don't need it. It's easy to trust God when everything's
going good. It's easy to love God when He's
not chastening you. But when you're being chastened,
friends, remember who it is that's chastening you. He chastens His children. He
chastens those that He loves. For whom the Lord loves, He chastens,
and He scourges every son whom He resents. Divine providence
helps us to forgive. We can trust even the wrongdoing
of others, knowing that we're under His providential care. God allowed them They're for our good. They teach
us. They prepare us. They wean us
from this world. I remember Brother Maurice often
saying, you know, I'm ready to die. I'm ready to go. And I'd
sit back there at about 35 years old and go, well, I ain't. I am now. I isn't ready. Lord weaning us from this old
world. There ain't nothing here for us. Most importantly, divine
providence teaches us that God is the one that saves. God's
the only one who can open hearts. God only can arrange divine appointments. I want to share just three short
stories of divine providence, why that prove why Teresa and
I are here with you right now. Some of you may have heard these
stories. If you have, I apologize. But
the first story begins on the morning of August 9th, 1945.
A young Japanese girl in Nagasaki, Japan woke up and got ready to
go to school as she always did. However, on this particular morning,
she wasn't feeling well, so instead of going to school, her grandmother,
who was her caretaker, sent her to the doctor. That same morning,
while at the doctor, 11.02 a.m. Nagasaki time, the atomic bomb
was detonated at 1,650 feet above the city, causing massive destruction. You've seen the news clips. You've seen pictures. It was
devastating. Every single one of this young
girl's school's classmates perished. But she herself was spared. But God. But God spared her. Approximately nine years later,
this dear lady, a young woman now, was employed as an interpreter
American military base there in Nagasaki, and it was there
that she met a young soldier from America and moved to the
United States and later gave birth to six children. And that's
the middle child sitting right there. This young lady of whom I speak
was Teresa's mother. Well, what do you say to that,
Brother David, but God? If God had not divinely intervened,
my wife would have never been born. The second story of divine
providence transpired in 1955. There was another young married
lady from Muhlenberg County, Kentucky who became pregnant
with child. Her father was a strict pastor
of a Pentecostal church denomination and Since this child was illegitimate,
she hid her pregnancy. She hid it from her family, and
as her due date came closer, it became apparent that she wouldn't
be able to keep this child. And just so happened, no, but
God. She had a friend who had a sister-in-law
that couldn't have children. Her and her husband had tried
for many years, to have children, so immediately adoption arrangements
were made, and now in the process of time, this pregnant woman
met a man who was in the military, and he was determined to marry him, and
he was to move to California to serve there at a military
base, and Providence would have it, or better said, but God,
Worked out that these adopting parents got this child and moved
to a little place in Henderson, Kentucky, the same place that
young Japanese woman had moved with her husband. And I'm sure
that you've already deducted and figured out that that adopted
child was me. Fast forward 26 years, and Teresa
and I were married. We had both come from strict
religious backgrounds, her being a raised Catholic and me free
will Baptist. We were searching for the truth.
We wound up again steeped in deep religion. And then we come
to the third story of divine providence. And I was working
for a company in 1986 that transferred me to Franklin, Tennessee, just
south of Nashville. Teresa and I moved there. had
two small children at the time. And Teresa and I picked up a
telephone book. Do you remember what those are?
Some of them were pretty big. And we randomly picked out a church. No, it wasn't
random, was it? But God. And we attended it. that particular church that very
next Sunday and the pastor stood up and he said, oh, next week
we're having a Sovereign Grace Bible Conference. I didn't know
what Sovereign Grace was. But we were like, oh, well that's
good, you know. And for the first time in either
of our lives, we went to that and we heard the gospel. More than once. There were 16 preachers at that
conference. And, well, I could tell you who
they were, most of them. Henry Mahan, John Fortner, Tim
James, Scott Richardson, Maurice Montgomery, Jack Shank. Had a young preacher there that
was once a Pentecost himself, Donny Bale. Oh, my list goes on and on. And I thought that my job had
moved me there. But we know God did. But God. All of us have our stories. All of us do. Beloved salvations
of the Lord. It was God that spared and sent
that young Japanese lady to America and to a place called Henderson,
Kentucky. It was God that sovereignly purposed
for a young, illegitimate boy to be moved from one county in
Kentucky to another county in Kentucky for his adoption. It
was God that caused that same boy to meet this Japanese lady's
daughter and fall in love with her. And it was God who caused
that young man and woman to move to a small town in Tennessee
the very week that several true gospel preachers came and preached
the gospel. Accident? But God. What do we say to these things?
But God. But God. Well, Brother David, that's all
good and fine, but where's the gospel in this message? Well,
what is the gospel? Is it good news? Good news for
sinners. It's not good news to everybody,
but it's good news to a sinner. One that God has revealed to
them that they're a sinner. Well, that's the only salvation
we have. It was God who sent Jesus Christ
into this world to save His people, sinners, from their sin. Are you a sinner? Paul wrote in Kevin Ably preached
on it, 1 Timothy 1.15, that faithful saying that says Christ Jesus
came into the world. Why did he come? To save sinners. And Paul said, of whom I am chief.
And I think Kevin even said it, if Paul considered himself to
be the chief of sinners, what am I? Friends, you and I have offended
God. Our sin is against Him and Him
only. He has the right to judge us.
He's clear of any wrongdoing if He destroyed us. I mentioned Friday night about,
or maybe yesterday when you sung, you know, about being fair. Listen,
God would be fair if He sent us all to hell. That's what we
deserve. But God, but God. But God, who is rich in mercy
for His great love wherewith He loved us even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
are you saved. And hath raised us up together
and made us see it. Every time I read that, I think,
made us see it. But we wasn't willing to. I remember
a little story about the little boy jumping up and down on the
couch. His mom said, sit down. He just
keeps jumping. And finally, she gets, I said,
sit down. And he sat down. And he sat there. And he's just smiling. And she
goes, what are you smiling about? He said, I'm still jumping up
and down on the inside. That's us, isn't it? But he made
us. He made us. We proclaim the gospel knowing
that God is already at work. I can't save anybody. Greg can't
save anybody. Kevin can't save anybody. None
of God's preachers can. The Lord's salvation is His business. It's His business. All I can
do by His grace is preach the truth. It's God who takes that
word and applies it where He wants to, to whom He wants to,
and to whom it's divinely purposed. So if we don't understand something
of divine providence, we're going to live in fear. We're gonna
live in pride and we're gonna live in confusion, but if God
enables us to believe that He's in control of everything, and
He is, if God would cause us to trust that He's working all
things together for our good by the counsel of His own will,
we can have confidence, we can have humility, We'll have peace, we'll have
rest, we'll have purpose, because we know that God is always at
work and He never fails. We live in a world where chaos
seems to be reigning. You don't have to turn on the
TV very long to see that. Every time you turn it on, somebody's
been murdered or stabbed, you know, it's crazy. Chaos. Oh no. No, no. We live in a world that God is
ruling and reigning and working all things together for good
for His people. They're moving exactly and precisely
in the direction that God Almighty determines. And this teaches each child of
God to pray and to seek God's will. Well, who else's will would
we want? James wrote, go to now, ye that
say today or tomorrow, and we'll go into such a city and continue
there a year, and oh, we'll be prosperous. We'll buy and we'll
sell. We'll get great gain. We'll make
some money. We'll make something of ourself.
And he goes, whereas you don't know if you'll even be alive
tomorrow. No, don't say that. What do you
say? If the Lord will, we'll do this,
and we'll do that. What is your life? It's even
a vapor that appeared for a little time. And then it vanishes away. We ought to say, if the Lord
will. Oh, even when people plan purpose
evil, God's still at work overruling evil intention for righteous
outcome. Pharaoh hardened his heart and
God raised him up in power. Why? To show real power. Here's the most powerful man
in the world. And God snuck him out like he
wasn't enough. God caused Pharaoh to have a
well-known name and reputation, but it was that his, God's name,
might be declared throughout the earth. And it was. When the
children of Israel got to Jericho, Rahab said, we've heard about
your God. News traveled fast, and they
didn't have Fox News and CNN back then. And know this, as I finish up,
God is never the author of sin, but He's the master over sin.
And He's the master over every circumstance. Well, Brother David,
what about the providence of God in our suffering and affliction?
Well, the providence of God meets us probably the most powerfully
in the valley of tears. God has a purpose for it. And the child of God says with
Job, naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave. Anything you've
got today, the Lord gave it to you. And the Lord hath taken
away. What do we say? Blessed be the
name of the Lord. Job didn't suffer because Satan
got the upper hand. God allowed it. God limited it. And God used it. God said to
Satan, He said, I'll consider my servant Job. And he said, well, you've got
a hedge about him. And God said, well, you can take all he's got,
but you can't touch him. Now, who's in control there?
Satan comes back before the Lord again after he'd taken everything
that Job had. And he said, and God brought
it up. Have you considered my servant
Job? He said, well, you've got a hedge about him. He said, I
took everything he had, but if you allow me to touch him, he'll
curse you to your face. God said, OK, you can touch him,
but you can't take his life. My, my. Where is our God? He's in heaven. What's God doing? Whatever he
pleases. The God of Providence is our
Father, and though we're creatures under His power first and foremost,
we're children under His grace. Don't ever forget that. May God
enable us to rest in His divine providence. This world may look
like it's spinning out of control, but it ain't. Who hath measured the waters
in the hollow of His hand, and meted out heaven with a span,
and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed
the mountains in a scales, and the hills in a balance? Who directed
the Spirit of the Lord, or being His counselor, hath taught Him?
With whom took He counsel, and who instructed Him? Who taught
Him the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and showed
to Him the way of understanding? Our Lord and Savior upholds all
things by the word of His power. For by Him were all things created
that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things, all things, all things were created by Him and for Him,
and He is before all things. And by Him all things consist. We rejoice in the fact that every
good and perfect gift coming from where? From above. From who? In the God in whose
no, there is no variables. No changing. Neither shadow of turning. We
can trust and rejoice that every closed door Every delay. Oh, I got caught in traffic today.
I just hate that. May it save your life. Every
disappointment, every loss, every storm. It's all under the sovereign
direction of our Heavenly Father, who's not working things randomly,
but purposely together for His glory and our good. May the Lord
keep us from complaining and murmuring. I hadn't arrived. Still murmuring and complaining
way, way too much knowing these things. May the Lord be pleased to cause
us to rest in Christ who governs all things. May the Lord cause
this blessed doctrine, this amazing truth of divine providence to
enable us to be humble in our life and thankful for our blessings,
patient in our trials. May we find rest and peace and
comfort and assurance in all things, since Christ has provided
them all for us. He said, I'll never leave you
nor forsake you. He meant what he said. Rest in
him. Thank him for us. Love it. I hope it didn't go too long.
Thank you. Thank you for everything. We
appreciate it. Amazing thing.