Here are five facts plainly revealed
in Holy Scripture and constantly revealed through the book of
God, which we cherish. These five blessed gospel truths
are pillars of our faith, the joy of our hearts, the comfort
of our souls, and the constant themes of those songs of praise
we sing to our God and to the message preached from this pulpit.
Number one, the God we worship, our God, the true and living
God, He who alone is God, our heaven-left Father, is absolutely
sovereign in all things. He does as He will, always, everywhere. He has his way in the army of
heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? Whatsoever he pleased,
that did he in heaven, in earth, and in all deep places. Second,
our great sovereign Lord God, before the world began, chose
to save a people predestined all things from eternity which
come to pass in time to accomplish the salvation of those people
he loved with an everlasting love. Before the world began,
God predestined Everything that comes to pass in time, exactly
as it comes to pass, exactly in the course it takes, using
exactly the means he ordained before the world began. And he
arranged all things that come to pass in time by his wise order
of predestination to save his people from their sins. Third,
our Lord Jesus Christ, God's dear Son, our Savior, has effectually
redeemed His people from their sins. Christ has redeemed us
from the curse of the law, for He was made a curse for us as
He hung upon the cursed tree. And He did this that all God's
chosen might receive the blessing of Abraham, the promise of the
Spirit, life eternal by the power of His grace. Fourth, salvation. This thing we call salvation,
the whole of it, Salvation, everything involved
in bringing a sinner from the pit of destruction into the gates
of heavenly glory. Salvation is altogether the gift
and work of God's almighty grace. received by faith in Christ without
works, without any condition, without any prerequisites, without
anything the sinner must meet or do. It is the gift of God. Thank God for free grace. Thank God salvation is his gift,
his work, his operation. Nothing depends upon us. And
fifth, The Lord our God sovereignly rules, controls, and disposes
of all things in providence according to His own holy and wise will. Turn with me, if you will, to
Isaiah chapter 10, Isaiah 10. Of Him, through Him, and to Him
are all things. Therefore we say to him, be glory
forever. The Lord God speaks by his prophet
in Isaiah 46. You just hold your hands at chapter
10 for a moment. He says, remember the former
things of old, for I am God. There is none else. I am God,
declaring the end from the beginning. From ancient times, the things
that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand, and I
will do all my pleasure. He says, I'm God, there's none
like me. I declare the end from the beginning. I do all my pleasure. My counsel stands. And then he
says, let me give you an example. Calling a ravenous bird from
the east. and the man that executeth my
counsel from a far country. Yea, I have spoken it, I will
also bring it to pass. I have purposed it, I will also
do it. Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted
that are far from righteousness. I bring near my righteousness,
it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry.
and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory. In other words, God does everything
exactly as He will, exactly according to His eternal purpose, exactly
as He intended from eternity. He is interrupted by nothing.
He is never made to pause in His work. He never changes his
mind. He never makes adjustments to
his purpose. He never reacts. But rather,
he does everything exactly as he would. He does everything
exactly as he purposed from eternity. Who among us, who among the sons
of men, if he were I said, I'm going to feed this hungry prophet
who's hiding for his life and he's hungry. Who among all the
wise men of the world would dream? I'll tell you how I'm gonna do
that. I'm gonna send a raven every day to carry him some food.
Who would ever dream of such a thing? God did. He says, I'm
going to bring my people who have been in captivity for 70
years back to Jerusalem to build my house, to build my city for
the saving of my people. And I'm going to use their sworn
enemy to bring them back and build my house. Who would ever
dream of such a thing? God did it. He who is our God
is absolutely sovereign. Who among us would ever choose
to use evil to accomplish good and choose the evil as the absolutely
best way to accomplish the best good? Who? God does. Surely the wrath of man will
praise thee, and the remainder of wrath wilt thou restrain.
I love Calper's hymn. I give it to you once more and
hope you learn to rejoice in its message. God moves in a 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. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage
take. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy and shall break in blessing on your head. His purposes will ripen fast. unfolding every hour. Yes, the
bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower. How I proved it. How I proved it. Why can't I
believe just a little bit what I know is so? Judge not the Lord
by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace. Behind the frowning
providence, he hides a smiling face. Blind unbelief is sure
to err and scan his work in vain. God is his own interpreter and
he will make it plain. As God the Holy Ghost enables
me, I want to talk to you for a little bit about the providence
of God. The title of my message is Understanding
Divine Providence. Understanding Divine Providence. I don't mean by that that we
can understand the intricacies of God's purpose. We understand
those things only as God reveals them and we experience them. But we can, if we read this book
and are taught of God, we can understand the ways of God in
providence, the secret, mysterious, wise, good, sovereign way of
God in providence. God the Holy Ghost here in Isaiah
10 gives us an example of God's wise, adorable providence. In this chapter, the Lord God,
speaking by his prophet Isaiah, told his chosen people that he
would use their Assyrian tormentors, their Assyrian tormentors, those
people who despised them. He said, I will use the Assyrians
to save my people. And as God used Assyria both
to purge His church and cause His elect remnant in Israel to
seek Him, so the Lord God uses all the events of time for the
spiritual, eternal good of His elect. As we read this chapter,
we are again reminded of the blessed fact that God the Holy
Ghost in all ages, in all times, in all circumstance is carrying
on his preparatory work in the hearts of chosen redeemed sinners. In his marvelous prevenient grace,
that is the grace that goes before and lays the foundation for his
operations of grace in us. The Lord God uses the events
of providence in our lives to plead with chosen redeemed sinners
on account of their sin and uses those things to hedge about those
chosen redeemed sinners. Sweetly, omnipotently, irresistibly
forcing them to the Savior. Read the second chapter of Hosea
and see how God does it. He said, I will allure you into
the wilderness. I'll take away your oil and your
wine and your wool and your flax. I'll strip you naked before me
and then I'll speak to you. Read the 107th Psalm and see
how God hedges about his elect graciously, irresistibly forcing
the sinner he loves into the arms of his savior. At the time
of Isaiah's ministry, Assyria was the greatest economic, political,
and military power in the world. Every nation in that part of
the world had been or in time would be brought in subjection
to the will of the Assyrian Empire. In the eyes of the world, Assyria
was an uncontrollable power, a power that had to be obeyed. No one dared stir up the wrath
of the Assyrians, no one but a solitary, isolated prophet
who believed God. No one, no one dared speak evil
of the Assyrians. Isaiah recognized that Assyria
was nothing but a tool in the hands of God. A tool by which
the Almighty would sovereignly accomplish his eternal purpose. A nation he would destroy when
he had finished using the tool. Isaiah, you see, didn't see himself
living in a world in which men and nations run rampant to accomplish
their own pleasure with powerful triumphing over the weak, the
ungodly triumphing over the godly, But rather Isaiah saw himself
as a man living in a world with a sovereign God at the helm of
every nation, on the throne of the universe, controlling the
thoughts, words, and deeds of every man universally, making
even the wicked to serve his purpose. Oh, God make me so to
live in this world. In this 10th chapter of his prophecy,
Isaiah, writing by inspiration of God the Holy Ghost, teaches
us five lessons. Let's look at them together.
First, verses one through four. Here we learn that the judgments
of God which fall upon individuals and nations in his providence
are always fully deserved. I'm not pausing to wait for something
to say. I'm pausing for you to hear what
I said. The judgments of God that fall upon individuals and
nations, the judgments of God that fall upon entire generations
are judgments fully deserved by reason of sin. Verse one,
woe unto them that decree unrighteous decree. and their right grievousness
which they have prescribed." That's a pretty good description
of the entirety of Western civilization in this day. That's a pretty good description
of the United States of America. That's an accurate description
of those who profess to be God's people in Isaiah's day. Verse
two, to turn aside the needy from judgment and to take away
the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their
prey, that they may rob the fatherless. And what will you do in the day
of visitation and in the desolation which shall come from far? To
whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your
glory? Without me, they shall bow down under the prisoners,
and they shall fall under the slain. For all this, his anger
is not turned away, but his hand is still, is stretched out still.
The nation of Israel fell to the Assyrians because they had
become a nation like the Assyrians, of idolaters and evildoers. Ungodliness ran rampant throughout
the nation. So it is with us. God has sent
judgment upon us. Most people don't have enough
sense to recognize it. Most preachers don't dare call
it what it is, but the diseases by which men and women are being
destroyed AIDS in particular, anybody who thinks it's not the
judgment of God on a society because of sodomy is a fool,
blind fool. Earthquakes, hurricanes, floods,
tornadoes, famine, war, disease, pestilence. These are the judgments
of God in providence upon men who fully deserve them. They
are always righteous and just. People say, what did we do to
deserve this? Have you got a lifetime for me
to tell you? It's not a wonder to me that
you see mudslides and earthquakes and famine and disease and war
and pestilence and ungodliness. That's no wonder to me. It's
a wonder to me we see so little of it. These things are righteous
and just. When God sends judgment upon
a people, The fact is both the believer and the unbeliever suffer
from the judgment. As he sends rain upon the just
and the unjust, so he sends floods upon the just and the unjust.
As he sends sunshine on the just and the unjust, the righteous
and the wicked, so he sends darkness upon both the righteous and the
wicked, the just and the unjust. We live in the midst of a crooked
and perverse generation and living in the midst of a crooked and
perverse generation, clearly under the judgment of God, we
must expect to see and experience much pain and heartache. But
God's object in judgment is the punishment of the wicked and
the preservation of the elect. teaching his own in the midst
of great adversity to lean heavily upon the arm of Christ. Tribulation
worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope. As God knocks out from under
us those things on which we lean for comfort and support and strength,
the unbeliever is destroyed. the believer is cast on a better
foundation. Number two, in verses five through
19, the Lord God shows us that he
wisely and graciously uses wicked men without either their knowledge
or consent to execute his purpose. Men, you see, all men, are but
instruments in God's hand by which he accomplishes his purpose.
Isaiah 10 verse 5, O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the
staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical
nation. and against the people of my
wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil and to take
the prey and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
Albeit he meaneth not so. That is the Assyrian, he doesn't
think like this. He doesn't think he's doing God's
work. Neither does he think so. but it is in his heart to destroy
and to cut off nations, not a few. For he saith, are not my princes
altogether kings? Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not
Samaria as Damascus? As my hand hath found the kingdoms
of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem
and Samaria. shall not I as I have done unto
Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols. Wherefore, it shall come to pass
that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon Mount Zion
and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart
of the king of Assyria and the glory of his high looks. When I get done with him, he's
not gonna look so high and mighty. When I get done with him, nobody's
gonna wonder who's in charge. Verse 13, for he saith, by the
strength of my hand, I've done it, and by my wisdom, for I am
prudent, and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have
robbed their treasures, and have put down the inhabitants like
a valiant man. And my hand hath found as a nest
the riches of the people. And as one gathereth eggs that
are left, have I gathered all the earth? And there was none
that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped. That is,
I gathered all the eggs and the hens didn't even move. And the Lord God ask, shall the
axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Or shall
the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it, as if the
rod should shake itself against them that lift it up? Or as if
the staff should lift up itself as if it were no wood? Therefore
shall the Lord, I'm talking now about God, the Lord of hosts,
Therefore shall the Lord of hosts send among his fat ones leanness,
and under his glory shall he kindle a burning like the burning
of a fire. And the light of Israel shall
be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame, and it shall burn
and devour his thorns and his briars in one day. and shall
consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field, both
soul and body. And they shall be as when the
standard bearer fainted. And the rest of the trees of
his forest shall be few that a child may write them. In verses
five and six, the prophet tells us that Assyria was nothing but
the rod of God's anger. the staff of his indignation
by which he executed wrath upon the godless nation. And when
he got done with them, he would destroy them. I can remember
the day when mom and dad, when they would start to discipline
a child, would go get a switch. They would usually make the child
get the switch and he better come back with one that was green.
and they would wear the child out. And when they got done disciplining
the child, they just threw the switch away. They never thought
about keeping them. So it is with the Assyrian in
this passage of scripture. So it is with all that God uses
to chasten his own. The Assyrians thought their cruel
barbaric policies were going to advance their cause. They
had met with great success in other places. And the Assyrians'
wicked success caused their heads to swell with pride. But God
says, when I've accomplished my purpose with Assyria, for
my people Israel, I will throw them away like a piece of garbage. Look at verses 16 and 17. There's
something right in the middle of this passage that ought to
be thrilling to our soul. Therefore shall the Lord, the
Lord of hosts, send among the fat ones, his fat ones, leanness. And under his glory he shall
kindle a burning like the burning of a fire. And the light of Israel,
the light of Israel, shall be for a fire. And his Holy One,
the Holy One in the light of Israel, are the same person for
a flame. And it shall burn and devour
his thorns and his briars in one day. We read about our Lord
Jesus, the light of Israel, the fire of God, his holy one. We read about him in Zechariah
chapter three, described in exactly the same way. He enlightens us
by his word and by his spirit. He, by his almighty grace, effectually
calls redeemed sinners out of darkness into his marvelous lights.
He is our light, the holy one. And for us, he is a purifying
fire of sanctification. In one day, in one day, he took
away the briars and thorns of the curse because he took away
our sins when he died at Calvary. And then in one day, he comes
in grace to chosen redeemed sinners. in the sanctifying power of the
Spirit, and removes from us the briars and thorns of our curse
by reason of sin, declaring to us that our sins are put away,
purging our consciences from dead works to serve the living
God. Understand the prophet's message here and rejoice. God,
who is sovereign over all history, is sovereignly working his will
in all the events of history. God, who is sovereign over all
history, is sovereignly working his will through all the events
of history. We must never judge God's goodness
by the light of his providence. but rather let us judge his providence
by the light of his goodness. Turn back to Psalm 92. Let me
give you one example as David sings this great, great Psalm
of praise to our God. Psalm 92, we'll pick up in verse
five. Oh Lord, how great are thy works,
and thy thoughts are very deep. A brutish man, the ungodly, the
unbeliever, doesn't matter whether he graduated from Harvard, Princeton,
or Yale, knoweth not, neither doth a fool understand this.
When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers
of iniquity do flourish, there's a reason behind that. It is that
they shall be destroyed forever. but thou, Lord, art most high
forevermore. For lo, thine enemies, O Lord,
for lo, thine enemies shall perish. All the workers of iniquity shall
be scattered, but my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of a
unicorn. I shall be anointed with fresh
oil. I'm gonna turn out to this day better than I was when I
went into it. Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies. and my ears shall hear my desire
of the wicked that rise up against me. The righteous shall flourish
like the palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar in
Lebanon. Those that be planted in the
house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They
shall still bring forth fruit in old age. They shall be fat
and flourishing to show that the Lord is upright. He is my
rock and there is no unrighteousness in Him. All right, back here
in Isaiah 10. Look at verses 20 through 23.
Here's the third thing. The object of God's providence. The object of God's providence.
It's singular. The object of God's providence.
everlasting good of his elect. The object of God's providence
is the everlasting good of his elect. I said back in the office
to the men, when I was a young man, I used to be away from home
a good bit and Shelby and I were first married. We lived on the
south side of Winston-Salem, and I'd go different places to
preach. A lot of times she had to stay at home, and I'd come
home. And from Mount Airy, North Carolina to where we lived in
Winston-Salem, it was 36 miles. It didn't matter whether I'd
driven 200 miles or 1,000 miles. When I got south of Mount Airy,
that 36 miles seemed like the longest piece of road you could
drive. I was going home and I couldn't
get home quick enough. And as we are making our pilgrimage
through this world, children of God, we're going home. And
the closer we get to home, the longer the road seems. Understand
this all along the way. Understand this, God help you
to understand this all along the way. no matter what bumps
we meet with in the road, no matter what obstacles, no matter
how Satan may roar, no matter how men may oppose, no matter
what ungodliness we may see and experience by the hand of God's
providence from wicked men and wicked governments. The object
of God's providence is the everlasting good of his elect. Let's see
if that's not what it says in verse 20. And it shall come to
pass in that day that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped
to the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that
smote them. They'll quit trusting the Assyrian,
but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. Oh my God, take from me everything
in which I trust but you. And let me learn to trust you
alone. The remnant shall return, even
the remnant of Jacob. Return where? Unto the mighty
God. For though thy people, Israel,
be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return.
The consumption decreed shall overflow. What? The consumption
shall overflow with righteousness. For the Lord God of hosts shall
make a consumption, even determined in the midst of all the land.
In every age there is a remnant, according to the election of
grace, who must and shall be saved. It was true in Isaiah's
day and it's true in our day. And everything God does, directly
and indirectly, Everything God does that's obvious, outward,
and open, and everything God does that's secret and hidden,
everything that's plainly revealed, and those things that are not
revealed, everything is worked by God for the saving of His
elect. Why does God send His church
through trials, and troubles, and difficulties of providence,
through times of judgments? Why? Why does God deal with his
people like he does in this world? He sent the Assyrians to invade
and conquer Judah. The church of God in this world
has lived through ages of persecution. Peoples all over the world are
ruled by communists, ruled by dictators who are mean, barbaric,
and cruel, ruled by religious darkness, We see civil strife
constant in our streets. It gets worse all the time. Rapid
ungodliness. Who could ever imagine? When
I was a boy, when you were boys and girls, you couldn't even
imagine. You couldn't even imagine someone
speaking in public about things that you read about, children
talk about every day. You couldn't even imagine folks
talking about it in public. Why? Why? He does these things
for the purging of his church. They are not all Israel which
are of Israel. By these things he separates
the precious from the vile, the sheep from the goats, and the
wheat from the tares. He does the things he does for
the spiritual maturity of his saints to teach us to lean upon
Christ and for the salvation of his elect, that he might gather
his elect from afar. Number four, look at verses 24
through 26. God's saints in this world, even
in the most troublesome times, have no cause for alarm or fear. God's saints in this world, even
in the most troublesome times, have no cause for alarm or fear. Verse 24. Therefore thus saith
the Lord of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not
afraid of the Assyrian. He shall smite thee with a rod
and shall lift up his staff against thee after the manner of Egypt.
He's gonna cause you to smart. He's gonna give you some pain,
some trouble, some trouble of body and mind, of heart and soul.
For yet a very little while, just give it a day or two, and
the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction. And the Lord of hosts shall stir
up a scourge for him, according to the slaughter of Midian at
the rock of Oreb. And as the rod was upon the sea,
so shall he lift it up after the manor of Egypt. He says,
remember, remember what I did in the days of Gideon. Remember,
remember what I did back yonder when I brought you out of Egypt.
You remember how my people looked back over the sea and saw Pharaoh
and his armies dead on the shore and gathered up all that they
needed for 40 years from the enemy laying on the shore. So
it shall be with you again. I will yet turn this to your
good and your benefit. Our Savior put it to us this
way. The very hairs of your head are all numbered. You don't have
anything to be afraid of. Fear not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee. I will uphold thee with the right
hand of my righteousness. You see, Our troubles here won't last
long. Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh
for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. And
the Lord God our Savior will deliver us just as He always
has delivered His people at the appointed time when it is most
beneficial for us. One last thing, verses 27 through
34. In the end, God will destroy
all his enemies and ours and save his people by his almighty
grace. And it shall come to pass in
that day that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder. That Assyrian rod feels real
heavy. That heartache is so hard to bear, that trouble so difficult
to endure. It's gonna come to pass. I'm
gonna lift the burden up, take it away. And the yoke shall be
destroyed because of what? Because of what? Because of the
anointing. Because you're mine. Because
you're Christ. Because you've been called by
God and made his, born again by his spirit. He is come to
Aeth. He is passed to Migron. At Mikmash
he hath laid up his carriages. They are gone over the passage.
They have taken up their lodging in Giba. Rhema is afraid. Gibi of Saul is fled. Lift up
thy voice, O daughter of Galen. Cause it to be heard unto Laish. O poor Anathoth. Madmenah is
removed. The inhabitants of Gibeon gathered
themselves to flee. As yet, he shall remain at Nob
that day. He shall shake his hand against
the mouth of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
Behold the Lord. I'm talking about God now. I'm
not talking about some peanut. I'm not talking about somebody.
I'm talking about God. Behold the Lord of hosts. God
who controls everything and everybody. shall lock the bow with terror,
and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty
shall be humbled, and he shall cut down the thickets of the
forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one. Now, just exactly what is it
that should cause us fear? Just exactly what is it that
should weigh so heavily upon our souls and cause us not to
believe God? What? What? Cast all your care
on Him. He cares for you. And he knows
how to deliver the righteous out of temptation, out of trouble. And the trouble, the trouble, whatever it is,
oh bless God, whatever it is, will soon be over. And when it's
over, you'll say, thank you, Lord.
You've done everything exactly as I wanted it, exactly as it
ought to be, to the good of your people and the glory of your
name. Amen.