1 00:00:01,047 --> 00:00:10,726 I've asked brother Kevin Woodell, from San Antonio, to read our scripture this evening. (P) 2 00:00:10,726 --> 00:00:16,730 Kevin: Well, we're going to read from Psalm 145. 3 00:00:16,730 --> 00:00:22,684 "I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. 4 00:00:22,684 --> 00:00:30,222 Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. 5 00:00:30,222 --> 00:00:37,581 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. 6 00:00:37,581 --> 00:00:42,871 One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. 7 00:00:42,871 --> 00:00:49,298 On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. 8 00:00:49,298 --> 00:00:54,928 They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. 9 00:00:54,928 --> 00:00:58,780 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness 10 00:00:58,780 --> 00:01:01,013 and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. (P) 11 00:01:01,013 --> 00:01:06,799 "The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 12 00:01:06,799 --> 00:01:14,614 The LORD is good to all, and His mercy is over all that He has made. 13 00:01:14,614 --> 00:01:20,808 All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you. 14 00:01:20,808 --> 00:01:25,948 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, 15 00:01:25,948 --> 00:01:28,887 to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, 16 00:01:28,887 --> 00:01:31,141 and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. 17 00:01:31,141 --> 00:01:35,046 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, 18 00:01:35,046 --> 00:01:39,601 and your dominion endures throughout all generations. (P) 19 00:01:39,601 --> 00:01:44,310 "The LORD is faithful in all His words and kind in all His works. 20 00:01:44,310 --> 00:01:50,442 The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. 21 00:01:50,442 --> 00:01:54,800 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. 22 00:01:54,800 --> 00:02:00,856 You open your hand and you satisfy the desire of every living thing. 23 00:02:00,856 --> 00:02:07,490 The LORD is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His works. 24 00:02:07,490 --> 00:02:13,704 The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. 25 00:02:13,704 --> 00:02:17,066 He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him; 26 00:02:17,066 --> 00:02:21,364 He also hears their cry and saves them. 27 00:02:21,364 --> 00:02:30,428 The LORD preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy. 28 00:02:30,428 --> 00:02:34,157 My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, 29 00:02:34,157 --> 00:02:41,992 and let all flesh bless His holy name forever and ever. Amen." (P) 30 00:02:48,531 --> 00:02:51,174 Charles: Amen. Thank you, brother. 31 00:02:51,174 --> 00:02:58,056 We're grateful for every single one of you that's here tonight. 32 00:02:58,056 --> 00:03:05,016 And I know, having prayed with the men who have spoken before this, 33 00:03:05,016 --> 00:03:08,554 that the burden on our hearts has been in part 34 00:03:08,555 --> 00:03:12,541 that God would have something for each one of you, 35 00:03:12,541 --> 00:03:18,085 and that we would know what to speak on, and that He'd give us His help. 36 00:03:18,085 --> 00:03:21,329 And that's what we ask this evening. 37 00:03:21,329 --> 00:03:27,219 Let's pray once again before we look into the Word. (P) 38 00:03:28,629 --> 00:03:32,895 Our Father, we pray that You would take us outside of ourselves 39 00:03:32,895 --> 00:03:39,548 and give us a glimpse of the Lord Jesus Christ, and give us a glimpse of Your glory. 40 00:03:39,548 --> 00:03:44,667 Give us a glimpse of the truth that we're looking at this evening. 41 00:03:44,667 --> 00:03:50,136 And we ask that You would do this for Your name's sake and Your glory. 42 00:03:50,136 --> 00:03:52,697 Amen. (P) 43 00:03:53,619 --> 00:03:59,585 Lordwilling, I'll be speaking to you tonight on the subject of Providence. 44 00:03:59,585 --> 00:04:04,389 And I know that some of you are here from churches 45 00:04:04,389 --> 00:04:09,928 where you might have heard, at least, part of what I'll be saying tonight, in years past. 46 00:04:09,928 --> 00:04:14,573 And if that's the case, I want you to be assured 47 00:04:14,573 --> 00:04:19,245 that God, in His providence, wants you to hear this again 48 00:04:19,245 --> 00:04:23,461 (any part of it that you hear that might sound familiar to you.) 49 00:04:23,461 --> 00:04:26,311 So listen carefully. (P) 50 00:04:26,311 --> 00:04:30,051 The Providence of God. What is providence? 51 00:04:30,051 --> 00:04:36,580 If we pronounce the word a little bit differently, we see right off part of what it means. 52 00:04:36,580 --> 00:04:41,040 Let's just pronounce it like this: 'provide-ence'. 53 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:44,750 That's really what the word is. It's provide-ence. 54 00:04:44,750 --> 00:04:47,438 And the word 'provide' comes from two Latin words: 55 00:04:47,438 --> 00:04:54,194 'pro' - which means 'before', and 'videre' - which means 'to see'. 56 00:04:54,194 --> 00:04:57,615 So you say, "Well, it means to see before," and that's sort of right. 57 00:04:57,615 --> 00:05:03,531 But it means to look out for. To look out for ahead of time. 58 00:05:03,531 --> 00:05:12,866 And the Greek word that's used for providence is 'prónoia' - which means 'to think before'. 59 00:05:12,866 --> 00:05:20,517 And if you boil that down, it is 'to take thought beforehand.' 60 00:05:20,518 --> 00:05:23,072 So the providence of God has to do with the fact 61 00:05:23,072 --> 00:05:26,544 that God is looking out for everything, 62 00:05:26,544 --> 00:05:31,176 and taking thought for everything ahead of time. (P) 63 00:05:31,176 --> 00:05:33,903 You get into a hard situation, 64 00:05:33,903 --> 00:05:39,858 and God says, "Well, I've already thought of that, and I've made provision for it." 65 00:05:39,858 --> 00:05:42,304 Provision - there's another word. 66 00:05:42,304 --> 00:05:45,452 You see, vision has to do with seeing, doesn't it? 67 00:05:45,452 --> 00:05:47,515 And we're so used to these words. 68 00:05:47,515 --> 00:05:52,602 Provision means God saw it ahead of time, and provided. 69 00:05:52,603 --> 00:05:58,204 And so, God not only created all things in the past, 70 00:05:58,204 --> 00:06:05,646 but He also actively and constantly cares for all things in the present. 71 00:06:05,646 --> 00:06:11,692 He upholds all things, and preserves all things, and directs all things, 72 00:06:11,692 --> 00:06:18,116 in order that He might ultimately provide for all things. (P) 73 00:06:18,116 --> 00:06:25,032 Beloved, according to the Bible, God is not a far-away God. 74 00:06:25,032 --> 00:06:30,234 In fact, the Bible says that "not one sparrow can fall to the ground 75 00:06:30,235 --> 00:06:35,224 apart from your heavenly Father". 76 00:06:35,225 --> 00:06:39,623 And that is, He has to be right there with that sparrow, 77 00:06:39,623 --> 00:06:41,355 before it can fall to the ground. 78 00:06:41,355 --> 00:06:46,573 And not only is He present with us and present with His creation, 79 00:06:46,573 --> 00:06:51,378 but the Bible actually says that "we are present in Him". 80 00:06:51,378 --> 00:06:59,192 Paul says in Acts 17:28, and we read through this without thinking about it much: 81 00:06:59,192 --> 00:07:02,330 "For in Him we live, and move." 82 00:07:02,330 --> 00:07:06,983 Do you realize that today you've been living and moving in God? 83 00:07:06,983 --> 00:07:11,659 "In Him we live, and move, and have our being." 84 00:07:11,659 --> 00:07:16,631 So that's how close He is. (P) 85 00:07:16,632 --> 00:07:21,834 Colossians 1:16 says that, "By Him (that is, God the Son) 86 00:07:21,834 --> 00:07:25,217 all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, 87 00:07:25,217 --> 00:07:29,209 visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – 88 00:07:29,209 --> 00:07:34,060 all things have been created by Him and for Him. 89 00:07:34,060 --> 00:07:40,973 And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." 90 00:07:40,973 --> 00:07:46,173 So, in Christ everything holds together. 91 00:07:46,173 --> 00:07:48,585 And then again in Hebrews 1:3, it says that 92 00:07:48,585 --> 00:07:55,229 "Christ is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His nature, 93 00:07:55,229 --> 00:07:58,872 and upholds all things by the word of His power." 94 00:07:58,872 --> 00:08:05,052 So the world cannot hang together on its own; it has to be upheld moment by moment. 95 00:08:05,052 --> 00:08:09,906 Creation was never such that it's independent of God. 96 00:08:09,906 --> 00:08:18,594 God created, and then He upholds moment by moment, by the word of His power. (P) 97 00:08:18,595 --> 00:08:21,726 We talk about the laws of nature, 98 00:08:21,726 --> 00:08:28,829 and we tend to think of nature as sort of running on its own, 99 00:08:28,830 --> 00:08:30,514 with God off in the distance. 100 00:08:30,514 --> 00:08:33,217 But that is not the way it is. 101 00:08:33,217 --> 00:08:36,394 The Bible says that the winds, the rains, 102 00:08:36,394 --> 00:08:40,558 the grass growing in the field, the animals getting their food, 103 00:08:40,558 --> 00:08:46,424 all of those things, God is actively present and involved. 104 00:08:46,424 --> 00:08:50,532 And I just want to read some verses to you; I won't have you look them up 105 00:08:50,532 --> 00:08:55,983 I may mention the chapter references; but I want to read these to you 106 00:08:55,984 --> 00:09:03,364 This is from Job 36:27, it says, "He draws up the drops of water; 107 00:09:03,364 --> 00:09:08,329 they distill rain from the mist, which the clouds pour down; 108 00:09:08,329 --> 00:09:10,868 they drip upon man abundantly." 109 00:09:10,868 --> 00:09:15,345 So God is drawing up those drops of water for the rain. 110 00:09:15,345 --> 00:09:20,488 "Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds, the thundering of His pavilion? 111 00:09:20,489 --> 00:09:26,791 Behold, He spreads His lightning about Him, and He covers the depths of the sea. 112 00:09:26,791 --> 00:09:32,119 For by these He judges peoples; He gives food in abundance. 113 00:09:32,119 --> 00:09:40,014 He covers His hands with the lightning, and commands it to strike the mark." (P) 114 00:09:40,014 --> 00:09:46,913 There's a website now, where you can watch in real-time, lightning strikes. 115 00:09:46,913 --> 00:09:51,628 So you can see a storm in Missouri somewhere, 116 00:09:51,628 --> 00:09:54,423 and you can look at that storm and you can see the lights: 117 00:09:54,423 --> 00:09:59,671 it'll snap and make a little X, and there's lightning all over the place. 118 00:09:59,671 --> 00:10:03,349 In every one of those, God covers His hands with the lightning, 119 00:10:03,349 --> 00:10:07,033 and commands it to strike the mark. 120 00:10:07,033 --> 00:10:12,675 You see how different that is, than the idea that Nature is doing things on its own? 121 00:10:12,675 --> 00:10:16,215 There isn't any such thing. (P) 122 00:10:18,457 --> 00:10:20,965 "He commands it to strike the mark. 123 00:10:20,966 --> 00:10:26,130 Its noise (that is, thunder) declares His presence." 124 00:10:26,130 --> 00:10:31,228 So when it's thundering, God is present. 125 00:10:31,228 --> 00:10:39,151 Job 37: 5-13, "God thunders with His voice wondrously, doing great things which we cannot comprehend." 126 00:10:39,151 --> 00:10:43,467 God thunders with His voice. 127 00:10:43,467 --> 00:10:52,163 "To the snow He says, 'Fall on the earth,' and to the downpour and the rain, 'Be strong.' 128 00:10:52,163 --> 00:10:56,355 He seals the hand of every man, that all men may know His work. 129 00:10:56,355 --> 00:11:00,052 Then the beast goes into its lair and remains in its den. 130 00:11:00,052 --> 00:11:04,262 Out of the south comes the storm, and out of the north the cold. 131 00:11:04,262 --> 00:11:11,618 From the breath of God ice is made, and the expanse of the waters is frozen. 132 00:11:11,618 --> 00:11:19,659 Also with moisture He loads the thick cloud; He disperses the cloud of His lightning. 133 00:11:19,659 --> 00:11:23,998 It changes direction (now here's the clouds), it changes direction, 134 00:11:23,998 --> 00:11:27,575 turning around by His guidance, 135 00:11:27,575 --> 00:11:31,817 that it may do whatever He commands it on the face of the inhabited earth. 136 00:11:31,817 --> 00:11:39,828 Whether for correction, or for His world, or for lovingkindness, He causes it to happen." (P) 137 00:11:39,828 --> 00:11:43,512 Psalm 104, "He sends forth springs in the valleys." 138 00:11:43,512 --> 00:11:51,233 That's why if you see a spring coming up in the valley, God sent that for us. 139 00:11:51,233 --> 00:11:55,596 "He waters the mountains from His upper chambers. 140 00:11:55,596 --> 00:12:01,625 He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the labor of man. 141 00:12:01,625 --> 00:12:07,918 The trees of the LORD drink their fill, the cedars of Lebanon which He planted." 142 00:12:07,918 --> 00:12:11,113 So those cedars, He planted them. 143 00:12:11,113 --> 00:12:17,141 So God planted them, and then He waters them. (P) 144 00:12:20,875 --> 00:12:25,991 Psalm 104 again, a little bit later, "O LORD, how many are Your works! 145 00:12:25,991 --> 00:12:32,060 In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your possessions." 146 00:12:32,060 --> 00:12:34,830 He talks about the various animals - great and small. 147 00:12:34,830 --> 00:12:39,491 He says, "They all wait for You to give them their food in due season. 148 00:12:39,491 --> 00:12:42,323 You give to them, they gather it up; 149 00:12:42,323 --> 00:12:44,916 You open Your hand and they are satisfied with good. 150 00:12:44,916 --> 00:12:47,983 You hide Your face, they are dismayed; 151 00:12:47,983 --> 00:12:53,537 You take away their spirit, they expire and return to their dust. 152 00:12:53,537 --> 00:12:57,768 You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; and You renew the face of the ground." 153 00:12:57,768 --> 00:13:00,072 And then the Lord Jesus mentions this, doesn't He? 154 00:13:00,073 --> 00:13:04,152 Matthew 6:26, "Look at the birds of the air: 155 00:13:04,152 --> 00:13:09,402 they do not sow, neither do they reap nor gather into barns, 156 00:13:09,402 --> 00:13:14,104 and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. 157 00:13:14,104 --> 00:13:17,830 Are you not worth much more than they?" (P) 158 00:13:17,830 --> 00:13:24,330 So God is actively providing for even the plant and animal kingdoms, 159 00:13:24,330 --> 00:13:29,500 and in order to do that, He must order and govern all the elements of nature, 160 00:13:29,500 --> 00:13:35,860 right down to commanding the lightning where it's gonna strike, to strike the mark. 161 00:13:35,860 --> 00:13:41,593 But He does infinitely more than just provide for plants and animals, doesn't He? 162 00:13:41,593 --> 00:13:49,357 He not only has to look out for, and take thought beforehand, for plants and animals, 163 00:13:49,357 --> 00:13:54,449 He has to take thought beforehand for everything - 164 00:13:54,449 --> 00:14:04,946 for every possibility, and every contingency, for all events, for all time and eternity. 165 00:14:04,946 --> 00:14:09,051 Isn't that something? (P) 166 00:14:09,051 --> 00:14:15,013 Ephesians 1:11 tells us that "He works all things after the counsel of His own will." 167 00:14:15,014 --> 00:14:18,991 God has a counsel. He has a plan. 168 00:14:18,991 --> 00:14:22,188 He has a purpose in history, and He's working everything, 169 00:14:22,188 --> 00:14:26,079 right down to the smallest so-called "chance events", 170 00:14:26,079 --> 00:14:28,683 as part of the fulfilling of that plan. 171 00:14:28,683 --> 00:14:37,806 One of the things that makes God God, is that He alone declares the end from the beginning. 172 00:14:37,806 --> 00:14:41,750 Isaiah 46, He says, "Remember the former things long past, 173 00:14:41,750 --> 00:14:45,051 for I am God, and there is no other; 174 00:14:45,051 --> 00:14:51,307 I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, 175 00:14:51,307 --> 00:14:54,656 and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, 176 00:14:54,656 --> 00:15:05,734 'My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure'; 177 00:15:05,734 --> 00:15:07,949 Calling a bird of prey from the east." 178 00:15:07,949 --> 00:15:11,905 (Now if you read in Isaiah, this had to do with the heathen king, 179 00:15:11,905 --> 00:15:16,159 and God was calling him to fulfill His purposes.) 180 00:15:16,159 --> 00:15:21,178 "Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. 181 00:15:21,178 --> 00:15:26,122 I have planned it, surely I will do it." 182 00:15:26,123 --> 00:15:28,779 Beloved, God has a plan and a purpose; 183 00:15:28,779 --> 00:15:36,733 and every single thing that He has ever purposed, He certainly will bring to pass. (P) 184 00:15:36,733 --> 00:15:40,449 We ought not to use the language, you know, "God is trying to do this or that." 185 00:15:40,449 --> 00:15:45,358 He never tries to do anything. 186 00:15:45,358 --> 00:15:47,270 Every single thing that He has purposed - 187 00:15:47,270 --> 00:15:51,907 it doesn't matter if all the nations of the world rage against Him. 188 00:15:51,907 --> 00:15:56,808 Daniel 2:21, "It is He who changes the times and the epochs; 189 00:15:56,808 --> 00:16:00,762 He removes kings and establishes kings." 190 00:16:00,762 --> 00:16:08,004 Acts 17:26, "He made every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, 191 00:16:08,004 --> 00:16:13,837 having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation." 192 00:16:13,838 --> 00:16:19,546 So somebody like Alexander the Great, God already determined how far exactly he would conquer, 193 00:16:19,546 --> 00:16:23,587 and how long his kingdom would last. 194 00:16:23,587 --> 00:16:30,078 He raises up kings, He puts down kings; He changes the times and the epochs. (P) 195 00:16:30,078 --> 00:16:35,321 Psalm 33:10, "The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations; 196 00:16:35,321 --> 00:16:39,459 He frustrates the plans of the peoples. 197 00:16:39,459 --> 00:16:47,088 The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of His heart from generation to generation." 198 00:16:47,088 --> 00:16:48,301 Isn't that a blessed thought? 199 00:16:48,301 --> 00:16:52,511 God has plans in His heart and they never change. 200 00:16:52,511 --> 00:16:56,734 They never change from generation to generation. 201 00:16:56,735 --> 00:17:00,840 He has plans. He has counsel. (P) 202 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:04,021 So, what is God's providence? 203 00:17:04,021 --> 00:17:06,446 The Westminster Shorter Catechism says this: 204 00:17:06,448 --> 00:17:12,329 "God's works of providence are His most holy, wise, and powerful 205 00:17:12,329 --> 00:17:19,539 preserving and governing all His creatures and all their actions." 206 00:17:19,539 --> 00:17:26,127 Loraine Boettner said this: "God is no mere spectator of the universe He has made, 207 00:17:26,127 --> 00:17:28,739 but is everywhere present and active, 208 00:17:28,739 --> 00:17:33,590 the all sustaining ground, and all governing power of all that is. 209 00:17:33,590 --> 00:17:38,741 Every raindrop and every snowflake which falls from the cloud, 210 00:17:38,741 --> 00:17:42,940 every insect which moves, every plant which grows, 211 00:17:42,940 --> 00:17:46,801 every grain of dust which floats in the air, 212 00:17:46,801 --> 00:17:52,142 has had certain definite causes and will have certain definite effects. 213 00:17:52,142 --> 00:17:54,693 Each is a link in the chain of events, 214 00:17:54,693 --> 00:18:03,302 and many of the great events of history have turned on these apparently insignificant things.“ (P) 215 00:18:03,302 --> 00:18:06,878 I don't know how many of you learned this poem; 216 00:18:06,878 --> 00:18:09,739 when I was in grade school we were exposed to it, 217 00:18:09,739 --> 00:18:13,786 and I was always fascinated by it long before I became a Christian. 218 00:18:13,786 --> 00:18:19,412 But it goes like this: "For want of a nail the shoe was lost. 219 00:18:19,412 --> 00:18:23,835 For want of a shoe the horse was lost. 220 00:18:23,835 --> 00:18:26,072 For want of a horse the rider was lost. 221 00:18:26,072 --> 00:18:29,622 For want of a rider the message was lost. 222 00:18:29,622 --> 00:18:33,324 For want of a message the battle was lost. 223 00:18:33,324 --> 00:18:37,618 For want of a battle the war was lost. 224 00:18:37,618 --> 00:18:41,304 For want of a war the kingdom was lost." 225 00:18:41,304 --> 00:18:46,773 And it goes back to that nail that was missing in that horse's shoe. 226 00:18:46,773 --> 00:18:48,996 And that's where you'll say, "Well, that couldn't happen." 227 00:18:48,996 --> 00:18:57,945 Beloved, all of history hangs on multitudes of things just like that. 228 00:18:57,945 --> 00:19:00,370 All of history. (P) 229 00:19:00,370 --> 00:19:03,694 George Washington, in the French and Indian War, 230 00:19:03,694 --> 00:19:10,432 he told about what it was like to have bullets whizzing by his head. 231 00:19:10,432 --> 00:19:15,309 He could hear the sound, you know; he said it was quite a thing. 232 00:19:15,309 --> 00:19:25,366 Think if the bullet had dropped five inches, how different would American history be? (P) 233 00:19:27,046 --> 00:19:35,567 In 1588, the so-called invincible Spanish Armada went against England. 234 00:19:35,567 --> 00:19:39,548 Catholic Spain against Protestant England. 235 00:19:39,548 --> 00:19:41,946 And the storms came in. 236 00:19:41,946 --> 00:19:45,552 Part of the reason [for their defeat] was the storms that came in, 237 00:19:45,552 --> 00:19:49,272 that scattered those ships all along the coasts of Ireland and Scotland. 238 00:19:49,272 --> 00:19:54,222 There were many homes that were built out of the wrecks of those ships. 239 00:19:54,222 --> 00:19:58,194 And Phillip II said, "I can't fight against God." 240 00:19:58,194 --> 00:20:00,251 And he was right about that. 241 00:20:00,251 --> 00:20:06,971 Think of how different it would have been if England had became Catholic in 1588. 242 00:20:06,971 --> 00:20:13,599 A lot of those missionary biographies over there would not be on the book table. 243 00:20:13,599 --> 00:20:18,588 And that related to storms. (P) 244 00:20:20,144 --> 00:20:23,495 Napoleon, in one of his campaigns, 245 00:20:23,496 --> 00:20:32,057 he said, "I was defeated by General Mud and General Snow." (P) 246 00:20:33,721 --> 00:20:43,115 In the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, a hundred thousand people lost their homes. 247 00:20:43,115 --> 00:20:47,003 And they traced it back to the O'Leary shed. 248 00:20:47,003 --> 00:20:49,260 And nobody knows for sure what it is, 249 00:20:49,260 --> 00:20:54,144 the story is that Mrs O'Leary's cow kicked over the lantern. 250 00:20:54,144 --> 00:20:57,383 But they don't know, they haven't verified that. 251 00:20:57,383 --> 00:21:02,899 Someone said they thought maybe it was a spark from a nearby chimney. 252 00:21:02,899 --> 00:21:05,177 That's comforting, isn't it? 253 00:21:05,177 --> 00:21:09,657 "It wasn't her cow, it was just a spark, a little spark." 254 00:21:09,657 --> 00:21:13,036 Another fellow had the theory that somebody set the fire. 255 00:21:13,036 --> 00:21:14,677 That's really comforting, too. 256 00:21:14,677 --> 00:21:19,837 A hundred thousand people lose their home because some character set a fire. 257 00:21:19,837 --> 00:21:28,376 These are the tiniest little events. Think of all the lives. 258 00:21:28,376 --> 00:21:30,889 Think of a hundred thousand people losing their homes. 259 00:21:30,890 --> 00:21:34,312 Think of the people that went out, and went here and went there; 260 00:21:34,312 --> 00:21:38,667 and the guy that got a Bible off somewhere, 261 00:21:38,667 --> 00:21:43,240 that wouldn't have gotten that Bible if it hadn't been for that fire; 262 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:44,944 and the people that were converted, 263 00:21:44,944 --> 00:21:51,099 and the children that were born, and all the events. (P) 264 00:21:52,779 --> 00:21:55,346 One of the old Puritans said it like this: 265 00:21:55,346 --> 00:22:04,591 "Behold, how great a weight of history hangs on such a slender thread of providence." 266 00:22:04,591 --> 00:22:07,615 How great a weight of history. 267 00:22:07,615 --> 00:22:09,383 And you can see that in your own life. 268 00:22:09,383 --> 00:22:16,264 I remember in Kirksville, a girl was trying to swat a fly in her car, 269 00:22:16,264 --> 00:22:20,330 and fliplost control and killed her. 270 00:22:20,330 --> 00:22:25,029 You see, if God doesn't control a fly flying around, 271 00:22:25,029 --> 00:22:27,885 you would have no guarantee of your life at all. 272 00:22:27,885 --> 00:22:30,244 I remember one time, years ago, 273 00:22:30,245 --> 00:22:34,947 we were heading out for some time away for our anniversary, and I ran a red light. 274 00:22:34,947 --> 00:22:37,205 It could very easily have been the end of me. 275 00:22:37,206 --> 00:22:43,194 I saw a guy killed on that highway right there, south of our town, 276 00:22:43,194 --> 00:22:44,600 blood all over the highway. 277 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:47,352 That could easily have been me. 278 00:22:47,352 --> 00:22:52,413 Just one little event. (P) 279 00:22:54,460 --> 00:22:57,569 God has to control everything. 280 00:22:57,570 --> 00:23:05,562 He must control everything in order to declare the end from the beginning. 281 00:23:05,562 --> 00:23:12,009 I was thinking as we drove down here, every car on the highway, you know, 282 00:23:12,010 --> 00:23:14,890 if there was an accident that happened five miles down the road, 283 00:23:14,890 --> 00:23:18,145 there's this tree branching out of changed events of history; 284 00:23:18,146 --> 00:23:22,891 and on that tree are more trees, and it goes infinite. 285 00:23:22,891 --> 00:23:29,242 Every little thing right here tonight, every little thing that takes place, 286 00:23:29,242 --> 00:23:33,660 has an infinite string of trees branching off. 287 00:23:33,660 --> 00:23:37,224 Isn't that something? (P) 288 00:23:38,529 --> 00:23:42,893 Think of this: God says that the names of the elect 289 00:23:42,893 --> 00:23:46,183 were written in the Lamb's book of life from the foundation of the world. 290 00:23:46,183 --> 00:23:52,481 Do you realize - no, you don't realize - how many events had to take place 291 00:23:52,481 --> 00:23:59,661 in the last thousand years for your parents to get married and you to be born? 292 00:23:59,661 --> 00:24:03,982 I mean, you would not have even existed! 293 00:24:03,982 --> 00:24:12,378 And God has every name in the book of life from the foundation of the world. 294 00:24:12,378 --> 00:24:18,594 He declares the end from the beginning. 295 00:24:20,782 --> 00:24:23,230 What a thing this is. (P) 296 00:24:23,230 --> 00:24:32,384 "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD" (Prov. 16:33). 297 00:24:32,384 --> 00:24:38,266 David is hiding in a cave, Saul just happens to come in there right at that time, 298 00:24:38,266 --> 00:24:39,906 right in the cave where he was hiding. 299 00:24:39,906 --> 00:24:43,456 And David said, "The Lord gave you into my hand." 300 00:24:43,456 --> 00:24:49,634 He knew it wasn't chance, and he didn't kill Saul. (P) 301 00:24:49,634 --> 00:24:53,310 Well, so much for what we mean by providence. 302 00:24:53,310 --> 00:24:55,351 What are some applications? 303 00:24:55,351 --> 00:25:00,339 How should this truth of the providence of God affect our lives? 304 00:25:00,339 --> 00:25:07,896 First of all, this ought to fill all of us with great humility. 305 00:25:07,896 --> 00:25:09,026 Great humility. 306 00:25:09,026 --> 00:25:14,295 Everything we have, everything we are, everything we have accomplished - 307 00:25:14,295 --> 00:25:18,952 even the fact that you're alive here tonight, sitting here tonight - 308 00:25:18,952 --> 00:25:27,181 is hanging from the slenderest thread of God's merciful providence. (P) 309 00:25:27,181 --> 00:25:31,669 You have a strong body? So did Christopher Reeves (Superman), 310 00:25:31,669 --> 00:25:36,188 until he got thrown from a horse and became a quadriplegic, 311 00:25:36,188 --> 00:25:41,606 who had to be on a breathing apparatus for the rest of his life. 312 00:25:41,606 --> 00:25:43,935 You have good eyes? So did Fanny Crosby, 313 00:25:43,935 --> 00:25:51,801 till the doctor put the wrong thing in her eyes when she was a little girl, and made her go blind. 314 00:25:51,801 --> 00:25:55,164 Are you athletic? So was Joni Eareckson, 315 00:25:55,164 --> 00:26:02,352 till she jumped into that water that was too shallow and broke her neck. (P) 316 00:26:02,352 --> 00:26:06,908 Mona and I were in a coma unit a number of years ago, 317 00:26:06,908 --> 00:26:09,801 and there was a fellow in there, maybe in his 40s. 318 00:26:09,801 --> 00:26:11,181 We said, What happened to him? 319 00:26:11,182 --> 00:26:16,335 Well, the wife and husband were out, riding their bikes; 320 00:26:16,335 --> 00:26:20,248 and they got tangled up somehow and fell down. 321 00:26:20,249 --> 00:26:22,058 They weren't going fast. 322 00:26:22,058 --> 00:26:26,469 They were just out for a little bike ride, fell down, and he hit his head on the pavement; 323 00:26:26,470 --> 00:26:30,220 and he'd been in a coma ever since. 324 00:26:30,220 --> 00:26:33,340 One little chance accident. (P) 325 00:26:33,340 --> 00:26:36,457 You have financial prosperity? 326 00:26:36,457 --> 00:26:41,414 There are so many people in human history that thought they had it made, 327 00:26:41,414 --> 00:26:46,045 they lost everything just like that. 328 00:26:46,046 --> 00:26:50,266 And you could, too. 329 00:26:50,266 --> 00:26:57,115 Paul says in 1st Corinthians 4:7, "What do you have that you have not received?" 330 00:26:57,115 --> 00:26:58,783 And we might well add to that: 331 00:26:58,783 --> 00:27:03,694 "And what have you received that God hasn't sustained moment by moment, 332 00:27:03,694 --> 00:27:07,227 or you would have lost it by now?" (P) 333 00:27:07,227 --> 00:27:14,524 So I want to say to you, beloved, what are you tempted to be proud of tonight? 334 00:27:14,524 --> 00:27:17,462 You girls, are you tempted to be proud of your beauty? 335 00:27:17,462 --> 00:27:24,164 Do you realize you could lose that in a second? 336 00:27:24,164 --> 00:27:27,072 Are you proud of how smart you are? 337 00:27:27,072 --> 00:27:34,496 One little thing and it can be gone, and you can't even put sentences together. 338 00:27:34,496 --> 00:27:41,602 Beloved, we are being upheld by this slender thread of providence all the time. 339 00:27:41,602 --> 00:27:42,695 Everything. 340 00:27:42,695 --> 00:27:46,870 Everything you have, everything you are! 341 00:27:46,870 --> 00:27:48,465 Everything that you've accomplished, 342 00:27:48,465 --> 00:27:52,462 it's been accomplished through grace, grace, grace, all along the way; 343 00:27:52,462 --> 00:27:59,584 and individual little things that have kept you alive to get you here tonight. 344 00:27:59,584 --> 00:28:05,525 If you're not a Christian, don't go out of here without crying out to God. 345 00:28:05,525 --> 00:28:12,730 If you are a Christian, God have mercy on you if you've got pride welling up in you. 346 00:28:12,730 --> 00:28:23,695 Moment by moment, sustained by unspeakable slender thread of providence. (P) 347 00:28:23,695 --> 00:28:27,587 What else does the doctrine of providence teach us? 348 00:28:27,587 --> 00:28:31,875 It ought to fill us with great comfort. 349 00:28:31,875 --> 00:28:33,916 Providence ought to fill us with great comfort. 350 00:28:33,916 --> 00:28:43,135 Now I say that in spite of the fact that providence can sometimes seem very heartless and cruel. 351 00:28:43,135 --> 00:28:44,485 As one brother put it, 352 00:28:44,485 --> 00:28:49,055 "Providence will knock you down and kick you in the ribs." 353 00:28:49,055 --> 00:28:53,366 And sometimes it'll kick you so hard you think you're going to die. 354 00:28:53,366 --> 00:28:57,376 You think it's gonna kill you. (P) 355 00:28:57,376 --> 00:28:59,689 There was a Baptist pastor, Scott Willis, 356 00:28:59,689 --> 00:29:06,794 in 1994 he drove over a piece of metal, out on the interstate by Milwaukee. 357 00:29:06,794 --> 00:29:12,203 And that piece of metal flipped up and hit his gas tank, and the car exploded. 358 00:29:12,203 --> 00:29:15,463 He had six children in the back. 359 00:29:15,463 --> 00:29:18,910 Five of them were dead right then, burning up in that inferno. 360 00:29:18,910 --> 00:29:22,657 One of them made it out, long enough to say a few words to his dad, 361 00:29:22,657 --> 00:29:27,134 and died the next day. All six of them, gone. 362 00:29:27,134 --> 00:29:32,930 What? Because of a chance piece of metal. 363 00:29:32,930 --> 00:29:37,180 You see what I mean about providence knocking you down? 364 00:29:37,180 --> 00:29:40,656 And beloved, church history is full of events like that. 365 00:29:40,656 --> 00:29:49,417 You look at some of the stories of hymn writers, it's unbelievable. 366 00:29:49,417 --> 00:29:52,768 Seemingly pointless and cruel providences. (P) 367 00:29:52,768 --> 00:29:55,637 A young husband is killed in a moment, 368 00:29:55,637 --> 00:29:59,122 leaves behind a grieving wife and a bunch of little children. 369 00:29:59,122 --> 00:30:02,656 That happens repeatedly. 370 00:30:02,656 --> 00:30:06,805 I know of a young preacher back when I was young, 371 00:30:06,806 --> 00:30:08,758 and I heard him preach one time, 372 00:30:08,758 --> 00:30:13,111 and I thought, "Men, this guy is such a powerful preacher. 373 00:30:13,111 --> 00:30:16,326 What is he going to be as he goes on in life?" 374 00:30:16,326 --> 00:30:20,013 Next thing I heard, he had been killed in a coupling accident 375 00:30:20,013 --> 00:30:22,798 between two box cars on the rail road. 376 00:30:22,798 --> 00:30:25,908 He left everything. (P) 377 00:30:33,102 --> 00:30:36,601 Ecclesiastes 9: 11-12 says this, 378 00:30:36,601 --> 00:30:43,446 "I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift." 379 00:30:43,446 --> 00:30:48,959 Here's a swift guy, you say, "He'll win." No, you don't know that. 380 00:30:48,959 --> 00:30:50,855 "The battle is not to the warriors, 381 00:30:50,855 --> 00:30:58,129 and neither is bread to the wise nor wealth to the discerning, 382 00:30:58,129 --> 00:31:07,366 nor favor to men of ability; for time and chance overtake them all. 383 00:31:07,366 --> 00:31:09,928 Moreover, man does not know his time: 384 00:31:09,928 --> 00:31:14,121 like fish caught in a treacherous net and birds trapped in a snare, 385 00:31:14,121 --> 00:31:19,994 so the sons of men are ensnared at an evil time when it suddenly falls on them." 386 00:31:19,994 --> 00:31:25,110 Well, that's pretty cynical, but it's often the way it seems. 387 00:31:25,110 --> 00:31:28,202 And a lot of these things in Ecclesiastes, you remember, 388 00:31:28,202 --> 00:31:33,310 are things described as things that were seen under the sun. 389 00:31:33,310 --> 00:31:35,731 And if you're looking at things from that perspective, 390 00:31:35,732 --> 00:31:39,140 that's what you're going to see. 391 00:31:39,140 --> 00:31:42,403 Things that don't seem to make sense. (P) 392 00:31:42,403 --> 00:31:44,370 I remember stories from my childhood. 393 00:31:44,370 --> 00:31:50,643 My dad worked for the railroad, he was a welder. 394 00:31:50,643 --> 00:31:52,472 And he told me a story one time. 395 00:31:52,472 --> 00:31:58,269 There was a heavy load lifted on a crane, being suspended up in the air. 396 00:31:58,269 --> 00:32:00,421 And the men were working there. 397 00:32:00,422 --> 00:32:04,462 I don't know how long it had been up there, but it had been up there a while. 398 00:32:04,462 --> 00:32:12,855 And one of the men was walking somewhere to get to another job site, 399 00:32:12,855 --> 00:32:15,182 and right at that instant the chain broke, 400 00:32:15,182 --> 00:32:20,241 and that thing fell and came down right on him, right as he was under it. 401 00:32:20,241 --> 00:32:25,032 Time and chance overtake them. (P) 402 00:32:27,829 --> 00:32:32,401 My grandfather told me a story, this is one I never forgot too. 403 00:32:32,401 --> 00:32:38,674 There was a thunderstorm; and one of the brothers, as I recall, 404 00:32:38,674 --> 00:32:43,327 was right there where my grandfather lived, on the other side of the creek down there. 405 00:32:43,327 --> 00:32:49,720 One of the brothers in the family was on his horse, trying to get back into the house; 406 00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:53,425 a lightning bolt hit him right in the yard on his way into the house. 407 00:32:53,425 --> 00:32:55,804 Dead, just like that. 408 00:32:55,804 --> 00:32:59,591 His other brother got on his horse and tried to ride across the creek 409 00:32:59,591 --> 00:33:02,709 to get over to tell the folks on this side; 410 00:33:02,709 --> 00:33:05,222 and he jumps off his horse, he's running towards the house: 411 00:33:05,222 --> 00:33:12,788 bam! another lightning bolt hits him and he's dead. Two brothers. 412 00:33:12,788 --> 00:33:20,830 You see what I mean about providence kicking you hard, I mean, taking your breath away? 413 00:33:20,830 --> 00:33:26,312 "Like birds trapped in a snare and fish caught in a treacherous net, 414 00:33:26,312 --> 00:33:30,490 so the sons of men are ensnared at an evil time when it suddenly falls on them." 415 00:33:30,490 --> 00:33:36,350 Men of the world look at that, and they curse God. 416 00:33:36,350 --> 00:33:37,573 It says in Revelation, 417 00:33:37,573 --> 00:33:40,780 "They gnaw their tongues and blaspheme the God of Heaven 418 00:33:40,780 --> 00:33:46,015 for their sorrows and their pains." (P) 419 00:33:46,015 --> 00:33:52,692 Some of you know that poem, Invictus, by William Ernest Henley. 420 00:33:52,692 --> 00:34:01,496 He says, "Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole, 421 00:34:01,496 --> 00:34:05,251 I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul." 422 00:34:05,251 --> 00:34:09,011 He's not trusting in God, you see, the true God. 423 00:34:09,011 --> 00:34:11,286 But in the midst of that poem he says, 424 00:34:11,288 --> 00:34:20,007 "In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud. 425 00:34:20,007 --> 00:34:28,065 Under the bludgeonings of chance, my head is bloody but unbowed." 426 00:34:28,065 --> 00:34:34,045 Now that's the way the world responds - bludgeonings of chance. 427 00:34:34,045 --> 00:34:36,770 Think of those two brothers. The bludgeonings of chance. 428 00:34:36,770 --> 00:34:38,877 That's all you have if you don't have God. 429 00:34:38,877 --> 00:34:43,562 So how can I talk about the comforts of the doctrine of providence? 430 00:34:43,562 --> 00:34:49,771 Well, we do have God. 431 00:34:52,141 --> 00:34:56,717 And the Lord Jesus did not talk about the bludgeoning of chance. 432 00:34:56,717 --> 00:35:02,766 This is what He said: "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? 433 00:35:02,766 --> 00:35:08,798 And yet, not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 434 00:35:08,798 --> 00:35:13,441 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 435 00:35:13,441 --> 00:35:18,650 Therefore do not fear: you are of more value than many sparrows." 436 00:35:18,650 --> 00:35:22,152 Now there's comfort in that, isn't there? (P) 437 00:35:22,152 --> 00:35:24,224 Look at this. 438 00:35:24,224 --> 00:35:30,233 First of all, He's not saying that sparrows never fall to the ground. 439 00:35:30,233 --> 00:35:31,662 He didn't say that. 440 00:35:31,662 --> 00:35:36,039 If the Bible said Christians didn't have to go through these things, 441 00:35:36,039 --> 00:35:39,300 that would leave us in despair. 442 00:35:39,300 --> 00:35:46,021 The Bible doesn't say you're not going to have bad things happen to you as a Christian. 443 00:35:46,021 --> 00:35:49,512 Okay? 444 00:35:49,512 --> 00:35:55,992 The righteous go through the same tragedies as the wicked. 445 00:35:55,992 --> 00:35:57,724 But notice what else He's saying. 446 00:35:57,724 --> 00:36:02,831 He's saying that when the sparrows do fall to the ground, God is right there. 447 00:36:02,831 --> 00:36:07,016 They can't fall, apart from Him. 448 00:36:07,016 --> 00:36:13,060 And He doesn't say, "Not a sparrow will fall to the ground apart from the Force." 449 00:36:13,060 --> 00:36:19,916 Or, "Not a sparrow will fall to the ground apart from the uncaring, cold Sovereign of the universe." 450 00:36:19,916 --> 00:36:20,907 He doesn't say that. 451 00:36:20,907 --> 00:36:26,462 He says, "Not a sparrow will fall to the ground apart from YOUR Father." 452 00:36:26,462 --> 00:36:29,662 Your Father. (P) 453 00:36:31,185 --> 00:36:35,406 And think of the illustration He uses here - sparrows. 454 00:36:35,406 --> 00:36:42,697 "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent?" 455 00:36:42,697 --> 00:36:47,398 They're worthless, relatively. 456 00:36:47,398 --> 00:36:51,436 One brother talks about The Forgotten Sparrow. 457 00:36:51,436 --> 00:36:55,448 What is he talking about? Luke 12:6 says it like this: 458 00:36:55,448 --> 00:36:59,187 "Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? 459 00:36:59,187 --> 00:37:01,989 And not one of them is forgotten before God." 460 00:37:01,989 --> 00:37:03,742 Now do the math on it. 461 00:37:03,742 --> 00:37:08,468 "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent?" 462 00:37:08,468 --> 00:37:13,840 So how many could you get for two cents? You get four. 463 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:18,683 But the verse says, "Are not five sparrows sold for two cents?" 464 00:37:18,683 --> 00:37:25,213 In other words, they're so worthless you could throw in one. 465 00:37:25,213 --> 00:37:31,763 And that's the one that God doesn't forget. 466 00:37:31,763 --> 00:37:37,218 And that's the one that can't fall to the ground apart from your Father. 467 00:37:37,218 --> 00:37:43,992 The one that men don't even care about, they don't even charge enough to cover. (P) 468 00:37:43,992 --> 00:37:49,525 And then fourthly, He says, "The very hairs of your head are all numbered." 469 00:37:49,525 --> 00:37:53,090 And that means more than just God knows how many hairs are on your head. 470 00:37:53,090 --> 00:37:56,192 He knew how many hairs were on Hitler's head. 471 00:37:56,192 --> 00:38:02,406 I'm just talking about special care and concern. (P) 472 00:38:02,406 --> 00:38:06,958 I like this passage, Luke 21 says, "You will be delivered up even by parents 473 00:38:06,958 --> 00:38:14,509 and brothers and relatives and friends, 474 00:38:14,510 --> 00:38:17,289 and they will put some of you to death, 475 00:38:17,289 --> 00:38:23,697 and you will be hated by all on account of My name." 476 00:38:23,697 --> 00:38:28,908 Now listen to this: "Yet not a hair of your head will perish." 477 00:38:28,908 --> 00:38:33,839 They'll kill you, but not a hair of your head will perish. 478 00:38:33,839 --> 00:38:37,572 What is He saying? He is saying that if you're a child of God, 479 00:38:37,572 --> 00:38:44,169 nothing, absolutely nothing, not even one hair, 480 00:38:44,169 --> 00:38:45,623 nothing can happen to you. 481 00:38:45,623 --> 00:38:49,147 Nothing can just "happen" to you. 482 00:38:49,147 --> 00:38:53,393 Nothing can happen to you! 483 00:38:53,393 --> 00:38:58,420 Don't talk to me about the bludgeonings of chance for a Christian, never. 484 00:38:58,420 --> 00:39:02,388 Don't even let that thought enter your mind. 485 00:39:02,388 --> 00:39:04,919 Nothing can happen to you. (P) 486 00:39:04,919 --> 00:39:08,392 Hard providences don't prove that God is not with you. 487 00:39:08,392 --> 00:39:12,230 Look at Job. 488 00:39:12,230 --> 00:39:15,285 There's great comfort for the Christian in the providence of God. 489 00:39:15,285 --> 00:39:17,574 Things don't happen by chance; 490 00:39:17,574 --> 00:39:22,189 they come from the hand of an all-loving, all-wise heavenly Father. 491 00:39:22,189 --> 00:39:24,480 We're told in Lamentatons 3 that, 492 00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:30,103 "He does not afflict willingly or grieve the sons of men." 493 00:39:30,103 --> 00:39:34,091 That's encouraging, isn't it? God doesn't afflict willingly. 494 00:39:34,091 --> 00:39:39,536 It's not the idea that God just delights in the idea of making you suffer. 495 00:39:39,536 --> 00:39:42,577 He would rather not, let's put it that way. 496 00:39:42,577 --> 00:39:44,537 He doesn't do it willingly. 497 00:39:44,537 --> 00:39:49,073 He has some higher thing that can only be accomplished in that way. 498 00:39:49,073 --> 00:39:52,211 Isn't that something? 499 00:39:52,211 --> 00:39:58,910 "If He causes grief, then He will have compassion according to His abundant lovingkindness." 500 00:39:58,910 --> 00:40:01,841 Those are wonderful words, aren't they? 501 00:40:01,841 --> 00:40:06,103 Compassion and abundant lovingkindness. (P) 502 00:40:06,103 --> 00:40:09,208 Which of you fathers, if your child asks him for an egg, 503 00:40:09,208 --> 00:40:11,430 he says, "Here, son," and gives him a scorpion? 504 00:40:11,430 --> 00:40:14,579 That's not the way God is. 505 00:40:14,579 --> 00:40:17,913 We sang that song, I think, today or yesterday: 506 00:40:17,913 --> 00:40:21,324 "Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take. 507 00:40:21,324 --> 00:40:24,342 The clouds you so much dread are big with mercy, 508 00:40:24,342 --> 00:40:28,032 and will break with blessing on your head. 509 00:40:28,032 --> 00:40:34,554 Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His grace. 510 00:40:34,554 --> 00:40:42,991 Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face. 511 00:40:44,667 --> 00:40:48,201 His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour. 512 00:40:48,201 --> 00:40:54,106 The bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower." (P) 513 00:40:54,106 --> 00:40:58,361 Well, the doctrine of God's providence ought to fill us with comfort. 514 00:40:58,361 --> 00:41:04,216 What else? It ought to fill us with great gratitude. Great gratitude. 515 00:41:04,216 --> 00:41:08,485 Humility, comfort, gratitude. Why? 516 00:41:08,486 --> 00:41:15,293 Well, as Spurgeon said, because for the Christian, providence is the handmaid of grace. 517 00:41:15,293 --> 00:41:16,746 Just think of the woman at the well. 518 00:41:16,746 --> 00:41:23,847 She just happened to come out there to the well 519 00:41:23,848 --> 00:41:30,881 when the One Person in all the world, who could give her living water, 520 00:41:30,881 --> 00:41:35,194 was sitting there by the well. What a thing. 521 00:41:35,194 --> 00:41:46,207 It makes you wonder, why did she just happen to go out right then? 522 00:41:46,207 --> 00:41:48,842 Maybe she planned to go out an hour earlier 523 00:41:48,842 --> 00:41:56,514 but, you know, she dropped something and broke it, or something like that, we don't know. 524 00:41:56,514 --> 00:41:58,514 Her eternity was in the balance 525 00:41:58,514 --> 00:42:04,176 and she just happened to come out to the well at the right time. 526 00:42:04,177 --> 00:42:08,089 And every Christian can look back with unspeakable gratitude 527 00:42:08,089 --> 00:42:12,847 at the kind providences of God in his life. (P) 528 00:42:12,847 --> 00:42:15,347 John Newton, before he became a Christian, 529 00:42:15,347 --> 00:42:18,259 he was onboard ship, you know, he was a sailor. 530 00:42:18,259 --> 00:42:24,120 They were in a storm; he started up the ladder, the captain said, "John, go back and get a knife." 531 00:42:24,120 --> 00:42:28,707 He got off the ladder, turned around, another guy went up - wham! - 532 00:42:28,707 --> 00:42:33,076 a wave took that guy right off and he was gone. 533 00:42:33,076 --> 00:42:39,575 So John Newton says, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. 534 00:42:39,575 --> 00:42:46,195 'Twas grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me Home." (P) 535 00:42:46,195 --> 00:42:52,094 Ira Sankey was Moody's singer. 536 00:42:52,095 --> 00:42:59,984 The story is told, and I try to verify it enough so that I can tell at least part of it. 537 00:42:59,984 --> 00:43:07,019 He was on a river boat after the war, Christmas of 1876, 538 00:43:07,019 --> 00:43:11,016 a river boat on the Delaware River. 539 00:43:11,016 --> 00:43:14,093 And they found out that he was aboard (he was a famous person). 540 00:43:14,093 --> 00:43:17,379 They said, "Mr Sankey, will you sing for us?" 541 00:43:17,379 --> 00:43:29,447 And he decided to sing "Savior, Like a Shepherd, Lead Us." 542 00:43:29,447 --> 00:43:32,597 I believe that's right. 543 00:43:32,597 --> 00:43:39,143 And he stood there in the moonlight, singing that song. 544 00:43:39,144 --> 00:43:45,728 And after he got done a fellow came up and said, "Mr Sankey, did you serve in the Union Army?" 545 00:43:45,728 --> 00:43:47,757 He said, "Yes, I did." 546 00:43:47,757 --> 00:43:49,912 "Did you serve over in such and such area?" 547 00:43:49,912 --> 00:43:50,829 "Yes, I did." 548 00:43:50,829 --> 00:43:54,213 "Well, was it in so and so years, time period?" "Yeah." 549 00:43:54,214 --> 00:43:58,894 "Were you doing picket duty one moonlit night?" 550 00:43:58,894 --> 00:44:03,634 He said, "Yeah I was, I remember that." 551 00:44:03,634 --> 00:44:11,343 And he said, "I was a confederate soldier, and I had you in my sights, 552 00:44:11,343 --> 00:44:12,450 I was ready to shoot you. 553 00:44:12,450 --> 00:44:16,426 And you started singing, you started singing that song. 554 00:44:16,426 --> 00:44:19,987 And I thought, well I'll let him finish before I kill him." 555 00:44:19,987 --> 00:44:23,946 And by the time he got over, he couldn't do it. 556 00:44:23,946 --> 00:44:27,785 And then he hears him singing the same song in the moonlight on the river boat, 557 00:44:27,785 --> 00:44:30,573 and he realized, "That's the guy!" (P) 558 00:44:30,573 --> 00:44:38,563 You realize, he's out there singing, with death just staring right at him. 559 00:44:40,727 --> 00:44:49,534 Every Christian should look back with unspeakable gratitude 560 00:44:49,534 --> 00:44:52,410 on the providence, the kind providence of God in his life. 561 00:44:52,410 --> 00:44:59,228 I mean, you remember Amy Carmichael, who was a missionary to India, 562 00:44:59,228 --> 00:45:02,657 she was born with brown eyes. 563 00:45:02,657 --> 00:45:05,709 And as a girl she wanted so much to have blue eyes. 564 00:45:05,709 --> 00:45:09,785 She prayed that God would give her blue eyes. 565 00:45:09,785 --> 00:45:12,371 He never did. 566 00:45:12,371 --> 00:45:15,671 But if she'd had blue eyes, she couldn't have been used 567 00:45:15,672 --> 00:45:20,027 to go into those Hindu temples and rescue those girls; 568 00:45:20,028 --> 00:45:21,690 because she could make her skin brown 569 00:45:21,690 --> 00:45:24,078 but she would never have been able to do anything with her eyes, 570 00:45:24,078 --> 00:45:26,850 and she would have never gotten in. 571 00:45:26,850 --> 00:45:29,310 All part of God's providence. (P) 572 00:45:29,311 --> 00:45:34,529 In your own life, think of the events prior to your conversion. 573 00:45:34,529 --> 00:45:38,026 I remember when I was a boy, a fishing trip that I didn't get to go on, 574 00:45:38,026 --> 00:45:40,384 I felt so bad about it. 575 00:45:40,384 --> 00:45:45,845 And my grandparents that I would have gone with, had a terrible wreck. 576 00:45:45,845 --> 00:45:47,966 They were in the hospital for weeks. 577 00:45:47,966 --> 00:45:51,145 I would probably have been killed. 578 00:45:51,145 --> 00:46:01,094 And my mother said to me at the time, "Maybe God has a purpose for your life." 579 00:46:01,094 --> 00:46:04,872 I almost drowned a year before I was converted. 580 00:46:04,872 --> 00:46:08,620 I'm not telling you things that you don't know, that haven't happened to you. 581 00:46:08,620 --> 00:46:12,018 They've happened to you, too. (P) 582 00:46:12,018 --> 00:46:17,633 After you become a Christian, think of the providences, the kind providences. 583 00:46:17,633 --> 00:46:26,239 First year of college, first class of college, 7:30 AM, English class. 584 00:46:26,239 --> 00:46:32,052 The teacher said, "I want to learn your names, so I'm gonna put you in alphabetical order. 585 00:46:32,052 --> 00:46:43,622 Here's H, I, J, Jennings, Bob Jennings, that's J, and then L, Leiter." 586 00:46:43,622 --> 00:46:46,999 First class. 587 00:46:50,679 --> 00:47:00,897 Every Christian ought to look back with unspeakable gratitude on the providence of God. (P) 588 00:47:00,897 --> 00:47:04,795 I went out for a walk one night, after I had moved to Kirksville, 589 00:47:04,795 --> 00:47:06,202 still single at the time. 590 00:47:06,202 --> 00:47:10,419 I went out to pray, and I went a different direction totally 591 00:47:10,419 --> 00:47:14,632 and much further than I would have normally gone. 592 00:47:14,632 --> 00:47:23,642 And I was walking along and saw a group of Christians over here in a circle, in a yard, singing hymns; 593 00:47:23,643 --> 00:47:26,324 and I was on the other side of the street. 594 00:47:26,325 --> 00:47:31,930 And somehow the thought just went through my mind, "And He passed by on the other side." 595 00:47:31,930 --> 00:47:33,333 And I thought, "I don't want to do that, 596 00:47:33,334 --> 00:47:35,565 I'll just go over there and sit down by those Christians. 597 00:47:35,565 --> 00:47:39,755 They're probably a bunch of weirdos but..." [Laughter]. 598 00:47:39,755 --> 00:47:42,606 And I went over there and sat down with them; 599 00:47:42,606 --> 00:47:50,458 and I met a man and his wife, who has been a deacon in our church 600 00:47:50,458 --> 00:47:56,192 (a lot of you would know them) for forty years now. 601 00:47:56,192 --> 00:48:03,264 And a lot of different marriages have taken place, and all kinds of things. 602 00:48:03,264 --> 00:48:06,079 The providence of God. 603 00:48:06,079 --> 00:48:12,853 Think if I had walked down a different street, how different [it would have been]. (P) 604 00:48:12,853 --> 00:48:18,254 Mona and I were ready to get married, we didn't have any money. 605 00:48:18,255 --> 00:48:23,184 We had no money to buy her wedding dress, so she wanted to try to get some material. 606 00:48:23,185 --> 00:48:29,810 And a friend of hers came by, that she really didn't know very well, 607 00:48:29,810 --> 00:48:33,059 and really she's lost contact with her totally since then. 608 00:48:33,059 --> 00:48:36,697 But she came by, they were talking, 609 00:48:36,697 --> 00:48:39,871 and she said something about buying a dress. 610 00:48:39,871 --> 00:48:44,612 And Mona said, "I'm gonna have a lady in the church make one." 611 00:48:44,612 --> 00:48:49,682 She said, "Oh well, I bought the material for my dress and I didn't use it. 612 00:48:49,682 --> 00:48:55,021 I ended up buying a dress. I'll give you that material." 613 00:48:55,021 --> 00:48:57,380 And she wasn't trying to be picky or anything, 614 00:48:57,380 --> 00:49:01,080 but she said, "That's really kind, but I had such and such material in mind." 615 00:49:01,081 --> 00:49:05,604 Kind of a pearl color or something. 616 00:49:05,604 --> 00:49:11,783 And the lady said, "Well, that's what it is." [Laughter]. 617 00:49:11,784 --> 00:49:16,589 So she gives her the material, and the lady in her church is making the dress. 618 00:49:16,589 --> 00:49:23,112 And it gets down to the very end - this was a designer fabric company in Kansas City; 619 00:49:23,112 --> 00:49:28,606 right down at the very end, there was a little label that was sewed in from the fabric company. 620 00:49:28,606 --> 00:49:32,452 The seamstress pulls it out - "LEITER". 621 00:49:32,452 --> 00:49:36,125 Postmarks my name, and sews it in. 622 00:49:36,125 --> 00:49:40,901 LEITER - designer fabric company that none of us knew existed. 623 00:49:40,901 --> 00:49:46,241 I never had heard my name before except for me. (P) 624 00:49:46,241 --> 00:49:53,280 Just little tokens, God says, "You know, I know how many hairs are on your head." 625 00:49:53,280 --> 00:50:00,345 Now that's true for you, if you're a child of God. 626 00:50:00,345 --> 00:50:03,221 He's talking about care. 627 00:50:03,221 --> 00:50:10,462 He's not talking about bare knowledge, He's talking about care. 628 00:50:10,462 --> 00:50:13,774 You say, "You don't know how many hard things have happened to me." 629 00:50:13,775 --> 00:50:18,006 We talked about that, didn't we? 630 00:50:22,251 --> 00:50:26,595 Can't you say, as you look back and remember all the ways the Lord has led you, 631 00:50:26,595 --> 00:50:33,590 can't you say, like David did, "The lines fallen unto me in pleasant places." 632 00:50:33,590 --> 00:50:37,106 God has been so kind. (P) 633 00:50:37,106 --> 00:50:42,430 Fourthly, the providence of God ought to fill us with confidence. 634 00:50:42,430 --> 00:50:46,876 Why confidence? Well, because God is in control of everything, 635 00:50:46,877 --> 00:50:51,072 and nothing can thwart His purposes. 636 00:50:51,072 --> 00:50:54,960 He said, "Truly I have spoken, truly I will bring it to pass. 637 00:50:54,960 --> 00:50:59,310 I have planned it, surely I will do it." 638 00:50:59,310 --> 00:51:07,646 I love that account in 1st Kings about a certain man, who drew a bow at random, 639 00:51:07,646 --> 00:51:14,186 and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor. 640 00:51:14,186 --> 00:51:16,861 Now you could stand there all day shooting arrows at him, 641 00:51:16,861 --> 00:51:21,139 aiming between the joints of his armor, and never hit it. 642 00:51:21,139 --> 00:51:24,288 And he didn't even know, he just shot at random. 643 00:51:24,288 --> 00:51:29,568 You see, God had told Ahab he's going to die in that battle, 644 00:51:29,568 --> 00:51:36,403 and he said, "Well I'm not, I'm gonna disguise myself." 645 00:51:36,403 --> 00:51:41,844 That doesn't work very well, does it, when you're dealing with God. (P) 646 00:51:41,844 --> 00:51:49,506 But the thing that's so wonderful about this account is that Elijah had told him earlier. 647 00:51:49,506 --> 00:51:53,055 He said, "In the place where the dogs licked Naboth's blood," 648 00:51:53,055 --> 00:51:56,067 you remember, he had Naboth killed in order to get his vineyard. 649 00:51:56,067 --> 00:52:00,417 And Elijah said, "In the place where the dogs licked Naboth's blood 650 00:52:00,417 --> 00:52:03,603 they're gonna lick your blood." 651 00:52:03,603 --> 00:52:09,689 And Ahab wasn't very smart, but he was smart enough to know that that couldn't happen; 652 00:52:09,689 --> 00:52:18,153 because Samaria is something like 80 miles away, if you look on a Bible map. 653 00:52:18,153 --> 00:52:23,157 So it's either gonna be Elijah or Micaiah, one of these guys is wrong. 654 00:52:23,157 --> 00:52:25,505 They're both prophets of the LORD, one of them is wrong; 655 00:52:25,505 --> 00:52:27,681 because Micaiah says, "You're gonna die here," 656 00:52:27,681 --> 00:52:30,943 and Elijah says, "They're gonna lick your blood here." 657 00:52:30,943 --> 00:52:36,039 And he scoffs at it, he said, "Probably neither one of them is right." 658 00:52:36,039 --> 00:52:37,468 But what happened? 659 00:52:37,468 --> 00:52:42,327 The arrow hit him between the joints of the armor, and he stood in that chariot and bled out all day. 660 00:52:42,327 --> 00:52:48,940 They took the chariot back down and washed it at the pool in Samaria. 661 00:52:48,940 --> 00:52:56,408 And the dogs licked his blood, down in Samaria, where they had licked the blood of Naboth. 662 00:52:56,408 --> 00:53:00,291 And what does it say? It says, "The dogs licked up his blood, 663 00:53:00,291 --> 00:53:07,182 according to the word of the LORD which He spoke." (P) 664 00:53:07,182 --> 00:53:12,122 I say, the doctrine of God's providence ought to fill us with great confidence. 665 00:53:12,122 --> 00:53:16,915 You read the book of Esther, the whole Jewish nation is on the brink of destruction. 666 00:53:16,915 --> 00:53:21,450 And what does it say? The king couldn't sleep that night. 667 00:53:21,450 --> 00:53:25,110 And he asked for a book to be read, and they read in there about Mordecai, 668 00:53:25,111 --> 00:53:31,549 and all of those things unfolded that preserved the Jewish nation. 669 00:53:31,549 --> 00:53:37,392 "The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; 670 00:53:37,392 --> 00:53:41,855 He turns it wherever He wishes." (P) 671 00:53:41,855 --> 00:53:46,093 A lot of you are too young to remember the Missile Crisis in 1962. 672 00:53:46,093 --> 00:53:53,092 But Khrushchev had actually put nuclear warheads down in Cuba. 673 00:53:53,092 --> 00:53:55,392 And there came a stand-off; 674 00:53:55,393 --> 00:53:59,589 it was the closest to nuclear war that we ever came. 675 00:53:59,589 --> 00:54:02,592 I remember a girl that I knew, whose dad was in the military. 676 00:54:02,592 --> 00:54:04,352 She was standing out on the playground. 677 00:54:04,352 --> 00:54:12,877 I was in grade school, later grades; and she was almost in tears. 678 00:54:12,877 --> 00:54:18,117 Khrushchev, after everything passed and he wrote his memorial, 679 00:54:18,117 --> 00:54:25,661 he was dealing with his advisers, there in the Kremlin; 680 00:54:25,662 --> 00:54:30,663 and he said, "I said to them, 'hundreds of millions of people are going to die,' 681 00:54:30,664 --> 00:54:31,593 and they didn't care. 682 00:54:31,593 --> 00:54:35,945 They said, 'We don't want to lose face with Red China.'" 683 00:54:35,945 --> 00:54:39,435 And so it looked like God spared a nuclear holocaust 684 00:54:39,435 --> 00:54:46,464 from one man having enough common grace and sense not to press the button. (P) 685 00:54:46,465 --> 00:54:52,396 But then I found out later, more information were actually closer than that. 686 00:54:52,396 --> 00:55:01,010 There was a submarine over here that was loaded with nuclear torpedoes, 687 00:55:01,010 --> 00:55:08,265 and the US actually dropped depth charges; not big ones, but like hand grenade size. 688 00:55:08,265 --> 00:55:09,873 But they dropped depth charges, 689 00:55:09,873 --> 00:55:13,308 and they found out later that the commander of that submarine 690 00:55:13,308 --> 00:55:20,666 armed the nuclear weapons and was given the order to fire. 691 00:55:20,666 --> 00:55:27,479 But there was a rule that three commanding officers had to agree, 692 00:55:27,479 --> 00:55:31,571 and two out of three agreed. 693 00:55:31,571 --> 00:55:34,876 There was one man, if you want to know, 694 00:55:34,876 --> 00:55:37,671 (you can't thank him because it's God in His providence), 695 00:55:37,671 --> 00:55:40,591 his name is Vasili Arkhipov. 696 00:55:40,591 --> 00:55:44,108 And he didn't have peace about doing that. 697 00:55:44,108 --> 00:55:45,328 Isn't that amazing? 698 00:55:45,328 --> 00:55:50,378 The whole world, you know, all these holocaust scenerios, 699 00:55:50,378 --> 00:55:52,586 hinging on one man there. 700 00:55:52,587 --> 00:56:01,500 Because if they had deployed a nuclear weapon, it would have happened. (P) 701 00:56:04,797 --> 00:56:12,044 We can have confidence in God because of providence. 702 00:56:12,044 --> 00:56:15,400 Number five, we're almost done. 703 00:56:15,400 --> 00:56:20,574 The doctrine of God's providence ought to cause us to pray. 704 00:56:20,575 --> 00:56:22,786 Why is that? 705 00:56:22,786 --> 00:56:26,738 Well, because we know from the doctrine of providence, 706 00:56:26,738 --> 00:56:32,117 that God has the power to answer our prayers no matter what. 707 00:56:32,117 --> 00:56:33,883 He can do anything. 708 00:56:33,883 --> 00:56:36,808 And you might say, "Well, if God has everything planned out, 709 00:56:36,808 --> 00:56:39,414 then there's no need to pray. It's all gonna happen anyway." 710 00:56:39,414 --> 00:56:40,952 That misses the point, doesn't it? 711 00:56:40,952 --> 00:56:44,348 because He has everything planned out, 712 00:56:44,348 --> 00:56:50,471 including the prayers that are gonna be prayed that He's going to answer. (P) 713 00:56:50,471 --> 00:56:54,848 You see, there are prayers that God has answered 714 00:56:54,848 --> 00:57:02,048 through a series of providences that took place before the prayer was ever prayed. 715 00:57:02,048 --> 00:57:07,264 And those providences took place, before the prayer was ever prayed, 716 00:57:07,264 --> 00:57:13,602 in light of God's certain purpose and plan that the prayer would be prayed. 717 00:57:13,602 --> 00:57:17,307 And when it was prayed, He answered it. 718 00:57:17,307 --> 00:57:18,807 He's in control of all of it. 719 00:57:18,807 --> 00:57:21,366 Beloved, the fact is that God has set things up 720 00:57:21,366 --> 00:57:27,185 so that, in general, He will not answer if we don't ask. 721 00:57:27,185 --> 00:57:29,310 Now that's just reality. 722 00:57:29,310 --> 00:57:34,502 James says that, doesn't he? "You have not because you ask not." (P) 723 00:57:34,502 --> 00:57:37,266 Just one example. 724 00:57:37,266 --> 00:57:42,541 God prophesies through Jeremiah that people would be in captivity for 70 years. 725 00:57:42,541 --> 00:57:52,017 As the time draws near, Daniel reads that in the prophecy of Jeremiah; 726 00:57:52,017 --> 00:57:57,172 and Daniel says, "Well, no need to pray, it's already certain." 727 00:57:57,172 --> 00:57:59,263 It wasn't it, did he? 728 00:57:59,263 --> 00:58:02,393 "I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years 729 00:58:02,394 --> 00:58:06,309 which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet 730 00:58:06,309 --> 00:58:11,981 for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. 731 00:58:11,981 --> 00:58:18,442 So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, 732 00:58:18,442 --> 00:58:22,678 with fasting, sackcloth and ashes." 733 00:58:22,678 --> 00:58:26,251 Because he reads that God's gonna do this. 734 00:58:26,251 --> 00:58:30,532 In other words, God said He would do this, so we need to get to praying. 735 00:58:30,532 --> 00:58:35,813 He's able to do this, so we need to pray. (P) 736 00:58:35,813 --> 00:58:41,487 And then, lastly, the doctrine of God's providence 737 00:58:41,487 --> 00:58:45,157 ought to fill us with worship, praise, and adoration. 738 00:58:45,157 --> 00:58:51,101 And that's why I had brother Kevin read this psalm. 739 00:58:51,101 --> 00:58:54,812 "I will extol Thee, my God and King, 740 00:58:54,812 --> 00:58:59,652 and bless Thy name forever and ever. 741 00:58:59,652 --> 00:59:01,220 Every day I will bless you, and so on..." 742 00:59:01,220 --> 00:59:04,590 And he goes on and talks about God sustaining all who're falling 743 00:59:04,590 --> 00:59:06,365 and raising up all who're bowed down. 744 00:59:06,365 --> 00:59:11,261 "The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in due time. 745 00:59:11,261 --> 00:59:17,084 You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing, and so on..." 746 00:59:17,084 --> 00:59:22,332 May God help us to respond rightly. (P) 747 00:59:22,332 --> 00:59:27,542 The day that we were getting ready to pack up all those books, 748 00:59:27,542 --> 00:59:32,906 we rented a 5 by 8 trailer. 749 00:59:32,906 --> 00:59:41,157 And I went there, and the fellow that knew what to do had been called away by a toothache. 750 00:59:41,157 --> 00:59:45,091 And the fellow that was left behind didn't know how to read the first page. 751 00:59:45,091 --> 00:59:47,425 I knew I was in trouble when he turned on the computer 752 00:59:47,425 --> 00:59:53,774 and looked at the screen, the first page, for about three or four minutes. 753 00:59:53,774 --> 01:00:01,373 An an hour later, I'm finally to the point of getting the paper signed 754 01:00:01,373 --> 01:00:03,493 and getting it paid for. 755 01:00:03,493 --> 01:00:08,028 And this impatience starts to rise up. 756 01:00:08,028 --> 01:00:09,878 And then you know what happened? It dawned on me, 757 01:00:09,878 --> 01:00:15,522 I'm getting ready to go down and speak about Providence [Laughter]. 758 01:00:15,522 --> 01:00:18,034 I mean, these things are wonderful in theory, aren't they? 759 01:00:18,035 --> 01:00:19,940 But we're gonna face it. 760 01:00:19,940 --> 01:00:24,950 We'll face it tonight, we'll face it tomorrow. 761 01:00:24,950 --> 01:00:28,467 And if you stop and think, you know, God is in control. 762 01:00:28,467 --> 01:00:30,319 He's got purposes. 763 01:00:30,319 --> 01:00:34,829 Who knows what's going on? (P) 764 01:00:34,829 --> 01:00:38,447 Elizabeth Elliot had that account of the girl who had the contacts, 765 01:00:38,447 --> 01:00:41,429 maybe some of you read that. 766 01:00:41,429 --> 01:00:44,780 She was doing rock climbing and the rope popped her eye, 767 01:00:44,780 --> 01:00:49,664 and the contact popped out and fell down the cliff. 768 01:00:49,664 --> 01:00:52,637 And they finally finished their climb and got down, 769 01:00:52,637 --> 01:00:56,719 and she's praying, "O Lord, please, I know You know where it is." 770 01:00:56,719 --> 01:01:01,093 And some other person there that was getting ready to climb, said, 771 01:01:01,093 --> 01:01:11,599 "Look at this ant! This ant's carrying a contact." [Laughter]. 772 01:01:11,599 --> 01:01:13,464 Her dad was a cartoonist, 773 01:01:13,464 --> 01:01:19,403 and he did a little cartoon of an ant carrying a contact. 774 01:01:19,403 --> 01:01:25,725 And the ant is saying, "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this. [Laughter]. 775 01:01:25,725 --> 01:01:35,686 It's heavy, and I can't eat it; what am I doing?" [Laughter]. 776 01:01:35,687 --> 01:01:38,867 But you know what, a lot of times we're carrying things 777 01:01:38,867 --> 01:01:44,693 that we don't know why in the world God wants us to carry that. 778 01:01:44,693 --> 01:01:50,886 But you can be sure of this: He has a reason! 779 01:01:50,886 --> 01:01:54,903 And someday, maybe we'll get a little glimpse of what it is. 780 01:01:54,904 --> 01:02:00,404 I mean, I can picture an eternity - I'd say, right here in this group, 781 01:02:00,405 --> 01:02:06,682 we could spend about 100,000 years telling providences. 782 01:02:06,683 --> 01:02:08,684 Don't you think? 783 01:02:08,684 --> 01:02:12,438 Especially if you start to see into some of them that we don't even know about, 784 01:02:12,438 --> 01:02:16,047 that are happening all the time. (P) 785 01:02:16,047 --> 01:02:20,445 Well let's sing one more hymn.