Well, I've been teaching you from the fourth chapter of the 1689 Confession of Creation, and I'm drawing near the end of that, and we're going to transition here today into the study of the fifth chapter of Divine Providence. In the decrees of God, as they are outworked, they are outworked in God's creating all things and then in his divine providence. And so we need to understand that God not only creates but he upholds the whole universe and everything in it from moment to moment, day by day. It's not just that he created all things and then he He let the whole thing go like somebody winding up a watch or a clock and then letting it go by. It's that God is intimately concerned with everything that he has created, both in terms of sustaining it and in terms of governing it. And his divine providence is his holy and wise governing of all that he has created. We're going to study that here together in the next few minutes. to read to you paragraph one here of chapter five of our confession. It says, God the good creator of all things in his infinite power and wisdom doth uphold, direct, dispose and govern all creatures and things from the greatest even to the least by his most wise and holy providence to the end for which they were created. according to his infallible foreknowledge and the free and immutable, that is his unchangeable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, infinite goodness and mercy. That's just the first paragraph of this chapter. This paragraph really is quite loaded with good material for us to consider. Our 1689 confession words the first phrase of the first sentence of this first paragraph slightly differently from the Westminster and the Savoy confessions, which by the way came before our 1689. The 1689 says, God the good creator of all things in his infinite power and wisdom doth uphold." That phrase there, the way it's worded, was in addition to the Westminster and the Savoy Confessions which say, God the great creator of all things doth uphold direct and etc. So the Westminster and the Savoy Confessions say, God the great creator of all things, doth uphold. And our confession says, God the good creator. Now, let me ask this question as we get started here. Why do you think that the framers of the 1689 confession would replace the word great with good in that first phrase? it's not as though that the word great is a wrong word to use in that phrase at all. But why would you think that that the framers of our confession would change that wording. By the way, it is a good thing to do with regard to our confession to see if you can get, and you can find this online, a comparison of all three of these confessions, the Westminster, the Savoy, and the 1689, all together in a tabular form. And you can download that to your computer, your phone, and you can look at it. You can actually, they show you the differences between the three documents, which really is very helpful. But the question I'm asking is, what do you think is the reason for their changing this first phrase, this one word, good, and then also adding to it God in his infinite power and wisdom? But let's talk about goodness here first, yeah. really is. Yes. Yes, that's exactly right, Brian. Yeah, Jenny. I think it shows his intention for his creation, too. His intention and his character. Jenny says that it shows his intention in his character. That is that a person could be great and yet not good. God is infinitely great and good. And so as we think about the word good, together, I believe that they changed the wording in this way because they believed that God in his divine providence has very prominently and practically displayed his goodness to all of his creation and all the creatures that he has made so that they would know it and they would appreciate it. That's something for us to think about, isn't it? Do you appreciate God's good providence. And we need to say this, we need to understand this. There are many religions of the world, the Mohammedans included, that believe in a blind fate, if you will, almost. They just believe that things are ordered, they're going to happen, but they don't believe that God is good essentially good in terms of the exercise of his divine providence. It's very important, really, for a right conception of God, for us to have a right conception of God, that we understand that God is essentially good in his nature. He is essentially great, infinitely great, and we're gonna look at this together, these two truths together, but God is He's essentially good. God is good and He doeth good, it says in the old King James in one of the verses that is in the Bible. In other words, what I'm trying to bring to your attention is that God's providence should be highly valued by men, by all men, but especially by believers who know more about Him than unbelievers do. We should rejoice in God's providence greatly. We should praise Him for it continually. Because God is infinitely great in the execution of His divine purposes, but in His providence, He is personally good to you and to me. And I think this can be demonstrated from the Word of God itself. And I want you to turn with me over to Psalm 145. And we want to read verses 3 to 9. Would somebody read Psalm 145 verses 3 to 9 for me? Who would like to do it? It's been a while since I've called on you to do this, but... Yeah, Maria Elena, you go right ahead. 3 through 9 of Psalm 145. Praise the Lord, and greatly be praised, and His greatness in one is unsearchable. One generation shall praise your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. I will name them on the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works. Men shall speak of the might of your awesome acts, and I will declare your greatness. They shall utter the memory of your great goodness, and shall sing to your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger, and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are unlimited. Oh my, this is just precious, precious truth, is it not? Now you can plainly see here that God's greatness is declared right out of the gate in verse 3, and He most certainly is to be praised for His greatness. Maybe I've been laboring this too much with you over the past months or years, but praise is a really important component of your living your Christian life to God, that you wouldn't simply be like a stick or a stone in your heart toward God, or take for granted. all that God does for you each and every day by His divine providence, by His wisdom, by His power, by His goodness. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. And what does it say there about His greatness? It is what? His greatness is unsearchable. What does that mean? Can you tell me? What do you think about when you Think of that word, unsearchable. It's so great you cannot fathom it. It's unsearchable. You cannot search out the greatness of God in all of his ways. In the book of Job, it says that in one place that we only perceive the edges of his ways. The edges of his ways. That's really a good wording, I think, and causes us to think, but even though you don't understand all these things, you can't comprehend all these things, but nevertheless, what is our duty, if you will, our joyful duty that we engage ourselves in day by day? We are to greatly praise God and, and, then it says here that one generation shall praise your works to another that you should tell your children and praise the Lord in their presence for the great things that God does that that is by the way one of the the ways that you witness to your own children and and even to others around you when you praise the Lord. Today was a day where we woke up and many of us weren't expecting snow. We got a big storm the other day and we didn't expect snow this morning, but we got it. Now, we could gripe and complain about that, but Chris and I were talking on the way over today. Even though it was a surprise, that's a beautiful thing. And that all that God does and all that God gives to us isn't intended for us as people to be for our good. And so what? So we should rejoice in the creation that is God's put us here in this Midwest part of the United States. Are we always longing to live in Florida? You know, where it's warmer, where it's 70 degrees out today. I mean, these are very simple little little things that I'm talking to you about here, but what I'm trying to say to you is this, if you praise the Lord for his greatness and his goodness in regard to his providence, that your children will see that. And your co-workers will see that. I mean, just a little thing like, you know, this is really a neat day, isn't it, you know? that God would give us snow coming to church this morning. It's not that often that he does that. And, you know, we obviously have to be careful. We pray for safety and, well, we should. But I'm saying, do you also pray just thanking the Lord that he always knows what is best and right for us in his providential ordering of all things. It further says here that we who know the Lord meditate on the glorious splendor of his majestic being. In verse 5, I will meditate on the glorious splendor of your majesty and on your wondrous works. And here once again, is this something that you do? The splendor of God's glorious works. Do you meditate? Do you think about it? Do you ponder it? Do you consider it in its details? Do you rejoice to be able to do so and that God's given you another day to do so? Even today, the Lord's Day, to do so, even at this hour to do so. But notice further, it also says that especially those who know Him will eagerly And by the way, I think that's what it says in the New American Standard, doesn't it? Eagerly utter the memory, in verse 7, of your great goodness. Is that how it's worded in the NAS? Yes, eagerly utter the memory of your abundant goodness. Wow, that's good. Now, again, you just have to ask yourself the question, if you're spiritually minded, Am I spiritually minded enough to think in this way and to meditate in this way in my heart upon the splendor of divine majesty and his glory and on God's wondrous works and to speak of the might of your awesome acts and declare your greatness and utter the memory, eagerly utter the memory of your abundant or great goodness? Oh, this is really precious stuff. What is it that makes people around us know that there's something different about us? That we know the Lord. Is it not when we show forth by our attitude, our words, our actions, Our love for God, for His providential care over our lives. See, that's what I'm trying to bring to your attention here this morning, that God is a good God. He's a good Creator. It says that He is gracious, He's compassionate. He's slow to anger, in verse 8. He's good to all men everywhere, and his tender mercies are over all of his works. And so certainly God's greatness comes to be seen, and felt, and known, and understood to us in terms of his goodness and mercy, which he shows to all men, but especially to those who believe in Him. Now, if you're going to define God's providence in a simple way, how would you do it biblically? Well, if you look over with me at Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 11, you'll see the definition. Ephesians 1 verse 11, it says, In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, that is in Christ, And God being predestined according to the purpose, watch this, of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will. That's divine providence in a nutshell. That's what it is. It's God working all things in accordance with the counsel of His will that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory." It's a good and simple definition of God's divine providence. Works all things according to the counsel of His will. He created all things. He upholds all things that He has created. Working His eternal will in His decrees out in time and space according to His eternal counsel. Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 11. What are God's works of providence? God's works of providence are His most holy, wise, and powerful, preserving and governing all His creatures and all their actions. So all of the works of God's providence are holy works. They are wise works, and they are powerful works whereby he preserves and governs all his creatures and all their actions. Westminster, larger catechism, question 18, what is God's providence? God's providence is his completely holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing every creature and every action, ordering them all to His glory. Oh, that's good. It's building. It builds upon the truth of the first question in the shorter. Yeah, Brian. Yes. The fall of the angels And in the fall of man, yes. That's right. And you'll notice too in the confession, in all these confessions, that that's what they move to in the orderly presentation of truth, that that was God's divine providence to place man in the garden and give him that one good commandment, that was a providential ordering of God in terms of man's fall. It wasn't that God caused the fall. Man by his own free will fell, not keeping the one good commandment. But God providentially so ordered things to accomplish his good will. in Providence. And by the way, we should look at that too, even in terms of the fall. I think David and I were talking about this the other day. In terms of God's permitting the fall, you think, well, why would God allow the entrance of sin, you know, into the world in the first place? You know, why wouldn't he block that? Well, he has a greater purpose that he overrules for the good of all mankind who he created. to sum up everything in our Lord Jesus Christ and His person and His work. And yeah, that's good, Brian. I appreciate your bringing that out. The statement in the larger catechism, it takes us one step farther than the shorter catechism, and it tells us that God's governing, his watching over all the creatures and ruling over them in righteousness in regard to every action of theirs. Notice the terminology, every action of theirs is all done to his own glory, the excellence of his being and grace, both common grace and saving grace. You and I need to see that. It's not as though that God in his providence has all men like puppets on a string. Sometimes God is misrepresented in that way. God really does give men freedom to choose, doesn't he? He really does. The problem is that since the fall, men don't want to choose the right. And in that sense, then their will is bound. It's not free. But they do have free choice, don't they? They can always choose what they truly want to do. And we'll look at that when we study free will in our confession sometime at a later day. But I wanted to show this to you. that the larger catechism builds upon the shorter catechism, the Westminster, and shows us that God's providence is his completely holy, wise, and powerful, preserving and governing every creature and every action, ordering them all to his own glory. So God ordains all things And yet in the outworking of them, according to his providence, he is perfectly holy in all of it. God is not the author of sin, and we'll talk about that in coming weeks as well. Wilhelmus Sobrackel says in his systematic theology, the Heidelberg Catechism clearly and devoutly describes God's providence as follows, the almighty and everywhere present power of God, whereby, as it were, by his hand he upholds and governs heaven, earth, and all creatures, so that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, and all things, come not by chance but by his fatherly hand, that we may be patient in adversity, thankful in prosperity, and that in all things which may hereafter befall us, we place our firm trust in our faithful God. And Father, that nothing shall separate us from His love, since all creatures are so in His hand, that without His will they cannot so much as move. Now that's really something to think about, isn't it? It is in God that we live and we move and we have our being. It says in Acts 17, I believe it's verse 25, Greg Nichols in his Systematic Theology, Volume 2, page 94 says, God the creator by his omnipotence upholds all reality and governs all history meticulously in the minutest detail. with infinite wisdom and impeccable virtue, that means there's no sin in him, according to the good pleasure and eternal purpose of his will for his own glory. Oh, that's good, isn't it? John Gill in his Body of Divinity says this, the next eternal work of God is providence by which all the creatures of God, all the creatures God has made, are preserved, governed, guided, and directed. The word itself is never used of the divine being syllabically or in so many syllables in scripture yet the thing itself or what is meant by it is fully declared and expressed clearly as that God upholds all things by the word of his power governs the world by his wisdom looks down upon the earth and takes notice and care of his creatures in it, and makes provision for them, and guides and directs them to answer the ends for which they were made, which is the sum and substance of providence." So divine providence, the providence that we're now speaking of is distinct, you should understand, from his foresight, his foreknowledge, and his predestination, because all of these have respect to acts in the mind of God in eternity. They all relate to the eternal purposes and decrees of God, that is, his works of providence. God foresaw and foreknew all the persons that he would create and all that he would do in time from the beginning to the end of the world. Known unto God are all his works. From the beginning, it says in the Scriptures. But providence, we need to consider not God in terms of His eternal providence or His providence in purpose, but His providence in time. That's what we're thinking about here when we do this study in divine providence. Providence in time. which is what we're considering now, should be thought of as his actual providence. That is the execution of whatever God has foreknown and determined. So God's divine providence is something that we should regularly praise God for. And I've been taking you to the Psalms for this, because the Psalms are full of this. Psalm 147. Says this, praise the Lord for it is good to sing praises to our God, for it is pleasant and praise is beautiful. The Lord builds up Jerusalem. He gathers together the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted. He binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars and calls them all by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power. His understanding is infinite. The Lord lifts up the humble. He casts the wicked down to the ground. Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving. Sing praises on the harp to our God who covers the heavens with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow on the mountains. He gives to the beast its food and the young ravens that cry. He does not delight in the strength of the horse. He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope for his mercy. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! For he has strengthened the bars of your gates, and he has blessed your children within you. He makes peace, notice the terminology, in his providence he makes peace in your borders. He fills you with the finest of wheat. He sends out his command to the earth. His word runs very swiftly. He gives snow like wool. He scatters the frost. like ashes. He casts out his hail like morsels who can stand before his cold. He sends out his word and melts them, and he causes his wind to blow and the waters to flow, and he declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and his judgments to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any nation. And as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise the Lord. Well, let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you for this study in divine providence, and we pray that as we continue in it, that we will lay hold of these truths for ourselves, that we would be people of praise, that each and every day we would praise you. When we awaken, that we would praise you for another day of life in which to serve you and to learn from you and to glorify you in the way that we live. Help us, dear God, to see the importance and significance of our believing that by your divine providence that you cause all things to work together for your people and you cause all things to work together for good for them. and for your glory, and you do all things by the counsel of your own will. Help us to lay hold of this truth, to believe it, to glory in it, and to appreciate it, and to praise you for it, day by day, in Jesus' name, amen.