If you will, let us open our
Bibles today to Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12. Begin reading in verse 1. In
the meantime, when there were gathered together an innumerable
multitude of people, insomuch that they trod one upon another. He began to say unto his disciples,
first of all, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there's nothing covered that
shall not be revealed, neither hid that shall not be known. Therefore, whatsoever you have
spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light, and that which
you have spoken in the air in closets shall be proclaimed upon
the housetops. And I say unto you, my friends,
be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have
no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom
you shall fear. Fear him, which after he hath
killed hath fired a cast into hell. Yea, I say unto you, fear
him. 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. Also I say unto you, whosoever
shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of Man also
confess before the angels of God. But he that denieth me before
men shall be denied before the angels of God. The Lord God has given us this
Bible, which is a treasury. It's a treasury of comforting
truths to his people. Peter, the apostle Peter, referred
to the scriptures as unto a light that shineth in a dark place. And we thank him first and foremost
for the gospel that is contained in the word of God, the gospel
which tells us of how God sent his son into this world to redeem
his chosen people by shedding of his blood. But today I'm speaking
to us of another very comforting truth that I see in this passage
of scripture It is the truth of God's providence. God's providence. And this truth is suggested to
me in the Lord's words here when he said, not one sparrow is forgotten
before God. Do you know how many sparrows
there are in the world? Thousands, yea, millions. And
yet the Lord said, not one is forgotten before God. And not
only that, but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. The providence of God. I have
three parts to the message. First of all, what do we mean
by God's providence? What do we mean when we talk
about God's providence? The Bible teaches that there
are two parts to the providence of God. There are two parts that
the providence of God consists of. The first part is his preservation
of his creation. And the second part is his governing
his creation. The psalmist wrote, we know that
this creation, it's all God's creation. Know you that the Lord,
he is God. It is he that hath made us and
not we ourselves. We all know, all men know that
this is God's creation, that God created the heavens and the
earth. He created you and me and everything. in this world. I like the words
of the hymn we sang just a few minutes ago. This is my father's
world. This is God's world. This is
God's creation. And you and I, we are part of
God's creation. We all recognize that he is the
creator of all things, but we must also realize and be certain
about the fact that he preserves his creation and he governs his
creation. He preserves and governs his
creation. We might learn about his preservation
of his creation if you turn with me to Colossians chapter one. Colossians chapter one. And beginning with verse 12, God preserves his creation, giving
thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath delivered
us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the
kingdom of his dear Son. Now recognize, of course, first
of all, that the letter the apostle is writing here is written to
God's children. It is written to believers, giving
thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partake,
qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in light, who, that is God, hath delivered us from the power of
darkness. Man is not able to deliver himself. You know that. That's the reason
the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world. That's what the word
salvation actually means. It's deliverance. Deliverance. And we all come into this world
under the power of the prince of the air, the darkness of this
world. And only God can deliver a person. And so the letter, the epistle
we're reading here, it's written to believers. Not only does he
deliver us from the power of darkness, but he translates us
into the kingdom of his dear son. You see, there's two kingdoms
in this world. And every one of us and every
one of all men are part of one creation or one kingdom or the
other. There's only two kingdoms. One
kingdom is a kingdom of darkness, and that is the kingdom into
which we all are born when we come into this world. And then
there is the kingdom of God's dear son, the kingdom of light.
And only God Almighty is able to translate, to deliver a person
from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear
son. In whom, notice the next few
words, in whom, that is in Christ, God's dear son, we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. The way that God redeems
his people is through the blood, the shedding of blood of his
son, and that gives us forgiveness for our sins. Forgiveness of
our sins. But notice especially these next
few verses. Who is the image of the invisible
God? God is a spirit. God is a spirit. And Christ is the image of the
invisible God. To see him is to see the Father. That's what he told his disciples.
He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. He's the image of
the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, For by him
were all things created that are in heaven and that are in
earth, visible, invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers. Those are the angels and the
order of the angels. He created them all. All things
were created by him, and notice this, and for him. Now that's
something that needs to be sounded forth in our day, like never
before. That all of God's creation, He
created for Himself, that is for His glory. Man, lost man,
and it's sad to say, but this religious world has come to the
place that we believe that somehow God exists for our pleasure,
that He exists just to help us. How different and opposite to
the Word of God which declares that all things are created by
Him and for Him, for His glory. You and I We were all created
for His glory. And all men will either glorify
God's wonderful grace or His judgment, His justice, one or
the other. But I'm not through. Notice the
next verse. And He is before all things,
and by Him all things consist. By Him, all things consist. What I said is that God's providence
means that God preserves His creation. By Him, all things
consist. The same is said in Hebrews 1
and verse 3, that the Lord Jesus Christ upholds all things by
the word of His power. He upholds this creation, all
things by the word of His power. All nature, all nature, all of
God's creation would come apart. It would come apart if it were
not that by Him, by Christ, all things consist. He preserves God's In John chapter
5, he said, my father worketh hitherto and I work. There's a continued efflux of
God's power in preserving his creation. Without him, it would
all come apart. It would all come apart. But
not only does he preserve all creation, but he governs all
of his creation. And we get a glimpse of this
in Acts 17 when the apostle Paul said, in him we live, move, and
have our being. Now he wasn't just talking about
those few people that were listening to him that day on Mars Hill.
He was talking about all people. All men. We all live in Him and
move and have our being. In Proverbs 16, in verse 9, we
read, A man's heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth
his steps. Now listen, He governs all of
His creation. Not only preserves it, but governs
all men. A man's heart deviseth his way,
but the Lord directeth his steps. The steps of a good man, this
is in Proverbs 16, the steps of a good man are ordered of
the Lord, and he delighted in his ways. That's Psalm 37, rather.
In Ephesians 1, in verse 11, the apostle tells us that he
worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Now that's God. That's the God
of the Bible. That's not the God that is preached
in the average pulpit today. A God who wants to do a great
deal, but only if man will cooperate, he'd be able to do what he wants
to do. No, that's not the God of the Bible. That's not the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is God Almighty. He created all things, and for
His own glory, He created all things. He preserves His creation,
and He governs His creation. The second part of the message,
what are some truths that we should know about God's providence? And I have three. that I want
to bring to us. Here's some truths that we should
know about God's providence. It is God's providence. You know,
many men, you find this especially among civil leaders, they'll
talk about providence, and they'll talk about a providence. But
we're talking about the providence of God. The providence of God,
the God who preserves and governs all things. It is God's providence and therefore
it is like himself most holy. Most holy. His providence is
like he is. He is the holy Lord God and his
providence is most holy. In Psalm 145 and verse 17 we
read, The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. When Abraham, you know the story
as it's recorded in Genesis, when Abraham was permitted by
God to speak to God, and Abraham confessed himself to be nothing
more than dust and ashes. And yet he was allowed to speak
to the Lord God Almighty. And God had told him he was going
to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. You know the story, how Abraham
interceded for Sodom. And he asked the Lord this, he
said, will thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
In other words, you're going to destroy these cities Will
you destroy the righteous in those cities with the wicked?
Yes, the city is full of wickedness, no doubt. But will thou, being
the holy God that you are, being righteous in all your ways, will
you destroy the righteous with the wicked? And then he asked
the Lord this question, shall not the judge of all the earth
do right? And Abraham knew that he would
do right. He's God, and He's holy, and
He's holy in all of His works. He's righteous in all of His
ways. Shall not the God of all the
earth or the judge of all the earth do right? But what Abraham
didn't know, God knew this, but Abraham didn't know this. There
were not ten righteous men in Sodom. What was the population
of Sodom? I have no idea. But it wasn't
some village. It wasn't some small town. It
was a large metropolis for that time. And there were not ten
righteous men in that city. And you know the story how that
God rained fire and brimstone out of heaven and destroyed the
cities of the plain, delivering one man, Lot, one righteous man,
Lot, his two daughters and his wife. You know, he had to take
Lot by the, the angel had to take Lot by the arm and pull
him out. He was, he was a righteous man.
He was a saved man. No question about that. The scripture
is very clear. And yet he had allowed himself
to become so involved in the things of this world, and especially
in that wicked place. Obviously, or evidently, I should
say, all for the purpose of worldly prosperity, for money, for increase
of goods. He allowed himself to be sucked
in and become a part of Sodom. The angel pulled him by the arm,
pulled out two of his daughters, and his wife. And his wife, remember,
her heart was still in Sodom. And she turned and looked. When
they had told her, told them, don't look back. Don't look back. When she looked back, and you
know the story, she turned into a pillar of salt. Was God righteous? Was God holy in that act of providence,
His act of providence? Absolutely. Absolutely. Because God's providence is like
He is. It's His providence and He is
holy. And His providence is holy. A
second thing about God's providence, it is like Himself. It is most
wise. Most wise. What Isaiah said about
it is this, this also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts,
wonderful in counsel and excellent in working. You know, I'm reminded
of the story. I'm sure you've heard it years
ago in England. There was a lady who visited
a factory where they manufactured, where they sewed thread together
and made carpet. And she went into the factory
and the looms were turning, you know, and making a lot of noise
and all she could see looked awful, looked terrible. And the
owner of the factory said, lady, come around to this side of the
loom. She was looking at the backside of the loom and she
didn't see any design or anything beautiful about the carpet at
all. But when she went to the other side, Then she could see
how beautiful the design was. And the same thing is true, my
friends, about God's providence. I said it is most wise. It's
puzzling. It's puzzling to you and I, many
things that we experience. Many times we are perplexed and
we're not by ourselves. The psalmist felt the same way
when he saw the prosperity of the wicked. His foot, His steps
were well not gone. God's providence, why does He
allow this? Why does He allow this in this
world? Why does this take place? You
say He governs all things. He rules over all things. Absolutely. Then I can't understand this.
And you know sometimes people will say that. They will say,
well, you know, I just can't believe in a God who would allow suffering like we see in this
world? Well, let me remind you, anybody
who might think like that, man brought suffering into this world. Man sinned, and along with sin
came suffering, sickness, sorrow, death. Yes, God's providence,
many times it is puzzling to us. But one day, I'm sure, we
will be able to look from the other side. When we look back,
you and I, as God's children, I have every confidence this
will be so. When we look back, maybe some
of you, some things you've experienced in your life, and you just say,
I just don't see why. Why was this necessary? Listen,
believe in God, trust in God, and wait till you look back.
And you'll see that what God did was wise. It was just right. He hath done all things well. That's going to be the testimony
of God's creation. And number three, it is God's
providence and therefore, like himself, most powerful. It's most holy, God's providence
is most holy, it's most wise, and it is most powerful. The
king's heart, the king's heart, the man up in Washington, D.C.,
the man over there in Moscow, the man in China, all these great
leaders, powerful leaders, have their thumb. on the switch, right? They claim would destroy humanity. Their heart is in the king's
hand, in the Lord's hand. As the rivers of water, he turneth
it whithersoever he will. Now, if the heart of the kings,
if their heart is in the hand of the Lord, then so is everyone
else's heart. Your heart, my heart. King Nebuchadnezzar,
he learned this lesson, and he learned it the hard way, didn't
he? He learned this the hard way. He thought, is this not
the great Babylon, this great city with all of its wonders?
Isn't this the great Babylon that I have made, that I have
built? You know what happened to him?
God sent him out to the school of hard knocks for seven years.
And when his reason returned to him, he confessed that God
reigns among the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. And Nebuchadnezzar made this
statement, none, none can stay his hand or say unto him, what
doest thou? His providence is most powerful. Now third, what are some truths
that we must recognize considering God's providence? Considering
God's providence that He preserves and governs all of His creation. And I have several things. First
of all, the truth of God's providence is not to excuse sin. The truth of God's providence
is not to excuse sin. We've just seen how that God's
providence is like God, it is holy. And God hates sin. And God is never the author of
sin. He cannot be tempted with sin,
neither tempted he any man. God is not the author of sin. It is true, being God, that he
can and he does at times bring good out of evil. But you see,
that doesn't excuse sin. And this is something dealing,
talking with people over the years, I find sometimes people
have a problem with. They say, well, I can't understand
if God ordained something, how he's not responsible for it.
No. The fact that something is ordained
doesn't mean that God is responsible for the actions. And we have
scripture enough in the word of God to show us this is so. In the first book of the Bible,
if you turn back here to Genesis chapter 50, everyone is pretty well familiar
with this story. Genesis chapter 50. Joseph had 11 brothers. 10 brothers were half brothers. And when this took place, it
was his 10 brothers. He had a father, Jacob, who showed
partiality to him. And that's not good. That's not
good. Parents, we love our children
all the same, don't we? They're all precious to us. They're
all precious. Jacob, he showed partiality to
Joseph, no doubt about it, and that helped increase the jealousy
of these 10 brothers. And you know what happened? They
sold him. They sold him into slavery. And yet, Look at what Joseph
says in verse 20 of chapter 50. But as for you, talking to his
10 brothers, as for you, you thought evil against me. In other
words, what you did was evil. It was sinful. It was wrong.
You did it out of jealousy. But God meant it unto good. to bring to pass, as it is this
day, to save much people alive. You did it because of your sinful
heart. God ordained it for good, to
bring good out of it. God was not responsible that
they were jealous of their brother, but God ordained their action
to bring good out of their evil, to save much people alive. Now think about this. These brothers,
they didn't know God's purpose. They didn't have a clue. They
didn't do what they did because of God's purpose. They did what
they did because of their jealousy. But in doing what they did because
of their jealousy, they fulfilled God's holy purpose. The same
thing is true. Turn to Acts chapter 2. The same
thing is true about the most sinful deed that has ever been
perpetrated on the face of God's earth. You say, what is that? The crucifixion of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Acts chapter 2 and verse 23. Peter sounding this word. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. In other words, when the
Lord Jesus Christ died, that was by God's determinate counsel. God had purposed that from before
the foundation of the world. That was a way that he saves
his people. That's a way that he glorifies
himself. He's glorified more as we look
at the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ than in any other way. This was done by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, but it was also done by
the wicked hands of those men who crucified the Lord Jesus
Christ. You say, well, that was awful,
those men, but do you realize that we're all involved in it?
That we were all involved in it? Look over into chapter four,
Acts chapter four. Of a truth, verse 27, of a truth
against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed both
Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles, that includes us,
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. Why did they crucify the Lord
Jesus Christ? Why did we crucify the Lord Jesus
Christ? Because we hated him without
a cause. And yet, it was according to
God's purpose to save much people, to save his elect. So that's the first thing. When
we think about God's providence, we should never use it to excuse
sin. Number two, the truth of God's
providence should keep the child of God from complaining about
things which come our way. We recognize that nothing just
springs out of the ground. Whatever comes our way is part
of God's providence. And we've just seen that God's
providence is most wise. His infinite wisdom has ordained
this, whatever it may be, not for my harm, if you're a child
of God, not for your harm, but for your benefit. What should
we learn from this? This is the way we should look.
I was speaking to one of the members of our congregation just
a couple of days ago, and the person said, it seems like everything
has happened to us recently. Everything has happened. And
I agreed. And she related the things that
she's gone through. But these things didn't happen
by chance. Whatever comes in your life,
if you're a child of God, It's part of God's providence, His
wise providence. And it's for our learning. It's
for our benefit. One of the Proverbs says, the
rod and reproof give wisdom. Over the years, reading some
of the old writers, some of the old commentators, I've run into
this statement quite often. Hear the rod. H-E-A-R, hear the
rod. And by rod, of course, they mean
chastisement or discipline, whatever word you want to use, hear it.
What is God teaching me? What would God have me to learn
from this? But we don't complain about God's
providence, for we recognize it is his wise providence. One of the awful sins of the
Israelites was their murmuring against God. You know it. You can't read through Exodus.
As they make their way through the wilderness, you don't see
how often that they are reproved because they murmured against
God. A third thing, the truth of God's
providence should help every child of God with fear and anxiety
about the future. The Lord Jesus said, take no
thought for what you shall eat or what you shall drink or wherewithal
you shall be clothed. And do you know why he said take
no anxious thought about what you're going to eat what you're
going to drink or how you're going to be clothed ten years
from now, five years from now, your retirement. You know why he said that? It's
very obvious, isn't it? He also said, because your father
knoweth what you have need of. Your father knows what you have
need of. Don't take any anxious thought about your food and clothes. these things that cause us anxiety
and fear. A fourth thing, the truth of
God's providence should not cause us to neglect means. Means. The farmer, the man who farms,
he doesn't neglect plowing and planting, thinking, well, if
God's ordained our preservation, well, no need for me to plant. How foolish. No, don't neglect
the means. Sometimes God heals using medicine,
using doctors, and sometimes He heals without means, without
medicine and without doctors. But that doesn't mean we should
neglect the means. I want you to turn to Psalm 127.
This is the last place I'll have you turn. But to me, this verse
of scripture explains What seems to be a problem about this? God's
providence and the use of means. Psalm 127 and verse one. Except the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain that build it. Well, now who's building
the house? Except the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain that build it. Who's building the house? Well, I want a new house. I guess
the Lord will just build me a new house out here. I don't ever
have to drive a nail. Oh, no. Recognize while you're
building the house, while you're out there sweating, driving the
nails, your dependence upon God. Your need of God, His help, His
blessing. And if we think about building
a house, not just the physical house in which we live, but our
home, building a home. We want to build a home where
there's love and peace and where God is worshiped and where God
is praised. And yes, labor to build it, but
recognize your need of God. your dependence upon God. Except
the Lord keep the city, the watchmen watch in vain. Well, who's watching? Who's watching here? Is the Lord
watching or are the watchmen watching? The watchmen are watching
and with God's blessing, the city is kept. To me, It explains
a problem that some people have when they think, well, if all
things are ordained of God, we just, we don't have to work,
we don't have to plow, we don't have to plant, we don't have
to, no. We need God's blessings upon
all things, but we do not deny the use of means. And the last
thing, the truth of God's providence. Now listen to me. This truth. It's truth that I brought before
us here this morning of God's providence. It should cause every
child of God to give thanks. We're talking about your father
here. We're talking about your father who works all things together
for your good. Should cause us to give thanks,
give thanks unto him. A man was crossing a lake one
time, and a storm blew up on the lake. He was in a ferry boat,
and he was anxious. And, well, he should be. I suppose
the waves were mighty and the wind was blowing. And he noticed
a young lad there who didn't seem to be concerned at all.
And he asked the young man, he said, how is it? that you don't
seem to be concerned at all with this great storm we're in." And
the young boy said, my dad's the captain of this ship. My father's the captain of this
ship. I'm not afraid. I don't need
to worry. Oh, your father, your father,
believer, he's the captain of this ship. He's got everything
in control, and everything is working according to His purpose. God's never ahead of time, and
He's never behind time. Oh, what rest, what rest, what
comforting rest for the child of God is the providence of God,
the truth of His providence. I pray the Lord would Bless his
word to all of us here this morning.