Horatio Spafford was a very prominent,
successful businessman in Chicago in the 1800s. He enjoyed great
success. He was very wealthy, well-known,
very influential. And suddenly, overnight, he lost
almost everything. The great Chicago fire left him
in near financial ruin, so he decided to relocate his family.
He put his wife and his four daughters on a ship to go to
France, promising to meet them in a few weeks after settling
their business. Several days out of port, the
ship that carried his family was rammed by a British ship
and soon sunk to the ocean floor. 226 people were drowned, including
all four of Spafford's children. Nine days went by until he heard
from his wife, and she sent him a brief telegraph, just two words,
saved or low. As soon as possible, He booked
a passage on a ship to Europe to join his wife in Cardiff,
where she had landed. And on the way, the captain called
Spafford to the bridge and said to him, according to my calculations,
we're now passing over the place where your children drown. And
Spafford thanked the captain, went back to his cabin, and wrote
these lines. When peace, like a river, attendeth
my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever my lot,
thou has taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul. This man who had lost his business,
his home and his children said to a friend, I am glad I can
trust the Lord when it costs me something. What a statement. I'm glad I can trust the Lord
when it costs me something. When he and his wife finally
met and embraced one another, her first words to him were,
we have not lost our children, we're only separated for a little
while. Every time I'm reminded of that
story, I pray that God might give me such grace in the face
of such trials. How could that man and his wife
bear such trials, such losses, such heartaches, with such great
composure and ease? Only one answer can be given.
Horatio Spafford and his wife believed God. They believed God. They were
convinced in their hearts that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. Turn with me, if you will, to
the 10th chapter of Matthew's gospel. In this chapter, our
Lord sends his 70 disciples out to preach the gospel and gives
them instruction as they sent them out to preach. promising
them constant conflict, hardship, and heartache. He sends them
out promising them relentless hardship, conflict, and heartache. He assures us that all who follow
him, all who serve him, all who confess him in every generation
shall be hated of all men. and assures us that our own families
will rise up against us. And in the midst of all those
things, our Lord Jesus makes this statement, fear ye not. I haven't researched this in
detail, but my thinking is, my thinking is, that more than any
other words our Savior used, speaking to you and me in our
days on this earth, these are his most common words, fear not,
fear not, fear ye not. He came to his disciples walking
across the storm. He said, be not afraid in his
eye, fear ye not. Fear ye not. That's his common
watchword to us. Upon what grounds does he make
that admonition? How can that be a reasonable
thing? We're in the midst of a world of conflict, of heartache,
of sorrow, of adversity, of pain, and the Savior says, fear ye
not. We have foes within and foes
without all the time assaulting us. And the Savior says, fear
ye not. He sends his disciples often
across the sea, sailing right into the midst of a dark, dark
storm. And he says, fear ye not. How can that be a reasonable
admonition? Read Matthew 10, 29, 30, and
31, and I think you'll see. The Savior says to you and me,
verse 28, fear not them which kill the body. And then in verse
29, he says, are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? That's the
cheapest pet you can find. You can buy two of them for a
penny. Worthless sparrows, worthless sparrows. Two sparrows sold for
a farthing. and one of them shall not fall
on the ground without your Father. Those two sparrows worth a half
a cent apiece, not one of them will fall to the ground to get
a little seed or a little bug or fall to the ground in death. Not one will fall to the ground
without the order, the decree and the knowledge of your Heavenly
Father. Does God care for sparrows? No,
no. But the very hairs of your head
are all numbered. The very hairs of your head are
all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are
of more value than many sparrows. With those words, our Lord Jesus
assures us that God's elect, none of them, shall ever be in
any real danger. Danger often appears to be in
front of us. We often think we are in danger
because of something ominous approaching, because of disease,
because of sickness, because of some crisis that looms. It appears that we are in danger.
But God's elect, not one of them, shall ever be in any danger of
any kind. Never. God's elect, not one of
them, shall ever suffer any real harm from anything or anyone. No harm. No. There shall no evil
happen to the just. We are under the constant special
care and protection of God Almighty. Look here, look here. You're
looking at a man under the constant watchful care and protection
of God Almighty. Now what was it you thought I
should be afraid of? What is it that keeps me awake
with fear? Under the constant watchful care
and protection of God Almighty. This is his word. The very hairs
of your head are all numbered. I see several things here that
are very comforting, delightful to my soul. First, I see in this
statement the blessed fact of divine predestination. Our Savior's
words in verse 30 might better be translated, the very hairs
of your head have all been numbered. Our Lord Jesus is telling us
before the world began, before God set the stars in space, before
God hung the earth in its place, before God created the sun and
the moon, before God said let there be light and there was
light, God appointed from eternity the number of hairs on my head
at this moment. At this moment. I have been,
for the last 30 years or more, combing some out every day. Matter
of fact, I don't use a comb much except for just final touches
to get that last two in place. But I brush my hair, brush it
back, and I brushed it back this morning, and I thought about
this text. And I brushed it back again this
afternoon, and I thought about this text. And I look at the
brush. That boy gone. That boy gone. before the world was, my heavenly
father deliberately determined the number of hairs on my head
right now. That's called marvelous divine
predestination. Whatever it is that comes to
pass in time, this is the purpose of God in predestination. God's purpose in predestination
is meticulous, detailed. It includes the most insignificant
things in our minds. It includes the details of life. God's predestination includes
everything. His sovereign purpose of grace
includes everything. So that everything that comes
to pass in time, everything we experience in time, be it good
or evil, be it pleasant or painful, be it disturbing or comforting,
everything we experience in time, our Heavenly Father ordered for
us before the world began, everything. for our everlasting good. Second,
our heavenly father has perfect knowledge of all things concerning
us. Our God who predestinated all
things and rules all things knows all things. We are so well known
by God that he has even numbered the hairs of our heads. Our Savior
said in his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, 6, and 7, he said,
you worry about this, you worry about that, you think about this,
you fret about that. He said, your father knoweth.
Your father knoweth. Your father knoweth. I had just
the one daughter, Faith. She now has two grown children. She's a grown woman, settled,
has a husband, has life with her family. But when she was
growing up, I expected her to be content in the midst of anything
that bothered her. With these words from her, or
from me, I know. Daddy knows. You know what I
expect now? She's a grown woman. I still
expect those words to be a measure of peace in her heart. Daddy
knows. That means, honey, I'll take
care of it. You don't have to give it another thought. I'll
take care of it. You don't have to worry about
that. I'll handle it. Don't let it bother you again.
I'll take care of it. Hear me, Jimmy Bowman. Your father
knows. Your Father knows. Whatever it
is that lays heavy on your heart, whatever it is that crushes your
soul, whatever it is that causes you to toss on your bed, your
Father knows. That ought to be sufficient for
our souls. Your Father knows. We have need
of no other comfort. Our Lord's knowledge of us is
constant and entire. and his knowledge is the knowledge
of a tender, loving, sympathetic father. A father sees difficulty
for his child and he's moved by it, no matter the age of the
child. A father sees pain and he's touched
by it, no matter the age of the child. Our heavenly father has
a tender, loving, sympathetic knowledge of everything touching
us. So much so that the hairs of
your head are all numbered. Here's a third thing. The numbering
of our hairs tells us of our Father's constant care. He who
takes the trouble to number the hairs of our heads must surely
care for us. with the apple of his eye. Cast all your care on him, he
careth for you. The angel of the Lord encampeth
round about them that fear him. He is a wall of fire around us
constantly to protect us. Fourth, what great honor what high esteem
our father has for us. God our father has numbered the
hairs of our heads because he values them. He holds his elect
in honor and high esteem above all the peoples of the world
because of his gracious purpose of grace toward us in Christ. because he has made us one with
his darling son. He holds us more valuable, listen
to me now, of greater concern, of greater interest, of greater
value than anything and anybody. That doesn't say enough. He holds
us of greater value to him than everything in this world. He said, fear not, I've redeemed
you. I've called you by name. You're
mine and I am yours. I gave Egypt for you, Ethiopia
and Saba for you, people for you and nations for you. I will
give anything for you. He who sacrificed his darling
son for us will not refuse us anything. The very hairs of your
head are all numbered. We ought to be at peace. This
is the promise of divine protection. Our God intends that there shall
not an hair of your head perish. Trials are certain, temptations
are sure, Tribulations are constant while we live in this world,
but there's no cause for fear. The very hairs of your head are
all numbered. Now, this passage of scripture
gives us the comforting assurance of God's wise, adorable, and
good providence. That's the primary intent of
this word from our Redeemer's lips. It is to show us God's
constant rule of all things, specifically for us. God rules
the world for us. God rules the world for me, specifically
for me. Child of God, God rules the world
for you, specifically for you. The sparrow cannot fall to the
ground, neither can a hair fall from your head without your father's
eternal decree in predestination and his direction in providence. The knowledge and understanding
of God's providence is the comfort and strength of believing hearts
in the midst of trials, temptations, and troubles in this world. God,
teach me to know your providence. Teach me to rest in your hands. Teach me to believe you. And let me wrap this up by making
three observations about God's providence. They're very simple. They're nothing deep or profound,
nothing mysterious, and yet terribly mysterious. And that's the first
observation. God's providence is mysterious. It's a mystery no mortal can
unravel. It's a mystery no mind can comprehend. We believe what God reveals,
but understanding it, I can't begin to tell you how all things
work together for good to them that love God. I simply declare
to you, that's what God says, and I know it. Do you? All things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to his purpose. Open the book of Romans, beginning
in chapter eight with verse 28. Paul begins to describe God's
providence and God's purpose in everything. In chapter nine,
he speaks of God's eternal predestination, his love of Jacob, his hatred
of Esau, of vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy. In chapter
10, he tells us about God's wondrous grace in the accomplishment of
salvation by Jesus Christ, our Lord, having finished the work
given him to do before the world was. In chapter 11, he tells
us of the sure salvation of God's elect scattered through all the
nations of the world into the four corners of the earth. And
it tells us that in order to save his elect remnant, to save
his people out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue, God
has cast off the nation of Israel. God sent judgment upon that nation,
sent blindness to them so they can't see and they can't hear.
They've got the Bible, they quote the Bible, they observe Old Testament
rituals and ceremonies, they observe Old Testament law, but
they cannot hear. They cannot see because God's
cast them off. But he's appointed a day when
his elect, even in the nation of Israel, shall also be converted. And so all Israel shall be saved. And this is how Paul wraps up
that marvelous section of Romans 8, 9, 10, and 11. Look at verse
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. We were talking about Brother
Scott Richardson back there in the office, remembering some
of the things he said. Brother Scott made this observation
many years ago. He said, had we the power of
God we would change everything. Had we the wisdom of God, we
would change nothing. Oh, his ways are past finding
out. Far better it is for us to trust
God and trust his ways than to try to figure out what he's doing. His ways are past finding out. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord, or who hath been his counselor, or who hath first
given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again. For
of him, and through him, and to him are all things. Of him. That's the source. That's the
source. David's Riding down the road
one day, fleeing from Saul, and there's a man who comes out,
and he starts cussing David, Shemai. Oh, he just cussing David. And David's servant Abishai said,
let me go over and lift his head off his shoulders, I'll shut
him up. And David responded to Abishai, leave him alone. The Lord has said to Shammai,
cuss David. The Lord sent Shammai out here
to cuss me. I can live with that, can you?
Perhaps he will requite me good for his cussing this day. And
he did. Of him, and through him, and
through him. No human being, no devil in hell,
no one, no power in heaven, earth or hell can do anything except
by the direction of God our Father. And to Him are all things. To Him. In the end, to His everlasting
praise, His everlasting glory in the saving of His people.
To whom be glory forever and ever, amen. God's judgments are
a great deep. His ways are past finding out. This I know, this I know. Oh God, give me the grace to
walk like I know this. God always has his way, everywhere
with everybody. His ways are not our ways, but
his way is always right, and his way is always best. His way is always right. His way is always best. Isaac Watts expressed it well. Keep silence, all created things,
and wait, your makers nod. My soul stands trembling while
she sings the honors of her God. For life, death, and hell, and
worlds unknown hang on his firm decree. He sets on no precarious
throne, nor borrows leave to be. Chained to his throne a volume
lies with all the fates of men, with every angel's form and size
drawn by the eternal pen. His providence unfolds the book. and makes his counsel shine.
Each opening leaf and every stroke fulfills some bright design.
Here he exalts neglected worms to scepters and the crown, and
then the following page he turns and treads the monarch down.
Not Gabriel asks the reason why, nor God the reason gives, nor
dares the favorite angel pry between the folded leaves. My
God, I would not long to see my fate with curious eyes. What gloomy lines you've written
for me are what bright scenes may rise. In thy fair book of
life and grace, may I but find my name recorded in some humble
place beneath my Lord the Lamb. God's providence is his sovereign
rule of the universe for the salvation of chosen sinners to
the praise of the glory of his grace. Now this is what I would
have you take with you. If God has chosen you, if Christ
has redeemed you, God will save you and he will do whatever is
necessary I looked at that a little while ago and thought, I'll change
that, whatever is best. Well, the fact is, whatever it
is that he has ordained is necessary and best. He will do whatever
is necessary to bring you to repentance and faith in Christ. and he will do whatever is necessary
and best, my brother, my sister, to bring you safely to his heavenly
glory. God's providence is mysterious.
Second, God's providence is minute. The very hairs of your head are
all numbered. Divine providence, I stress again,
is all-inclusive. God rules everything, great and
small, good and evil, everywhere and always. There's absolutely
nothing in the universe that is not always under the rule
of our God. He who is God works all things
after the counsel of his own will, according to his own purpose
of grace and divine predestination. Our God is in absolute control
of all creation, all inanimate matter. He brings Israel out
of Egypt to the Red Sea and he opens the sea and the children
of Israel march through the Red Sea as if they walked on asphalt. And Pharaoh and his armies going
after Israel go into the sea and God wipes out the army, bringing
the walls of the sea down upon them with great ease. No difficulty for God. I recall
when I went back to high school after God saved me, We were in
the English class, and it was during the, it was in 1967, yeah,
1967. It was the first time I'd ever
had a black teacher. Integration was pushed hard in
the South, and this black teacher happened to be a man who just
absolutely despised God and the gospel of God's grace, and he
made it obvious, and he did everything he could to instigate trouble
all the time. One day we were, for what reason
I had no idea, it was an English class. He said, actually the
Red Sea wasn't really a sea at all, it was just the reed marsh. It only had about 18 inches of
water. And this little girl who was sharper than the rest of
us, she said, wow. And that caught him by surprise.
He said, what did you say? She said, wow. She said, why
would you say that? She said, it's a bigger miracle
than I thought it was. Well, how can you say that? She said,
you just told us that God drowned the largest, most experienced
army in the world in 18 inches of water. God controls everything,
everything. Children of Israel, about to
go in the land of promise and God opens up the Jordan. He sends
them marching around Jericho. All they did march around Jericho
and blow a trumpet. That's all they did. And the
walls of the city fell. Daniel's three friends were thrown
into a burning, fiery furnace. Well, God could have prevented
that. He could have. But it was best for Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego. Best for Daniel. Best for the children of Israel.
Best for you and me. Best for the people of Babylon. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
are in that burning, fiery furnace. And do you know what they lost
in that fiery furnace? Do you know what they lost? The only
thing they lost were the cords that bound them. That's all,
that's all. They weren't injured. God has
his way in the whirlwind. His path is in the storm. When our Lord Jesus was crucified
upon the cursed tree, it was no work performed by men out
of God's control. but a work performed by men absolutely
under God's control, doing exactly what God ordained to be done.
Our God controls even the brute beast and all the irrational
creatures that he's made. When he sent judgment to Egypt,
do you know what the Egyptians worshiped? The men, brilliant
men, smart men. Those fellows who taught the
art of the bombing, those fellows who built the pyramids, those
brilliant, brilliant men in Egypt, they worshiped flies and frogs
and locusts. So the Lord God took their gods
and turned them into a plague with which to destroy them. God
created a great fish who swallowed up Jonah, his prophet, to teach
his prophet. There's no such thing as a whale
that could swallow a man and that man live in that whale for
three days. There is if God made the whale
for that purpose. God made a great fish and prepared that fish specifically
to come to that specific spot where Jonah is thrown overboard
at that specific time to swallow him up for three days and then
to spit him out and send him to Nineveh. The Lord God Almighty
I said to Peter one night, Peter, before the sun rises tomorrow,
you're gonna deny me three times. And this will be the sign. Before
the cock crows twice, you will deny me thrice. And right on
cue, Peter denied the Lord Jesus and denied him again, and that
rooster crowed. That don't mean nothing. He said
he was gonna crow twice. And Peter denied him a third
time, and that rooster crowed right on cue. Everything exactly
by the order of our God. The Lord hath prepared his throne
in the heavens. His kingdom ruleth over all. Our God, our Heavenly Father,
controls absolutely and totally all rational creatures too all
men and women good and bad in the good they do and in the evil
they perform all angels and demons and Satan himself are under the
total control of our God who says surely as I have thought
so shall it come to pass And as I have purposed, so shall
it stand. This is God's word, not mine. He describes himself as God and
says, where's a God like me? None! No such thing exists. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I the Lord do all these things. We have no trouble believing
that God controls good things and good people. But I guess
I'm a strange bird. The good things and good people
are not things that bother me. It's the bad stuff that disturbs
me. I want to know who's in control
of wickedness. Who's in control of the devices of men. Who's
in control of hell? Who's in control of the devil?
Who's in control of demons? Who's in control of man's wickedness? That's what gives me trouble.
Tell me who's in control there, and that's the God I worship.
Our God is in control all the time. He's sitting upon his throne. Isn't that wonderful? He's sitting
upon his throne. Watch now. I'm at ease. Somebody walks up and seems a
little threatening and I just keep on sipping my coffee, smoking
my pipe, I'm at ease. If I have to get up, one of us
is going down. It's just that simple. I'm at
ease. I'm at ease. God sits on his
throne and he never has to get up to put down all evil. He sits in ease. Now listen to me, I know what
I'm saying to you. Teresa Coleman, I've got you
and that, there's a girl right there in mind right now. Your
family, got you in mind, right? What I'm saying is so contrary
to your flesh and mind, it cannot happen except by God's grace.
We ought to be just as much as it is. We ought to be just as much thieves.
I believe God. Do you? I believe God who sits
upon the circle of the earth with complete ease because he's
in complete control and he's my father. The Lord has his way. in all
things. He made all things for himself. Yea, even the wicked for the
day of evil. Nothing disturbs him. Nothing
takes him by surprise. Everything comes to pass exactly
as he has purposed. The very hairs of your head are
all numbered. Tomorrow morning after a good
night's sleep, I'll get up and take my shower and I'll brush
my hair again. And I hope God will remind me
to look at that brush and pull out the hair and throw it away.
That's how insignificant it is. That's how insignificant it is.
The heavens do rule. Happy are those who know it.
One more thing. God's providence is mysterious.
it's minute, and God's providence is good. No event in history,
great or small, is isolated from any other. All things work together,
and all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose. Oh, how I've seen this in my
life and in the lives of others. How I've observed it. Looks like
we would learn after a while, doesn't it? Looks like we'd learn. Oh, God, we're so slow to learn,
so slow to believe you. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. God's providence is always executed
in the wisest manner possible and executed in perfect holiness
and righteousness. We dare not question that. The Lord is righteous in all
his ways and holy in all his works. And God's providence is
executed with the irresistible power of omnipotence so that
God controls perfectly the roaring of Satan, the wiggling of the
devil, the cursing of men, the wrath of men. Everything shall
praise him and the remainder of wrath he will restrain. We
should give him the glory of all. Observe all with wonder
and gratitude and put our trust in him for all things temporal
and spiritual and eternal. Casting all our care on him. Now I know some of you read the
bulletins. I had an article in last week's
bulletin and I'll remind you of it. I get a lot of mail across
my desk As I get bulleted, I get dozens of them every week, and
I read every one of them. But I don't always read Brother
Jeff Swin's Grace Gems. Most of them I recognize I've
read before. And so this one I had not read, and Shelby called
my attention to it. Listen to it, I like it. One
Sunday morning at a small southern church, the new pastor called
on one of his older deacons to lead in prayer. And the deacon
stood up and bowed his head and said, I hate buttermilk. And the pastor
opened one eye and wondered what was going on. The deacon continued,
Lord, I hate lard. And now the pastor was really
perplexed. But he didn't say anything and the deacon continued,
Lord, I ain't too crazy about plain flour. But after you mix
them all together and bake them in your hot oven, I just love
biscuits. Lord, help us to realize When
life gets hard, when things come up that we don't like, whenever
we don't understand what you're doing, that we need to wait and
see what you're making. After you get through mixing
and baking it, it'll come out something even better than biscuits. Amen. The very end.