Moses was given a tremendous
revelation of the glory of God when he said, I beseech thee,
show me thy glory. The Lord Jesus in one of his
many pre-incarnate revelations of himself appeared before Moses
as he was placed by the hand of God in the cleft of the rock.
And Moses heard God declare his name. and reveal his glory as
the Lord passed by. And the glory that he saw was
that God is gracious and just. And that he is sovereign in the
exercise of his grace and his justice. He declared to Moses
that he is just both in saving his people and just in punishing
the wicked, having mercy on whom he will have mercy. Moses again
saw the glory of God in Exodus 40 when the tabernacle was finished. The glory of God filled the house. That tabernacle that was made
exactly after the pattern showed him in the mount. The pattern
being Jesus Christ the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
So he saw the glory of God on both occasions in the accomplishment
of redemption and salvation by Christ. Understand this. Brother Dr. N.B. Magruder, Used
to come to the pulpit. He was a lot smarter than most
of us. He came to the pulpit with a big old legal pad and
he'd have one point. Just one, just one sentence written
out. That'd be the notes. And he'd just keep hammering
away at it and hammering away at it and hammering away at it.
I got one thing I want you to get tonight. One thing. Write
it down and I'm going to keep hammering away at it. God's glory. God's glory. People talk about
God's glory a great deal, and I'm convinced few people have
any concept of what they're talking about. God's glory, whatever
it is, is completely wrapped up in and completely revealed
in the salvation of his elect by Christ Jesus. God's glory,
whatever it is, is completely wrapped up in and completely
revealed in the salvation of his elect by Christ Jesus. Manoah and his wife saw the glory
of God. You remember Manoah's wife saw
the Lord and then she went and got her husband and the Lord
showed himself again to them and they made a sacrifice before
the angel of the Lord before Christ Jesus. Another of those
pre-incarnate revelations of our Savior who came down and
made himself known to men. And as they made their sacrifice,
the angel did wondrously as the smoke ascended to heaven. The
word wondrously is gloriously. They saw in the substitutionary
sacrifice of the son of God, the revelation of God's glory.
Isaiah saw the glory of the Lord. in the ascended, exalted, enthroned
Christ dispensing mercy and forgiveness as the king of glory in the sixth
chapter of Isaiah now turn with me if you will to the first chapter
of Ezekiel's prophecy and we'll look at another marvelous revelation
of the great glory of the triune Jehovah the Lord God is about
to send Ezekiel to preach a message of absolute condemnation to the
people he dearly loved. Ezekiel is about to be sent out
to tell Jerusalem and Jerusalem representing Israel and Judah. God's going to destroy you and
there's no remedy. God's going to destroy you and
there's no remedy. He tells them again and again,
don't be afraid of their faces. Don't be afraid of what they
may say to you or do to you. But the word that I give you,
speak that word faithfully. And we're going to look tonight
just to chapter one, maybe refer a little bit to the others. But
I encourage you as soon as you can, while this message is fresh
on your minds, set down and read all of chapters 1 through 11
at one time. Thankfully, we have the chapter
and verse divisions providentially given us by our translators.
But this vision takes in the whole of chapters 1 through 11. Here, Ezekiel is given a word
of assurance from God by a vision. And the Lord God continually
reiterates his word to Ezekiel. In this vision, he tells Ezekiel
he's going to destroy Judah and Israel. He's going to destroy
the nation, that physical, political, civil nation, and destroy them
forever because of their iniquities, their transgressions, and their
sins. But right in the midst of it, he assures his prophet. He assures his prophet over and
over and over again that he's going to save his covenant people.
He's going to save his elect, and the glory of God will be
seen in the salvation of his elect. Now, let's read chapter
1 together. We'll begin at verse 3. The word of the Lord came expressly
unto Ezekiel, the priest, the son of Buzzi, in the land of
the Chaldeans by the river Kibar, and the hand of the Lord was
there upon him. And I looked, and behold, a whirlwind
came out of the north, a great cloud and a fire enfolding itself,
and the brightness was about it. And out of the midst thereof,
as the color of amber out of the midst of the fire, also out
of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures.
And this was their appearance. They had the likeness of a man. And everyone had four faces and
everyone had four wings and their feet were straight feet. And
the sole of their feet was like the sole of a cast foot. And
they sparkled like the color of burnished brass. And they had hands of a man under
their wings on their four sides. And they four had their faces
and their wings. Verse nine, their wings were
joined One to another, they turned not when they went. They went
everyone straight forward. As for the likeness of their
faces, they four had the face of a man and the face of a lion
on the right side. And they four had the face of
an ox on the left side. And they four also had the face
of an eagle. Thus were their faces and their
wings were stretched upward. Two wings of every one were joined
one to another, and two covered their bodies. And they went,
every one, straight forward. Whether the spirit was to go,
they went. And they turned not when they
went. As for the likeness of the living
creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like
the appearance of lamps. It went up and down among the
living creatures, and the fire was bright, and out of the fire
went forth lightning, and the living creatures ran and returned
as the appearance of the flash of lightning. And now, verse
15, as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth
by the living creatures with his four faces. The appearance
of the wheels and their work was likened to the color of the
barrel, and they four had one likeness, and their appearance
and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
When they went, they went upon their four sides, and they turned
not when they went. And as for their rings, they
were so high that they were dreadful. And their rings were full of
eyes round about them four. And when the living creatures
went, the wheels went by them. And when the living creatures
were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. Whithersoever
the spirit was to go, they went thither. They went. Then there
was their spirit to go, and the wheels were lifted up over against
them, for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. When
those went, these went. When those stood, these stood. And when those were lifted up
from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them,
for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. And
the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living
creature was as the color of the terrible crystal stretched
forth over their heads above. And under the firmament were
their wings straight, one toward the other. Every one had two,
which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered
on that side their bodies. Verse 24. And when they went,
I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of the great waters
as the voice of the almighty and the voice of speech as the
noise of an host. When they stood, they let down
their wings. And there was a voice from the
firmament that was over their heads when they stood and they
had let down their wings. And above the firmament that
was over their heads was the likeness of a throne. And as the appearance of the
sapphire stone and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness
as the appearance of a man above it. And I saw as the color of
an amber as the appearance of the fire round about within it
from the appearance of the loins even upward. From the appearance
of his loins, even downward, I saw, as it were, the appearance
of fire, and it had brightness round about. And it's the appearance
of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain. So was the
appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance
of the lightness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it,
I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake. I want this evening to talk to
you about the wheels and their work. Now, these wheels clearly
speak to us concerning the display of God's marvelous providence
in the accomplishment of salvation. in the accomplishing of the salvation
of all his elect, declaring it to be absolutely certain, and
in the accomplishment of his salvation, the revelation of
his glory. I use a good many terms, and
you hear other preachers use a good many terms as we preach
the gospel to you that I hope you're familiar with. But let
me remind you of the terms. They're not used in most churches. You won't hear them most places.
They're used in the Bible. They're used throughout the Bible,
but preachers don't dare use them. Election. Election. That's not a cuss word. That's
a good word. That's a good word. Election is God's choice of some
of Adam's fallen race to everlasting salvation. God's people in the
New Testament, more than any other way, are called the elect. More than anything else. Why
on earth people back away from that? I'll never understand.
Oh, I don't like that. If you ever get in on it, you'll
love it. I promise you. I promise you. Election is God's
choice of his people. The scriptures also teach predestination. Now, that's not hard to understand.
The word means exactly what it sounds like it means. Predetermined. Predestinate. You mean, Brother
Don, God's predestinated ever man's everlasting state? Of course
he has. Of course he has. You mean God
has predestinated everything that ever comes to pass? Of course
he has. Either that or took him by surprise.
I mean, what options do you have? Either he did or he's not God.
And he declares that he has predestined all things that ever come to
pass from old eternity, predestined those things. Nothing, nothing
depending on what he looked out and foresaw you would do. Or
looked out and foresaw, well, these folks in this place or
these folks in that place or this individual, they're going
to be a bunch of rebels, so I'll predestinate their rebellion.
No. These folks there, they're going to believe I'll predestinate
that they believe. No. No, no. God didn't look out and
see what you would do and then decide what to do. God Almighty
determined from eternity everything that comes to pass. Determined
it from eternity. And then the scriptures speak
of God's providence. Providence is the marvelous outworking
of divine predestination. Providence is God every day performing
what he purposed from eternity to perform. Oh, nothing more
mysterious and nothing more glorious than God's wise, good, adorable
Providence. I wrote to a very dear friend
of mine. I haven't seen him but once.
in my lifetime. Brother Peter Barnes, their 23-year-old
son, Peter and Lynn's son, got to have open heart surgery this
week. And I tried to be of some help to him, called last night,
wrote to him today about God's providence. You and your family dealing with
right now. Nothing sweeter, no more comfortable pillow in this
world upon which to rest your head and rest your soul in difficulty
than God's good providence. Providence. Our Heavenly Father
graciously every hour of every day in every part of the universe
with all men, all women, all children, all devils, all animals,
all circumstances is working out for us what he purposed from
eternity for the saving of his elect. For the saving of his elect.
People frequently will say, well, how can you explain how this
is going to be good? I can't. I don't understand. I don't understand. Somebody walks in and murders
his family. I don't understand how. I don't
understand how any good is going to come out of that. I don't
understand it at all. I can't begin to explain it. When I look
at my own horrid behavior, I don't understand how God's going to
accomplish any good in it. I can't begin to understand it.
And when I look at yours, I don't understand it. But I do believe
it. For I believe what God's written
in this book. We know. We know. Bob, I know this. I know this. All things All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are thee called according
to his purpose. The Lord Jehovah is God and He
is God alone. And in His providence, He will
make all men to see, both in His judgment and in His mercy,
that He is God and He alone is God. Everybody shall see that. Divine providence is the subject
of this vision of wheels. Ezekiel's vision wondrously sets
before us the wheels and their work. Now, let me let me summarize
these 11 chapters and then make just a few statements that I
hope will be helpful. In this vision of judgment, Ezekiel is
assured and he is told to assure all who hear him of the destruction
of Jerusalem and with Jerusalem. the destruction, the annihilation,
if you will, of Judah and of Israel because of their iniquities,
transgressions, and sins, rebelling incessantly against the Lord
God. Their destruction was ordained
from eternity, but their destruction is a matter of strict justice.
The Lord God says again and again, I will recompense them for their
evil. I will recompense them for their
evil. I will recompense them for their
evil. Now folks will stand up and say
all the time, I don't understand how you can, you can declare
that God predestined this thing and yet they're being punished
because of what they did. Well, I may not be able to explain,
not maybe, I can't explain that. I don't understand it. It's beyond
human reason, but God plainly declares it. Men and women go
to hell because of their own transgressions exactly according
to God's purpose. Ezekiel was commanded in chapter
four to lay on his left side for 390 days. I've been convinced at times
the Lord God had me to do some things, say some things, go some
places that other folks think I was crazy for it. But I ain't
never been told lay on my left side for 390 days. He was to
lay on his left side for 390 days, eating only the bread and
the water that was brought to him. And he was to have that
which he ate cooked on the dung of a man. And finally, the Lord
said, he said, all right, I'll substitute cow's dung for man's
dung. And he's to do it while there
is a tile laying before his face with Jerusalem pictured being
besieged. He lays there for 390 days. And the Lord says these days
each one represents a year and you'll bear the iniquity of Israel
on your side. Then he's commanded to turn over
on his right side and lay on his right side with that same
image of Jerusalem besieged for 40 days to bear the iniquity
of Judah. Why those days representing years? Because those 40 days, those
40 years, probably, probably, I can't say for certain, probably
have reflection to the 40 years of Manasseh's wickedness and
Judah following Manasseh in his evil. Those 390 days, 390 years,
I can speak with some certainty about that. measure exactly to the date from
the time that Ezekiel was commanded to lay on his side. When he laid
on his side for 390 days, when that time was up, 390 years later,
God sent the Roman armies into Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and totally
destroyed that city and with it the nation forever. The Lord
told his prophet that he would destroy one third of the nation
with pestilence. And one third of the nation he
would destroy by the sword, but one third would escape. And that
third that escaped would be scattered among the nations, scattered
among the nations so thoroughly, so completely that nobody could
find them. so thoroughly scattered among
the nations that there would be no possibility of them ever
regathering as a political nation. And yet, the casting off of those
people, the destruction of that people who represented another
people. the destruction of Israel as
a nation, the destruction of their order of worship, the destruction
of all the Old Testament ceremonies, that in no way, in no way hindered
or was contrary to the purpose of God. Not at all, not at all. In fact, it was the fulfilling
of God's purpose. For the Lord makes another promise
to Ezekiel. He says, I will gather of those
scattered a remnant. and they shall inhabit the city,
and they shall inhabit the land. In other words, the raising up
of Israel, and all the days of the years of Israel, and the
destruction of the nation of Israel, and the scattering of
the Jews among the nations. is all according to God's purpose
of grace for the saving of his people, the Israel of God, the
church of God, the new Jerusalem, that heavenly city, God's Judah,
God's Jacobs, God's covenant people. He says, I will gather
them to their city and to their land. And there the glory of the Lord
appears. Turn over to chapter 11. Let
me show you the end of this thing. Chapter 11. Look at verse 22. Then did the cherubims lift up
their wings and the wheels beside them. Everything's done now. Fulfillment of the covenant spoken
of in the preceding verses here. He said the cherubim they Stand
before God lift up their wings and the wheels beside them the
wheel and the wheel inside the wheel and The glory of the God
of Israel was over them above And the glory of the Lord went
up from the midst of the city and stood upon the mountain which
is on the east side of the city. Okay, turn back to chapter one
now. Keep your Bibles open and I'm going to make ten very brief
statements about God's providence. I won't try to explain much here,
I'll just declare what is obvious. First, God's providence is compared
to a wheel. Three ways. That part of the
wheel that's now on top will soon be on bottom. And that part
that's now on the bottom will soon be on top. Just watch a
wheel move. What's down here soon gonna be
up here. What's up here soon will be down there. And it's
that way throughout history. Poverty and riches like that. Sickness and health. Man one
day strong as an ox, next day can hardly breathe. How come? That's God's providence. People
live in tranquility and then suddenly everything in their
home, everything in their lives, everything around them is disrupted
and in turmoil. I see it every day, every day,
every day. One day a man is a man of commendable
reputation and next day a man of horrible ill repute. Today we live in peace, tomorrow
at war. This is what God says about that.
I formed the light. And I create evil. I. I formed the light, great
darkness, I make peace and I create evil. I, the Lord, do all these
things. Providence is constantly moving
like a wheel. God moves in a mysterious way,
his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the
sea. He rides upon the storm. Here's
the second way Providence is like a wheel. There's one part
of it that's always the same. If you've got a moving wheel,
it's on an axle, and the axle never moves. The axle's always the same, steady
and firm. We undergo many changes, change
and decay, and all around me I see. Oh, thou who changes not,
abide with me. Our lives are so checkered, so
intermingled with bitter and sweet, so intermingled with pain
and pleasure, so intermingled with change all the time. But
God never changes like the axle of the wheel. His purposes never
change. He's of one mind who can turn
him and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth. His love
never changes. His grace never changes. His
faithfulness never changes. Number three, when the wheel moves real fast,
the only thing you can see is the circle. And sometimes if you watch the
circle and you catch a glimpse of the spokes, it looks like
it's running backwards. But all you can see is the circle.
All you can see is the circle. Instead of looking at the parts
of things, we ought to look at the whole. Everything in the
whole of history. I said to Grace the other day,
she's having some assignments in preparation for next year's
school already, about history. I said, honey, I'll give you
the secret to understanding and enjoying history. It is His story. History is God's story. It's God, everything. This is
God's story. Look at everything as a whole.
I remember when Brother Mahan's granddaughter, Carrie, was about
eight years old, maybe nine. She had stopped by Brother Henry's
office, coming home from school. He, by that time, had his office
at the house most of the time. She stopped by, and she walked
in one day, and he was working. And he said, well, Carrie, have
you had a good day? This eight- or nine-year-old
girl, she said, oh, Papa, I've had a hard day. But I've had
a great life. Bill, I've had a few hard days,
but oh my God, I've had a great life. A great life. God's providence is good. Always good. Always wise. Always good. All right, here's
the second thing. In some mysterious way, God's
providence is intimately connected with the heavenly angels. I don't know much about angels.
I, at one time, had to study some about angels and demons.
I didn't learn anything then either. And I've been reading
a good bit. I don't know much about angels.
But I know they exist. And I know this. The angels of
God are ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who
shall be the heirs of salvation. Oh, how the angels of God watch
over his people. But don't you believe you got
a guardian angel? I got a bunch of them. A whole host of them. They watch over. and minister
to God's elect, preserving them in all the days of their rebellion
and ungodliness unto the appointed time of their calling. And calling
them, they watch over them and protect them through their pilgrimage.
And they carry our souls into glory as they did Abraham as
the chariots of God, and they watch over Our bodies in the
dust of the earth until the resurrection day sent forth to be ministering
spirits to those who shall be heirs of salvation. Number three,
God's providence is universal. Look at verse 15. Providence
is represented here as one wheel upon the earth. But that one
wheel has four faces. One face for every quarter of
the globe, north, south, east, and west. And that wheel, those
wheels are full of eyes, we're told in verse 18. Full of eyes. See everywhere. Everywhere. I recall The first time I saw
one of those pictures where you look at the picture, it doesn't
matter where you go, as long as you can see the face, it looks
like the eyes are following you. I was in junior high school,
and I had a picture of the principal of the school hanging on the
wall. He had died the year before. And he had a reputation for being
pretty severe, and he was. They put the picture on the wall.
I walked in there and looked. I walked down the hall, and that
fellow's eyes just kept following you. It's just a picture that
kept following you. You couldn't get away from him,
you couldn't get away from his eyes. That's the picture Ezekiel
has here of these wheels of God's providence, full of eyes. Try to grasp this, my brother,
my sister. God's eye is fixed on you. God's eye is fixed on you. Just as though you were the only
thing, the only person in this universe. Fixed on you. Permanently. From eternity! Fixed on you. That means there's
no escaping his observation of his child whom he loves. I often write to friends in trouble
and I I tell them if there's anything I could, any way, any
way I could take this from you, I would. And I would. I would, because I don't know
what's best. I see you hurting, and I try to remedy the hurt
right now. But I respond to my own suggestion
with these words. He who loves you infinitely more
than I can ever imagine loving you is the one who sent the pain
and he'll take it away in his time. His eye is always on you
for good. His eye is on you in the labor
room in birth. His eye is on you at the marriage
altar. His eye is on you at the graveside. And his eye is on you everywhere
between. You cannot escape His presence. His name is Jehovah Shammah.
The Lord is there. That means, Lindsay, wherever
you are, that's where He is. There God to help in time of
need. Number four, God's providence
is completely uniform. It's one. Look at verse 16. The
appearance of the wheels and their work was likened to the
color of a barrel, and they four had one likeness. And their appearance
and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. One likeness, a wheel in the
middle of a wheel. Their work, all one work. Four wheels with four faces in
one wheel with one likeness, that simply means God's providence
is one huge piece of machinery throughout the ages of time and
throughout the universe, and it always moves in a straight
path. These wheels never turn this
way or that. They never wobble. They always move in a straight
path. Boy, it doesn't look like it,
does it? Joseph was hated by his brothers, hated by them. They sold him for a slave, thought
to kill him. And Joseph went through one trial
after another, one difficulty after another, until at last,
through all the difficulties. I mean, there would have been
no possibility that Joseph would be made the head prime minister
of Egypt if his brothers hadn't sold him to be a slave. No possibility. No possibility. No possibility
that he would be made prime minister of Egypt in the day when his
people needed him there if he hadn't been put in prison by
false accusation. No possibility. Not possibility. But God Almighty takes the evil
deeds of men and brings Joseph by a direct path to the place
where he was in the time of great famine by the hand of God, he
said, to save much people alive. Paul is sailing to Jerusalem
and he takes off at the same time two other ships take off.
And those ships, now Paul's a prisoner, but those ships, they sail with
no difficulty. No difficulty at all. Under the
sign of Caspar and Pollux. They were pirate ships. Paul
is sailing under Roman guard to Jerusalem. And they fall in
the midst of a terrible storm. So that the ship is completely
broken up. Boy, that looks bad. Well, it
does, until you see Paul on shore there, and there's a whole tribe
of barbarians, this place called Malta, and they're watching. Those fellows are building fire,
and Paul starts to throw a log on the fire, and he takes a poisonous
viper, bites him. Ah, this is a wicked man. He
said, wait a minute, and watchin' for him to die. And Paul just
shook it off. He just shook it off. And they're
still watchin' for him to die. And he didn't die. And they bowed
down to worship him as God. He said, oh no, but I'll tell
you who is. And God Almighty called out his
elect through that hand of providence. God's providence, fifthly, is
like the sea. Their work was like under the
color of beryl. Beryl is a gemstone that's sea
green in color. John Gill suggests this word
beryl is sometimes used for the sea. And certainly, providence
may be compared to it for its vastness. It takes in everything. For its motion. The sea is never
still and for its unmanageability. Nobody's going to control the
sea. We stake our pasture land off, we stake out our property,
we put up our landmarks on the earth. Not in the sea. Not in
the sea. Nobody controls the sea except
God who says to the raging sea, hitherto shalt thou go and no
further. So God, His providence, always
vast, always in motion, always without control by anyone except
Him. Number six, God's providence
is intricate. A wheel in the middle of a wheel. I take that to mean It's detailed
and so thoroughly meshed in all its details that all the affairs
of the universe are one great work. The work is the salvation
of God's elect for the glory of his great name. Turn over
to Romans chapter 11. Actually, what Ezekiel describes
as his vision in these 11 chapters that open the book of Ezekiel
is exactly what Paul describes in Romans chapters 9, 10, and
11. He talks about the casting away
of the Jews, the gathering of God's elect remnant among the
Gentiles, and so all Israel shall be saved. And folks say, well,
how can this be? Has God cast away people he before
knew? Is there unrighteousness with God? All those questions
that men raise as they try to poke fun at God and his truth.
But look at Romans 11 33. Oh, the depth of the riches,
both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. How unsearchable are
his judgments and his ways past finding out for who had known
the mind of the Lord or who had been his counselor or who had
first given to him. And it shall be recompensed to
him again for of him and through him. and to him are all things
to whom be glory forever. Amen. Read the 107th Psalm, I
urge you, and learn to behold the loving kindness of the Lord.
We wandered in the wilderness. And he brought us by the right
way. We went down. He brought us up. We read from him. He pursued
us. We lived in the shadow of death.
He brought us out into the light of life. Because of our own folly,
we were perishing. He sent his word and healed us.
We drew near to death. He delivered our souls from destruction. We ran headlong into the stormy
sea. And he made the sea a calm and
the waves still. And by that very sea brought
us to our desired haven. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness. And for his wonderful works to
the children of men, the righteous shall see it and rejoice and
all iniquity shall stop her mouth. Who so is wise and will observe
these things, even they shall understand the loving kindness
of the Lord. Number seven. Look at verse 17. They turn not when they wit,
we're told in the last clause of the verse. The providence of God always
moves in a straight path according to God's unalterable, immutable,
good purpose. Nobody's prayers change that.
Nobody's wickedness changes that. Nobody's belief changes that.
Nobody's unbelief changes that. God is faithful always in all
things. Number eight, look at verse 18. As for their rings, they were
so high that they were dreadful. God's providence is utterly amazing. You could all stand here where
I'm standing tonight and tell some of the things I can tell.
I can look back over my life. I won't tell the stories now
for the sake of time. I can show you events and circumstances
in my own personal life, in my life. Well, God Almighty just
turned society around, turned events around, altered the plans
of boards and organizations, powerful thing, altered them
just for me, just for me. And it was obvious it was just
for me. Alter an educational system one year just for me. I'm the only one who profited
by it. in any way spiritual, as far as I know. The only one.
And they altered it one year just for me. Just for me. I wouldn't
be here right now, this very hour, had it not happened just
that way. That's called God's amazing providence. Amazing. He who is my God is
God the Lord, who performeth all things for me. for me. You believe that? I do. I do. I'll quit with that. That's the wheels and their work. It is the revelation of the glory
of God and his providence in the saving of his people. Our
great God and Father, will you be pleased now to bless your
word to the hearts of these who've heard it and those who shall. Thank you, our God, for your
wise, good, adorable providence. Thank you, blessed God and Father,
for every event in history and in our lives. Thank you for the Light that
brightens our days and the darkness that engulfs our ways. For the
delights and for the pains we give you thanks. For the good and the evil. For the peace and the war. We don't know what's best for
us or for your people, so we commit our own lives and the
lives of our dear friends to your hands, to your will and
your goodness. Brother David and Patty, God, thank you for them. Thank you
for your grace upon them. I ask that you'll be pleased
to graciously intervene give them recovery of health, and
we ask it for this is what we desire. This is what we apprehend
to be our need. And yet, our God, we quickly,
quickly, quickly bow to your will. Brother Mitchell and the congregation
in Sioux Falls, we commit them to you. Perform your will on
earth as you do in heaven. Hallowed be your name. Glorify yourself, our God, and
we'll give you praise. Amen.