We're studying our confession of faith. Tonight
we're gonna come to this topic of providence
and I want to read a summary statement about
God's providential care for all things in his
church tonight from Ephesians chapter one, verses
11 through 12. So let's turn to Ephesians one.
We'll be there this evening for a little while.
before we enjoy some wonderful food and fellowship.
Ephesians chapter one, beginning in verse 11
through 12, this is Paul's great doxology of
encouragement to the Ephesian church, a church
that really felt very marginalized and alone
in the society in which they lived. And so he
breaks out into this long run -on sentence. of
praise to God and encouragement to God's people
for all that he has done for them. And one of
the things that he wants the Ephesians to know
most of all is how God is working in all their
circumstances. So let's hear that tonight, Ephesians
1 verse 11. In him, that is in Christ, we have
obtained an inheritance. having been predestined
according to the purpose of him who works all
things according to the counsel of his will so
that we who were the first to hope in Christ
might be to the praise of his glory. We're going
to focus our time on that. phrase from verse
11, who works all things according to the counsel
of his will and following tonight. Our confession
speaks of providence this way, touching on themes
there from those verses. In Westminster Confession
of Faith chapter five, section one, it says about
God's providence that God, the creator of all
things, doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern
all creatures, actions, and things from the greatest
even to the least by his most wise and holy providence
according to his infallible foreknowledge and
the free immutable counsel of his own will to
the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power,
justice, goodness, and mercy. Perhaps you've
said something like this before. That's a God
thing. Or that was providential. In fact, I've
used those very words. You may think in terms
of something happening that's rapid and say,
well, somebody was looking out for me upstairs.
Well, we say these things and we tend to believe,
because we tend to believe, I think, that God,
yes, intervenes in history, in current events,
but practically, at other times, we believe that
some things... are left to chance. Yes, God is
at work and he's active, but there are other
things that sort of are left to blind chance
or to luck or to fortune or to fate or whatever
mystical force is out there. So we need to see
this scripture. We need to appropriate the truth
of our confession, which is a summary of what
scripture teaches. And we need to see that God
is totally and sovereignly in control and operationally
at work in all of the details of this world.
It's a mystery. It's hard to understand. It leaves
us with unanswered questions, which we have to
trust that God has the answers to, and sometimes
we don't. But if we're going to understand truly
how majestic and sovereign our God is if we're
going to have spiritual Stability that trusts
God and praises God in every circumstance. We
need to see the depth of what is in the scripture
tonight Because God is actively governing and
preserving everything because he's actively and
actively preserving and governing everything
he is completely worthy of all of our trust and
completely worthy of all of our praise. We see
in the scripture that he works all things. Our
God works all things according to the counsel
of his will. The first thing I want us to see
is that nothing escapes His governing, his disposing,
his direction, his upholding care, he is at work
in all things and he's intimately connected with
every thread of history, every thread of your
life, every thread of Fairview's story down to
the last detail. Charles Spurgeon puts it so
beautifully and eloquently based upon scripture
which we'll study in detail supporting this statement.
But he says this about God's providential care.
Listen to this. So beautiful from Spurgeon. I
believe that every particle of dust that dances
in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or
less than God wishes. That every particle of
spray that dashes against the steamboat has its
orbit as well as the sun in the heavens. that
the chaff from the hand of the winterer is steered
as the stars in their courses. The creeping of
an aphid over the rosebud is as much fixed as
the march of the devastating pestilence. The
fall of the leaves from the poplar is as fully
ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche. Spurgeon
is saying. God is actively at work governing
and ordaining and ordering all things. And that's
what Paul is saying here. And in fact, scripture
shows us that over and over again throughout
the story of God's redemption, we see that He
is actively at work preserving and governing
all His creatures and all their actions. We're
gonna turn to some different passages tonight
so it'll be helpful for you to have your Bible
in front of you and I will read some as well.
But we see that God determines the beginning
from the end. That's one of the big things and
one of the first things I want us to see tonight.
God determines the beginning from the end. Daniel
chapter four. Daniel chapter four verse 35. Keep
one finger in Ephesians here. Daniel chapter
four. This is Nebuchadnezzar's confession here.
All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted
as nothing. And he does, according to his will
among the hosts of heaven, among the inhabitants
of the earth, no one can say, stay his hand or
say to him, what have you done? He does according
to his will. Nebuchadnezzar also confesses elsewhere
that God's purposes can't be thwarted, that he
declares the beginning from the end. He orders
also everyday ordinary events. All of the movements,
all of the actions, everything that happens in
our lives. Look with me at Proverbs chapter 16.
Proverbs chapter 16 verse 9 puts it this way.
I'm having us turn to these places because I
think these are key texts that we need to remember
and key texts that we need to learn where they
are in order to understand the depth of God's
providential care. Look at Proverbs 16 verse
19. Or rather 16 verse nine. 16 verse nine, the
heart of man plants his way, but the Lord establishes
his steps. Acts chapter 17 verse 28 gives a similar
idea where it says that in him we live and move
and have our being. God orders our steps and
in all of mankind, not just his people's lives,
but in all of mankind, Paul speaks that everybody's
life, all of his movements are ordered by, governed
by, and directed by, in some way shaped by God,
who is totally in control. Our God is sovereign
over the free actions of men, even in our sanctification.
As we are called to labor for God, God says He's
also at work. You remember that scripture in
Philippians chapter 12 verse 13, work out your
salvation with fear and trembling for it is God
who is at work within you both to will and to
work according to his good pleasure. Yes, God
is at work even in the very things he's called
us to be responsible to do. God is at work in
the natural world, in the details of the cosmos,
in the details of the lives of ordinary animals.
Psalm 147 verse four. God determines the number
of the stars and he calls them by name Matthew
chapter 10 verse 29 Jesus says are not two sparrows
sold for a penny and not one of them will fall
apart from your father Not one sparrow falls
to the ground apart from God's will not not one
star goes Missing because he calls them all by
name the great things in nature and even God's
smallest creatures are under His sovereign direction,
control, provision, the weather. Job and the
Lord have this great conversation, and God gives
Job this further deepening understanding of His
great sovereign majesty in Job chapter 38, where
He speaks to Job. and says to Job, have you entered
the storehouses of snow, or have you seen the
storehouses of hail, which I have reserved for
the time of trouble, for the day of battle and
war? Yes, our God is in charge of the weather.
You know, they don't know what the weather's
going to be. It seems like the more they predict
it, the less they can actually know. But God
does, because he has the storehouses of snow.
He's in charge of the times and the seasons.
And what comfort it is in this day when we look
out on the news and we see this conflict between
this world leader and that world leader and this
world leader said this thing about that world
leader and these two got in a spat with each
other and there's this constant seeming turmoil
in the western world and with the eastern world
now. What comfort it is to know that the Lord
of the universe is in charge of even the rulers
of this world. He says, in Daniel chapter two
verse 21, that he removes kings and sets up kings.
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to
those who have understanding. Even the very decisions
that are being made right now in Washington DC
or Beijing or London or Moscow or Kiev or wherever
are not happening apart from God's sovereign.
Design, the King's heart, Proverbs 21, is a stream
of water in the hands of the Lord. He turns it
wherever He will. Yes, God is in charge over
the great ones and the little ones, even over
calamity. And I think this is the hardest thing
for us, isn't it? When we think about disaster,
when we think about pain, when we think about
evil, it is so hard sometimes for us because
we continue to ask why. Sometimes the Lord just
simply says it is so. Trust me. Amos 3 verse
6, the trumpet is blown in a city and the people
are not afraid. Does disaster come to a city
unless the Lord has done it? Yes, God is in charge
of the hurricanes, the earthquakes, the natural
calamities. And as hard as it is and as incomplete
as our knowledge is of evil, God is even at work
ordering evil for the good of His people. overruling
it, using it, directing it, disposing of evil
forces for his glory and our good. Study the
life of Joseph. Oh, study the life of Joseph
the next time it seems like you are in a mess
or in a pit that you'll never get out of. For
he was in a pit, and then he was in another pit,
and he was forgotten. Abandoned, given up for
dead. So many things happened to him and his
brothers knew that he had been wronged by them.
They had wronged him so much and they were afraid
towards the end of Joseph's story that he might
do something to them for all the wrong that they
had done to him. And how does he summarize it?
Well, Joseph knows that God was at work. God
was at work even in the evil that they intended
towards him. God meant it. Genesis 50. Verse
20, God meant it for good. Not even the demons
escape God's sovereign control. Not even Satan
is outside of his perfect plan. You remember
when Satan came to Job or Satan came to the Lord
seeking to afflict Job. Throughout that story,
Satan is not allowed to go any further than God
wills for God's purpose in Job's life. Even God
sends these evil spirits into the prophets in
1 Kings chapter 20 verse 22 through 23. I don't
know how to explain all of that other than the
scripture says it. You can look that passage
up, but you have to see and you have to know
that God was working out good ends through his
glorious and perfect means, yet without sin,
because God cannot sin, God cannot lie, God can't
tempt anyone. Still, he was sovereignly in charge
of the evil spirits using even their intentions.
for his glorious ends. I think understanding
God's providence in evil is best understood and
best accepted, maybe not understood, but accepted
when we look at the greatest evil ever perpetrated.
And I want us to look at that together. So let's
turn together to Acts chapter four, verse 27
and 28. We're covering a lot of ground tonight,
so we're flying at the speed of an SR -71 at
about 60 ,000 feet, if you're a military type,
but this is good for us because we are getting
a bird's eye view of how God providentially is
at work in all things. Acts chapter four, verse
27 through 28. This is the apostles, they're
summarizing what happened when Jesus was crucified.
What was actually going on? Where was God? What
was man's responsibility? How do we make sense?
How did the apostles help the Jews to make sense
of what happened there? Well, listen to what
they say here. For truly, in this city, there
were gathered. together against your holy servant
Jesus whom you anointed both Herod and Pontius
Pilate along with the Gentiles and the peoples
of Israel to do whatever your hand had predestined
to take place and so in that summary statement
even the very wicked actions of Pontius Pilate
and here let's not think for a moment that Herod
and Pontius Pilate were acting righteously. No,
theirs was the height of wickedness because they
put to death the least deserving of death. They
put to death the innocent Lord of glory. This
is the worst crime ever committed. This is the
greatest injustice ever done and God is the one
who predestined it. God is absolutely in charge
even over the worst of evil sometimes that doesn't
satisfy our intellectual curiosity yet the Bible
states it and so we must rejoice in it that God
is in charge in all things he works all things
after the counsel of his will he's at work in
all things and he's working them for our good
and he's working them after the counsel of his
will It's good to know that our God is not capricious.
It's good to know that our God takes counsel
in himself and that he has a will that will be
accomplished. His thoughts are not our thoughts.
He is most holy, wise, and pure. He cannot lie.
He cannot sin. He does not change his mind. Isn't
it good to know that your Lord doesn't change
his mind? He has a preconceived plan that he
works out. Yes, man is responsible for his sin.
Those things are held in tension in scripture,
but God is governing this world totally and completely
in a way that is suitable and doesn't require
any outside influence because it's according
to the counsel of his will. His will that's perfect,
powerful, loving. holy and governs all His creatures
and all their actions. He calls us to pray, He
calls us to plead with Him, but He doesn't need
our advice. He doesn't need our advice, no. He's
going to carry out His plan perfectly from the
sparrow that falls from the tree out there to
the steps you take tomorrow morning. And may
it encourage you, may it encourage you to know
that as He is working all things after the counsel
of His will, He is making all things beautiful
in His time. Remember this grand story of redemption,
that in the beginning there was a garden and
there was man, and there was perfect communion
with God, and then man fell into sin and everything
went bad. And the rest of the story is how God,
through a Redeemer, would put all things to right
and bring His people into a renewed creation,
into a garden city where things would be perfect
without the possibility of falling or sinning
again. That is the great goal for which God orders
all things. He is not capricious. He is not whimsical.
He has a purpose and a plan to make all things
beautiful in His time and in your life as well,
because you're part of that plan. His plans are
for good. to prosper his people, to give them
a hope and a future. Well, what does that future
look like? Well, you see a little bit of that
picture in verse 12. He is working all things.
Let's look at verse 12. Back in, we've been on
a little bit of a journey through the scriptures.
Let's go back to Ephesians chapter one, verse
12. Ephesians 1, 12. Who works all things according
to the counsel of his will, verse 12, so that
we who were the first to hope in Christ, might
be to the praise of His glory. Ah, there's the
goal with which He is ordering all things for
the life of the Ephesians. There's the goal for
which He is ordering all things in your life
and in my life. For those who were the first
to hope in Christ. See how He is working for
our greatest good. He's provided a certainty
of hope and secured that hope for you in Christ
with His own blood so that now, Paul would say
of you, you are seated in the heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. You may be seated in these pews,
but your life is also anchored in the throne
room of the King. You've been predestined. You've
been chosen before the foundation of the world
your salvation story from the beginning to the
end is decreed by God and all of the details
That will get you from grace to glory all of
those details. He's working out Right here right
now because he's the one who orders your steps
and in him you live and move and have your being
Do not think tonight that you exist apart from
His sovereign, loving, tender care. For we who
are the first to hope in Christ might be, and
here is the great goal to the praise of His glory.
You see why He's doing what He is doing so that
you would be an object of His glory. What higher
standing, what greater delight could you have
than to be an object of the King's glory? to
give Him glory. What higher privilege could it
be than to be a child of God called to hope in
Him and called to praise Him forever? What a
glorious thing it is to be a Christian. You exist
as the apple of His eye, to be a star in His
crown, to be a treasure to the praise of His
glory. And that's why He's working all things,
to bring you home, to be there with Him, to glory
in Him, to enjoy Him forever and evermore. Think
of that greatest glory you've enjoyed on earth,
whether it was your honeymoon, or the day you
graduated from something, or the time you got
that car, or that promotion, or whatever that
greatest joy is, it doesn't even compare, it
doesn't begin to compare to the endless joy and
delight that we were made for as we glory in
Him and He delights in us. That's the end for
which God is working all things according to
the counsel of His will so that you and I would
exist and be forever to the praise of His glory.
And so that's what God is doing in your life
right now. I don't know specifically what He's
doing in your stories and those things are part
of His secret counsel, Ecclesiastes chapter seven.
says that man doesn't know what is to be, but
there's still nothing left to chance. And though
we do not know exactly what is next, we know,
no matter what, what God is doing in what is
next. He is working out His glorious purpose
for your salvation so that you would be a treasure
to the praise of His glory. And so what is that?
do for us. Where does that leave us tonight?
Tonight is I leave you, but tonight is the Lord
doesn't leave you. It leaves us in a place where
we once again can trust Him. If He really is
working for this great and glorious end of our
salvation, of our glory and joy and Him forever,
then we really can trust Him all the way. We
can't know the future, but we know that God is
still at work bringing all things together for
our salvation. So rejoice in that. We know that
he has the best in store for us. Rejoice in that.
He's destined us for holiness. Let's rejoice
in that. His word and his mighty acts prove his
utter reliability so we can trust him for our
tomorrows because God has been our shepherd.
Hasn't He been your shepherd all your life long?
All the way? Hasn't your Savior led you? And
because He's been faithful all the way to you
and because He's been faithful to give you His
greatest gift, His only Son, can't you trust
that He will give you every other little thing
that you need on Monday morning? Calls us to
trust. And it calls us simply to praise him for
his glorious grace. John Flavel says, Providence
is like a curious piece of tap, I want you to
listen to this, because this is a beautiful quote.
Providence is like a curious piece of tapestry
made of a thousand shreds, which single appear
useless, but put together they represent a beautiful
history to the eye. We don't know. Looking at
all the threads of our life, how things fit together.
But once God has done his handiwork, there is
something beautiful to the praise of his glory.
So painful at times and sometimes it's so hard
to praise him in the midst of the sorrows and
the tragedies. But he is the God of our triumphs
and our joys as well as our tragedies and our
sorrows. And not one person, not one power, not
one event is left outside of his control, his
care, his disposition and direction. His providence
sustains and guides our every breath. He's working
in us to make us like his son and to bring us
home to be with him. That's something to sing
about. That's something to rejoice in. So let's
praise God. Because He gives you Himself and
right now, right now where you are, He is working
everything to accomplish His greatest good in
your life. Let's pray.