Providence: The Hand of God Over Everything - Charles Leiter
-
0:01 - 0:11I've asked brother Kevin Woodell, from San Antonio,
to read our scripture this evening. (P) -
0:11 - 0:17Kevin: Well, we're going to read from Psalm 145.
-
0:17 - 0:23"I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever. -
0:23 - 0:30Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.
-
0:30 - 0:38Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
and His greatness is unsearchable. -
0:38 - 0:43One generation shall commend your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts. -
0:43 - 0:49On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. -
0:49 - 0:55They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
and I will declare your greatness. -
0:55 - 0:59They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
-
0:59 - 1:01and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. (P)
-
1:01 - 1:07"The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger
and abounding in steadfast love. -
1:07 - 1:15The LORD is good to all, and His mercy is over all that He has made.
-
1:15 - 1:21All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
and all your saints shall bless you. -
1:21 - 1:26They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power,
-
1:26 - 1:29to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,
-
1:29 - 1:31and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
-
1:31 - 1:35Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
-
1:35 - 1:40and your dominion endures throughout all generations. (P)
-
1:40 - 1:44"The LORD is faithful in all His words and kind in all His works.
-
1:44 - 1:50The LORD upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down. -
1:50 - 1:55The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season. -
1:55 - 2:01You open your hand and you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
-
2:01 - 2:07The LORD is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His works.
-
2:07 - 2:14The LORD is near to all who call on Him,
to all who call on Him in truth. -
2:14 - 2:17He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him;
-
2:17 - 2:21He also hears their cry and saves them.
-
2:21 - 2:30The LORD preserves all who love Him,
but all the wicked He will destroy. -
2:30 - 2:34My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,
-
2:34 - 2:42and let all flesh bless His holy name forever and ever. Amen." (P)
-
2:49 - 2:51Charles: Amen. Thank you, brother.
-
2:51 - 2:58We're grateful for every single one of you that's here tonight.
-
2:58 - 3:05And I know, having prayed with the men who have spoken before this,
-
3:05 - 3:09that the burden on our hearts has been in part
-
3:09 - 3:13that God would have something for each one of you,
-
3:13 - 3:18and that we would know what to speak on,
and that He'd give us His help. -
3:18 - 3:21And that's what we ask this evening.
-
3:21 - 3:27Let's pray once again before we look into the Word. (P)
-
3:29 - 3:33Our Father, we pray that You would take us outside of ourselves
-
3:33 - 3:40and give us a glimpse of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and give us a glimpse of Your glory. -
3:40 - 3:45Give us a glimpse of the truth that we're looking at this evening.
-
3:45 - 3:50And we ask that You would do this for Your name's sake and Your glory.
-
3:50 - 3:53Amen. (P)
-
3:54 - 4:00Lordwilling, I'll be speaking to you tonight
on the subject of Providence. -
4:00 - 4:04And I know that some of you are here from churches
-
4:04 - 4:10where you might have heard, at least,
part of what I'll be saying tonight, in years past. -
4:10 - 4:15And if that's the case, I want you to be assured
-
4:15 - 4:19that God, in His providence, wants you to hear this again
-
4:19 - 4:23(any part of it that you hear that might sound familiar to you.)
-
4:23 - 4:26So listen carefully. (P)
-
4:26 - 4:30The Providence of God. What is providence?
-
4:30 - 4:37If we pronounce the word a little bit differently,
we see right off part of what it means. -
4:37 - 4:41Let's just pronounce it like this: 'provide-ence'.
-
4:41 - 4:45That's really what the word is. It's provide-ence.
-
4:45 - 4:47And the word 'provide' comes from two Latin words:
-
4:47 - 4:54'pro' - which means 'before', and 'videre' - which means 'to see'.
-
4:54 - 4:58So you say, "Well, it means to see before," and that's sort of right.
-
4:58 - 5:04But it means to look out for. To look out for ahead of time.
-
5:04 - 5:13And the Greek word that's used for providence
is 'prónoia' - which means 'to think before'. -
5:13 - 5:21And if you boil that down, it is 'to take thought beforehand.'
-
5:21 - 5:23So the providence of God has to do with the fact
-
5:23 - 5:27that God is looking out for everything,
-
5:27 - 5:31and taking thought for everything ahead of time. (P)
-
5:31 - 5:34You get into a hard situation,
-
5:34 - 5:40and God says, "Well, I've already thought of that,
and I've made provision for it." -
5:40 - 5:42Provision - there's another word.
-
5:42 - 5:45You see, vision has to do with seeing, doesn't it?
-
5:45 - 5:48And we're so used to these words.
-
5:48 - 5:53Provision means God saw it ahead of time, and provided.
-
5:53 - 5:58And so, God not only created all things in the past,
-
5:58 - 6:06but He also actively and constantly cares for all things in the present.
-
6:06 - 6:12He upholds all things, and preserves all things, and directs all things,
-
6:12 - 6:18in order that He might ultimately provide for all things. (P)
-
6:18 - 6:25Beloved, according to the Bible, God is not a far-away God.
-
6:25 - 6:30In fact, the Bible says that "not one sparrow can fall to the ground
-
6:30 - 6:35apart from your heavenly Father".
-
6:35 - 6:40And that is, He has to be right there with that sparrow,
-
6:40 - 6:41before it can fall to the ground.
-
6:41 - 6:47And not only is He present with us and present with His creation,
-
6:47 - 6:51but the Bible actually says that "we are present in Him".
-
6:51 - 6:59Paul says in Acts 17:28, and we read through this
without thinking about it much: -
6:59 - 7:02"For in Him we live, and move."
-
7:02 - 7:07Do you realize that today you've been living and moving in God?
-
7:07 - 7:12"In Him we live, and move, and have our being."
-
7:12 - 7:17So that's how close He is. (P)
-
7:17 - 7:22Colossians 1:16 says that, "By Him (that is, God the Son)
-
7:22 - 7:25all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth,
-
7:25 - 7:29visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities –
-
7:29 - 7:34all things have been created by Him and for Him.
-
7:34 - 7:41And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."
-
7:41 - 7:46So, in Christ everything holds together.
-
7:46 - 7:49And then again in Hebrews 1:3, it says that
-
7:49 - 7:55"Christ is the radiance of God's glory
and the exact representation of His nature, -
7:55 - 7:59and upholds all things by the word of His power."
-
7:59 - 8:05So the world cannot hang together on its own;
it has to be upheld moment by moment. -
8:05 - 8:10Creation was never such that it's independent of God.
-
8:10 - 8:19God created, and then He upholds moment by moment,
by the word of His power. (P) -
8:19 - 8:22We talk about the laws of nature,
-
8:22 - 8:29and we tend to think of nature as sort of running on its own,
-
8:29 - 8:31with God off in the distance.
-
8:31 - 8:33But that is not the way it is.
-
8:33 - 8:36The Bible says that the winds, the rains,
-
8:36 - 8:41the grass growing in the field, the animals getting their food,
-
8:41 - 8:46all of those things, God is actively present and involved.
-
8:46 - 8:51And I just want to read some verses to you;
I won't have you look them up -
8:51 - 8:56I may mention the chapter references; but I want to read these to you
-
8:56 - 9:03This is from Job 36:27, it says, "He draws up the drops of water;
-
9:03 - 9:08they distill rain from the mist, which the clouds pour down;
-
9:08 - 9:11they drip upon man abundantly."
-
9:11 - 9:15So God is drawing up those drops of water for the rain.
-
9:15 - 9:20"Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds,
the thundering of His pavilion? -
9:20 - 9:27Behold, He spreads His lightning about Him,
and He covers the depths of the sea. -
9:27 - 9:32For by these He judges peoples; He gives food in abundance.
-
9:32 - 9:40He covers His hands with the lightning,
and commands it to strike the mark." (P) -
9:40 - 9:47There's a website now, where you can watch in real-time, lightning strikes.
-
9:47 - 9:52So you can see a storm in Missouri somewhere,
-
9:52 - 9:54and you can look at that storm and you can see the lights:
-
9:54 - 10:00it'll snap and make a little X, and there's lightning all over the place.
-
10:00 - 10:03In every one of those, God covers His hands with the lightning,
-
10:03 - 10:07and commands it to strike the mark.
-
10:07 - 10:13You see how different that is,
than the idea that Nature is doing things on its own? -
10:13 - 10:16There isn't any such thing. (P)
-
10:18 - 10:21"He commands it to strike the mark.
-
10:21 - 10:26Its noise (that is, thunder) declares His presence."
-
10:26 - 10:31So when it's thundering, God is present.
-
10:31 - 10:39Job 37: 5-13, "God thunders with His voice wondrously,
doing great things which we cannot comprehend." -
10:39 - 10:43God thunders with His voice.
-
10:43 - 10:52"To the snow He says, 'Fall on the earth,'
and to the downpour and the rain, 'Be strong.' -
10:52 - 10:56He seals the hand of every man, that all men may know His work.
-
10:56 - 11:00Then the beast goes into its lair and remains in its den.
-
11:00 - 11:04Out of the south comes the storm, and out of the north the cold.
-
11:04 - 11:12From the breath of God ice is made,
and the expanse of the waters is frozen. -
11:12 - 11:20Also with moisture He loads the thick cloud;
He disperses the cloud of His lightning. -
11:20 - 11:24It changes direction (now here's the clouds), it changes direction,
-
11:24 - 11:28turning around by His guidance,
-
11:28 - 11:32that it may do whatever He commands it on the face of the inhabited earth.
-
11:32 - 11:40Whether for correction, or for His world,
or for lovingkindness, He causes it to happen." (P) -
11:40 - 11:44Psalm 104, "He sends forth springs in the valleys."
-
11:44 - 11:51That's why if you see a spring coming up in the valley, God sent that for us.
-
11:51 - 11:56"He waters the mountains from His upper chambers.
-
11:56 - 12:02He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,
and vegetation for the labor of man. -
12:02 - 12:08The trees of the LORD drink their fill,
the cedars of Lebanon which He planted." -
12:08 - 12:11So those cedars, He planted them.
-
12:11 - 12:17So God planted them, and then He waters them. (P)
-
12:21 - 12:26Psalm 104 again, a little bit later, "O LORD, how many are Your works!
-
12:26 - 12:32In wisdom You have made them all;
the earth is full of Your possessions." -
12:32 - 12:35He talks about the various animals - great and small.
-
12:35 - 12:39He says, "They all wait for You to give them their food in due season.
-
12:39 - 12:42You give to them, they gather it up;
-
12:42 - 12:45You open Your hand and they are satisfied with good.
-
12:45 - 12:48You hide Your face, they are dismayed;
-
12:48 - 12:54You take away their spirit, they expire and return to their dust.
-
12:54 - 12:58You send forth Your Spirit, they are created;
and You renew the face of the ground." -
12:58 - 13:00And then the Lord Jesus mentions this, doesn't He?
-
13:00 - 13:04Matthew 6:26, "Look at the birds of the air:
-
13:04 - 13:09they do not sow, neither do they reap nor gather into barns,
-
13:09 - 13:14and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
-
13:14 - 13:18Are you not worth much more than they?" (P)
-
13:18 - 13:24So God is actively providing for even the plant and animal kingdoms,
-
13:24 - 13:30and in order to do that, He must order
and govern all the elements of nature, -
13:30 - 13:36right down to commanding the lightning
where it's gonna strike, to strike the mark. -
13:36 - 13:42But He does infinitely more than just provide
for plants and animals, doesn't He? -
13:42 - 13:49He not only has to look out for, and take thought beforehand, for plants and animals,
-
13:49 - 13:54He has to take thought beforehand for everything -
-
13:54 - 14:05for every possibility, and every contingency,
for all events, for all time and eternity. -
14:05 - 14:09Isn't that something? (P)
-
14:09 - 14:15Ephesians 1:11 tells us that "He works all things after the counsel of His own will."
-
14:15 - 14:19God has a counsel. He has a plan.
-
14:19 - 14:22He has a purpose in history, and He's working everything,
-
14:22 - 14:26right down to the smallest so-called "chance events",
-
14:26 - 14:29as part of the fulfilling of that plan.
-
14:29 - 14:38One of the things that makes God God,
is that He alone declares the end from the beginning. -
14:38 - 14:42Isaiah 46, He says, "Remember the former things long past,
-
14:42 - 14:45for I am God, and there is no other;
-
14:45 - 14:51I am God, and there is no one like Me,
declaring the end from the beginning, -
14:51 - 14:55and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying,
-
14:55 - 15:06'My purpose will be established,
and I will accomplish all My good pleasure'; -
15:06 - 15:08Calling a bird of prey from the east."
-
15:08 - 15:12(Now if you read in Isaiah, this had to do with the heathen king,
-
15:12 - 15:16and God was calling him to fulfill His purposes.)
-
15:16 - 15:21"Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass.
-
15:21 - 15:26I have planned it, surely I will do it."
-
15:26 - 15:29Beloved, God has a plan and a purpose;
-
15:29 - 15:37and every single thing that He has ever purposed,
He certainly will bring to pass. (P) -
15:37 - 15:40We ought not to use the language, you know,
"God is trying to do this or that." -
15:40 - 15:45He never tries to do anything.
-
15:45 - 15:47Every single thing that He has purposed -
-
15:47 - 15:52it doesn't matter if all the nations of the world rage against Him.
-
15:52 - 15:57Daniel 2:21, "It is He who changes the times and the epochs;
-
15:57 - 16:01He removes kings and establishes kings."
-
16:01 - 16:08Acts 17:26, "He made every nation of mankind
to live on all the face of the earth, -
16:08 - 16:14having determined their appointed times
and the boundaries of their habitation." -
16:14 - 16:20So somebody like Alexander the Great, God already
determined how far exactly he would conquer, -
16:20 - 16:24and how long his kingdom would last.
-
16:24 - 16:30He raises up kings, He puts down kings;
He changes the times and the epochs. (P) -
16:30 - 16:35Psalm 33:10, "The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations;
-
16:35 - 16:39He frustrates the plans of the peoples.
-
16:39 - 16:47The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
the plans of His heart from generation to generation." -
16:47 - 16:48Isn't that a blessed thought?
-
16:48 - 16:53God has plans in His heart and they never change.
-
16:53 - 16:57They never change from generation to generation.
-
16:57 - 17:01He has plans. He has counsel. (P)
-
17:01 - 17:04So, what is God's providence?
-
17:04 - 17:06The Westminster Shorter Catechism says this:
-
17:06 - 17:12"God's works of providence are His most holy, wise, and powerful
-
17:12 - 17:20preserving and governing all His creatures and all their actions."
-
17:20 - 17:26Loraine Boettner said this: "God is no mere spectator
of the universe He has made, -
17:26 - 17:29but is everywhere present and active,
-
17:29 - 17:34the all sustaining ground, and all governing power of all that is.
-
17:34 - 17:39Every raindrop and every snowflake which falls from the cloud,
-
17:39 - 17:43every insect which moves, every plant which grows,
-
17:43 - 17:47every grain of dust which floats in the air,
-
17:47 - 17:52has had certain definite causes and will have certain definite effects.
-
17:52 - 17:55Each is a link in the chain of events,
-
17:55 - 18:03and many of the great events of history have turned
on these apparently insignificant things.“ (P) -
18:03 - 18:07I don't know how many of you learned this poem;
-
18:07 - 18:10when I was in grade school we were exposed to it,
-
18:10 - 18:14and I was always fascinated by it
long before I became a Christian. -
18:14 - 18:19But it goes like this: "For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
-
18:19 - 18:24For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
-
18:24 - 18:26For want of a horse the rider was lost.
-
18:26 - 18:30For want of a rider the message was lost.
-
18:30 - 18:33For want of a message the battle was lost.
-
18:33 - 18:38For want of a battle the war was lost.
-
18:38 - 18:41For want of a war the kingdom was lost."
-
18:41 - 18:47And it goes back to that nail that was missing in that horse's shoe.
-
18:47 - 18:49And that's where you'll say, "Well, that couldn't happen."
-
18:49 - 18:58Beloved, all of history hangs on multitudes of things just like that.
-
18:58 - 19:00All of history. (P)
-
19:00 - 19:04George Washington, in the French and Indian War,
-
19:04 - 19:10he told about what it was like to have bullets whizzing by his head.
-
19:10 - 19:15He could hear the sound, you know; he said it was quite a thing.
-
19:15 - 19:25Think if the bullet had dropped five inches,
how different would American history be? (P) -
19:27 - 19:36In 1588, the so-called invincible Spanish Armada went against England.
-
19:36 - 19:40Catholic Spain against Protestant England.
-
19:40 - 19:42And the storms came in.
-
19:42 - 19:46Part of the reason [for their defeat] was the storms that came in,
-
19:46 - 19:49that scattered those ships all along the coasts of Ireland and Scotland.
-
19:49 - 19:54There were many homes that were built out of the wrecks of those ships.
-
19:54 - 19:58And Phillip II said, "I can't fight against God."
-
19:58 - 20:00And he was right about that.
-
20:00 - 20:07Think of how different it would have been
if England had became Catholic in 1588. -
20:07 - 20:14A lot of those missionary biographies over there
would not be on the book table. -
20:14 - 20:19And that related to storms. (P)
-
20:20 - 20:23Napoleon, in one of his campaigns,
-
20:23 - 20:32he said, "I was defeated by General Mud and General Snow." (P)
-
20:34 - 20:43In the Great Chicago Fire in 1871,
a hundred thousand people lost their homes. -
20:43 - 20:47And they traced it back to the O'Leary shed.
-
20:47 - 20:49And nobody knows for sure what it is,
-
20:49 - 20:54the story is that Mrs O'Leary's cow kicked over the lantern.
-
20:54 - 20:57But they don't know, they haven't verified that.
-
20:57 - 21:03Someone said they thought maybe it was a spark from a nearby chimney.
-
21:03 - 21:05That's comforting, isn't it?
-
21:05 - 21:10"It wasn't her cow, it was just a spark, a little spark."
-
21:10 - 21:13Another fellow had the theory that somebody set the fire.
-
21:13 - 21:15That's really comforting, too.
-
21:15 - 21:20A hundred thousand people lose their home
because some character set a fire. -
21:20 - 21:28These are the tiniest little events. Think of all the lives.
-
21:28 - 21:31Think of a hundred thousand people losing their homes.
-
21:31 - 21:34Think of the people that went out, and went here and went there;
-
21:34 - 21:39and the guy that got a Bible off somewhere,
-
21:39 - 21:43that wouldn't have gotten that Bible if it hadn't been for that fire;
-
21:43 - 21:45and the people that were converted,
-
21:45 - 21:51and the children that were born, and all the events. (P)
-
21:53 - 21:55One of the old Puritans said it like this:
-
21:55 - 22:05"Behold, how great a weight of history
hangs on such a slender thread of providence." -
22:05 - 22:08How great a weight of history.
-
22:08 - 22:09And you can see that in your own life.
-
22:09 - 22:16I remember in Kirksville, a girl was trying to swat a fly in her car,
-
22:16 - 22:20and fliplost control and killed her.
-
22:20 - 22:25You see, if God doesn't control a fly flying around,
-
22:25 - 22:28you would have no guarantee of your life at all.
-
22:28 - 22:30I remember one time, years ago,
-
22:30 - 22:35we were heading out for some time away
for our anniversary, and I ran a red light. -
22:35 - 22:37It could very easily have been the end of me.
-
22:37 - 22:43I saw a guy killed on that highway right there, south of our town,
-
22:43 - 22:45blood all over the highway.
-
22:45 - 22:47That could easily have been me.
-
22:47 - 22:52Just one little event. (P)
-
22:54 - 22:58God has to control everything.
-
22:58 - 23:06He must control everything in order to declare the end from the beginning.
-
23:06 - 23:12I was thinking as we drove down here,
every car on the highway, you know, -
23:12 - 23:15if there was an accident that happened five miles down the road,
-
23:15 - 23:18there's this tree branching out of changed events of history;
-
23:18 - 23:23and on that tree are more trees, and it goes infinite.
-
23:23 - 23:29Every little thing right here tonight,
every little thing that takes place, -
23:29 - 23:34has an infinite string of trees branching off.
-
23:34 - 23:37Isn't that something? (P)
-
23:39 - 23:43Think of this: God says that the names of the elect
-
23:43 - 23:46were written in the Lamb's book of life from the foundation of the world.
-
23:46 - 23:52Do you realize - no, you don't realize - how many events had to take place
-
23:52 - 24:00in the last thousand years for your parents to get married and you to be born?
-
24:00 - 24:04I mean, you would not have even existed!
-
24:04 - 24:12And God has every name in the book of life
from the foundation of the world. -
24:12 - 24:19He declares the end from the beginning.
-
24:21 - 24:23What a thing this is. (P)
-
24:23 - 24:32"The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD" (Prov. 16:33).
-
24:32 - 24:38David is hiding in a cave, Saul just happens to come in there right at that time,
-
24:38 - 24:40right in the cave where he was hiding.
-
24:40 - 24:43And David said, "The Lord gave you into my hand."
-
24:43 - 24:50He knew it wasn't chance, and he didn't kill Saul. (P)
-
24:50 - 24:53Well, so much for what we mean by providence.
-
24:53 - 24:55What are some applications?
-
24:55 - 25:00How should this truth of the providence of God affect our lives?
-
25:00 - 25:08First of all, this ought to fill all of us with great humility.
-
25:08 - 25:09Great humility.
-
25:09 - 25:14Everything we have, everything we are,
everything we have accomplished - -
25:14 - 25:19even the fact that you're alive here tonight, sitting here tonight -
-
25:19 - 25:27is hanging from the slenderest thread of God's merciful providence. (P)
-
25:27 - 25:32You have a strong body? So did Christopher Reeves (Superman),
-
25:32 - 25:36until he got thrown from a horse and became a quadriplegic,
-
25:36 - 25:42who had to be on a breathing apparatus for the rest of his life.
-
25:42 - 25:44You have good eyes? So did Fanny Crosby,
-
25:44 - 25:52till the doctor put the wrong thing in her eyes
when she was a little girl, and made her go blind. -
25:52 - 25:55Are you athletic? So was Joni Eareckson,
-
25:55 - 26:02till she jumped into that water that was too shallow and broke her neck. (P)
-
26:02 - 26:07Mona and I were in a coma unit a number of years ago,
-
26:07 - 26:10and there was a fellow in there, maybe in his 40s.
-
26:10 - 26:11We said, What happened to him?
-
26:11 - 26:16Well, the wife and husband were out, riding their bikes;
-
26:16 - 26:20and they got tangled up somehow and fell down.
-
26:20 - 26:22They weren't going fast.
-
26:22 - 26:26They were just out for a little bike ride, fell down,
and he hit his head on the pavement; -
26:26 - 26:30and he'd been in a coma ever since.
-
26:30 - 26:33One little chance accident. (P)
-
26:33 - 26:36You have financial prosperity?
-
26:36 - 26:41There are so many people in human history
that thought they had it made, -
26:41 - 26:46they lost everything just like that.
-
26:46 - 26:50And you could, too.
-
26:50 - 26:57Paul says in 1st Corinthians 4:7,
"What do you have that you have not received?" -
26:57 - 26:59And we might well add to that:
-
26:59 - 27:04"And what have you received
that God hasn't sustained moment by moment, -
27:04 - 27:07or you would have lost it by now?" (P)
-
27:07 - 27:15So I want to say to you, beloved,
what are you tempted to be proud of tonight? -
27:15 - 27:17You girls, are you tempted to be proud of your beauty?
-
27:17 - 27:24Do you realize you could lose that in a second?
-
27:24 - 27:27Are you proud of how smart you are?
-
27:27 - 27:34One little thing and it can be gone,
and you can't even put sentences together. -
27:34 - 27:42Beloved, we are being upheld
by this slender thread of providence all the time. -
27:42 - 27:43Everything.
-
27:43 - 27:47Everything you have, everything you are!
-
27:47 - 27:48Everything that you've accomplished,
-
27:48 - 27:52it's been accomplished through grace, grace, grace, all along the way;
-
27:52 - 28:00and individual little things that have kept you alive to get you here tonight.
-
28:00 - 28:06If you're not a Christian, don't go out of here without crying out to God.
-
28:06 - 28:13If you are a Christian, God have mercy on you
if you've got pride welling up in you. -
28:13 - 28:24Moment by moment, sustained by
unspeakable slender thread of providence. (P) -
28:24 - 28:28What else does the doctrine of providence teach us?
-
28:28 - 28:32It ought to fill us with great comfort.
-
28:32 - 28:34Providence ought to fill us with great comfort.
-
28:34 - 28:43Now I say that in spite of the fact that providence
can sometimes seem very heartless and cruel. -
28:43 - 28:44As one brother put it,
-
28:44 - 28:49"Providence will knock you down and kick you in the ribs."
-
28:49 - 28:53And sometimes it'll kick you so hard you think you're going to die.
-
28:53 - 28:57You think it's gonna kill you. (P)
-
28:57 - 29:00There was a Baptist pastor, Scott Willis,
-
29:00 - 29:07in 1994 he drove over a piece of metal,
out on the interstate by Milwaukee. -
29:07 - 29:12And that piece of metal flipped up and hit his gas tank,
and the car exploded. -
29:12 - 29:15He had six children in the back.
-
29:15 - 29:19Five of them were dead right then, burning up in that inferno.
-
29:19 - 29:23One of them made it out, long enough to say a few words to his dad,
-
29:23 - 29:27and died the next day. All six of them, gone.
-
29:27 - 29:33What? Because of a chance piece of metal.
-
29:33 - 29:37You see what I mean about providence knocking you down?
-
29:37 - 29:41And beloved, church history is full of events like that.
-
29:41 - 29:49You look at some of the stories of hymn writers, it's unbelievable.
-
29:49 - 29:53Seemingly pointless and cruel providences. (P)
-
29:53 - 29:56A young husband is killed in a moment,
-
29:56 - 29:59leaves behind a grieving wife and a bunch of little children.
-
29:59 - 30:03That happens repeatedly.
-
30:03 - 30:07I know of a young preacher back when I was young,
-
30:07 - 30:09and I heard him preach one time,
-
30:09 - 30:13and I thought, "Men, this guy is such a powerful preacher.
-
30:13 - 30:16What is he going to be as he goes on in life?"
-
30:16 - 30:20Next thing I heard, he had been killed in a coupling accident
-
30:20 - 30:23between two box cars on the rail road.
-
30:23 - 30:26He left everything. (P)
-
30:33 - 30:37Ecclesiastes 9: 11-12 says this,
-
30:37 - 30:43"I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift."
-
30:43 - 30:49Here's a swift guy, you say, "He'll win." No, you don't know that.
-
30:49 - 30:51"The battle is not to the warriors,
-
30:51 - 30:58and neither is bread to the wise nor wealth to the discerning,
-
30:58 - 31:07nor favor to men of ability; for time and chance overtake them all.
-
31:07 - 31:10Moreover, man does not know his time:
-
31:10 - 31:14like fish caught in a treacherous net and birds trapped in a snare,
-
31:14 - 31:20so the sons of men are ensnared at an evil time
when it suddenly falls on them." -
31:20 - 31:25Well, that's pretty cynical, but it's often the way it seems.
-
31:25 - 31:28And a lot of these things in Ecclesiastes, you remember,
-
31:28 - 31:33are things described as things that were seen under the sun.
-
31:33 - 31:36And if you're looking at things from that perspective,
-
31:36 - 31:39that's what you're going to see.
-
31:39 - 31:42Things that don't seem to make sense. (P)
-
31:42 - 31:44I remember stories from my childhood.
-
31:44 - 31:51My dad worked for the railroad, he was a welder.
-
31:51 - 31:52And he told me a story one time.
-
31:52 - 31:58There was a heavy load lifted on a crane, being suspended up in the air.
-
31:58 - 32:00And the men were working there.
-
32:00 - 32:04I don't know how long it had been up there,
but it had been up there a while. -
32:04 - 32:13And one of the men was walking somewhere to get to another job site,
-
32:13 - 32:15and right at that instant the chain broke,
-
32:15 - 32:20and that thing fell and came down right on him, right as he was under it.
-
32:20 - 32:25Time and chance overtake them. (P)
-
32:28 - 32:32My grandfather told me a story, this is one I never forgot too.
-
32:32 - 32:39There was a thunderstorm; and one of the brothers, as I recall,
-
32:39 - 32:43was right there where my grandfather lived,
on the other side of the creek down there. -
32:43 - 32:50One of the brothers in the family was on his horse,
trying to get back into the house; -
32:50 - 32:53a lightning bolt hit him right in the yard on his way into the house.
-
32:53 - 32:56Dead, just like that.
-
32:56 - 33:00His other brother got on his horse and tried to ride across the creek
-
33:00 - 33:03to get over to tell the folks on this side;
-
33:03 - 33:05and he jumps off his horse, he's running towards the house:
-
33:05 - 33:13bam! another lightning bolt hits him and he's dead. Two brothers.
-
33:13 - 33:21You see what I mean about providence kicking you hard,
I mean, taking your breath away? -
33:21 - 33:26"Like birds trapped in a snare and fish caught in a treacherous net,
-
33:26 - 33:30so the sons of men are ensnared at an evil time
when it suddenly falls on them." -
33:30 - 33:36Men of the world look at that, and they curse God.
-
33:36 - 33:38It says in Revelation,
-
33:38 - 33:41"They gnaw their tongues and blaspheme the God of Heaven
-
33:41 - 33:46for their sorrows and their pains." (P)
-
33:46 - 33:53Some of you know that poem, Invictus, by William Ernest Henley.
-
33:53 - 34:01He says, "Out of the night that covers me,
black as the pit from pole to pole, -
34:01 - 34:05I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul."
-
34:05 - 34:09He's not trusting in God, you see, the true God.
-
34:09 - 34:11But in the midst of that poem he says,
-
34:11 - 34:20"In the fell clutch of circumstance,
I have not winced nor cried aloud. -
34:20 - 34:28Under the bludgeonings of chance,
my head is bloody but unbowed." -
34:28 - 34:34Now that's the way the world responds - bludgeonings of chance.
-
34:34 - 34:37Think of those two brothers. The bludgeonings of chance.
-
34:37 - 34:39That's all you have if you don't have God.
-
34:39 - 34:44So how can I talk about the comforts of the doctrine of providence?
-
34:44 - 34:50Well, we do have God.
-
34:52 - 34:57And the Lord Jesus did not talk about the bludgeoning of chance.
-
34:57 - 35:03This is what He said: "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent?
-
35:03 - 35:09And yet, not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
-
35:09 - 35:13But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
-
35:13 - 35:19Therefore do not fear: you are of more value than many sparrows."
-
35:19 - 35:22Now there's comfort in that, isn't there? (P)
-
35:22 - 35:24Look at this.
-
35:24 - 35:30First of all, He's not saying that sparrows never fall to the ground.
-
35:30 - 35:32He didn't say that.
-
35:32 - 35:36If the Bible said Christians didn't have to go through these things,
-
35:36 - 35:39that would leave us in despair.
-
35:39 - 35:46The Bible doesn't say you're not going to have
bad things happen to you as a Christian. -
35:46 - 35:50Okay?
-
35:50 - 35:56The righteous go through the same tragedies as the wicked.
-
35:56 - 35:58But notice what else He's saying.
-
35:58 - 36:03He's saying that when the sparrows do fall to the ground, God is right there.
-
36:03 - 36:07They can't fall, apart from Him.
-
36:07 - 36:13And He doesn't say, "Not a sparrow will fall to the ground
apart from the Force." -
36:13 - 36:20Or, "Not a sparrow will fall to the ground apart from
the uncaring, cold Sovereign of the universe." -
36:20 - 36:21He doesn't say that.
-
36:21 - 36:26He says, "Not a sparrow will fall to the ground apart from YOUR Father."
-
36:26 - 36:30Your Father. (P)
-
36:31 - 36:35And think of the illustration He uses here - sparrows.
-
36:35 - 36:43"Are not two sparrows sold for a cent?"
-
36:43 - 36:47They're worthless, relatively.
-
36:47 - 36:51One brother talks about The Forgotten Sparrow.
-
36:51 - 36:55What is he talking about? Luke 12:6 says it like this:
-
36:55 - 36:59"Are not five sparrows sold for two cents?
-
36:59 - 37:02And not one of them is forgotten before God."
-
37:02 - 37:04Now do the math on it.
-
37:04 - 37:08"Are not two sparrows sold for a cent?"
-
37:08 - 37:14So how many could you get for two cents? You get four.
-
37:14 - 37:19But the verse says, "Are not five sparrows sold for two cents?"
-
37:19 - 37:25In other words, they're so worthless you could throw in one.
-
37:25 - 37:32And that's the one that God doesn't forget.
-
37:32 - 37:37And that's the one that can't fall to the ground apart from your Father.
-
37:37 - 37:44The one that men don't even care about,
they don't even charge enough to cover. (P) -
37:44 - 37:50And then fourthly, He says,
"The very hairs of your head are all numbered." -
37:50 - 37:53And that means more than just God knows how many hairs are on your head.
-
37:53 - 37:56He knew how many hairs were on Hitler's head.
-
37:56 - 38:02I'm just talking about special care and concern. (P)
-
38:02 - 38:07I like this passage, Luke 21 says,
"You will be delivered up even by parents -
38:07 - 38:15and brothers and relatives and friends,
-
38:15 - 38:17and they will put some of you to death,
-
38:17 - 38:24and you will be hated by all on account of My name."
-
38:24 - 38:29Now listen to this: "Yet not a hair of your head will perish."
-
38:29 - 38:34They'll kill you, but not a hair of your head will perish.
-
38:34 - 38:38What is He saying? He is saying that if you're a child of God,
-
38:38 - 38:44nothing, absolutely nothing, not even one hair,
-
38:44 - 38:46nothing can happen to you.
-
38:46 - 38:49Nothing can just "happen" to you.
-
38:49 - 38:53Nothing can happen to you!
-
38:53 - 38:58Don't talk to me about the bludgeonings of chance for a Christian, never.
-
38:58 - 39:02Don't even let that thought enter your mind.
-
39:02 - 39:05Nothing can happen to you. (P)
-
39:05 - 39:08Hard providences don't prove that God is not with you.
-
39:08 - 39:12Look at Job.
-
39:12 - 39:15There's great comfort for the Christian in the providence of God.
-
39:15 - 39:18Things don't happen by chance;
-
39:18 - 39:22they come from the hand of an all-loving, all-wise heavenly Father.
-
39:22 - 39:24We're told in Lamentatons 3 that,
-
39:24 - 39:30"He does not afflict willingly or grieve the sons of men."
-
39:30 - 39:34That's encouraging, isn't it? God doesn't afflict willingly.
-
39:34 - 39:40It's not the idea that God just delights in the idea of making you suffer.
-
39:40 - 39:43He would rather not, let's put it that way.
-
39:43 - 39:45He doesn't do it willingly.
-
39:45 - 39:49He has some higher thing that can only be accomplished in that way.
-
39:49 - 39:52Isn't that something?
-
39:52 - 39:59"If He causes grief, then He will have compassion
according to His abundant lovingkindness." -
39:59 - 40:02Those are wonderful words, aren't they?
-
40:02 - 40:06Compassion and abundant lovingkindness. (P)
-
40:06 - 40:09Which of you fathers, if your child asks him for an egg,
-
40:09 - 40:11he says, "Here, son," and gives him a scorpion?
-
40:11 - 40:15That's not the way God is.
-
40:15 - 40:18We sang that song, I think, today or yesterday:
-
40:18 - 40:21"Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take.
-
40:21 - 40:24The clouds you so much dread are big with mercy,
-
40:24 - 40:28and will break with blessing on your head.
-
40:28 - 40:35Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His grace.
-
40:35 - 40:43Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.
-
40:45 - 40:48His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour.
-
40:48 - 40:54The bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower." (P)
-
40:54 - 40:58Well, the doctrine of God's providence ought to fill us with comfort.
-
40:58 - 41:04What else? It ought to fill us with great gratitude. Great gratitude.
-
41:04 - 41:08Humility, comfort, gratitude. Why?
-
41:08 - 41:15Well, as Spurgeon said, because for the Christian,
providence is the handmaid of grace. -
41:15 - 41:17Just think of the woman at the well.
-
41:17 - 41:24She just happened to come out there to the well
-
41:24 - 41:31when the One Person in all the world, who could give her living water,
-
41:31 - 41:35was sitting there by the well. What a thing.
-
41:35 - 41:46It makes you wonder, why did she just happen to go out right then?
-
41:46 - 41:49Maybe she planned to go out an hour earlier
-
41:49 - 41:57but, you know, she dropped something and broke it,
or something like that, we don't know. -
41:57 - 41:59Her eternity was in the balance
-
41:59 - 42:04and she just happened to come out to the well at the right time.
-
42:04 - 42:08And every Christian can look back with unspeakable gratitude
-
42:08 - 42:13at the kind providences of God in his life. (P)
-
42:13 - 42:15John Newton, before he became a Christian,
-
42:15 - 42:18he was onboard ship, you know, he was a sailor.
-
42:18 - 42:24They were in a storm; he started up the ladder,
the captain said, "John, go back and get a knife." -
42:24 - 42:29He got off the ladder, turned around, another guy went up - wham! -
-
42:29 - 42:33a wave took that guy right off and he was gone.
-
42:33 - 42:40So John Newton says, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.
-
42:40 - 42:46'Twas grace that brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me Home." (P) -
42:46 - 42:52Ira Sankey was Moody's singer.
-
42:52 - 43:00The story is told, and I try to verify it enough
so that I can tell at least part of it. -
43:00 - 43:07He was on a river boat after the war, Christmas of 1876,
-
43:07 - 43:11a river boat on the Delaware River.
-
43:11 - 43:14And they found out that he was aboard (he was a famous person).
-
43:14 - 43:17They said, "Mr Sankey, will you sing for us?"
-
43:17 - 43:29And he decided to sing "Savior, Like a Shepherd, Lead Us."
-
43:29 - 43:33I believe that's right.
-
43:33 - 43:39And he stood there in the moonlight, singing that song.
-
43:39 - 43:46And after he got done a fellow came up and said,
"Mr Sankey, did you serve in the Union Army?" -
43:46 - 43:48He said, "Yes, I did."
-
43:48 - 43:50"Did you serve over in such and such area?"
-
43:50 - 43:51"Yes, I did."
-
43:51 - 43:54"Well, was it in so and so years, time period?" "Yeah."
-
43:54 - 43:59"Were you doing picket duty one moonlit night?"
-
43:59 - 44:04He said, "Yeah I was, I remember that."
-
44:04 - 44:11And he said, "I was a confederate soldier, and I had you in my sights,
-
44:11 - 44:12I was ready to shoot you.
-
44:12 - 44:16And you started singing, you started singing that song.
-
44:16 - 44:20And I thought, well I'll let him finish before I kill him."
-
44:20 - 44:24And by the time he got over, he couldn't do it.
-
44:24 - 44:28And then he hears him singing the same song in the moonlight on the river boat,
-
44:28 - 44:31and he realized, "That's the guy!" (P)
-
44:31 - 44:39You realize, he's out there singing, with death just staring right at him.
-
44:41 - 44:50Every Christian should look back with unspeakable gratitude
-
44:50 - 44:52on the providence, the kind providence of God in his life.
-
44:52 - 44:59I mean, you remember Amy Carmichael, who was a missionary to India,
-
44:59 - 45:03she was born with brown eyes.
-
45:03 - 45:06And as a girl she wanted so much to have blue eyes.
-
45:06 - 45:10She prayed that God would give her blue eyes.
-
45:10 - 45:12He never did.
-
45:12 - 45:16But if she'd had blue eyes, she couldn't have been used
-
45:16 - 45:20to go into those Hindu temples and rescue those girls;
-
45:20 - 45:22because she could make her skin brown
-
45:22 - 45:24but she would never have been able to do anything with her eyes,
-
45:24 - 45:27and she would have never gotten in.
-
45:27 - 45:29All part of God's providence. (P)
-
45:29 - 45:35In your own life, think of the events prior to your conversion.
-
45:35 - 45:38I remember when I was a boy, a fishing trip that I didn't get to go on,
-
45:38 - 45:40I felt so bad about it.
-
45:40 - 45:46And my grandparents that I would have gone with, had a terrible wreck.
-
45:46 - 45:48They were in the hospital for weeks.
-
45:48 - 45:51I would probably have been killed.
-
45:51 - 46:01And my mother said to me at the time,
"Maybe God has a purpose for your life." -
46:01 - 46:05I almost drowned a year before I was converted.
-
46:05 - 46:09I'm not telling you things that you don't know,
that haven't happened to you. -
46:09 - 46:12They've happened to you, too. (P)
-
46:12 - 46:18After you become a Christian, think of the providences, the kind providences.
-
46:18 - 46:26First year of college, first class of college, 7:30 AM, English class.
-
46:26 - 46:32The teacher said, "I want to learn your names,
so I'm gonna put you in alphabetical order. -
46:32 - 46:44Here's H, I, J, Jennings, Bob Jennings, that's J, and then L, Leiter."
-
46:44 - 46:47First class.
-
46:51 - 47:01Every Christian ought to look back with
unspeakable gratitude on the providence of God. (P) -
47:01 - 47:05I went out for a walk one night, after I had moved to Kirksville,
-
47:05 - 47:06still single at the time.
-
47:06 - 47:10I went out to pray, and I went a different direction totally
-
47:10 - 47:15and much further than I would have normally gone.
-
47:15 - 47:24And I was walking along and saw a group of Christians
over here in a circle, in a yard, singing hymns; -
47:24 - 47:26and I was on the other side of the street.
-
47:26 - 47:32And somehow the thought just went through my mind,
"And He passed by on the other side." -
47:32 - 47:33And I thought, "I don't want to do that,
-
47:33 - 47:36I'll just go over there and sit down by those Christians.
-
47:36 - 47:40They're probably a bunch of weirdos but..." [Laughter].
-
47:40 - 47:43And I went over there and sat down with them;
-
47:43 - 47:50and I met a man and his wife, who has been a deacon in our church
-
47:50 - 47:56(a lot of you would know them) for forty years now.
-
47:56 - 48:03And a lot of different marriages have taken place, and all kinds of things.
-
48:03 - 48:06The providence of God.
-
48:06 - 48:13Think if I had walked down a different street,
how different [it would have been]. (P) -
48:13 - 48:18Mona and I were ready to get married, we didn't have any money.
-
48:18 - 48:23We had no money to buy her wedding dress,
so she wanted to try to get some material. -
48:23 - 48:30And a friend of hers came by, that she really didn't know very well,
-
48:30 - 48:33and really she's lost contact with her totally since then.
-
48:33 - 48:37But she came by, they were talking,
-
48:37 - 48:40and she said something about buying a dress.
-
48:40 - 48:45And Mona said, "I'm gonna have a lady in the church make one."
-
48:45 - 48:50She said, "Oh well, I bought the material for my dress and I didn't use it.
-
48:50 - 48:55I ended up buying a dress. I'll give you that material."
-
48:55 - 48:57And she wasn't trying to be picky or anything,
-
48:57 - 49:01but she said, "That's really kind, but I had such and such material in mind."
-
49:01 - 49:06Kind of a pearl color or something.
-
49:06 - 49:12And the lady said, "Well, that's what it is." [Laughter].
-
49:12 - 49:17So she gives her the material,
and the lady in her church is making the dress. -
49:17 - 49:23And it gets down to the very end -
this was a designer fabric company in Kansas City; -
49:23 - 49:29right down at the very end, there was a little label
that was sewed in from the fabric company. -
49:29 - 49:32The seamstress pulls it out - "LEITER".
-
49:32 - 49:36Postmarks my name, and sews it in.
-
49:36 - 49:41LEITER - designer fabric company that none of us knew existed.
-
49:41 - 49:46I never had heard my name before except for me. (P)
-
49:46 - 49:53Just little tokens, God says, "You know,
I know how many hairs are on your head." -
49:53 - 50:00Now that's true for you, if you're a child of God.
-
50:00 - 50:03He's talking about care.
-
50:03 - 50:10He's not talking about bare knowledge, He's talking about care.
-
50:10 - 50:14You say, "You don't know how many hard things have happened to me."
-
50:14 - 50:18We talked about that, didn't we?
-
50:22 - 50:27Can't you say, as you look back and remember all the ways the Lord has led you,
-
50:27 - 50:34can't you say, like David did, "The lines fallen unto me in pleasant places."
-
50:34 - 50:37God has been so kind. (P)
-
50:37 - 50:42Fourthly, the providence of God ought to fill us with confidence.
-
50:42 - 50:47Why confidence? Well, because God is in control of everything,
-
50:47 - 50:51and nothing can thwart His purposes.
-
50:51 - 50:55He said, "Truly I have spoken, truly I will bring it to pass.
-
50:55 - 50:59I have planned it, surely I will do it."
-
50:59 - 51:08I love that account in 1st Kings about a certain man,
who drew a bow at random, -
51:08 - 51:14and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor.
-
51:14 - 51:17Now you could stand there all day shooting arrows at him,
-
51:17 - 51:21aiming between the joints of his armor, and never hit it.
-
51:21 - 51:24And he didn't even know, he just shot at random.
-
51:24 - 51:30You see, God had told Ahab he's going to die in that battle,
-
51:30 - 51:36and he said, "Well I'm not, I'm gonna disguise myself."
-
51:36 - 51:42That doesn't work very well, does it, when you're dealing with God. (P)
-
51:42 - 51:50But the thing that's so wonderful about this account
is that Elijah had told him earlier. -
51:50 - 51:53He said, "In the place where the dogs licked Naboth's blood,"
-
51:53 - 51:56you remember, he had Naboth killed in order to get his vineyard.
-
51:56 - 52:00And Elijah said, "In the place where the dogs licked Naboth's blood
-
52:00 - 52:04they're gonna lick your blood."
-
52:04 - 52:10And Ahab wasn't very smart, but he was smart enough
to know that that couldn't happen; -
52:10 - 52:18because Samaria is something like 80 miles away,
if you look on a Bible map. -
52:18 - 52:23So it's either gonna be Elijah or Micaiah,
one of these guys is wrong. -
52:23 - 52:26They're both prophets of the LORD, one of them is wrong;
-
52:26 - 52:28because Micaiah says, "You're gonna die here,"
-
52:28 - 52:31and Elijah says, "They're gonna lick your blood here."
-
52:31 - 52:36And he scoffs at it, he said, "Probably neither one of them is right."
-
52:36 - 52:37But what happened?
-
52:37 - 52:42The arrow hit him between the joints of the armor,
and he stood in that chariot and bled out all day. -
52:42 - 52:49They took the chariot back down and washed it at the pool in Samaria.
-
52:49 - 52:56And the dogs licked his blood, down in Samaria,
where they had licked the blood of Naboth. -
52:56 - 53:00And what does it say? It says, "The dogs licked up his blood,
-
53:00 - 53:07according to the word of the LORD which He spoke." (P)
-
53:07 - 53:12I say, the doctrine of God's providence
ought to fill us with great confidence. -
53:12 - 53:17You read the book of Esther,
the whole Jewish nation is on the brink of destruction. -
53:17 - 53:21And what does it say? The king couldn't sleep that night.
-
53:21 - 53:25And he asked for a book to be read,
and they read in there about Mordecai, -
53:25 - 53:32and all of those things unfolded that preserved the Jewish nation.
-
53:32 - 53:37"The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD;
-
53:37 - 53:42He turns it wherever He wishes." (P)
-
53:42 - 53:46A lot of you are too young to remember the Missile Crisis in 1962.
-
53:46 - 53:53But Khrushchev had actually put nuclear warheads down in Cuba.
-
53:53 - 53:55And there came a stand-off;
-
53:55 - 54:00it was the closest to nuclear war that we ever came.
-
54:00 - 54:03I remember a girl that I knew, whose dad was in the military.
-
54:03 - 54:04She was standing out on the playground.
-
54:04 - 54:13I was in grade school, later grades; and she was almost in tears.
-
54:13 - 54:18Khrushchev, after everything passed and he wrote his memorial,
-
54:18 - 54:26he was dealing with his advisers, there in the Kremlin;
-
54:26 - 54:31and he said, "I said to them, 'hundreds of millions of people are going to die,'
-
54:31 - 54:32and they didn't care.
-
54:32 - 54:36They said, 'We don't want to lose face with Red China.'"
-
54:36 - 54:39And so it looked like God spared a nuclear holocaust
-
54:39 - 54:46from one man having enough common grace and sense
not to press the button. (P) -
54:46 - 54:52But then I found out later, more information were actually closer than that.
-
54:52 - 55:01There was a submarine over here that was loaded with nuclear torpedoes,
-
55:01 - 55:08and the US actually dropped depth charges;
not big ones, but like hand grenade size. -
55:08 - 55:10But they dropped depth charges,
-
55:10 - 55:13and they found out later that the commander of that submarine
-
55:13 - 55:21armed the nuclear weapons and was given the order to fire.
-
55:21 - 55:27But there was a rule that three commanding officers had to agree,
-
55:27 - 55:32and two out of three agreed.
-
55:32 - 55:35There was one man, if you want to know,
-
55:35 - 55:38(you can't thank him because it's God in His providence),
-
55:38 - 55:41his name is Vasili Arkhipov.
-
55:41 - 55:44And he didn't have peace about doing that.
-
55:44 - 55:45Isn't that amazing?
-
55:45 - 55:50The whole world, you know, all these holocaust scenerios,
-
55:50 - 55:53hinging on one man there.
-
55:53 - 56:02Because if they had deployed a nuclear weapon, it would have happened. (P)
-
56:05 - 56:12We can have confidence in God because of providence.
-
56:12 - 56:15Number five, we're almost done.
-
56:15 - 56:21The doctrine of God's providence ought to cause us to pray.
-
56:21 - 56:23Why is that?
-
56:23 - 56:27Well, because we know from the doctrine of providence,
-
56:27 - 56:32that God has the power to answer our prayers no matter what.
-
56:32 - 56:34He can do anything.
-
56:34 - 56:37And you might say, "Well, if God has everything planned out,
-
56:37 - 56:39then there's no need to pray. It's all gonna happen anyway."
-
56:39 - 56:41That misses the point, doesn't it?
-
56:41 - 56:44because He has everything planned out,
-
56:44 - 56:50including the prayers that are gonna be prayed
that He's going to answer. (P) -
56:50 - 56:55You see, there are prayers that God has answered
-
56:55 - 57:02through a series of providences that took place
before the prayer was ever prayed. -
57:02 - 57:07And those providences took place, before the prayer was ever prayed,
-
57:07 - 57:14in light of God's certain purpose and plan
that the prayer would be prayed. -
57:14 - 57:17And when it was prayed, He answered it.
-
57:17 - 57:19He's in control of all of it.
-
57:19 - 57:21Beloved, the fact is that God has set things up
-
57:21 - 57:27so that, in general, He will not answer if we don't ask.
-
57:27 - 57:29Now that's just reality.
-
57:29 - 57:35James says that, doesn't he? "You have not because you ask not." (P)
-
57:35 - 57:37Just one example.
-
57:37 - 57:43God prophesies through Jeremiah
that people would be in captivity for 70 years. -
57:43 - 57:52As the time draws near, Daniel reads that in the prophecy of Jeremiah;
-
57:52 - 57:57and Daniel says, "Well, no need to pray, it's already certain."
-
57:57 - 57:59It wasn't it, did he?
-
57:59 - 58:02"I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years
-
58:02 - 58:06which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet
-
58:06 - 58:12for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem,
namely, seventy years. -
58:12 - 58:18So I gave my attention to the Lord God
to seek Him by prayer and supplications, -
58:18 - 58:23with fasting, sackcloth and ashes."
-
58:23 - 58:26Because he reads that God's gonna do this.
-
58:26 - 58:31In other words, God said He would do this,
so we need to get to praying. -
58:31 - 58:36He's able to do this, so we need to pray. (P)
-
58:36 - 58:41And then, lastly, the doctrine of God's providence
-
58:41 - 58:45ought to fill us with worship, praise, and adoration.
-
58:45 - 58:51And that's why I had brother Kevin read this psalm.
-
58:51 - 58:55"I will extol Thee, my God and King,
-
58:55 - 59:00and bless Thy name forever and ever.
-
59:00 - 59:01Every day I will bless you, and so on..."
-
59:01 - 59:05And he goes on and talks about God sustaining all who're falling
-
59:05 - 59:06and raising up all who're bowed down.
-
59:06 - 59:11"The eyes of all look to You,
and You give them their food in due time. -
59:11 - 59:17You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing, and so on..."
-
59:17 - 59:22May God help us to respond rightly. (P)
-
59:22 - 59:28The day that we were getting ready to pack up all those books,
-
59:28 - 59:33we rented a 5 by 8 trailer.
-
59:33 - 59:41And I went there, and the fellow that knew what to do
had been called away by a toothache. -
59:41 - 59:45And the fellow that was left behind didn't know how to read the first page.
-
59:45 - 59:47I knew I was in trouble when he turned on the computer
-
59:47 - 59:54and looked at the screen, the first page,
for about three or four minutes. -
59:54 - 60:01An an hour later, I'm finally to the point of getting the paper signed
-
60:01 - 60:03and getting it paid for.
-
60:03 - 60:08And this impatience starts to rise up.
-
60:08 - 60:10And then you know what happened?
It dawned on me, -
60:10 - 60:16I'm getting ready to go down and speak about Providence [Laughter].
-
60:16 - 60:18I mean, these things are wonderful in theory, aren't they?
-
60:18 - 60:20But we're gonna face it.
-
60:20 - 60:25We'll face it tonight, we'll face it tomorrow.
-
60:25 - 60:28And if you stop and think, you know, God is in control.
-
60:28 - 60:30He's got purposes.
-
60:30 - 60:35Who knows what's going on? (P)
-
60:35 - 60:38Elizabeth Elliot had that account of the girl who had the contacts,
-
60:38 - 60:41maybe some of you read that.
-
60:41 - 60:45She was doing rock climbing and the rope popped her eye,
-
60:45 - 60:50and the contact popped out and fell down the cliff.
-
60:50 - 60:53And they finally finished their climb and got down,
-
60:53 - 60:57and she's praying, "O Lord, please, I know You know where it is."
-
60:57 - 61:01And some other person there that was getting ready to climb, said,
-
61:01 - 61:12"Look at this ant! This ant's carrying a contact." [Laughter].
-
61:12 - 61:13Her dad was a cartoonist,
-
61:13 - 61:19and he did a little cartoon of an ant carrying a contact.
-
61:19 - 61:26And the ant is saying, "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this. [Laughter].
-
61:26 - 61:36It's heavy, and I can't eat it; what am I doing?" [Laughter].
-
61:36 - 61:39But you know what, a lot of times we're carrying things
-
61:39 - 61:45that we don't know why in the world God wants us to carry that.
-
61:45 - 61:51But you can be sure of this: He has a reason!
-
61:51 - 61:55And someday, maybe we'll get a little glimpse of what it is.
-
61:55 - 62:00I mean, I can picture an eternity - I'd say, right here in this group,
-
62:00 - 62:07we could spend about 100,000 years telling providences.
-
62:07 - 62:09Don't you think?
-
62:09 - 62:12Especially if you start to see into some of them
that we don't even know about, -
62:12 - 62:16that are happening all the time. (P)
-
62:16 - 62:20Well let's sing one more hymn.
- Title:
- Providence: The Hand of God Over Everything - Charles Leiter
- Description:
-
The providence of God has to do with the fact that God is looking out and taking thought for everything ahead of time. Are you in a hard situation right now? Well God says, “I have already thought of that and made provision for that.” Provision means that God saw it ahead of time and provided. God not only created all things in the past, but He also actively and constantly cares for all things in the present. He upholds all things, preserves all things, and directs all things in order that He might ultimately provide for all things.
MP3: http://illbehonest.com/providence-hand-god-everything
2017 Fellowship Conference Session #5
Charles Leiter | http://lakeroadchapel.org
- Video Language:
- English
- Duration:
- 01:02:22
Michael Okiei edited English subtitles for Providence: The Hand of God Over Everything - Charles Leiter |