I'm sure most of us are aware
that there was a National Day of Prayer this past week, and
I think all of us would agree that it is good when we hear
the leaders of this nation speak about prayer and quote verses
from the Word of God. I heard on a news clipping Vice
President Pence reading from Philippians 4, verses 6 and 7. Be careful for nothing, but in
everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth
all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus. It was a blessing to hear the
Word of God read. And I took away three things
from a National Day of Prayer that I wanted to mention this
morning. First, a National Day of Prayer
reminds those of us who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ that
we are commanded and exhorted to pray for our nation and pray
for the leaders of this nation. The Apostle Paul, writing to
Timothy in 1 Timothy, he said, I exhort, therefore, that first
of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of
thanks be made for all men, for kings, and for all that are in
authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness
and honesty. So it's good to be reminded that
we should pray for the leaders of this nation, that we might
continue to lead a quiet and peaceable life. And second, it
is good, a National Day of Prayer is good to remind those of us
who are believers that we are a nation within a nation. We are a nation within a nation. And I would ask you if you want
to turn to 1 Peter 2 to see this, by what I mean when I say that
we as God's children are a nation within a nation. In 1 Peter 2,
in verse 6, we read, wherefore also
it is contained in the scripture Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded. Unto you, therefore, which believe,
he is precious. But unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made
the head of the corner. and a stone of stumbling, and
a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being
disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. But you, that
is you believers, are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
and holy nation. A nation within a nation. God's
people are a holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show
forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light. We are a nation, God's people. We are a nation, a chosen generation,
and we have been made a kingdom of priests. Remember the scripture
says that he loved us who loved us and washed us from our sins
in his own blood and hath made us kings and priests unto God. We are a nation, a holy nation
within this nation and God has called us. If we are his people
today, he has called us out of darkness. Oh, how dark is the
darkness. in which we were born. When we
came into this world, the darkness that men and women apart from
the Lord Jesus Christ are in today, but His people who have
been saved, He has called us out of darkness into His marvelous
light that we might show forth His praises. The Lord Jesus Christ,
He is the light of the world. The gospel is the light and he
has commanded us to be lights in this world, making us lights. So it's good to be reminded to
pray for the leaders of this nation. It's good to be reminded
that we are a nation within a nation. And third, it's good to hear
of God's divine providence. And I say that because I heard
several times, and I didn't watch the program if it was telecast. I'm not sure if it was or not,
but I'm just going by what I heard on the news. But I heard people
speaking about divine providence several times. And that's what
I want to speak to us about this morning. divine providence. What is divine providence? Well, I think it should be obvious
that there are those who speak of divine providence who have
no real understanding of what this teaching is from the Word
of God. So I'd like to rehearse to us
this morning four things about God's providence, divine providence. First, We know that there is
divine providence because God is sovereign. That's the first
thing I would like to mention and remind us of. We know that
there is a divine providence because God is sovereign. If God were not sovereign, there
could be no divine providence. If there is anything in this
world, anything or any action committed in this world that
is somehow outside of God's sovereign rule, then there is no divine
providence. But the scriptures tell us, this
is what we read about read from the Word of God, that our God,
that is the God of the Bible, and I think that needs to be
emphasized so much. When we speak about God, we are
speaking about the God of the Bible. We're not talking about
the God of modern day religion, because that's an altogether
different God. But we are speaking about the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as He has revealed Himself
unto us, first of all, through His Son, Jesus Christ, and through
His written Word. We know this about our God, about
the God and Father of Jesus Christ. Our God is in the heavens. That's
what the psalmist declared about him. Our God is in the heavens.
And he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Whatsoever he hath
pleased. That is what he has done. And his counsel shall stand forever. What is divine providence but
God working out in time what he purposed In eternity, what
is divine providence but the unfolding of God's counsel, which
standeth and cannot be disavowed? You know, one of the greatest
needs of our generation, my generation, And your generation, one of the
greatest needs of this generation is to learn something about the
majesty of God, the sovereignty of God. Because for the most
part, this generation that I have lived in and you live in, knows
nothing of the majesty of God. There's no awe of God. I don't know if you saw that
when we read the psalm just a few minutes ago, Psalm 33 and verse
8, but the psalmist said, let all the inhabitants of the earth
stand in awe of Him. all reverence of Him. And that is declared just before
He states the fact that God spoke and this world came into existence. Such a God of power, the God
of creation, men and women, boys and girls should stand in awe
of Him. the majesty, the greatness, the
sovereignty of the Lord God Almighty. And one of the ways that we know
that this generation does not stand in awe of God is to hear
the way people use His name. The way people take the name
of God and use it as a byword. Some people are misinformed to
believe that taking God's name in vain means cursing, that you
curse. That is taking God's name in
vain, no doubt about it. But even when we speak in our
conversation to take His holy, lofty, great name and use it
in common conversation like we would some other person's name,
is to take His name in vain. And I know today, and you know
this, that one of the ways that we see that men are not in awe
of God, Men are not in awe of God, and you say, well, that
concerns fear of God. Yes, but let's be careful when
we think about the fear of God. We're talking about the reverence
of God, to come into His presence, to be one of His creatures. Who
he is should cause us to humble ourselves before him and to stand
in awe of him and to magnify his name and to worship him. This has been at the root of
the great moral decay, the great moral decline that has taken
place in our country. It all goes back to men's concept
of God. The God of 20th and 21st century
so-called Christianity does not hardly resemble the God of the
Bible. From the days when this country
was founded, the founding fathers of this country, from that day
until now, man's concept of God has declined to such a degree
that there is no awe of God. And I say it began in the churches.
I say it began in the churches. It began in the pulpits when
men began to question the Word of God and decide which was inspired
and which is not inspired. when men began to reject God's
declaration of creation and to accept the idea of evolution. I'm talking about religious people.
All of this has contributed to the state we are in today where
there is no all, no worship of God Almighty. My friends, people
talk about divine providence, But there can only be divine
providence because God is sovereign. He is sovereign. If He's not
sovereign, then things can happen. There can be accidents. There
can be things out of His control, yes. But seeing the fact that
God is sovereign, there is a divine providence. God is working out
in time what He purposed from all eternity. He's never surprised,
he never learns anything. He knows the end from the beginning. And the reason he knows the end
from the beginning is because he has ordained everything that
comes to pass. God's divine providence. When we pray, when we pray for
our leaders, when we pray for our nation, When we pray for
ourselves, we should pray that God would send a great revival. Send a revival, first of all,
in our hearts and may that spread among the nation. A great revival
concerning the truth about the majesty, the holiness of God
Almighty. David wrote, for the Lord is
a great God. He's not some pygmy God. You
know, when man manufactures a God, and all men do, they manufacture
in their mind what they think God is like. And they will always
manufacture a God that is somehow under their control, some way
they can manipulate. That's not the God of the Bible.
The God of the Bible. And we should pray. for ourselves
and for our nation and for our leaders that there would be an
awakening, a revival in this country concerning God Almighty,
for the Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods. Second, we know that divine providence
is holy, wise, and powerful. Divine providence that rules
over all things is holy. I want you to turn with me to
Psalm 145 for just a moment. Psalm 145. Divine providence that rules
over all things and in all things is holy. Psalm 145 and verse
17. We read, the Lord is righteous
in all his ways. Now that's just so. Things happen,
I don't understand. Things happen, we cannot understand. That doesn't change the truth
about God. The Lord is righteous in all
his ways and holy in all his works. Divine providence concerns all
things, even sinful actions. This is many times illustrated
by the light of the sun. God is holy. His works are holy. His providence concerns all things. The sun, as I said, this is often
illustrated in almost every theological work I've ever read. This is
the illustration that is used and it's a good one. The light
of the sun is pure. It shines upon a garbage heap,
a dung hill. That's the word used in most
of the books. There's an awful stench that
comes up. The light is not an awful stench. The awful stench comes from the
garbage heap. Though it shines, the light of
the sun shines upon foul things that produce an awful stench.
The stench doesn't come from the light, the heat of the sun,
but from the matter, the foul matter, the dunghill. God's divine
providence is holy. All things, it includes all things. It encompasses everything that
comes to pass. As I said, things that we call
good and things that we call evil and things that are righteous
and things that are sinful. His divine providence is over
all things and it's always holy. His works are righteous. Second,
divine providence that rules over all is that of infinite
wisdom. In Isaiah 28 and verse 29, we
read, this cometh from the Lord of hosts. This evil that had
come upon the nation, this cometh from the Lord of hosts, who is
wonderful in counsel and excellent in working. We must never forget
this. that His providence is the result
of divine wisdom. I say we must never forget this
because as we go through this world, we experience things that
baffle us, perplex us. Even the Apostle Paul used that
word perplexed in the English translation. Things that perplex
us, baffle us, things that we see, things that we experience. We must remember that his providence
is that of divine wisdom. And we live in this world, we
must walk by faith and not by sight. And our faith is based
upon the word of God. Well, to take that hymn that
William Cowper wrote, God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders
to perform. One of those verses I've always
liked to read and think about goes like this. Judge not the
Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace. Behind a frowning
providence, he hides his smiling face. Divine providence is a
result of infinite wisdom. We know today by faith that there's
going to come a day when all of God's children, all of His
church, all of those that He redeemed with His precious blood,
when we shall all be assembled there before the throne, and
if we are enabled to look back over history, over the history
of this world, all of us together in unison will say the same thing. He hath done all things well. His providence encompasses all
things, and it is the result of infinite wisdom. And third,
His providence, we know, rules over all, is most powerful. I think of the words of Nebuchadnezzar
when I think about the fact that His providence is the result
of great power in Daniel chapter four, when this mighty monarch,
after God had sent him to school, taught him a few things. You see, Nebuchadnezzar was like
most men. He was proud, he was haughty.
God took him down a few notches. Just like Saul of Tarsus, he
was a proud Pharisee, riding on his horse to Damascus,
going there to persecute God's dear children. God took him down,
didn't he? God brought him down. Here was
Nebuchadnezzar, he was a, is not this a great Babylon that
I have built? One of the wonders of the ancient
world, Babylon with its hanging gardens and all of that, that
power and riches could build in this world. And God sent him
out to eat grass like an animal. When he came back, when God gave
him his mind back, this is what he said, verse 34, 35. And all the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven. That's the angels of God. There's
not any angel that's outside God's control and power and rule. He doeth his will 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? Remember in Romans
chapter nine, the apostle Paul writing about God having mercy
upon whom he would have mercy. And that question comes up, why
doth he yet find fault? Nay, but O man, who art thou
that replies against God? Hath not the potter power over
the clay? Sovereignty of God. higher of God. And here's the third thing about
God's divine providence. We know that divine providence
includes all things. I've already said that, but you
know, someone might ask, do you mean all things? Yes, I mean
all things. The providence of God, and I
don't know that we can see this in any greater way than to think
about the casting of lots. We think of that, or I do, as
dice. You've all played board games
where you shook up dice, and you throw them out there on the
board, and it comes up 6-1, or 2-3, or double 6, or whatever,
you know? You think, boy, that's all chant.
No. No. That's not what the scripture
says. The scripture says this. The lot is cast into the lap,
but the whole, the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord." And
according to John Gill in his chapter on Providence, he said
the first time that we have the mention of lots or the example
of lots in the Word of God was in the case of Achan. When the
Israelites went into the land of Canaan, God told them that
that first city there, Jericho, all the goods, all the wealth
in that city was to be His, dedicated to Him, to God. And you know,
there was that one man who saw and he took, he took a garment,
he took a wedge of gold, I believe it was. And so when the army
goes up to the next place, a very small place, They are put to
the worst before those soldiers of Ai. And Joshua goes down on
his face and says, God, you're not with us? And God more or
less said, get up. What you doing down on your face
before me? They're sin. Someone has taken
the accursed thing. Now we're talking about 600,000
maybe men. Who did it? Who did it? Well, this is the way you're
going to decide. You're going to cast lots. You're
going to bring all the tribes. There's 12 of them. Bring all
of them before you and cast lots, and the lot fell on the tribe
of Judah. You say, well, that was an accident. That's still a big tribe. Cast
lots again. And the lot fell this time on
one of the families, one of the great families of Judah. That was luck. No, no. Cast the lots again. This time
it falls upon the household of this particular man. Cast the
lot again. There he is, Achan, the casting
of the lots, the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. From the smallest thing, to me
that would be a very small thing, casting of lots. From the smallest
thing to the greatest things, my friends, and all in between
are all included in God's divine providence. But when we say all
things, we must recognize that in some actions, and I'm talking
about sinful actions, that God has one end, God has purposed
one thing, and the sinner, the one who commits the sin, his
purpose is something different. We're all familiar with the words
of Joseph to his brothers. After they're all down in Egypt
and Jacob has died and his brothers were so afraid, they were so
afraid of Joseph. He's gonna take revenge on us.
And they made up a story and sent it to Joseph and Joseph,
and part of what he said to them were these words. As for you,
as for you 10 men standing here before me, Your action was evil. You thought evil against me. But that same action, which was
sinful, you did out of jealousy of me. God Almighty ordained
that to bring much good in saving many people alive. His brothers acted in jealousy
and hatred in selling him into what became slavery. But God's
purpose in their evil action was to bring about much good. Surely, the psalmist said, surely
the wrath of man shall praise thee. The remainder of wrath
shalt thou restrain. You know, we think we are living
in evil days and wicked times, and we are. But think what it
would be without the restraining hand of God upon depravity. This place would be a hell on
earth without God's restraints. The greatest example of this,
of course, is the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look
with me in Acts chapter 2. The same action on the part of
man is evil, and yet on the part of God is good. In Acts chapter two and verse
22, these are the words of Peter
on the day of Pentecost. Acts two and verse 22. You men of Israel, hear these
words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which
God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know. A man who went about doing good. How many miracles did the Lord
Jesus Christ work? None ever for himself. but always
for the good of others, to help others. And yet wicked men crucified
the Lord of glory. Your hands were dripping with
his blood. Pilate tried to wash the blood
from his hands. He couldn't. He couldn't. You've done this by wicked hands
and you're guilty. You did what you wanted to do. You say, well, that was ordained
of God. Yes, it was, my friends, but they didn't know that. They
did not do what they did because somehow they had climbed up into
heaven and saw the secret counsels of God and read what God had
ordained would take place. No, they did what they did because
of their hatred of the Son of God, of goodness personified. And that's what wicked men would
do to God Almighty if they could get to Him. That's what they
did to God Almighty when He came into this world. A very evil,
a very wicked action of evil and wicked men, yes. But the
same action is ordained for good. You men, let's read that verse
again. You men of Israel, hear these
words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by
miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst
of you, as you yourselves also know, him being delivered by
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. You have taken and by
wicked hands have crucified and slain, whereof God hath raised
up, having loosed the pangs of death, because it was not possible
that he should be holding of it." Death could not hold the
Son of God. The Lord Jesus, His action, Was
he glorified God? He satisfied God's justice. He redeemed and saved his church. Man's action was sinful. And
how this should encourage us when we pray, to remind ourselves
always that God is able to bring good out of evil. He's able to,
when something happens and we think it's evil, God's able to
bring good out of it. Let's not lose faith in him.
But here's the fourth thing about divine providence, and I'll close.
We know that the truth of divine providence teaches us. It teaches
us that we should not murmur and complain. There's a scripture on the refrigerator
in our house. would be good if we could get
it in our heart, speaking of myself. In everything, give thanks. In everything, give thanks, for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Don't murmur,
don't complain, and don't lose heart. It teaches us, secondly, That we should not be anxious
and fretful. Fret not, thyself, because of
evildoers. That's what the psalmist said.
And lastly, it teaches us to be happy. Happy. Blessed. is that people whose
God is the Lord. Happy, that's what that word
blessed, isn't it? Happy is that people whose God is the Lord,
whose God is sovereign, and who is working all things after the
counsel of His own will, so that we know, we don't just guess
about this, so that we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to His purpose. I pray that the Lord would bless
this message and help us to meditate and think about God's providence
and what it means to us. Man should never use this as
an excuse for sin. Someone said, well, I guess God
ordained me to do that. God's given you his word. That's
what we are responsible for, not to his secret counsels. We don't know those. What did
the writer Deuteronomy say? The secret things belong unto
our God, but that which is revealed unto us and to our children.
Here it is, that which is revealed. We're responsible to live according
to the Word of God and never excuse sin because God is not
the author of sin. We're going to sing a closing
hymn in just a moment. I want to make two announcements
first.