Amen. Alrighty. I'd like to ask you to turn to
the 11th chapter of Romans. Romans chapter 11. We're beginning chapter 5 of
Don's book, The Mysteries of God. And Don takes his thought on
this book where it says in 1 Corinthians 4, verse 1, let a man sow a count
of us. Now what that means is let men
around us. Let those who see our walk in
this world for what it is. We have a God, folks, a God who
is providential ruling is over all things. He is sovereign God
of all that is. And if we're going to stand on
a street corner and proclaim anything, that's what we're going
to proclaim. If we're going to stand up and
proclaim anything at all, it is that God Almighty rules everything. So when Don takes his thoughts
from this and says, let a man show account of us, it means
let those who see us take account of what we are. And then he describes
what we are, he says, as the ministers of Christ. Do you know
that each and every one of you, each and every single one of
God's people is a minister of Christ? You know what a minister
is? One who declares. We declare
that Jesus Christ is God Almighty in the flesh. We declare that
Jesus Christ laid down his life and didn't make a possibility,
but saved his people, those for whom he has loved from before
the world was. So, let a man so account of us as the ministers
of Christ, and then he adds this to that, he says, and stewards,
that means keepers, That means that I'm a steward of this property. God has allowed me to live here
and it's my job to keep it cleaned up and to keep it looking nice,
to keep it presentable for those who come to visit, for those
who God might bring out of the world to come visit us like he
did last week. How nice it was to have visitors
here. How nice it was. You know, I prayed for that.
I told Mike Lovelace this when they started coming in. I said,
brother, you wouldn't believe it. I was just praying to the
Lord a little bit ago. If it be thy will to bring a
few people in that have never maybe heard the gospel. We're gonna go into that a little
bit deeper in the next hour. But it says, let a man so account
of us as the ministers of Christ and the stewards of the mysteries
of God. And we've looked at the mystery
of godliness that we see in 1 Timothy 3.16. We've looked at the mystery
of the faith. You know, first off, the mystery
of godliness. And this is in the exact order. Don did a good job of putting
this in the order that it should be in. The mystery of godliness,
that means Jesus Christ. Great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh. That's what 1 Timothy 3.16 basically
said. And then we looked in our next
one, chapter three, the mystery of the faith. We talked about
our faith, our belief is a mystery to the world. They're like, how
can you believe that? How can you believe that God
doesn't love everybody? He created everybody, didn't
he? And we kind of looked at that, and I'm not trying to go
to everything we've already looked at in depth, but just kind of
cover it, because it leads up to this very next point that
we're going to be making. And then in the fourth chapter,
we look at the mystery of Christ and the church in Ephesians 5,
verse 30 through 32, and that's just talking about the mystery
of the union, the oneness that we are with Christ. It's the
same oneness that really, we have a picture of it, but we
don't fully understand the oneness between a man and a woman that
are married. Kathy and I are one. May not
always seem like it, but we are. We are. We're one. We've been brought together by
God and kept together by God. That goes for Christ and his
people. That union that goes between Christ and his people.
We are brought together by God and we are kept together by God. So this morning we're gonna look
at the providence, the mystery of providence. And that simply
means this. It means everything that has
happened is providential. How can you say that God is in
charge of people who would run an airplane into a building and
kill thousands of people? How could you say that God is
in charge of a man who would raise up a whole country and
slaughter millions of people just because they were born of
the Jewish faith? How could you say that God is
in control of those kinds of things? How could you say that
he is the providence of all of those things? Because he's God,
that's how I can say it. He's sovereign God. You see,
the word God means sovereign. It doesn't mean a little god,
a little G, it means big G. It means the one who works all
things out according to His will, according to His providence,
according to His purpose. Look here at Romans 11, verse
25-33 with me if you would please. Romans 11, beginning at verse
25, For I would not, brethren, now this is Paul writing to the
Romans, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, It's a mystery
to the world. It was a mystery to them there
and at that time as well. Lest ye should be wise in your
own conceit. You know what I think of when
I think of that? I think about our Lord's prayer where he says,
I thank thee, O Father, for thou hast hid these things from the
wise and the prudent. and reveal them unto babes. I would not, brethren, that ye
should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your
own conceits. That blindness, and here's the
providence of God, that blindness in part is happened to Israel. Now remember, the Lord blinded
Israel to believe a truth. or to believe a lie, not the
truth, I'm sorry, a lie. And it goes on here, it says,
until the fullness of the Gentiles become in. He did this so that
he would open up the scriptures to the Gentiles, to show unto
all the world, all of his elect throughout all times, throughout
all tribes, throughout all tongues, that salvation of the Lord is
for all of his elect. Until the fullest of time be
when the Gentiles be come in, and so all Israel shall be saved,
as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the deliverer,
and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant
unto them, when I shall take away their sins, as concerning
the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes, but as touching
the election, they are beloved for the Father's sakes. For the
gifts and the calling of God are without repentance. For as
ye in times past have not believed God, yet now have obtained mercy
through their unbelief. He's talking about the Gentiles.
Even so have these also not believed that through your mercy they
also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all
in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all. Oh, the depth
of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how
unsearchable are his judgments. That word's the same as mystery.
How mysterious are his judgments and his ways past finding out. Now, Don writes this. He says,
the providence of God is a mystery hidden from blind, unregenerate
people, but revealed to God's elect by the Lord Jesus Christ
through His Word and by His Spirit, whose grace abounds toward us
in all wisdom and prudence. That's what we read in Ephesians
1, chapter 1, 9 through 10. Having made known unto us the
mystery of His will, that's the same thing, the mystery of His
providence, according to His good pleasure, which He hath
purposed in Himself." Providence is the government of the universe
by God for the accomplishment of His will. That's what providence
is. Everything that happens is by
the providence of God, by the permissive will of God. He's purposed all things. It's the accomplishment of His
will which He has purposed in Himself, which will is the salvation
of chosen sinners for His glory. Now remember, that's the final
result of everything. When the Lord is done with all
that is in creation, Every single one for whom the Father giveth
him shall have come to him. Every single one. Everything
that happens in this world is for the purpose of saving God's
elect. Don says this, he says, be sure
you understand this, these two things. First, the will of God,
the purpose and pleasure of our triune God, is the salvation
of His elect. When the Bible talks about the
will of God, it is talking about the salvation of chosen sinners. Every single time you see the
will of God the Father, it's what Christ came to do, the will
of God the Father. That's what we heard our brother
Wayne Boyd talk about last night. When the Bible talks about the
will of God, it is talking about the salvation of chosen sinners.
This is what the will of God is. Look with me, if you would,
over at John chapter 6. Turn from Romans over to John.
Go to the left. Over to John chapter 6. Look here with me at verse 39
and 40. We're talking about the will
of God being the salvation of his elect. And this is the Father's
will, which hath sent me, saith the Lord, that all which he hath
given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again
the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth
on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up
at the last day. Another one, if you would, over
Hebrews chapter 10. Go back past Romans over to Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 10. Look what it says here in verse
7. Then said I, Lo, I come in the
volume of the book. You know what that's referring
to? That's referring to John 1 in the beginning was the Word.
He says, I come in the volume of the book as it is written
of me to do thy will, O God. That's the whole purpose of Christ.
That's the whole purpose of all of creation is to save God's
elect. All those who come into this
world from the beginning of Adam and Eve all the way to the last
one. Folks, when that last one comes
into the world and the Lord calls them out of darkness, there's
nothing left for the world to exist. There's no reason. There's no reason for God not
to return that day and say, OK, I've got all mine. I'm taking
it home. Look at verse 10. Same thing. By the witch will, we are sanctified
to the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Secondly. Not only is the will
of God the purpose and the pleasure of the triumph of God and the
salvation of His elect, it is His providence is God's sovereign
and absolute government of the universe to accomplish that first
point that we just talked about. To accomplish everything that
happens. I've said this many a time. Everything
that happens is so that you and I would be exactly where we are
right now. Everything that happens is so
that God's people will be exactly where they are when they are
there, at that moment, or whatever moment it is. Folks, our Lord
rules it all, or He's not God at all. We stand and proclaim
that He's God. Well, He's either God or not.
And if he's God, then that means he rules everything, including
time itself. Every single part of the government
of the universe is to accomplish his will, to accomplish the salvation
of his elect. The mystery of providence is
the fact that God absolutely directs all affairs of the universe
to save his people. Look again with me over at Romans,
this time 11, verse 25 and 33. Look at verse 25 of Romans 11. For I would not, brethren, that
ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise
in your own conceits, that blindness is part, in part, is happening
to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles Be, come in. Look at one more here, if you
would, over at verse 33. Oh, the depth of the riches both
of the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable. That's another word that describes,
means the same thing as mystery. How mysterious are His judgments
and His ways past finding out. Look at one more if you would.
Go to Ephesians chapter 3. Go to the right a little further
over to Ephesians chapter 3. Tell me if there's any way you
can interpret this differently. We're talking about everything
that happens being the purpose, the providence of God for the
salvation of his life. Look at verse 11. Ephesians chapter
3 verse 11, according to the eternal purpose, providence,
which he purposed, planned in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now tell me that's not pointing
exactly to that very point. People just don't understand
that God would blind an entire nation that He promised. He promised
that they would be His people. The thing is, He promised that
they would be His people if they did this. And they didn't. They couldn't. Neither can we. That's why we
need Christ. God's plan has always been plan
A. It's always been the plan that
Christ would come to this world. We know this because in Revelation,
the Lord calls His Son, the Lord Jesus, the Lamb slain from before
the foundation of the world. We know this because in Ephesians
chapter 1, it talks about us being predestinated. before the
foundation of the world, before anything was ever created. It's always been Plan A. Look at what Paul says in Romans
11 about the mysteries of Providence. If you can see it, you'll be
astounded, writes Don. He says, he, Paul, tells us by
divine inspiration that God sent blindness to the Jews, that he
might send light and salvation to the Gentiles. Tell me that's
not the providence of God. Tell me that's not worth saying
hallelujah. Do you know what the word hallelujah
means? It means praise be to God. Don says, and thus save all of
his elect. That's verses 25 and 26 of Romans
11. It also tells us that he shut
the Jews up in unbelief. That he might have mercy upon
his elect among the Gentiles. That's in verse 32. The apostle
was completely overwhelmed with awe and praise for God when he
thought about the Lord's providence that we read about in 33 and
36. We would be too if we understood
the wonder and the magnitude and the grace of it. Do you catch
grace in this? Do you see the grace of God in
saving any of us? What love God has for us, folks.
We get a little inkling of it, a little picture of it here and
there. But oh, the depth of God's love
for us goes deeper than we'll ever understand till the day
we stand with Him. And then we'll see it for what
it truly is. The management of providence.
Don asked this question, who is running this world? Who's
running it? I hear Pastor Gene say this all
the time. He says it in gist. He says, I tell Judy all the
time, I'm glad you're not running this world. She says, well, I'm
glad you're not running it either. Kathy says that about me all
the time. I don't blame her one bit. Who is running this world? There
are four distinct views. four things taught by men about
the government of this world. First, some think that everything
comes to pass according to some fixed law called the laws of
nature. Those who teach this are rationalists,
Don writes. They refuse to believe anything
that cannot be explained upon natural grounds. The basis of
what they believe is found under a microscope, or in a test tube,
or by a hypothesis, or a hypothesis is any guess that denies God. Secondly, others imagine that
everything comes to pass by chance, or mere coincidence. Most people
are great believers in luck. I used to be a great believer
in luck. Yeah. Lady Luck. Father Nature. Lady Luck. Mother Nature. Lady Luck. They think that there's nothing
that is certain. They think that there is nothing
that is fixed. They think there is nothing that
is absolute. That's why we have a world today
that believes men can be women, and women can be men. They just
think, oh no, it can't be absolute. It's like saying black can't
be white, white can't be black. You know, if you mix those two
colors together, you come up with gray. These people court and seem to
adore, writes Don, and ascribe everything to three women whom
they think are rivals to God, lady luck, misfortune, and mother
nature. Third, there's the ones who are
cold, suedo intellectuals, Don calls them. They would have us
to believe that everything in the world is ruled by a cold,
impersonal force called fate. Do you remember the name used
for a man's idea of God in the movie Star Wars? They called
it the force. Remember that? The force be with
you? Yeah. That was fate. That's what that was all about.
They didn't want to call it God. May the fourth be with you, was
Star Wars' idea of benediction. The fourth one, however, the
Bible teaches us that the manager, the master, the ruler of the
universe is God Almighty. And you can read that in Psalms
135, 6 through 13, or Isaiah 40, verse 12 through 17. We affirm and insist that this
universe is totally and constantly ruled by God Almighty. Our God
always has His way and does His will everywhere. I say amen to
that. There are only two alternatives
to that fact. If God is not running the world,
it is either because he does not want to run it, or he's not
able to run it. To say that God does not want
to run the world is to say that he has abandoned the work of
his hands and abandoned his purpose in creating all things. And you
can read that in Hebrews 111, Ephesians 1.11, Hebrews 1.3,
or Colossians 1.17. To say that God is not able to
control the world absolutely is to speak a bitch against His
very Godhead. It's to say He is not able, even
though the Scriptures tell us He is able. He is able is the
constant song of the redeemed throughout all the Scriptures.
He is able to deliver, as we read in Dan 3.17. Those that
walk in pride, He is able to abase, it says in Daniel 4.37. He is able to subdue all things,
as we read in Philippians 1.21. He is able to save and to keep
all of His people by His grace, as He tells us in Hebrews 7.25. Our God is a God who is able
to help. He is able to save and to destroy,
according to James, verse 12. Those who deny God's absolute
sovereign management of the universe destroy the very basis of worship. Why worship Him if it's just
a chance? Why worship Him if it's just a maybe? If God does not want to govern
the world, or if he's not able to govern the world, prayer is
a useless thing, isn't it? Why pray to him? If he's not
able to turn the tide of something, why pray to him? Why pray to a God who is not
interested, or who is not able to intervene in earthly affairs? But hallelujah. Praise be to
God. That is not the case. The management of the universe
is God's work. So let's consider, if you would,
the mystery of providence for just a moment. And we'll wrap
it up. In Isaiah 55, 8-9, look, you
know what, turn over to to Isaiah 55 for just a moment. I want to read those two verses. Isaiah 55. Why is this providence so hard
for man to understand? Why is it a mystery to natural
unregenerate man. Look at verse 8 of Isaiah 55. For my thoughts are not your
thoughts. Men don't think like God. No,
men think like the depraved souls that we are. We think that we've
got more power than we think we have. We're more powerful
than we should think we are. His thoughts are not our thoughts.
And it says, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
So with that in mind, listen to this quote from a man by the
name of C.D. Cole. He wrote this. He says,
Providence is a mystery, is mysterious, and perplexing, because the God
of Providence is incomprehensible to finite minds. We can't comprehend
what he's thinking. That's why it's so incomprehensible
to us. We think it has to be according
to our way. But it's not. It's according
to God's way. Salvation is of the Lord. Well,
that can't be, but that's the way it is. And therefore, C.D. Cole writes,
his ways are too deep for us to understand. We must take him
at his word. Amen. Woo! That's exactly what
I've been saying about he who knew no sin was made sin that
we would be made the righteousness of God in him. Stop trying to
explain it. Just stop trying to explain it
and accept it for what it is. What is it? It means all of my
sin was taken upon Him that I would be made the righteousness of
God in Him. That's what it means. As simple
as that. Oh, but you've got to go into
it a little bit deeper and explain it out. No, you don't. You don't
have to explain it at all. How do you explain God becoming
man? If you didn't get to hear Wayne
Boyd preach Friday night, buddy, I tell you, go and find the recording
of it and listen to what he had to say. He brought it out so
well. He brought it out so well. It's
just as simple as this. We don't have to explain it.
God became incarnate. He became flesh. He became something
he was not. I think that's how Wayne put
it. That blessed me a great deal to hear that. There seems to
be no order at all in the flight of bees to and from their hive,
but if you examine the honey, writes Don, and the honeycomb,
you will see that those bees did everything according to plan. according to arrangement and
in precise order, so it is with God's providence. And Don closes
with this poem, this half of today's study. God moves in mysterious
way his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the
sea and rides upon the storm. Deep in unfathomable minds, of
never failing skill, he treasures up his bright designs and works
his sovereign will.