It is not that I did choose thee,
Lord, Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Niver. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nibert. I want to speak this morning
on the subject, divine providence. In Luke chapter 12, the Lord
says to his disciples, are not five sparrows sold for two farthings
and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very
hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore, you are
of more value than many sparrows. Divine providence. And the Lord is speaking to His
disciples, those whom God is their father. God is not the
father of everyone. You know, the Lord said to the
Pharisees in John chapter 8, you are of your father the devil,
and the lusts of your father you will do. So not everyone
is a child of God. But he has given this promise
to every single child of God without exception. Now first
he speaks of five sparrows being sold for two farthings. What
is more insignificant than a sparrow? I dare say that you've not thought
about sparrows in the last few days, yet there are billions
of them. all over this world, and not
one of them is forgotten before God. As a matter of fact, he
feeds them. The Lord said in Matthew's account,
not one of them falleth to the ground without your heavenly
Father. And notice he didn't say, without
your heavenly father knowing it, but without your heavenly
father, period, him causing it. You see, he's the first cause
behind everything, things that we would think of as insignificant.
Five sparrows, not one of them is forgotten before God. Nothing
is insignificant to him. And then he says, the very hairs
of your head are numbered. Do you know that God knows exactly
how many hairs are on your head? Now, nobody else knows this,
but he does. And he's the one who numbered. them. There is nothing insignificant
to him. There's nothing outside of the
range of God's control. Now, what is providence? By definition, providence is
an event directly caused by the power of God. Let me repeat that. Providence is an event directly
caused by the power of God. Did you know every event is God's
providence? It's God's will being done. Anything that happens in time
was purposed by God in eternity. Now, I've noticed when people
use this word providential, when something good happens or danger
is narrowly avoided, people say, well, that was providential.
That was God intervening. Well, my friends, when we make
a statement like that, we actually deny what providence means in
the first place. When something bad happens, that's
providential as well, because everything is providential. God
is in absolute control of every event. When we say that was providential,
like something good happened, that's a Christianized way of
saying that was good luck. And it means nothing more than
that. Providence is the carrying out in time of what God willed
in eternity. Now, there are two things said
about God in the doctrine of his divine providence. And number
one is that everything is preserved by him. The Apostle Paul said
in Acts chapter 17, in Him we live and move and have our being. Now whether you know it or not,
the very breath you just took just now, it's because God willed
you to take it. When your heart beat just now,
it's because God willed for that heart to beat. And when He decides
for that heart to quit beating, that's when it's gonna quit beating.
When He decides for you to start breathing, that's when you'll
stop breathing. The scripture says in 1 Samuel
2, the Lord killeth and maketh alive. He bringeth down to the
grave and He lifteth up. The Lord maketh poor and maketh
rich. He bringeth low and lifts up. He is in control of everything
and the entire universe is preserved by Him. The scripture says He
upholds all things by the word of His power and by Him all things
consist. God preserves everyone and everything
All that's in the universe, He is in absolute control of, and
every event that happens is because He willed it to happen. Nothing
outside of the range of God's divine providence. That means
He is the first cause behind everything. Did you hear me?
is the first cause behind everything. Everything that happens is His
will being done. He controls everything. And to
not believe this is to put severe limitations on God. Actually,
the only alternative is atheism. And atheism is no alternative.
Everybody deep down knows that God is. Now, the God of the Bible
is absolutely sovereign. Let me read you a couple of scriptures
that show his sovereignty in providence. Daniel chapter 4
verse 35 says, He doeth according to his will in the armies of
heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And there's none
that stayeth his hand. There's none that can stop him
from what he's doing or say, what doest thou? Give an account
for yourself. He doesn't give account to anybody
but himself. He's God, and whatever he does is right. Listen to this
scripture from Isaiah chapter 46, beginning in verse 9. God
says, Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there's
none else. I am God, and there's none like me, declaring the end
from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that
are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will
do all my pleasure. calling a ravenous bird from
the east, the man that executes 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. That's who
God is. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning. Hebrews 4.3 says the works were
finished from the foundation of the world. God controls everything. Now somebody says, that sounds
like fatalism. No, fate is blind. God has a design and an end in
all that He does. Everything is Him doing according
to His will. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will. You see, He's got a purpose.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are called according to His will. purpose.
God is a God of purpose. He never does anything by accident.
He never responds. Everything He does is on purpose. Now, this is universal. There's nothing outside of His
providential control. And the reason that is, is because
He is omnipotent. He is all-powerful. He has the
power to make His will come to pass. Is anything too hard for
the Lord? You and I, there's all kinds
of things that we would like to come to pass, but we don't
have the power to make them come to pass, nor do we have the wisdom
to make them to come to pass. But He does, because He's God.
He's all-powerful. There is No time or place where
His will is not done because He's omnipresent and eternal. He's in control of everything.
He's always there to make sure His will is being done. He's
omniscient, all-wise. He has the wisdom to bring all
this to pass. And it's not hard to Him because
He's God. And He's holy, holy in all His
works, whether men see it or not. I love that hymn, holy,
holy, holy. Though the darkness hide thee,
though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see, only thou
art holy. There is none beside thee, perfect
in power, in love, in purity. God's providence is God's preservation
and control of all that happens in time. A lot of people believe
in God's providence. They believe God's a time traveler.
He can see into the future, and He makes His decisions based
upon what He foresees. Now that's foolishness. It's
true He can see in the future, but the reason He can see in
the future is because He's decreed what was going to take place
in the future. That's how God does. The lot
is cast into the light, but the whole disposing thereof. is of
the Lord. Amos 3.6 says, Shall there be
evil in the city? And hath not the Lord done it?
You see, God doesn't just foresee what's going to happen. He determined
what will happen. That's how He knows what will
happen. He determined it. Now, devils, evil men, are under
His sovereign control. Acts chapter 4 verse 27, it was
said of the murderers of Christ that they were gathered together
to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. In Isaiah chapter 45, God said
regarding Cyrus, Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have withholden, to subdue nations before him.
And I will loose the loins of kings to open before him the
two-leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut. I'll go before
thee and make the crooked places straight. I'll break in pieces
the gates of brass and cut and sunder the bars of iron. Now
Cyrus didn't know God was using him to do this, but this is what
God says to Cyrus, the king of Persia. And I will give thee
the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places,
that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, will call thee by thy
name, and the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake,
and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name.
I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. You didn't
know me, you didn't know I was doing all these things. Now let's
go on reading. God says, I am the Lord, and there's none else.
There is no God beside me. I girded thee, though thou hast
not known me, that they may know from the rising of the sun and
from the west that there's none beside me. I am the Lord, and
there's none else. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things."
God is in control of everything. All of nature is controlled by
Him. I love what they said of the
Lord. The disciples were so amazed
when He told the wind to stop blowing and the storm to stop
and there was a great calm. They said, what manner of man
is this that even the winds and the sea do obey Him? In the animal
kingdom, not a sparrow falls to the ground without your heavenly
Father. I love it when the nets were
emptied and all of a sudden the Lord said, fish get in the net,
and there they got in the net. He controls every animal. He's
in control. His providential control is of
nations and governments. He doeth according to His will.
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth."
Everything that's going on in the Middle East, He's in control
of. Everything that's going on in the Ukraine, He's in control
of. Everything that is going on in
Afghanistan, He's in control of. Everything that's going on
in my house, He's in control of. Everything that's going on
in Lexington, He's in control of. He's God and He controls
everything. His providence encompasses all
individuals. The king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord. As the rivers of water he turneth
it whithersoever he will. Do you know even the way you
think, your free thoughts He's in control of, either by way
of grace or by way of judgment. It may be by way of grace He
causes you to look to Christ, and that's what you want to do.
It may be that He hardens your heart, but He's in control even
of your thoughts. 1 Thessalonians 5.17 says, And
everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you. God has a particular will concerning
you. His providence encompasses the
free, uncoerced acts of men. Remember where it says, him being
delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you
have taken and with wicked hands have crucified and slain. Proverbs
16.1 says, the preparations of the heart in man and the answer
of the tongue is from the Lord. Why, the very inclinations of
your heart and the answer you give is of the Lord. He's in control. Verse 9 says,
Proverbs 16, 9 says, A man's heart deviseth his way. We make
all kinds of plans, but the Lord directeth his steps. Every step
he has taken has been directed by the Lord. And in this chapter,
we also read, I've already quoted it once, the lot is cast into
the lap. That seems like pure luck, but
the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Now, listen to this. Any sin, that we do not commit. It's because He preserved us
from committing it. He restrained us from committing
it. He said to Abimelech, I withheld
thee from sinning against me, therefore suffered I thee not
to touch her. Any sin that you and I do not
commit, it's because He prevented it. And that makes me pray, Lord,
prevent me from sin. Deliver me from evil. Don't let
me even be tempted. Oh, prevent me from sinning against
you. How we love God's providence. You see, God has an end and a
design in all that takes place. Now, the beautiful example of
this is Joseph. Now, Joseph had been sold into
slavery by his brothers. Perhaps you're familiar with
the story. Oh, how cruelly they treated him. and sold him as
a slave. And then they went and told his
father, Jacob. He took the coat of many collars.
He was the favorite of his father. And they put blood on it and
said, we found this, perhaps an evil beast has slain him.
And he was sold into slavery as a 17-year-old boy. Now, years
later, God has made him right behind Pharaoh. And if you were
going to get food, it was up to Joseph. He became the most
powerful man in the world. And his brothers came to him,
and they didn't know who he was. He knew who they were. He remembered
exactly who they were, but they had no idea as to who he was. But they came to get food. And
then Joseph was pleased to make himself known to them, who he
really was. And we read in Genesis chapter
45 verse 1, then Joseph could not refrain himself before all
them that stood by him. And he cried, cause every man
to go after me. And there stood no man with him
while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept
aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. And
Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph. Doth my father yet
live? And his brethren couldn't answer
him, for they were troubled at his presence. They thought, he's
going to kill us. He's going to put us to death.
He's finally going to get vengeance on us because of what we did
to him. They didn't understand anything
about forgiveness. They were just thinking he would
be like they were. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come
near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said,
I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold in Egypt. He remembered
exactly what they did. Now, listen to these words. Now
therefore be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that you
sold me hither, for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the
famine been in the land, and yet there are five years in which
there shall never be yearing nor harvest. And God sent me
before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your
lives by a great deliverance. So now, it was not you that sent
me hither, but God." Now, he said in Genesis 50, you meant
it for evil. They had evil intentions in what
they were doing. You meant it for evil, but God meant it for
good. Now it was not you that sent
me hither, but God, and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh,
and the Lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the
land of Egypt. You see, they were going to be
preserved by Joseph. Now, I couldn't help but think
of that passage of scripture in Romans chapter eight, verse
28, where Paul says, and we know, that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are thee called according
to his purpose. Now, I've got a lot of things
working in my life, things that grieve me, things that give me
joy, things that hurt me, things that hurt my feelings, things
that are painful. Things that cause me to rejoice
and be encouraged. I've got all these things working
and they're all working together for my good. God's in control
of every one of them. Everything that happens, God
sent my way. And I've got this confidence.
All things work together for good. Even the painful things,
even the things that if I could choose, I'd say, I don't want
to go through that. Somebody once said, if I was all-powerful,
I'd change things. If I was all-wise, I'd leave
things just as they are, because God is in control of everything. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to His purpose. Now, all things don't work together
for good for everybody. If I'm not a believer, nothing's
working together for my good. Everything's working together
for my eternal destruction. But if I'm a believer, if I love
God. If I'm called according to His
purpose, all things are working together for my good. Now, what
should our response be to this? Divine providence. In Him we
live and move and have our being. He controls every event, every
body, and everything. He is the first cause. He's the Lord. What should our
response be to this? Well, number one, worship. What a glorious God. What an omnipotent God. What an all-wise God. Worship. You know, you'll only
worship a sovereign. You'll only worship one who you're
in his hands. You can't manipulate him. You're
in his hands. And he's going to do whatever
he's pleased to do. Only when you see that regarding God will
you worship him. Anything else, you'll be trying
to strike deals with him and bargains with him and try to
buy this and buy that. But, oh, you'll worship a sovereign
God. Now, what is my response to this? Complete trust. I can trust Him. There's nothing
to worry about because He's in control. Whatever He does is
right. Whatever He does is good. Whatever
He does is for my good and for His glory. I'm to trust Him.
I'm not to get mad at His providence. I'm to trust Him. Oh, may the
Lord give me grace simply to just trust Him who is too wise
to err and too kind to be cruel. Trust Him. And thirdly, what's
my response to this? I ought to have some understanding.
Understanding that God's in control. And rest. Rest in that God's
in control. He's got a divine end in all
he does. His glory and my good. And how should I respond to this?
Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Whatever's happening,
don't be afraid. God's in control. Everything
that happens, God is the cause behind it. Why should I be afraid? As a matter of fact, the Lord
said, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not,
you're of more value than many sparrows. Now, believer, think
of what value you are to God. He spared not his own son for
you. Think of what a value you are
to the Lord Jesus Christ. He gave himself for you. Think of what a value you are
to God the Holy Spirit. He dwells in your heart. You're
of more value than many sparrows. Now, I couldn't help but think
about the 23rd Psalm. I'd like to read that in closing. This is the Psalm of David, the
man after God's own heart, and it's probably the most well-known
psalm. I hope it's a well-understood
psalm, too. David says in Psalm 23, the Lord
is my shepherd. I shall not want. With my shepherd
as the Lord, I won't lack anything because my shepherd is the Lord. I will not lack rest, because
he makes me to lie down in green pastures. He gives me that rest,
so he giveth his beloved sleep. There remaineth a rest for the
people of God. I will not lack peace. He leadeth
me beside still waters. Waters of quietness. Oh, what
peace to know that Christ is my personal righteousness before
God. What peace there is to know that
His shed blood actually puts away my sin and I stand clean
before God. What peace there is to know that
He's ruling and reigning every event. What peace there is in
His divine providence. I will not lack restoration because
He restores my soul. He brings me back over and over
again. You know, David said, I've gone
astray like a lost sheep. Seek thy servant. And the believer
has the great shepherd seeking them, restoring them, bringing
them back again. I won't lack righteousness if
the Lord's my shepherd, because he leads me in paths of righteousness
for his namesake. His righteousness is my personal
righteousness before God. And he gives it to me for his
namesake, not because of me meriting anything. He does it for his
namesake. I will not lack companionship,
because he says, yea, though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil, for thou art with me. He's always with me, whether
I feel him or not. He's still always there. He said,
I'll never leave thee, nor forsake thee. And I won't lack comfort
because he says, thou rod and thy staff, they comfort me. I'm
always going to have the comforts of the gospel. And I won't lack
provision because he says, thou prepares to table before me in
the presence of mine enemies, all I need. Physically, emotionally,
spiritually, he provides. He hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And I will not
lack joy because the Lord is my shepherd. He anoints my head
with oil. My cup runneth over. And I'm
always gonna have God's two watchdogs following me, protecting me.
Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my
life. and I'm always going to have
a place to live. He says, and I will dwell in the house of
the Lord forever. And that is all because the Lord
is my shepherd. My shepherd is a shepherd of
divine providence. My Shepherd controls every event
that happens in time, and it's because He purposed everything
to happen in time. He purposed it in eternity, and
He's working everything together for my good and his glory. Oh, how we love divine providence. And we have this message on DVD
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