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| > Sermon Archive > Sermons by Author > Dr. Wes Bredenhof > The gospel doctrine of providence | Previous Next Print |
| Order Of Worship (Liturgy) Note: all songs are from the CanRC/FRCA Book of Praise Hymn 6 Hymn 55 Psalm 93 Hymn 1 Hymn 9 Scripture reading: Job 1 Catechism lesson: Lord's Day 10 |
Beloved congregation of Christ,
One of the most comforting teachings of the Christian faith is found here in Lord’s Day 10 of our Catechism. This is one of the most encouraging doctrines we have. When we go through difficult times in our lives, this is a biblical teaching from which we can draw so much strength. Many of us have been through big disappointments, either with people or with circumstances. Many of us have been through times where it seemed like it was just one disaster after another. Some of us have had health difficulties – it seemed like there was no end in sight. Some of us continue to face that as a daily reality. Others among us have faced challenges and difficulties with family members. You were or are deeply concerned about them for one reason or another. Then there is our enemy, death. We’ve watched loved ones slowly taken from us through terrible deadly diseases. We’ve seen loved ones suddenly taken from us through accidents and other tragedies. In all these kinds of challenges, the doctrine of providence is there to encourage us. It’s there to encourage you today, if you find yourself right now going through some trial. We have this biblical teaching not only to help us begin making some sense of what we’re going through, but more importantly so that we can still trust and praise God, even when we’re in the middle of a raging storm.
Brothers and sisters, we’re considering the doctrine of providence in the context of the Apostles’ Creed. This follows from what we believe about “God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.” If we go back to Lord’s Day 7, we’re reminded that this is all part of what a Christian must believe. This is part of “all that is promised us in the gospel.” You’ll remember that the word “gospel” literally means “good news.” The good news given us in Scripture includes the doctrine of providence. Since it’s a gospel doctrine, we must believe it, and, as we believe it, it gives comfort to our hearts.
So this afternoon, let’s listen to the teaching of God’s Word about the gospel doctrine of providence. We’ll learn about:
- What this doctrine teaches
- Who this doctrine is for
- Why God reveals this doctrine
When we talk about what the Bible says about providence, one of the places people often turn to is the story of Job. Job had it all. He was wealthy. He’d been blessed richly by God in material things. Along with his wife, he had seven sons and three daughters, whom he all loved dearly. He was healthy and strong. Everything was going right in Job’s life. Then one day everything began to be turned upside down. All his wealth is snatched away from him. His beloved kids die. Then his health worsens. He gets these awful sores from his head to his feet – an awful itching he just can’t rid of. And Job is in the dark as to why all this happened. No answers. Nobody tells him. There’s no prophet who comes to Job to let him know why. There’s no message, no revelation from God. Job is just left there all on his own with no clue as to why. He doesn’t have access to the big picture, to the whole story.
Job has no idea of what’s going on. We know – we know, because the Bible tells us about the big picture. We know how the whole scenario was prepared for Job. But he didn’t know that. He didn’t have access to that revelation like we do. Yet he trusted God. Though he was in the dark as to what was happening, he didn’t fault God. In fact, the opposite. In fact, he blessed God’s Name; he praised him in the midst of his trials.
Job could do this because he understood God’s providence. Perhaps he didn’t have it as well-developed or expressed as we find it in our Catechism. But he understood the broad contours of it. He knew the content of this doctrine.
So what is the providence of God? It’s easy to state it in a simple way. In fact, I’ll explain it first for the kids. You kids can listen up here and your parents can ask you about this later. What is the providence of God? God is in control of everything that happens. That’s the simple explanation. Providence means God is in control of everything that happens. If it’s happening, it’s managed. We believe God is managing the universe. He’s in control, not just of a few things, but of absolutely everything. He takes care of us, and he takes care of everyone and everything.
Now that’s the simple definition for the children or people new to the faith. We can expand on that; we can go on to the doctrinal meat. God’s providence means he is sovereign. He’s in control of all things that happen in heaven and on earth. There is no place in the universe that falls outside of God’s providence. So we can add geography to our definition, just as our Catechism does. His sovereign power is present everywhere – it extends to all places.
We can expand further on that by noting that the Bible teaches that God’s providence includes absolutely everything. Things that are undesirable to us, things we might experience as bad, they too are included in God’s providence. So our Catechism poetically mentions leaf and blade, rain, fruitful years, food and drink, health and riches – but it also mentions drought, barren years, sickness, and poverty. When we say God’s providence covers all things, we really do mean “all things” – there are no exceptions. There are powerful illustrations of this in Scripture.
We could think of the classic story of Joseph in Genesis. Joseph gets thrown in a pit by his jealous brothers. He gets sold to human traffickers. He ends up working for an Egyptian and then falsely accused of attempted rape. Joseph goes to prison, but eventually is brought to become second in command of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. You know the story of what happens afterwards, of how his brothers come to him looking for food. When he finally reveals himself to them, they’re deathly afraid because of what they did to him. But he doesn’t exact revenge, because he sees God’s hand in all of this. He sees God’s providence, even in the wicked actions of his brothers and in the false accusations made against him. That’s one powerful illustration of how God’s providence includes things we might call wicked or evil, things we might look at in a negative light.
However, the most powerful illustration is found in the New Testament. Wicked men make false accusations against Jesus of Nazareth. They conspire and engineer his death on the cross. They were responsible for their actions. But yet later on the apostles preach that this was all in God’s providence too. You can find that in Peter’s Pentecost sermon in Acts 2. He preaches how God providentially worked through the wicked actions of the Jewish religious leaders to bring us salvation through our Saviour. Here we have the ultimate reason why the doctrine of providence is a gospel doctrine – because it factors into the saving work of God through Christ. God being in control of all things led to our reconciliation with God through the blood of the cross.
Loved ones, as we experience trials, let’s always remember: God is in control. He is in control everywhere. He is in control all the time. He is in control of everything. Our God is powerful and mighty, there’s no one like him. Now believing that doesn’t by itself resolve all our questions. There’ll still be times where we struggle with this doctrine. I have struggled with it at times. Horrible tragedies can come into your life when you really wrestle with believing that God is in control. You may be tempted to doubt because what you’re going through is so awful that you find it hard to believe that God could be in control of this. At times like that, go to the Word of God. Read the story of Job again. Remember how Job didn’t have the big picture. Yet he trusted God. He understood who he was and he understood who God was. That’s really the key in times of doubt. We’re little children. We’re not high and mighty humans who’ve got everything all figured out. We’re like toddlers in God’s world. We have to see that. We toddlers have a Father, a great Father. Our Father has everything figured out. He knows how things are and he’s making things happen. Our Father is infinitely more grown up and powerful than we will ever be. That’s what we have to grasp from the Word of God. We have to be humble and trust our Father.
And should we still doubt and wonder, always remember the cross. If God could bring the greatest good from the hell Jesus experienced on the cross, surely he’ll bring good in whatever we’re going through. Always look to the cross.
Let’s move on to consider who this doctrine is meant for. Well, first of all, it’s not meant for absolutely everyone on the face of the earth. God is in control of all things that happen in all people’s lives. That’s true. But the doctrine of providence goes on to state that he works all things for good in the lives of only some. This doctrine of providence is good news only for some people.
Romans 8:28 is one place where God reveals who those people are. Scripture says there, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” The doctrine of providence is meant for those who love God. It’s meant for those who are called according to his purpose. In other words, the biblical teaching of God’s providence is intended for Christians.
We find that biblical teaching in our Catechism’s summary as well. In Lord’s Day 9, we confess that God is our Father on account of Christ. In order for that to be true, we need to believe in Christ. We need to rest and trust in all his work on our behalf.
In QA 28, we find Romans 8:39 paraphrased. Our Catechism says no creature shall separate us from the love of our faithful God and Father. But listen to what Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Did you catch the last part? It is the love of God “in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We can only be sure of God’s fatherly love if we are in Christ Jesus our Lord. If we're looking to him in faith, trusting only in his perfect life and his perfect sacrifice made for us, then we can be sure God is our Father. Through Christ, we can be sure God has a hand of power and a heart of love for us.
You see, God’s power means so much more when we’re sure of his fatherly love. When we trust in Christ, we are reconciled to God, we have fellowship with him. We’re brought into his family and we are his children and heirs. No one and nothing can harm us. All because of Christ.
This highlights again the need for faith. Faith: that’s not only to know what the Bible says, not only to believe that what the Bible says is true, but also and above all to believe that what the Bible says about Jesus Christ is true for you, for you personally. Believe that and you become the recipient of so many blessings and privileges. Right at the top of the list is this precious teaching of God’s providence – the confidence that he’s in control of your life. He was in control from the moment you were conceived. He’s been in control every day, every year. He will continue to be. No one, nothing, no circumstance can separate you from the loving hand of your Father in heaven. All because of Jesus our Saviour. Loved ones, continue to look to him in faith, and this comfort and these blessings are all yours.
Last of all this afternoon we’re going to learn why God reveals this doctrine. Following the summary of biblical teaching in our Catechism, we can see at least four reasons. All of them are concrete and practical.
First of all, he gives us this doctrine so we would acknowledge him in all our ways. Note what it says in QA 27. Our Catechism lists all those things, “leaf and blade” and so on, and then it says that these things come not by chance, but by his Fatherly hand. Nothing happens by chance. As Christians, we should acknowledge that at all times. Because we love God and want to honour him, we should be careful in our speaking. We ought never to give the impression that we believe in luck or chance. There is no such thing. Therefore words such as “luck” and “lucky” ought to be thrown in the rubbish bin for Christians. It’s odd how we’d never dream of taking God’s name in vain, but many of us don’t think twice about speaking about being lucky. It’s even more odd how many of us find expressions like “Oh my gosh” to be offensive, and yet still use the word “lucky” in everyday conversations. Proverbs 3:6 teaches us that we should acknowledge God in all our ways, and one way to do that is by getting rid of luck and instead speaking of God’s blessings in our lives. Do that, whether we speak with believers or unbelievers. Loved ones, being conscientious about that would be honouring to our God, showing him and the people around us that we love him and take him seriously in our lives.
Second, our Catechism says this doctrine is designed to make us patient in adversity. Adversity means hard times. When things go pear-shaped, this doctrine is there to make us patient. We can wait on God, knowing he has a purpose in this trial. If God is in control, we don’t have to throw a temper tantrum and impatiently demand the end of whatever it is that’s making life hard. He knows what he is doing, even if we don’t. In other words, this doctrine is designed to help us trust him through tears, trust him through adversity. We may be in a storm in the middle of the lake, but he who controls the waves and the wind will bring us through to the other side. Trust him in adversity.
The flip side is where we find the third reason. Sometimes things go well in our lives. Sometimes things happen the way we prayed they would happen. Sometimes God even blesses us with things we never asked for – he just richly and graciously provides. At times like that, the worldly response is pride. When things go well for worldly people, they’re quick to take the credit for themselves. They boast about their accomplishments and think they deserve all the praise for making things turn out so good. Some Christians might do that too, forgetting entirely about God and his sovereign control. But other Christians might take a hybrid approach. God did his part – he gets some of the praise, but I did my part too and so I also deserve some praise. I can give God praise and be proud. I can share the credit with God. That’s really no better than the worldly approach. Loved ones, God is jealous for all the praise, all the thanksgiving. As the Bible says: let him who boasts, boast in the Lord, and in the Lord only. Soli Deo Gloria is the Latin expression you often hear, to God alone be the glory. Soli Deo Gloria. That’s what needs to be firmly fixed in our minds and hearts. When God’s providence brings us prosperity, we give him thanks. We give him all the credit. We bring him the praise and the glory. This doctrine is not meant to turn us inwards, but outwards. It’s not meant to keep our eyes on earth, on the horizontal, but to direct them up to heaven, to the vertical.
Finally, this doctrine is designed for us as we consider what the future holds. You don’t know what’ll happen tomorrow or any day in this coming week. I pray not, but tragedy could strike. A loved one could be taken away by death. Someone you really trusted might disappoint you and let you down. But there may also be good in the days ahead. Sometimes smooth sailing can distract us from where our focus needs to be. In Proverbs 30, Agur prays to God and asks only for what he needs. Only give me what I need, he prays, “lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is Yahweh?’” He looks to the future and he knows to whom he must look. He must look to God with confidence today and always. So it is with us. This doctrine of providence is there so, as we look to the future, we’re committed to placing our trust in our faithful God and Father. Whether what lays ahead are hard times or good times, we want to be focussed on him only, trusting in his love, and walking in his ways.
Loved ones, this is one of the most comforting teachings we have from the Scriptures. What we have in our Catechism faithfully summarizes this teaching. I’ve sometimes read this Lord’s Day with people in the hospital, or people facing other trials and challenges. This is comfort food for pilgrims on their journey to the heavenly Jerusalem. I urge you to eat up this spiritual food and let it nourish you, not only for the week to come, but for your whole life long. Trust your faithful God and Father. Because you have Christ as your Saviour, trust his love, trust his power. Trust that he’s in control of every single detail of your life, that he’s working all things together for good in your life, because he loves you in Jesus Christ. AMEN.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for revealing this doctrine of providence to us. We’re so glad and thankful that you are in control of everything in our lives, every day, everywhere. We trust your control because we have Christ as our Saviour, and thus we’re assured of your great love for us. We’re assured that we are your children, and you are our powerful and loving Father. Help us with your Spirit so we trust you more. Help us when we face adversities. Please help us to be patient and to wait on you. Help us not to doubt your love and power at such times. Please help us too in prosperity. We ask for your grace so that we would be humble and give you the thanks and praise your name deserves. We want to acknowledge you in all our ways – we know that we need the help of your Spirit to do that. Please work in us with your Spirit and Word so that we would always give witness to your place in our life. Father, we also ask that you’d help us to trust you for the future. We don’t what the future holds, but you do. Help us to have that firm confidence that whatever happens, nothing can separate us from your love. Thank you for being our faithful God and Father. Thank you for this comforting gospel doctrine of providence.
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Dr. Wes Bredenhof, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
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