Good evening. If you would open
your Bibles to Acts chapter 24. Acts chapter 24. For quite a
while, There has been a subject that
I have been wanting to preach on and hoping the Lord would
give me a message and to clarify what I'd like to say tonight.
This is a topic that we discuss together. It's something that
I hear from the pulpit, and it's something that is extremely important
to the believer. And that is the providence of
God. Now, when I first start on a
certain subject or a word, the first thing I do is look for
that word in the scriptures. And the word providence is only
used one time in the scripture. And that's here in chapter 24
of Acts. Look at verse 1. And after five days, Ananias,
the high priest, descended with the elders and with a certain
orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul. The background of this story
is that the Pharisees are doing all they can to get rid of Paul.
And they have brought him before the governor Felix, the Roman
governor here, and are hoping that he will put Paul to death
to get rid of him. And instead of them presenting
Paul, they have hired or in some way paid this orator, who his
job is to be a speaker. He's a great speaker. And they've
asked him to stand before the governor and to speak. So in
verse 2, it says, and when he was called forth, Tertullus began
to accuse him, accuse Paul, but saying first to Felix, seeing
that by thee we enjoy great quietness and that very worthy deeds are
done unto this nation by thy providence. He tells Felix, this
governor, by your providence, we have great quietness and very
worthy deeds are done unto this nation by you. Now, a little
research reveals that Felix was a very tough and brutal governor
to the Jews. And what has happened here is
Tertullus has been paid to try and get Paul condemned. So he,
of course, is going to start that off by trying to butter
up the governor. He is going to lie and compliment
him so that they might be able to get Paul accused. Now this
word providence here, if we look up the definition of the word
providence, it is an omniscient God directing the universe and
the affairs of mankind with wise benevolence. It is fascinating
that the one time in the scripture this is used, it is used to describe
a man. And the whole scenario is completely
wrapped up in sin like you would expect. A man has been paid to
lie. They are trying to falsely accuse
someone. The Pharisees have all the wrong
motives. And everything in this scenario
is just full of sin. And that's fascinating to me. A term that we use often, how
our Lord provides for us, His providence, would be used in
that way only in the Scriptures. So what I do next after I look
in the word, and I look the definition up, is I look for synonyms. I look for words that mean the
same thing. So if I am trying to figure out
what the word power would mean, I would look for synonyms, and
it would mean strength or strong, so we could understand it better.
Well, I was shocked to see that there were only two synonyms
I could find for the word providence. The first is the word deity or
God with a little G and the second is God with a capital G. The only comparison or synonym
with Providence is God. So I pray that the Lord will
help us to understand what I'm getting ready to say. I have
chewed on this for a long time. Hopefully, I can make this simple
enough for myself and for us to understand. When we say something
is the providence of God, something happens, and we recognize it,
and we say, that was very providential. We're so thankful of God's providence
in this. It's not just that. What it is
is that God is providence. And when God does something,
it is providential to his people. It's not that something happens
in that event is providential. It's that because he did it,
it's providential. So let me see if I can explain
that with a different word. The Lord does something and it's
holy. But the act itself is holy because
God is holy. Everything he does is holy. He can do nothing that isn't
holy. Now wrap this back around to
us. If I were to do something, let's say I lied to you. That
lie is a sin. But the problem is because I'm
a sinner, I can't do anything but sin. So even when I do something
good, or so we think, I help you out, or I keep your secret,
or I do something for you that is good, I'm a sinner, which
makes all of my actions sin. Because our God is holy, everything
He does is holy. And because our God is providence,
everything He does is providential. For His people, everything He
does is providential. Now, the only reason that we
don't see everything to be providential It's because we're either too
dumb to recognize it, we're either too blind to see it, or we're
too proud to admit it. Everything that God does for
his people and everything God does in his people is all providential
because he's the one who did it. God's providence is something
we have to give him the glory for. This may seem like splitting
hairs. This may seem like, why are you
making a big deal out of this? Well, because for us to just
give God part of the glory, or for us to just give some of the
things that happen to him glory, is a blasphemy to God. He is
in control of everything. And just because we can't recognize
it, just because we can't see it, doesn't mean it isn't the
case. I think of the song, the famous song of thank God for
unanswered prayers. For us to think that we dodged
something or that something didn't happen to us simply by God not
answering a prayer, it's just foolishness. What we sing is
we sing the song, thank God his will be done, not mine. We thank God that everything
is of him. Everything is because of him.
Turn with me to Galatians chapter four. In one of his commentaries, Henry
Mahan said, God in his wisdom uses the natural world, creatures
and events to illustrate the spiritual world, his saving grace
and his redemptive work in the Lord Jesus Christ. The wonders
that God performs in the heart can be seen in the wonders God
performs in his word. In this, look at Galatians 4,
verse 4. But when the fullness of the
time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made
under the law. God's providence is best seen
in the salvation of His people. God's providence is best seen
in the salvation of His people. In Romans 5 verse 6, turn with
me to Romans chapter 5 verse 6. It says here, for when we were
yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. After the fall, after the flood,
the exodus, the tabernacle, the prophets, the kings, it pleased
God to fulfill every promise, every prophecy, and every pattern
in the sacrifice of His only begotten Son. Everything in this
word. All of it, His providence, all
manifests itself in the salvation of His people. That's where we
see it. We see it in what He has done. So I want to take just a few
minutes and just go through a few scriptures and a few stories
for us to see God's providence, that God is providence. Everything
He does points to the salvation of His people. It's all of Him.
It's all in Him. So turn with me to Daniel 3. Daniel chapter 3, just after
Ezekiel. In the definition of providence,
it talks of an omniscient God, an all-knowing and all-powerful
God directing the universe. So how do we see His providence
in the way He directs the universe? Look here at Daniel 3 verse 23. We all know this story. And these three men, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning
fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king
was astonished, and rose up in haste and spake, and said unto
his counselors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst
of the fire? They answered and said unto the
king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see
four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have
no hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery
furnace and spake and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants
of the Most High God, come forth and come hither. Then Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego came forth of the midst of the fire And
the princes, governors, captains, and the king's counselors, being
gathered together, saw these men upon whose bodies the fire
had no power, nor was a hair on their heads singed. Neither
were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed
on them. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake and
said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has
sent his angel and delivered his servants that trusted in
him and have changed the king's word and yielded their bodies,
that they might not serve nor worship any god except their
own." Did the Lord protect these men so that Nebuchadnezzar and
these princes and these governors and captains could all see His
power? To see that He would save those
He loved? Yes, but even more so, this is
a picture of how the Lord Jesus Christ, those that are with him,
those that are in him, the wrath of fire hath no power upon them.
Because of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, the wrath
of God has no claim on them. Because of that, fire has no
power. What about the wind and sea?
The people of Israel were trapped against the Red Sea and had no
hope. They were lost. They murmured
and the Lord parted the Red Sea and the people went through.
And what a great example for them to see the power of God
and his deliverance. But that's a picture that the
Lord Jesus Christ will deliver his people. He will save his
people. What about the water from the
rock? The people were going through
the desert and had nothing to drink. And there was a rock that
they hit the rock and water came out. A rock had water come out
to provide enough for hundreds of thousands of people. Was that
not a great example of how the Lord provides for His children?
Of what He does? But yet even more so, it's a
picture of the living water that we have from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because what He did, we have everlasting life in Him. The
same with the manna from heaven, His broken body for us. It says
in the Scripture, the trees will clap. At one point the sun refused
to shine. The universe is in God's hands. He made it and He has full control
over it. And He uses all of it in His
providence to show us the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ and
what He did. Turn a couple pages over to Daniel 6. Our God directs the universe. What about the living creatures
in the universe? What about Jonah being swallowed
by a whale? What a picture! Can you imagine
what everyone thought when they heard that Jonah had been swallowed
by a whale? I mean, the whole thing! How
could you even survive after being swallowed, let alone three
days? What an amazing thing! Jonah learned a lot from that
moment. But that's a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ being
buried for three days and arising after His victory. Look here
in Daniel 6 verse 16. Then the king commanded, and
they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. And
now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God, whom thou servest
continually, he will deliver thee. And a stone was brought
and laid upon the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with
his own signet and with the signet of his lord's. And the purpose
might not be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went into
his palace and passed the night fasting. Neither were instruments
and music brought before him, and his sleep went from him.
Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste
into the den of lions. And when he came to the den,
he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel. And the king spake
and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is
thy God, whom thou service continually, able to deliver thee from lions? Then said Daniel unto the king,
O king, live forever. My God hath sent his angel, and
hath shut the lion's mouth, that they have not hurt me. For as
much as before him innocency has found in me, and also before
the O king have I done no hurt. Then was the king exceedingly
glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out
of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no matter
of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God. In this
story, what a great blessing for the king to see that the
God that he believed, Daniel's God, was God, that he was able
to shut the mouth of the lions, that he was able to protect him.
But again, in these stories, we see a picture of our Lord
Jesus Christ. That we are safe, that we're
protected, that the power of the lion, the king, we're protected
in Christ because of his blood, because of his sacrifice. We're
safe. What about the animals on the
ark? What about the frogs, the flies, the lice? All these things. Our God is in control of everything,
of all of nature, of all the world. The universe, all the
creatures of the world. And then what about us? Turn
with me to Genesis chapter 7. Genesis 7. We so often, when enduring sickness, illness,
disease, we, by the grace of God, understand that it comes
from Him. That He is in control and all
things are under His power. We see in the Scriptures of our
Lord, healing blindness, of our Lord smoting those with blindness,
of healing someone who can't hear, of an issue of blood, of
the palsy, someone lame on their feet. All of these things for
us to signify that our Lord Jesus Christ is the great physician.
He's the great healer. In Him, we will be perfect. We get His righteousness because
of what He did. In Genesis 7 here, look at verse
21. So if He has control over all
the universe, over all the creatures of this earth, over our bodies,
what about life and death? Look at Genesis 7 verse 21. And
all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and
of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that
creepeth upon the earth, and every man. all in whose nostrils
was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land died. This is the flood with Noah,
verse 23. And every living substance was destroyed, which was upon
the face of the ground, both man and cattle, and the creeping
things, and the fowl of the heaven, and they were destroyed from
the earth. And Noah only remained alive, and they that were with
him in the ark. I know one of the Sunday school
classes did that this morning, and I saw on their paper that
said, that ark was Christ. What a picture. All living things
died except for those that were in Christ. That's our only hope. All living things will perish
apart from those that are found in the Lord Jesus Christ. And look at one more story in
Exodus 12. We've already discussed a bunch
of the plagues that the Lord sent, that the Lord had power
over all these things, turning water into blood, turning a river
of water into blood, controlling all these animals, all these
plagues. But finally, in Exodus 12, look at verse 12. For I will pass through the land
of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the
land of Egypt. both man and beast. And against
all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you
for a token upon the houses where you are. And when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. And the plague shall not be upon
you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. When I see
the blood, I will pass over you. For the people of Israel, In
their captivity with Egypt, they had so many examples of the power
of God in all these plagues. But this last thing, the Passover,
these people were shown that the only safe place is under
the blood of the Lamb, the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. His
blood is where we must be. If we're not under the blood,
we will perish as all the other Turn with me to Hebrews 12. Our pastor read in 1 John 4,
and let me read a couple verses again. He that loveth not knoweth
not God, for God is love. In this was manifested the love
of God towards us, because that God sent his only begotten Son
into the world, that we might live through him. Hereby know we that we dwell
in him, and he in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell
in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit."
This is the providence of God, what He has done for His people.
In Hebrews 12, look at this. Verse 6, For whom the Lord loveth,
he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth,
If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the father
chasteneth not? I know I'm guilty of this just
because something seems to be a chastening. It is still of
the providence of God. As we see in almost every single
illustration or story or picture that I have said this morning,
almost every one of them starts with a chastening. All of these
people were put into situations of danger, turmoil. The people
at the Red Sea, the Israelites there, they thought they were
going to die. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego going into the fiery
furnace. What about the people in the
desert before they smoked the rock, before manna came from
heaven? What about Jonah being swallowed by a whale? What about
Daniel in the lion's den? What about all of the people
on the ark when the rain started? Do you not think that they were
scared? I'm sure they're just like us. We can read that story
and think, we know God was going to save them. They were safe
in the ark. I'm sure if it were me, I would have been scared
to death of that rain. What about all the people in
the scriptures who were blind, deaf, dumb, had all these sicknesses
for the Lord to then heal them and to save them? What about
The Passover. What about those people in Israel?
What about them being inside their houses and were told that
I'm going to kill the firstborn of everyone that doesn't have
blood on their door? Do you not think they heard the
screams? Do you not think they were just
praying with all they had that it wasn't going to be them? All
of these things. Our Lord chasteneth to make us
recognize His providence. One of, a brother of ours had
told me a story about something that happened to him. And instead
of a situation where we get a promotion, where what do we do? I've earned
that. I've been working hard. I've
been trying as hard as I can. I've been going in early and
I got a promotion because I deserved it. I've been closing the deals,
all these things, all these things. I got it. Instead, we got to
get fired. And then the Lord turns around
and gives us something better because we can recognize and
we see in that moment, He shows us that it's not us. I can't
keep the job. He has to give me the job. He
has to promote me. He has to do all that. I don't
get anything. He chasteneth us. Look at verse
9 in this same chapter, Hebrews 12 verse 9. Furthermore, we have
had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them
reverence. Shall we not much rather be in
subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? If the Lord
blesses us with a parent that chastens us, that teaches us,
that disciplines us, we are taught to revere them. And by the Lord's
grace, we do revere them. And it says here, Look at verse 10. For they verily
for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he, but
the Lord for our profit, that we might be partakers of his
holiness. If he did not chasten us, we
would never see his providence. If we did not have trials and
tribulations, if we did not have ups and downs, we would not recognize
that he is the reason for all things. There are so many people
who have not been shown who they are, and because of that, they
think that they are either good or that they have done something
to save themselves. If the Lord does not show us
who we are, which is the ultimate thing that He does for us, that
He chastens us, He shows us who we are, that we might then know
that we can't save ourselves. He puts us in a position that
the only way we can be saved, the only hope we have is to be
saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. One last scripture, turn to Galatians
3. In 1 Corinthians 2 it says, We
have received the Spirit which is of God, that we might know
the things that are freely given to us of God. The only way we
see anything is because of His Spirit. His Spirit opens our
eyes and shows us. In 2 Corinthians it says, For
he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. Because of what the
Lord Jesus Christ did, because he made him to be sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God. Those who do not have any righteousness
are made the righteousness of God. Look here in Galatians 3
verse 23. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards
be revealed. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us under Christ that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith has come,
we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of
God by faith in Christ Jesus. Through the law, through our
schoolmaster, through what he's shown us, we get to see that
we are the children of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. I am going to fail miserably
at this, but I just pray to God that we might understand that
all things are the providence of God. everything that happens. May He show us, may He give us
an understanding that the things that happen to us, to God's people,
all of it, every single bit, everything, every single event,
all of it is of Him. Now only someone who recognizes
that they're a sinner and that all we are, all we can do is
sin, Only that person wants someone else to be in control. And I
thank God that He's made us to see that. To see that if we did
have control, if we got what we wanted, we would just, oh,
it would be awful. But by the providence of God,
because God is providence, everything he does is perfect and right
for his children, all of it. May we find peace in that. May
we find comfort in that and just a little bit understand maybe
a few more things that all of it is of God. All right.