Hello, this is Patrick Hines. I'm the pastor of Brittle Heights Presbyterian Church in Kingsport, Tennessee, and I'm joined today again by Brother Jim Thornton, Pastor Jim Thornton of Reformed Faith Presbyterian Church in Clarksville, Tennessee, and Pastor Henry Johnson of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Tazewell. I'll never forget reading the Westminster Shorter Catechism for the very first time long ago when I was in my early 20s. And that was back when I thought that catechisms were Roman Catholic, and I didn't even know Protestant churches had catechisms. And so, discovering that the Reformation had these great catechisms, I read the Westminster Shorter Catechism. And question seven, what are the decrees of God? The decrees of God are His eternal purpose according to the counsel of His will, whereby for His own glory He hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. And then question eight. How does God execute His decrees? In other words, how does God bring to pass what He planned? Because we believe God did not just create and then step away and see what would happen. God created with a plan, with a decree in mind. That's really what the word decree means, a plan. God executes His decrees in the works of creation and providence. And we covered the issue of creation, that God made the world and everything in it out of nothing. There was no pre-existing matter or anything like that. He made the world and everything in it out of nothing in the space of six days and all very good. The world was not messed up the way it is now when God was done making it. It was very good, but man destroyed it by rebelling against God and sinning against God. And then the next question is about providence. God executes His decree, His plan, in His works of creation, and then providence. And the question in the Catechism is actually two questions on creation. Just creation in general, then how did God create man? God created man, male and female. after his own image and knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures, and then providence. Providence is really the reason why science is possible. 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. That's why the universe that we live in is law-like. It obeys and follows the laws that God imposes upon it by His divine governance. And so God executes His plan, and His plan is to glorify Himself in His works of creation and providence. Now, in the Westminster Confession of Faith, providence is right after creation. We just finished Chapter 4. Chapter 3 was about God's decrees. Chapter 4 is about creation, and it logically makes sense that the next chapter would be about providence, because decrees are executed as works of creation and providence, so now we're going to talk about providence. So, providence, this chapter is quite a bit longer, and there's a lot more passages of Scripture cited here, because providence is kind of what governs the rest of creation, the rest of history, after God creates everything. So I want to read point one, and then I'm going to ask Brother Jim to comment on point one here of Providence. Point number one. God, the great creator of all things, doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, according to his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy. I know that's a mouthful. But Jim, what would you like to say to try to unpack that a little bit for us? Well, to unpack this a little bit, I would say his eye is on the sparrow. Not even a sparrow falls to the ground apart from our Heavenly Father. And the very hairs on our head are numbered. And I mean, it's just amazing. the providence of God and His control and His governance over everything. It is very comforting, amazing, and it gives us courage and it gives us hope and confidence as we navigate the trials of life. You know, it's through many tribulations that we enter the kingdom of heaven. And we can trust God and we see the stories in the Bible. The first one that comes to my mind is Joseph when his brother sold him into slavery. And when he finally was with them and they didn't know who he was and he revealed himself, to them and they were terrified. He said, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. And that's the amazing thing about God is that he is so wise and powerful. He can take even evil things. And although he is not the author of sin, he can work these things for the good. Praise the Lord. Yeah. Amen. Yeah. Isn't it interesting as you kind of emphasize there, I've heard a lot of kind of modern people that are influenced by open theism and Arminianism say, well, God's providence extends to the big things. But as you just pointed out, God's Word emphasizes the most seemingly inconsequential things there are. Like you said, God numbers the hairs on our head. Well, maybe He numbers the hairs on you guys' heads. Not mine, evidently. But I know that God irreversibly decreed from before the foundation of the world that all my hair would fall out when I was in my 20s. But as one of my little daughters has always said to me, in heaven will you get your hair back? I'm like, Probably, probably. But yeah, think about that, though. The Scripture says Jesus emphasized that in his teaching to encourage people to trust God that, hey, not a single sparrow that is born and then dies out there in the woods and no one ever sees it, none of that happens apart from your Father's will. So as much as people want to say, well, God is sovereign over the big things, the Bible emphasizes He's sovereign over things that to us are of no consequence whatsoever. And you're right, that does give us courage to face our trials, and like Joseph, his trials are what gave birth to his massive view of who God is. That's what made him so God-centered, was the suffering he went through. But Henry, what do you have to say about this? has Scripture references, and all through the Confession those Scripture references are just some of the passages of Scripture that we could turn to to see that indeed this summary is accurate. It is indeed what the Bible says. And there are several scripture references that I think are really helpful for us to look at. First of all, in Nehemiah chapter 9 verse 6, thou, even thou, art Lord alone, thou hast made heaven the heaven of heavens, with all their hosts, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all, and the hosts of heaven worshipeth thee." And so here's a description of who God is, and it is a declaration that God is actively at work. watching over and guiding and upholding the universe that he spoke into being out of nothing. One of the big differences between the true and the living God and the false god of deism is that deism teaches that God basically made the world and kind of wound it up like a clock and got it ticking and then just walked off and leaves it to itself. Well, that's not what Scripture teaches. Scripture teaches that God, the God of the Bible, the Creator God, is also the sustainer and the governor of the universe. And another passage, Psalm 145, verses 14 through 16, the Lord upholdeth all that fall and raises all those that be bowed down. The eyes of all wait upon thee, and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thy hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. Here's this picture of God. supplying food for the creatures that he has made. And then my favorite is in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3 that describes our Lord Jesus, God the Son, who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. And so the God of the Bible is preserving all of the universe by his word of power. Why do the molecules in the chair that we are sitting not just fly off in random chaos. And it is simply because God Almighty, the Creator, is sustaining everything. Why do our hearts keep beating? God is continually superintending, guiding, watching over, ordering, and giving us life in its most basic forms, not only spiritually, but physically. And that's a thrilling thing for the child of God to think we are in this God's hands. Now, it's a terrifying thing if you're fighting against God. A dear friend of mine who has gone to be with the Lord was a powerful preacher of the gospel from Mississippi. His name was Walter Bowie. And I heard him preach a sermon one time about God converting Saul of Tarsus. And God asked Saul a question. Why are you persecuting me? And then added, it is hard for you to kick against the goads. And Walter Bowie's sermon title was Your Arms Are Too Short to Box with God. And so you can think about this picture of who God is, the audacity, the foolishness, the wickedness of man, the creature that is totally dependent on God to climb into the ring of human existence, thinking that he can box with the living God. how absurd, how wicked. And so this is a very comforting teaching, teaching for the child of God. God is holding on to us. He's giving us life. And of course, if you're fighting against God, you will lose the battle. Yeah, that's very true. And it is a comforting thing. And I know people People listening to us might say, well, maybe it's comforting to you guys, because everything in you guys' lives is probably going real well. It's easy to think God is so good in the way He governs and has providence in your lives, because you guys don't really know what suffering is like. Could all three of us probably tell some stories that would be pretty harrowing about our own lives, families, and things we've been through? And as Jim started us off there, I want to ask you, how has believing in the sovereignty of God helped get you through those? Before you answer that, I did find the Spurgeon quote. Spurgeon said, if I did not believe that there was a wise hand measuring out my trials, I would sink into despair. But our trials come in due proportion, sent by the hand of our All-Wise Father." Would you pastorally comment on that, Jim? Well, you also ask, I think, how have we seen this happen? And in my own life, I was about to give up around the year 2000-2001. I was ready to give up on church and everything. I thought about what Jesus said, it's those who persevere to the end who are saved. And I thought, am I going to turn back? I mean, I didn't want to go off and sin or anything. I just was kind of fed up with the church and I thought I'm done and I don't even want to go to church. Well, anyway, I did what the Lord said. I went to church and, uh, And anyway, he brought me into evangelism about 10 years ago, and then church planting about three, three and a half years ago. And it's been the greatest time of my life. And I'm so thankful. And my wife, too. And it's just such a blessing to follow him and watch him work things that, you know, you just can't imagine that he would do what he's done as far as blessing and using. And so that's my story. Yeah, and I can relate to that, too, where you go through the real difficult, sad, hard times, but God carries you through them. And sometimes the hard times, there's hard places that just stay there. Some of them are permanent, and you have permanent burdens and permanent scars that you carry with you. But the fact is, I am more convinced now than ever that God loves me. Because I haven't turned on God, and I haven't lashed out at Him, and I haven't wanted to walk away from Him. But there have been times that I've wondered about continuing on with ministry. There's been times I've wondered, you know, God, have you just kind of turned your back on me? Have you walked away from me? And that was never it at all. It was always I was wandering, or I wasn't trusting God the way that I should. So I think it's important that people understand, when the three of us talk about providence, and we talk about what a blessed and glorious and wonderful truth it is, we're not talking about this in a detached ivory tower. The three of us are on the front line of doing ministry, and all three of us have experienced incredible heartache with regard to ministry and with difficulties with family, with children, with stuff that's going on that's really, really tested us. I mean, it's not always easy to believe that God is good when you're in the middle of a terrible trial that's breaking your heart, but we all three can testify to the fact that It was knowing that God decreed it and God planned it that got us through it. And thankfully, at times, we can see the good that He's brought out of it. But I want to ask the both of you, are there not trials in your life that you have yet to see the good that God was going to bring out of them? Yeah, me too. I don't think I'm going to know this side of eternity, why certain things happened. But this is not something we're talking about as just elbow patches and pipes in our mouths philosophizing about God's providence. This stuff's very real to us. And pastorally, I want to ask Henry Johnson, I was just thinking about, I have a book by an open theist named Gregory Boyd. Have you guys heard of Greg Boyd, the open theist? No, but I've heard of open theism. Okay, well you can thank God you've not heard of him. He wrote a book called God of the Possible. And the opening of the book, he tells a story about a young woman who met a young man in Bible college, and she had felt this great burden to go do missions in Thailand. And so did he. He felt a great burden to go do missions in Thailand. And they got married, and they were wrapping up their education, and they were getting ready to go to Thailand. And it turns out the guy was a serial adulterer. and committing adultery more than once. And she forgave him more than once. And eventually, they got divorced. And she came to her pastor and said, I thought this was God's will. And I prayed and prayed and prayed. It really seemed like this is what God wanted me to do. And what happened? And the pastor said, God did want you to do that. And he's working on Plan B. God had no idea this was going to happen. What would you say, Henry, if someone came to you with a story like that? Well, we see Scripture teaching that God is, as Jim said earlier, God is not the author of evil. And that's what we read, for example, in James chapter 1 in verse 12 and following, blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life. which God has promised to those who love him, let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire, and then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death. And so it's very important, I think, for us to see that Scripture teaches that God is not the author of evil, and Scripture teaches that everything in the universe, including evil, is under the sovereign control of God Almighty. Now, we have to look at several passages of Scripture, I think, to really get kind of the scope. First of all, in Acts chapter 17, the Apostle Paul is preaching the gospel at the Areopagus there in Athens, and he begins by declaring to people who don't know anything about the God of the Bible that God is the creator and the sustainer of the universe. When he would preach the gospel to Jewish people, he didn't have to start with establishing that God's the creator and sustainer. And that's really, I think, helpful for us in terms of doing evangelism, for example. People need to understand God made me and sustains me, and therefore I am obligated to God. Well, in Acts chapter 17, we see the scope of God's plan and providence. We read in Acts chapter 17, In verse 23, he says, for as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, to the unknown God, and what therefore you worship as unknown, This I proclaim to you, the God who made the world, and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything." Now, he doesn't say God's not served by human hands, but he's not served by human hands as though he needed anything. Yeah, right. That's a big difference. Yeah. Since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything and he made from one man He made from Adam, the first man, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place. And so you think about the vastness of God's plan. He has planned the boundaries of the nations and the times of their habitation. That's what you call a big thunt. And then, Brother Jim mentioned just a moment ago from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 10, that not even a sparrow falls from the tree, but by the command of Almighty God. And the book of Proverbs takes us even further down into the realm of what we would think minutia or even, you know, during the holidays, one of the things I love to do is to play games. It's, you know, I just enjoy playing games. And we refer to a lot of games as involving chance. You know, if you're playing cards, well, I was just dealt a bad hand. That was just the luck of the draw. We have all of these expressions. Well, in Proverbs 16, verse 31, We read the lot is cast into the lap, but it's every decision is from the Lord. Even those things that to the human mind appear to be just totally random. Chance events, like casting, rolling the dice, for example, would be the way we would put it, its decision is from the Lord. And so we see from the grandest perspective, God has a plan, even down to what we would refer to as minutia, chance events. And for the child of God, this is a tremendous comfort. When Job encounters all of his heartache in chapter one, what does he do? He tears his robes, he covers himself with sackcloth and ashes, and he worships God. And he says, the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. He acknowledged that God, even though he's not the author of evil and the Lord takes us behind the scenes and we see that Satan is the evil one. But God is sovereignly governing even over that evil. And the last thing I'll mention and turn it back over to you, dear brothers, is in the book of Genesis, when Joseph makes himself known to his brothers, he says, God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on the earth. in chapter 45 verse 7. And then in chapter 50, he comes back to that and he says, listen, you meant it for evil. You brothers, you conspired to murder me and then you decided to have mercy on me and just sell me as a slave and get rid of me that way. And you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. And Psalm 76 verse 10 says, that even the wrath of men shall praise God. And so God even uses the evil thoughts and intentions of men and turns that on its head to bring glory to God and good, ultimate good, to God's people. And so passages like Romans 8, 28, what a comfort. It's not that God means well, but he just can't deliver. When I was growing up, my dad promised to build me a fort. And I was all excited, young boy. And he borrowed a pickup truck and we went to a sawmill and bought the slabs, scab lumber is what it's referred to. On the outside, it looks like a log, but it's just, you know, a thin piece of wood, maybe about that wide. And we went and got that. And he drew up the plans. He was a draftsman, an architect. And so, I mean, we had real plans for this fort. And then my dad had a heart attack. Well, he couldn't build the fort. And so that pile of wood just sat there and the termites got it. Now, that's not how God is. My daddy was, he was a good man. He loved the Lord Jesus. He intended to do that, but he just couldn't deliver. And I didn't blame him. I wasn't upset with him at all. I understood. But that's not how God is. Whatever God plans, he accomplishes. And there's just so much in scripture. Ephesians 1 verse 11 tells us that God works all things according to the counsel of his will. And Nebuchadnezzar's testimony in Daniel 4, Nebuchadnezzar comes to the place where he acknowledges God is sovereign. He reigns, and he says God raises up and puts people in power according to his good pleasure, and he does all his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And so all of these truths fit together perfectly. God's not the author of evil. God is sovereignly working in history, and God is going to destroy evil at the end of time. King Jesus is going to come back to this earth, and he will cast Satan and the demons of hell into the lake of fire and purge the universe with fire, and evil will be done away with. And so people ask the question, well, if God is sovereign, then how do you explain evil? And the point is, God is exercising incredible patience and is not just, as we read there in 2 Peter chapter 3, He's not ending history, but is patient for the gospel to go forth so that he can gather his lost sheep unto himself, and then he's going to deal ultimately and completely and finally with the problem of evil. But the God of the Bible is the God of providence. All right. Yeah. So yeah, we need to have a bigger view of the plan of God, and it is hard at times to see the tragedies and to see the atrocities of history as being under the sovereign control and plan of God. But like you said, though, I think God is very much engaged in restraining evil as part of his plan, but we rarely thank him for that. People will always ask, well, where was God when that tsunami hit Southeast Asia in 2004 and killed a quarter of a million people? Where was God when those terrorists drove airplanes into the World Trade Center towers? And a good response to that is, well, why did you fail to thank God for every day that a tsunami didn't happen? Why did you fail to thank God for every day that terrorists didn't fly airplanes? Why is it that people only want to know where God is when something bad happens? Think about all the good that God has done us all of our lives. I tend to do that even in my own walk with the Lord. I think so much about my trials. that I forget I'm surrounded by blessings that are innumerable. I had a friend rebuke me one time, sent me an email, because I was at a real low point. And his email was just a simple question. He said, Patrick, did you wake up today with saving faith in Jesus Christ? then stop complaining." And I was so rebuked by that. I was like, oh yeah, I'm forgiven and get to go to heaven. I forgot. But we do that. We have this narrow view of God. But yeah, some of those passages you quoted, another one of the Confession Cites, Psalm 33, verse 10, the Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations. He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever. the plans of his heart from generation to generation. It's hard to believe that that's true if you don't have a God whose providence extends to everything. But let me throw it to Jim now. Let's look at point number two. I'll read it, and then you can comment on it. although in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, the first cause, all things come to pass immutably and infallibly. Yet, by the same providence, he orders them to fall out according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently." Would you explain that for the listeners, Jim? Well, this brings to mind Hitler and the Holocaust. God decreed it. He permitted it. The Jews had not repented. And yet Hitler's thinking, OK, I'm a thorough Darwinian, and I've got to make Germany better. I've got to make the human race better. And in his mind, as a second cause, You know, he, he perpetrated this terrible atrocity. Uh, he did it freely. God didn't do any violence to his will. It is exactly what he wanted to do and he will be held accountable for it. So, so God's allowed to do that, Jim. Absolutely. You know, I was, I was meditating on, uh, first Corinthians 15 death. Where is your victory? and oh, death occurs your sting because I'm preparing to die. I mean, I haven't gotten the diagnosis, but look at age, I'll be 73 this year and I'm trying to get ready and which we should all do. And I've been meditating on that passage. And I noticed that's a quote from Hosea and I turned and read it in the context of Hosea. And it talks about pregnant women being ripped open. Here's death's victory. Here's death's sting. For those who are under the law and fighting against God and making war with God, there is a terrible day coming. And we're going to see the sting of death. We're going to see the victory of death in this judgment. God is nobody to be trifled with. Our God is a consuming fire. And praise God for his mercy and his grace and that he sent his son. And he's given us all a knowledge. And he's invited everybody. You know, Jesus stood out in the street. Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden. He invited everybody. And how many times I would have gathered you up as a hen with her chicks, but you were not willing. And, you know, election is a wonderful, wonderful, uh, and it's true, but it's not keeping anybody out. They're keeping themselves out and they're going to pay a terrible price. Uh, oh man, it's just, uh, horrifying. Yeah, and it's amazing, Jim. You sent me an email asking about John Stott and his denial of hell. And I found an article by a good Reformed theologian, Robert Raymond, responding to Stott on hell. Yeah, I want to read that article and do a podcast about it, because that's the problem. You have more people pushing annihilationism, and people have an emotional, psychological problem. with hell and think that this is just terrible, how could anyone be worthy of this? The only reason people think that is they don't know who God is, like you said, Jim. They don't know who He is. And our knowledge of ourselves is tied directly to our knowledge of God. And I can't remember if it was a podcast or something I did recently. I transcribed a question that was asked by a liberal professor from Columbia University, Tim Keller, and this guy said, We just have such a problem with this idea that, you know, how could a good God send Jews and Muslims and Roman Catholics to hell because they don't have the right theology, whatever. But listening to that guy ask his question, I was thinking what you were just saying, Jim. He has no idea who he's dealing with here. He does not know this holy God who is able to do this. And like that point of the Confession says, what God purposes to take place is going to take place in accordance with the nature of second causes. In other words, no one is ever forced to do anything they don't want to do. They always do what they desire to do. But I remember looking up some of these proof texts long ago, and one of the citations is from Isaiah chapter 10. And I remember reading this passage and really doing a double take. Listen to this, guys. It says, Isaiah 10, verse 5, and the staff in whose hands is my indignation. I send it against a godless nation and commission it against the people of my fury to capture the spoil and to seize the plunder and to trample them down like mud in the streets." Okay, so God sends Assyria against Israel, the northern kingdom, to destroy them completely. And then it says in verse 7, Yet Assyria does not intend this, nor does it plan so in its heart, but rather it is its purpose to destroy and to cut off many nations. For it says, Are not my princes all kings? Is not Cano like Carchemish, or Hamath like Arpad, or Samaria like Damascus? As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols, whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria, shall I not do to Jerusalem and her images just as I have done to Samaria and her idols? In other words, What's motivating Assyria is Assyria's arrogance. Assyria wants to go against Israel because Assyria is full of pride. They have no idea that they're a rod in God's hand to bring judgment. So God says He's going to put it in their hearts to go attack Israel. He says, I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the pomp of his haughtiness. I remember reading that going, so God puts it in the heart of Assyria to attack Israel, and then He says, and then I'm going to destroy you for doing it. You think, people do not realize, like you said, it's like trying to box with God. It's like trying to box with God. It is the ultimate fool's errand. And the three of us, it's such a blessing that we're reconciled to God. We see our sin. We trust in Jesus. But it's the great burden of all these programs, all these podcasts. We want people to know who God really is, because until they know that, they're not going to know what they are. And Jim, how do those two things go together, the knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves? Well, Calvin starts out his institutes with the knowledge of God and then the knowledge of ourselves. And we are so deluded and deceived with our wicked hearts that, shockingly, we think we're good people. We're not good. And we're only godly by the grace of God. Once you become a Christian, you're born again, and you're regenerate, and you're being sanctified. And although you're saved totally by grace, you begin to be changed and you're changed. You become a new creature in Christ and you are desiring to please God. And so the knowledge of ourselves, oh, it's just so hard to come by. If you don't get it from God, you don't get it, period. Yeah, yeah. I remember in a Spurgeon book, I can't recall what book it is, but he said when he felt convicted, when he finally felt really convicted of his sin, he said he was indignant at the idea that someone like him could go to heaven. He said, that's just so inappropriate, that I could actually go to heaven. I deserve to go to hell. And I tell you, that's what we pray God will do, that He'll cut through the fallowed ground of the hearts of this nation. And so that not only will they see that they deserve to go to hell, but that the grace of Jesus is greater. The grace of Jesus can rescue you from this. Yes. Right. Yeah. Okay, Brother Henry, point number three there. God in his ordinary providence maketh use of means, yet is free to work without, above, and against them at his pleasure. Would you comment on that? Well, only God is God. We are finite creatures. And there are limits to what we can do, and anything we do, it is only because God is enabling us to do that. As we read there in Acts 17, we do live and move and have our being in Him. Romans 11 verse 36, for from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. And God works through ordinary means. You can think about when people get sick, what is the wise thing to do? Well, to go find a good doctor. I didn't just say go to a doctor. You want to find a good doctor. And that's the ordinary means. And we have a good doctor who loves the Lord Jesus, who's one of the elders in our congregation. And he tells his patients, I can treat you. but only God can heal you. Oh, that's good. Yeah. And God many times is pleased to work through those ordinary means. Okay. But God's not limited to ordinary means. If the Lord is pleased, he can heal you in spite of the medicine the doctor gives you. Or without the medicine the doctor gives you. if he wants to. God can do anything he wants to. And so this matter of the providence of God, you know, our forefathers made reference to providence over and over. In the Declaration of Independence, they make reference to this superintending providence of God. when the first national Thanksgiving proclamation was passed in 1776 or 1777. But anyway, they made reference to the superintending providence of God. that it was because of God's intervention that the Continental Army had survived and had won a particular battle. And you can go back and look at the history of our country. Amazing works of God's providence. Washington's army, the Continental Army, was bottled in there on Long Island. And the Lord sent in his providence a fog that came and settled while they were trying to evacuate. And the fog was not upriver and it wasn't downriver. It was just in that one place. Our forefathers understood this concept of providence, but people don't even talk about providence, but it is a very important concept and term, and it is a truth that Scripture teaches. And so God, in his ordinary providence, maketh use of means. And so people have said, well, if God's going to save people, why do you bother with preaching? Well, it's because God ordinarily makes use of means. God's pleased to use the foolishness of preaching to call his people unto himself. Yes. But the Lord can speak the gospel to a little baby in the womb before it's born. And we know that is the case because John the Baptist leaped for joy when he was in the presence of the Lord Jesus who was in Mary's womb and he was in Elizabeth's womb. That's extraordinary. But God, in his ordinary providence, maketh use of means. But he's free to work without, above, and against them at his pleasure. And scripture teaches that God accomplishes his good purposes. In Psalm 115, we see that the God of the Bible does according to his will in the heavens. and on the earth. He does whatever he is pleased to do. And he can work through those ordinary means or he's not limited. And so we bow before the God of the Bible and worship him and praise him. And when Job was struggling so, you remember what God pointed Job to. In chapters 38, 39, 40, and 41 of the book of Job, God is pointing Job to his ordinary works of providence just over the creation. And God asked Job, Job, can you say to the lightning, hit here, and it strikes the mark? And of course, what can Job say? No, I can't. But Almighty God can and does. Job, can you tell the cold to come out of my storehouse and freeze the earth? Job, can you tell Leviathan to coo to you for his food? On and on. And so providence is this precious truth of scripture, a comfort to God's people that God ordinarily works through ordinary means, but he's not limited to. and his works of providence include him doing all his holy will, even extraordinary means. That's why we pray, Lord, when we get sick, Lord, I know you are able to heal me of this cancer if you want to, but not my will, but yours be done. And Lord, if you want to use the doctors and the medicine, then bless them. but you're not limited to that, oh living God. And so that's how we need to think and live, and what a comfort it is to us as God's people. And the furthering of the gospel, we are tools in God's hand. God has not only ordained the ends, but the means. God has a plan. And we don't live in a world of chance and chaos, but a world that is governed by the holy, holy, holy God. And the angels in heaven, Isaiah 6, what are they saying? Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And we don't see many times, Brother Patrick, you mentioned earlier how many times when we're going through the difficulties and heartaches, and we refer to them as tragedies, and they are sometimes bone crushing tragedies. Our only comfort is if we know the Lord Jesus Christ. and have peace with God through his shed blood. And we know that God is still good and he's still God. And we may not understand how everything is working together for good, but from heaven's vantage point, the angels, they say, wow, look what God is doing. The whole earth is full of his glory. And someday the Lord will give us that vantage point from heaven. Seated there in the presence of the Lord, he will have wiped the tears from our eyes, no more sorrow or crying or brokenness or pain or sickness or death." And so people that attack the goodness of God because of the presence of evil need to see the big picture. that yes, evil is real, and it is evil, and God has allowed it for his glory, but he has a plan to destroy him, and it is destroyed in Jesus Christ for those who love him, and there is an eternal hell where evil will be banished and punished forever and ever and ever. So we need Jesus and he offers the gospel to any who are listening today who are apart from him. Flee from the wrath to come. Run to Jesus and embrace him and he will forgive you and wash your sins away like he has ours. And if you are trusting in Jesus, oh, what a comfort that God is at work and he has ordained the ends and the means. Yeah. Let me get a comment from Jim here. I wanted to read, you mentioned, Henry, that there used to be a much greater sense of the providence of God. And so one of the things I've told the congregation here before is if you really want to know what English words mean, you got to look them up in Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary. because that's really what they should mean. First, I'm going to read a modern dictionary's definition of providence. Okay, here's the modern definition. Divine Guidance or Care. Here's Noah Webster's 1828 definition of providence, quote, In theology, the care and superintendence which God exercises over his creatures, he that acknowledges a creation and denies a providence involves himself in a palpable contradiction, for the same power which caused the thing to exist is necessary to continue its existence. Some persons admit a general providence, but deny a particular providence, not considering that a general providence consists of particulars. A belief in divine providence is a source of great consolation to good men. By divine providence is often understood God himself. So, isn't that amazing? That's a dictionary. I mean, it's like reading a devotional. So, Jim, what happened? How did we get from 1828 to an almost whimsical definition of providence that has no substance to it at all? I think we can trace it back to Satan and higher criticism both. If you look at the higher criticism from Germany that began to infiltrate the United States in the early 1900s, it was basically what Satan said in the garden, half God said. And modernity and postmodern philosophy, all these things have done away with with any kind of meta-narrative, any kind of explanation of, and it's just nonsense, and it's not even lived by the people who proclaim it. But I wanted to say regarding this idea of the sparrow falling to the ground, Daniel Kearney was preaching in Glasgow this past summer, and this huge pigeon just dropped dead right in front of the preacher. And there was a metal box, something like a traffic light box, that was permanently fixed there. It was about 10 inches wide by probably five feet long. I don't know if the bird landed on it or somebody picked the bird up and put it on there, but people were just gawking at it. People were amazed. And of course he was preaching the gospel. And, um, you know, the scripture says, uh, the eyes of the Lord search to and fro throughout the whole earth so that he can strongly support those whose hearts are completely his. And who's that? That's the church, the true church. That's the Christians. He is working everything for his church and for his purposes. And, uh, the book, I believe it was by Charnock, the Puritan on the providence of God builds his whole book on that verse. that God is just moving everything for those whose hearts are completely His. That's the church, the true church, the believers. And it's just a wonderful truth. You know, God is for us and We are to spread the gospel. And I just want to say, if there's any pastors watching this, any elders, and you're looking for a denomination for your church to move to that's Bible believing, that's reformed, that stands for the truth, contact us. Put a comment under the comments down here in the video, and somebody will get back to you. But it's a wonderful denomination that believes these truths. We're excited about the Reformed faith. We're excited about the biblical doctrine of creation and believing the Bible, starting at the first verse and being biblical Presbyterians. I mean, that's what we're all about. That's what we want to be. And we want to uphold the great souls of the Reformation. And we don't want to go in a sacerdotal direction with the federal vision. We don't want to go in a liberal direction with the new perspectives on Paul. We want to be faithful to the old gospel as it was taught and revealed by Christ and the apostles and revealed in Scripture through all the ages. That's what we want to be all about, and we believe this stuff. We really believe in the providence and sovereign decree of Almighty God, and that's what sustains us. That's what gives us confidence. And Jim, you were just saying we can believe that God is always for us, and we can believe He's for us even in our trials. And that's what the opening verses of 1 Peter. Peter talks about, you know, God has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. And then he says, in this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. so that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Why does God try us in His providence in the execution of His decrees, where He executes those decrees, those plans in creation in providence? Why does that often involve very dark hardship for His people? Because He wants us to have faith that's stronger. He wants our gold to shine brighter, and He wants to burn off more of the doubt and the unbelief, and wants to really teach us to be strong in Him and to rely on Him for our every good. So why does God test and try us? He does it for the same reason that a strength coach really pushes his players to run harder, to lift stronger. And he knows that our faith is not going to be robust. It's not going to be strong. weak and flimsy if we are not tested, if we're not pushed to really trust in Him. So your trials are not evidence that God has forsaken you, they're evidence He loves you. As He carries you through them, when you walk through the waters, when you pass through the fire, He's right there with you, right there with you all the way, carrying you, sustaining you, and will bring you out the other side. Okay, well, I think we're about at the hour mark, but man, when we get going, the time just flies, doesn't it? Wonderful discussion. What a wonderful, wonderful topic. The providence of God. It's a salve to a weary soul, it truly is. So thankful for you, brothers, and for your comments. But let me close with some prayer, and then we'll knock off here. God, thank you so much for Henry and Jim and for our other ministers in our denomination. We're thankful for each other, and we pray that this wonderful, glorious truth of your providence would sustain the weary, that we would know, as has just been said, your eyes on the sparrow, and that you see everything that goes on in the world, nothing escapes your notice, and that one day you will, as Henry said, wipe away every tear from our eyes. We'll see the purpose of all of our trials and all the difficulties we've been through, the ways we've been chastened by You when we've sinned, and You've helped to bring us back to Yourself. So help us to really believe these things and to trust in You, and we pray Your blessing on our ministry of the Word. Please bring revival. cut through the fallowed ground of the hearts of this nation, show people your holiness, and show them that the grace of Jesus is greater than all our sin. And indeed, He is alive, and His arms and His heart go out to the world, saying, Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. We ask in His name. Amen. Amen. Thank you, guys. Thank you, God. All right, I'm gonna I'm gonna push two things real quick. Next week. Are you thinking about a podcast? Do we want to line that up now or wait? Yeah, here, let me let me end the recording and then we'll do that. Okay. So so in case everyone was wondering, yeah, we set up the next one before we get off of the zoom call. So okay, 321 I'm pushing stop.