C. Matthew McMahon
Christian Preacher
God's providence is something every Christian deals with on a daily basis - from how much money he has, to where he works (and whether he likes it or not) to the people and circumstacnes that are ordained in his life.
I. God the great Creator of all things doth uphold,[1] direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things,[2] from the greatest even to the least,[3] by his most wise and holy providence,[4] according to his infallible foreknowledge,[5] and the free and immutable counsel of his own will,[6] to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.[7]
1. Neh. 9:6; Psa. 145:14-16; Heb. 1:3
2. Dan. 4:34-35; Psa. 135:6; Acts 17:25-28; Job 34:1-41:34
3. Matt. 6:26-32; 10:29-31
4. Prov. 15:3; I Chr. 16:9; Psa. 104:24; 145;17
5. Acts 15:18; Isa. 42:9; Ezek. 11:5
6. Eph. 1:11; Psa. 33:10-11
7. Isa. 63:14; Eph. 3:10; Rom. 917; Gen. 45:7; Psa. 145:7
God Has a Right to Do Anything He Wills
The first principle is this: God has a right to do anything He wills. And the corollary of that is He always does everything He wills. That's foundational to our faith.
God has a right to do as He will because of His relationship to His creatures.
God's the potter; we're the clay. He has created us. Now which of us had any part in how He made us? The only way we are ever going to be able to deal with life and death right and righteously, honestly and helpfully is to face the fact that we're looking on something that's dependent on God. Part of the pain of sanctification is the helplessness that we behold when we experience things we would rather not. It forces us to look into the face of dependence, and we don't want to be dependent.
Everything God Does is Right
If He has a right to do it, it must be right when He does it.
God Acts Beyond Our Comprehension
Some people even want to know everything God is thinking. The Bible says in Isaiah 55:8-9: "My thoughts are not your thoughts. Your ways aren't my ways. As high as the heaven is above the earth, so high are my thoughts above your thoughts." If He doesn't reveal it, we not only have no right to know it, there's no way we're going to know it. And it's very foolish and presumptuous for us to attempt to know it. What a relief. What a relief not to have to be responsible for all the things God knows.
Our Lord God Acts from A Gracious Heart
It's important for us to understand that when our God does something He acts from a gracious heart. What happens when God does something that hurts you so bad you can hardly lift your eyes? You can hardly function? When the grief is so deep you can't even express it? When God produces that kind of grief in His people, He wants it to flow into worship. If your grief does not flow into worship, it is not righteous grief. The mark of the saint of God is that even though his soul is cast down he hopes in God. The very casting down stirs him to hope more in God. And at his darkest hour he loves the light all the more. And when he fails, even in his grief he looks to God.
And here's one of the tricks of the Devil. You get sad and depressed and down, and you lose your faith. And you see how unbelieving you are, and it makes you want to give up. And the Devil says, "See. You can't even handle problems." But you know what it ought to do, and what it can do as you grow? It'll make you say, "You're right, I can't." It's all the more reason to admire Him who does not grow weary. My flesh and my heart do perennially fail and will continue to, but God. . .
Grief tenderizes the heart. You are obstinate if you don't let grief tenderize you. It reveals the truth of our own condition. Sometimes God can speak to us when we're hurting in a way that we could never hear Him at any other time. How good God is to hurt us. "O Lord, it is good that I have been afflicted. I've learned your law in a way I never would have known it if I hadn't been afflicted."
And God sometimes breaks our heart in order to break our wills and our pride. God has a way of shutting us up. God has a way of stopping our flippancy. God has a way of making us realize we don't have control of anything.
God has a right to do as He will. He does everything right. He acts beyond our comprehension. And He always acts from a gracious heart, not just when we see it, but it's gracious whether we see it or not. What is our response to be then? When we behold God working, how do we respond?
Avoid questioning the wisdom and the grace of God. On the contrary, rejoice in it. The wisdom and the grace of God are to be admired and praised and rejoiced in, not to be questioned. God has the last word, doesn't He?
Recognize gladly the righteousness of all that God does, the power of God to do all He pleases, and the fact that God does it in such a way that often we can't comprehend it. But He always does it out of a gracious heart.
V. The most wise, righteous, and gracious God doth oftentimes leave, for a season, his own children to manifold temptations, and the corruption of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled;[19] and, to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends.[20]
19. II Chr. 32:25-26, 31; Deut. 8:2-3, 5; Luke 22:31-32; see II Sam. 24:1, 25
20. II Cor. 12:7-9; see Psa. 73:1-28; 77:1-12; Mark 14: 66-72; John 21:15-19
I. God the great Creator of all things doth uphold,[1] direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things,[2] from the greatest even to the least,[3] by his most wise and holy providence,[4] according to his infallible foreknowledge,[5] and the free and immutable counsel of his own will,[6] to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.[7]
1. Neh. 9:6; Psa. 145:14-16; Heb. 1:3
2. Dan. 4:34-35; Psa. 135:6; Acts 17:25-28; Job 34:1-41:34
3. Matt. 6:26-32; 10:29-31
4. Prov. 15:3; I Chr. 16:9; Psa. 104:24; 145;17
5. Acts 15:18; Isa. 42:9; Ezek. 11:5
6. Eph. 1:11; Psa. 33:10-11
7. Isa. 63:14; Eph. 3:10; Rom. 917; Gen. 45:7; Psa. 145:7
God Has a Right to Do Anything He Wills
The first principle is this: God has a right to do anything He wills. And the corollary of that is He always does everything He wills. That's foundational to our faith.
God has a right to do as He will because of His relationship to His creatures.
God's the potter; we're the clay. He has created us. Now which of us had any part in how He made us? The only way we are ever going to be able to deal with life and death right and righteously, honestly and helpfully is to face the fact that we're looking on something that's dependent on God. Part of the pain of sanctification is the helplessness that we behold when we experience things we would rather not. It forces us to look into the face of dependence, and we don't want to be dependent.
Everything God Does is Right
If He has a right to do it, it must be right when He does it.
God Acts Beyond Our Comprehension
Some people even want to know everything God is thinking. The Bible says in Isaiah 55:8-9: "My thoughts are not your thoughts. Your ways aren't my ways. As high as the heaven is above the earth, so high are my thoughts above your thoughts." If He doesn't reveal it, we not only have no right to know it, there's no way we're going to know it. And it's very foolish and presumptuous for us to attempt to know it. What a relief. What a relief not to have to be responsible for all the things God knows.
Our Lord God Acts from A Gracious Heart
It's important for us to understand that when our God does something He acts from a gracious heart. What happens when God does something that hurts you so bad you can hardly lift your eyes? You can hardly function? When the grief is so deep you can't even express it? When God produces that kind of grief in His people, He wants it to flow into worship. If your grief does not flow into worship, it is not righteous grief. The mark of the saint of God is that even though his soul is cast down he hopes in God. The very casting down stirs him to hope more in God. And at his darkest hour he loves the light all the more. And when he fails, even in his grief he looks to God.
And here's one of the tricks of the Devil. You get sad and depressed and down, and you lose your faith. And you see how unbelieving you are, and it makes you want to give up. And the Devil says, "See. You can't even handle problems." But you know what it ought to do, and what it can do as you grow? It'll make you say, "You're right, I can't." It's all the more reason to admire Him who does not grow weary. My flesh and my heart do perennially fail and will continue to, but God. . .
Grief tenderizes the heart. You are obstinate if you don't let grief tenderize you. It reveals the truth of our own condition. Sometimes God can speak to us when we're hurting in a way that we could never hear Him at any other time. How good God is to hurt us. "O Lord, it is good that I have been afflicted. I've learned your law in a way I never would have known it if I hadn't been afflicted."
And God sometimes breaks our heart in order to break our wills and our pride. God has a way of shutting us up. God has a way of stopping our flippancy. God has a way of making us realize we don't have control of anything.
God has a right to do as He will. He does everything right. He acts beyond our comprehension. And He always acts from a gracious heart, not just when we see it, but it's gracious whether we see it or not. What is our response to be then? When we behold God working, how do we respond?
Avoid questioning the wisdom and the grace of God. On the contrary, rejoice in it. The wisdom and the grace of God are to be admired and praised and rejoiced in, not to be questioned. God has the last word, doesn't He?
Recognize gladly the righteousness of all that God does, the power of God to do all He pleases, and the fact that God does it in such a way that often we can't comprehend it. But He always does it out of a gracious heart.
V. The most wise, righteous, and gracious God doth oftentimes leave, for a season, his own children to manifold temptations, and the corruption of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled;[19] and, to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends.[20]
19. II Chr. 32:25-26, 31; Deut. 8:2-3, 5; Luke 22:31-32; see II Sam. 24:1, 25
20. II Cor. 12:7-9; see Psa. 73:1-28; 77:1-12; Mark 14: 66-72; John 21:15-19