If you pay attention, you know that usually the last song is in some way in keeping with the message to follow. Both of those last two are from the section dealing with the providence of God or His works of providence. I think that's the heading in the hymnal. And that is our subject today, the doctrine of God's providence. Let's read a couple of texts first from Psalm 36. Psalm 36. Let's read. Verses five through nine. Psalm 36 beginning at Verse 5, Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, and Thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains. Thy judgments are a great deep. O Lord, Thou preservest man and beast. How excellent is Thy lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Thy wings. they shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of the house and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures for with thee is the fountain of life in thy light shall we see light. And I would call attention especially to the last part of verse six. That says oh Lord Thou preservest man and beast. So remember that word preserve. Now let's read from Hebrews in the New Testament chapter one. Hebrews. Chapter one. We'll read verses one through three. God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, and by whom also he made the worlds, 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 on the right hand of the majesty on high. And the phrase that I would underscore here for our purposes in this message is in the middle of verse three where it speaks of our Lord Jesus Christ upholding all things by the word of his power. The concept of God preserving and God upholding is the very basis And those are the very terms that describe what we also call God's providence. Providence obviously has to do with his providing or making provision. And in his providence, he makes provision for all things. He preserves, he upholds, he governs, and directs all things man and beast according to Psalm 36 and all things according to Hebrews chapter 1. Now we in our study of the great doctrines of the Bible considered a few weeks ago I think on more than one week the doctrine of God's decree. His decree concerning all things and in our outline Which if you don't have a copy of the outline, we have some more back there. Is there anyone who needs one that doesn't have one? Okay. Um, we considered the decree of God in chapter three, which is on page 12. We are now on page 14, chapter five concerning divine providence. And these two are very closely. connected as well as creation in Chapter 4, but God's creation and providence is but the outworking of his decree. His decree was made in eternity concerning the things that would be done and that he would do in time. So once we come to time, And we see his decree being carried out and being put into action. Then we see things such as creation and now providence. Providence is simply the outworking of the decree which was made in eternity. Everything that was decreed comes to pass. Everything that comes to pass was decreed. And everything that comes to pass comes to pass through God's providence. Older writers usually speak of God's three great works. And it's almost predictable when you're reading older writers that they will speak in this way. God's work of creation. God's work of providence, God's work of redemption. And sometimes they change the order and have creation, redemption, and providence. Here in our outline, providence is mentioned first, which I think is a more logical order, or maybe I should say chronological order. But I'll let you settle that debate in your own mind. Certainly, providence is necessary to bring to pass God's purposes in redemption. Our last paragraph here in chapter 5, paragraph 7, which we'll look at, Lord willing, next time, brings this out as the providence of God doth in general reach unto all creatures so after a most special manner it taketh care of his church and dispose of all things to the good thereof and so purposes of redemption for God's people or his church is at the very heart of all providence now we want to try to cover the first three paragraphs here in our confession of faith. So let's read the first paragraph 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 the which they were created, according unto his infallible foreknowledge and the free and immutable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, infinite goodness, and mercy. God is the creator. We covered that in the previous chapter and he's the good creator. Everything that he made was good. Yay. Very good. And in that way reflects his own goodness, his very goodness. God, the good creator of all things. And it's really kind of difficult to break up this paragraph. I like to divide them at the semicolons, and so we have a rather large chunk here, but it really does all go together. In his infinite power and wisdom, he upholds, directs, disposes, and governs all creatures and things from the greatest even to the least. God is exercising divine providence. over everything, everyone, every person, every object, every event. Everything is a matter of his providence, whatever is from the greatest, even to the least from the king on the throne to the lowest servant in the realm. Terrorist bombers. and those who are blown into oblivion by the bombs. God governs all things. It's all under his providence, which is most wise and holy. And so let me just pause here for a moment. There is so much to say. But I'll say a little bit. God is concerned about everything. God is personally involved in way of his providence which is simply the outworking of his decree. He is personally involved in every detail of everything. Now I don't think that our writers of this outline were thinking so much in terms of deism. But this is a section in the Confession of Faith that shows the great difference between biblical Christianity and deism. Deism being the belief that there is a God, and that he made everything and he established the laws by which everything would continue, laws of nature, and then he walked away, took his hands off of it, has nothing more to do with it. Every once in a while he may glance over his shoulder to see how Earth is doing, but he's not involved in the daily events and the details He doesn't care. He has more important things to do. And so it's just these impersonal laws that are in effect that actually govern things that happen and govern creatures. No, God is personally involved. He preserves man and beast, our text said. It doesn't just say he created man and beast. He did that, but He does more. He preserves. He not only created, our Lord Jesus not only created according to Hebrews chapter 1, but He continues to uphold all things by the word of His power. By a word, He created it all. By a word, He continues to uphold it all. So there is no impersonal force that guides, governs, and preserves creation. It is a personal power. It is God himself. We do not deal with mechanical blind fate, but we deal with a personal God who is personally involved in our lives. in all things. Let me give you some instances of the all things. And there's a lot of scripture here. I'm not going to ask you to turn because when I get there, I'm going to read it as quickly as I can. Psalm 135, six says, Whatsoever the Lord pleased that did he in heaven and in earth and in the seas and in all deep places. This is one of many scriptures that tells us God in his providence presides over and guides and governs and preserves the oceans and all of the creatures in the oceans. As far as all of the animals, I'll read you Psalm 104, 27 and 28. There's a whole section here concerning creation, but I'll just read these verses. It's speaking of the great Leviathan in the sea. It says these wait all upon thee that thou mayest give them their meat in due season that thou mayest or that thou givest them they gather thou openest thine hand. They are filled with good. The feeding of Leviathan and the sea creatures is credited to God opening his hand. and feeding them, providing what they need to live. It's a marvelous thing to consider. There are a couple of statements in the New Testament about the tiniest little birds. In Matthew chapter 10, our Lord speaks of these sparrows when he says, are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? The Lord knew the going price for these little tiny birds. Didn't he have more important things to be concerned about? Well, as God, there's no limit to his concern. There's no limit to his capacity to be concerned. And so he takes notice. He's concerned. It's all. I mean, I don't mean to be silly, but in his decree, he determined the price of the sparrows. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your father. God's providence includes the little nest and the little birds that can't even fly that fall on the ground. And this next statement some of us find particularly comforting. He says, but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. God is concerned. God counts them. He knows exactly how many you have. His providence, of course, is well, hang on. I didn't read the second passage that's in the Sermon on the Mount and it must be read. Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." This is marvelous. God has made and God preserves the flowers, the grasses. His providence encompasses everything. If God so clothed the grass of the field which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven used as as kindling. Shall he not much more clothed you. Oh ye of little faith. Getting closer then to mankind there is that marvelous 139th Psalm that speaks of the psalmist speaks of being in his mother's womb and how that God had a hand in every detail in his formation. God saw his substance. No one else could see it. They didn't have ultrasound in those days. They didn't know if it was a boy or a girl until it was born, you know. Well, God saw it all. He, in providence, governs and directs our life from the very moment of conception. He determines our lifespan. He preserves us until that day. He numbers our days. He allots our time to us and he keeps us alive until that last day and that last moment comes and we won't outlive it by one millisecond or under live it by one millisecond. James says that we make our plans for what we'll do, but we don't know if we'll live another day. And so we ought to say, if the Lord will, we will live and living. We will try to do this and that, but it's all dependent on God in Providence, keeping us alive. Let me call your attention. And I'll ask you to turn to a couple of these with me in Acts chapter 17. Here's Paul preaching the gospel to the philosophers at Athens, and he even brings up some of these things. And so you see how relevant this all is to our whole concept of God and who he is. Acts 17, verse 28, in him, we live and move and have our being without creation. There wouldn't be a human race and without God's providence preserving creation and preserving the human race, it wouldn't continue. In him we live, in him we move, in him we have being, we have existence. Back up a couple of verses and you see that God's providence has to do with national boundaries. We think that man draws these lines on the map and that thing, you know, wars and maybe natural geography determines the boundaries. No, God in providence determines these things. He says, He has made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth and hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation. It's all where you live is all part of God's providence. Rulers of nations. are determined and appointed by God. We've read, I think, several times here recently those verses in Daniel where it says that God sets up the rulers and takes down the rulers. You're familiar with those passages, so I'll forbear to read them. But I do want to read one here from 1 Samuel 2. This is just too good to pass by. This is the Song of Hannah, 1 Samuel 2. six through eight. Now listen to this. Talk about the providence of God. The Lord killeth and maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich. He bringeth low and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he hath set the world upon them." God has not only been personally involved in creation, but he is personally involved in the maintaining and the preserving and every single life and every single detail. If we had time, we'd read these three chapters in Job, where God explains to Job, really questions Job. But in the questioning of Job, he lets us know how much he is involved in providence in things like the snow. the rain, the constellations, the animals. There's goats, ostriches, horses, behemoth, Leviathan, the largest land animal and the largest sea animal. God made them. God Feeds them God guides them where to go when and where to lay the egg and where to find food and so forth. It's all there in the book of Job. In fact we can truly say God's providence extends to all things. We had it there in Hebrews 1 3 he upholds all things by the word of his power. And we read in Ephesians 111 that God works all things after the counsel of his own will. And that's where this paragraph takes us. They serve the end for which they were created. And remember, God said concerning Pharaoh, for this cause I raised thee up, to show my power in thee. Pharaoh and God's providence serve the purpose for which God put him there. Everything serves God's purpose, and his purpose is wise, and his purpose is perfect. According unto his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will. It all is a matter of God's will. He's absolutely sovereign over all. He makes everything serve his purpose. He is a God of purpose. There's nothing haphazard. There's nothing unplanned. There's nothing extraneous. I remember Being in English class, I'm thankful I had a good English teacher in high school, we were reading, analyzing stories, fiction, and one of the things that we learned was a good author never includes anything in the story that will not in one way or another be relevant to the story or add some detail that keeps the story moving along. There's nothing extra. There's nothing superfluous or extraneous. How much more with the great author of the universe? All things work together for good to them that love God. to them who are called according to His purpose. There's nothing that sort of snuck in that caught God by surprise. It's all planned and everything is according to plan. I'll get a little bit ahead of myself and just apply that and say this. It's a great comfort. The trials in your life are there by God's plan. The sickness, the disappointments, the difficulties, it's all part of God's providence. And that should be a great comfort. That person that just, you can't seem to satisfy, you can't seem to please, you can't seem to get along with, well, God has put them there. for your sanctification, child of God. It's all for his purpose. It's according to his providence. It's not an accident. And it's all to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, infinite goodness and mercy. And we could look up verses for each one of those, but we'll not do so. But we will summarize it this way. Everything ultimately is for the glory of God. for the manifestation of the manifold wisdom of God, the multifaceted wisdom of God. We see in Providence His goodness. Oh, you could preach a whole message just on the goodness of God that you see in providential preservation and creation. how all things continue to work and to operate. Old Spurgeon, he loved to talk about how the planets keep moving in their orbit around the sun and they don't fly off in all different directions and they don't collide and run into each other. Well, why not? Because God keeps them there. He's laid the foundations. It's all according to his providence. We see not only the goodness but the wisdom of God in all that he does. Now let's go to the next paragraph. Although in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God the first cause God is the first cause all things come to pass immutably and infallibly so that there is not anything befalls any by chance or without providence. Yet, by the same providence, he ordereth them to fall out according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently. Let me just point out two things, the two main ideas here of this paragraph. There's no such thing with God as chance. There's no such thing as an accident with God. Now with us, from our little finite perspective, yes, there are matters of chance. There are accidents, things that we don't foresee, and things that we try to avoid that still occur. But it's all been determined by God beforehand. It's all been decreed and in his providence, he will bring it to pass. Even what we call chance or accident or luck. This statement in the Psalms about the casting of lots is the great proof text. And it is mentioned here in our our outline, Proverbs 1633, it says the lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. You know, we we we play a little board games and where you roll the dice and whatever the number is, well, that's how many you move or whatever. And that is just so we call them games of chance. And there's not really any skill. It's just a matter of chance. One person can roll the dice just as well as another. And you don't know from time to time what will turn up. God appoints those little details. He, in his providence, guides everything great and small. The whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. The second thing that this paragraph tells us is that God works through means. He works through second causes. Though nothing is accidental, it's all determined. Nothing happens without providence, nevertheless, God has so arranged things that They occur through persons or things or events or conditions that we call second causes, God being the first cause, the ultimate cause. But he has in his providence appointed and he determines in his providence even the second causes. What are the means, in other words, that bring things to pass we saw this mentioned in the chapter on the decree chapter three paragraph one. Nor is liberty is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away but rather established. in which appears his wisdom in disposing all things, and power and faithfulness in accomplishing his decree." You see how these two chapters very much overlap. Now what does all that mean? There's no accidents with God, but God works through means. Well, just a simple illustration is this. The farmer must cultivate his field, sow his seed, see that it gets water, keep the weeds out, come in at harvest time and work hard if he's going to gain a harvest. God has determined that he will have a harvest. God has also determined that he must take these necessary steps as means unto gathering a harvest. And the whole process is part of God's decree and part of God's providence in the outworking of the eternal decree. The farmer may say, well, I believe that God is going to give me a harvest and so I'm not going to cultivate and so and water and weed and harvest. And he won't have a harvest. He's presuming he's being irresponsible because God has not only decreed and ordained and in Providence work to accomplish an end But he's also decreed and in providential governing causes man to use the means unto the end. Some people's idea of divine sovereignty and providence is that God has determined the end, but he's not determined the means to the end. And so it's just sort of left up to us to figure out what to do, or if we decide to do nothing, the end will still come. That's not true at all. I like the way that Mr. Williamson puts it. He says, some people think if all things are fixed by divine decree, then it makes no difference whether events A, B, and C happen, we will still arrive at D. But the obvious fact is that A, B, and C are events, just as D is. And the starting supposition is that God controls them all. Therefore, if God controls all things, it is obvious that they will work out only if each event leading to it also works out according to plan. Divine for ordination does not make our actions unimportant but rather makes them exceedingly important. Farmers got to get out get his tractor going cultivate the field and so forth. And God has decreed that as well as. The final harvest. In the fall. You see this. The doctrine of decree and the providential outworking of the decree does not free us of responsibility. It establishes our responsibility to be diligent, to be faithful, to use the means that he's appointed. Now, there are, again, many examples of God's providence in the means. and God's providence in governing the use of the means. After the flood, God gave this promise. While the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. And so given these seasons, what are we supposed to do? We're supposed to make the best of them, use them to our advantage. You have a garden or whatever, no matter how cold the winter is, God has promised springtime will come. And here we are today in a beautiful spring day. It's not even spring on the calendar officially, but it feels like it. And we have these seasons that are to be used. We've mentioned in a previous study the example of Joseph, how that God in his providence made Joseph to be sold into slavery in Egypt. And you know what he said about it all in retrospect. He said to his brothers, God sent me before you. He says, you, you, you sent me here. But it really was God that sent me here. That doesn't mean his brother's action was any less sinful. But it means that God's providence overruled and God's providence was governing even the sinful actions of his brothers. God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. And again, as for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good to bring it or to bring to pass as it is this day to save much people alive. The Lord gave laws to Israel concerning what we call manslaughter. The accidental death of a person say on the job. A couple of men are out and we're using old fashioned illustrations here because that's what the Bible gives us. Two men are out chopping down a tree. Each one has an axe and they're just chopping away and swinging hard and the chips are flying away and the head of one of the axes flies off, hits the other man, hits him right square in the head and he drops down dead. And those things happen. You say, oh, what a terrible accident. Well, it is in the eyes of man, but it's not an accident in the eyes of God. It's all part of his decree and his providence. And so we read, if a man lie not in wait, that is, it's not premeditated, he lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand. Notice it's God who delivered that fellow chopper. He says, I will appoint a place, whether he shall flee a city of refuge. And it's described in Deuteronomy in this way, as when a man goes into the wood with his neighbor to hew wood and his hand fetches a stroke with the ax to cut down the tree and the head slippeth from the hell and lighted upon his neighbor so that he die. He shall flee unto one of those cities and live. On the one hand, it's just spoken of as just a casual accident. But in the previous passage, it's God delivers him. Oh, there's these statements in the book of Proverbs about not making war, not engaging in war without taking good counsel. Good advice. In the New Testament, we're admonished to count the cost before we do such a thing. And moreover, to count the cost of being a Christian. Luke chapter 14. I'm going to quit looking these up and just try to describe them and trust your memory of the scriptures. In Ruth, in the Old Testament, she comes back to her was a foreign land, the land of Israel, and her hap, it says, was to light upon a certain field that belonged to Boaz. I looked up that word hap, and it's like our word happenstance. It's her fortune, her fate, Honestly, you could do a lot worse than this word, her luck, because that's what it is in the eyes of man. She, her luck was to go to this certain field. That's why a few years ago, brother Tom coined this word luckidence because in the eyes of man, it's luck, the eyes of God, it's providence. And so we put it together. You see luckidence and yet. God certainly guided Ruth's steps though she didn't know it. Proverbs declares a prudent wife is from the Lord not from luck. King Ahab Before he went into that battle, the prophet Micaiah, I believe it was, said, if Ahab returns from the battle safe and sound, God has not sent me, or something to that effect. I'm not a true prophet of God, if that happens. Well then, we see this, what seems to be just quite a haphazard drawing of the bow and the arrow and the release and that providentially guided missile that finds the one spot where it could pass between pieces of armor. The man didn't even aim. There's what seems like just such a lucky shot. guided by God Jonah is thrown overboard and the Lord had prepared a fish you know the Lord could have preserved Jonah by just having him float could have preserved Jonah by having him walk on the water but he does it in the means that he pleases the means was a way that would humble Jonah and probably blanch his skin to where he looked like a ghost after the gastric juices had discolored him and he comes into Nineveh as quite a walking witness that would get a hearing. The Lord prepared a fish. Just the right place, right time. Towers fall in Luke 13 and in New York City. Towers fall and people die. Where's God? He's right there, my friend, right there. Paul, on his voyage, God promises that no one will die in spite of the terrible storm at sea. But then Paul has to turn around and tell some of them, now, you've got to stay in the boat or you're going to die. There's the means that God has appointed. And the greatest illustration, of course, is the death of Christ, our Savior on the cross. Let's look at that in Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter two. Verse twenty three. Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. Ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain whom God hath raised up having loosed the pains of death. Here is God appointing the end, and even in providence guiding the means to the end, the wicked hands of men, and yet in no way are they exculpated of their guilt. We have it again in chapter 4, verse 28. Well verse twenty seven for of a truth against thy holy child Jesus whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done notice in chapter two it's the wicked hands of men here in Acts chapter four it's the hand of God. This is God's providence guiding the means. All things very quickly. Paragraph three, God in his ordinary providence maketh use of means. That's just what we've established yet is free to work without above and against them at his pleasure. And we call that a miracle when God works without means above means. Or against means. It's a miracle and he is free to do that. God is above means he is above his works. He is not limited by the laws that are in motion. He may work without means. As in the virgin birth of Christ. No earthly father. But a baby is born. He may work above means. Think of the conception and birth of Isaac after Abraham and Sarah were far beyond childbearing. Likewise with John the Baptist and his parentage. That's above means or even against means. Some of the Old Testament illustrations are marvelous. We have the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace. Not even the smell of smoke on them when they come out. Not a hair singed. You know, I can toss a piece of firewood and that fire and a little hair on the back of my hand just disappeared. It's melted away. Not so. God worked against the means, the normal means there in that instance. Have you ever read the verse about the iron swimming or floating? The iron that floated? Iron doesn't float, it sinks. But the prophet of God was Elisha, through whom the Lord wrought this miracle. And it was an axe head, I believe it was, that floated to the top. And he said, there, there's your lost axe. God does these things. He works through means normally, but he may work outside of that normal means. Now let me just make some brief applications of what we should learn from these things. Most of all, let us learn to trust God. He's a God of providence. And there's a hymn, if I'd had time to look it up, he would have sung it, that repeats that phrase, he's too wise to be wrong or too wise to be confused, too good to be cruel. And that's what we see in His providence in all things. We can trust Him. We can depend on Him. Whatever He does will be right. It may be painful and difficult at the moment, But in the end, we will see that it was right and it was best. The spankings you received as a child are the biblical illustration of that. Your parents caused you some pain briefly, but in your adulthood, you look back and you say, it was good for me. How much more with the overall training and discipline that our heavenly father gives us in his providence. There's no need to fear because God is in control. There's no need to be anxious because God presides and provides. He's a God of providence. There's no need to be impatient. There's no need to be angry. There's no need to be troubled. He said, let not your heart be troubled. If you believe in him, No need for trouble if you don't believe in him. Let your heart be troubled. Fear be anxious. Until you come to trust in him. Be at peace be content. So many people trying to be something they are not or trying to look like something that they are not. Listen, God in his providence has made you what you are. Recognize that. Be at peace with that. Serve him with what he has given you and how he has made you. He has providentially guided your life from your mother's womb. And 1 Peter 5, 7 assures us that he cares. So we can cast all of our cares upon him because he cares and he not only care. I mean, there's there are a lot of people who care about you, but they can't do anything about it. They're not in control of your circumstances. God cares and he's in control of your circumstances. That should give great comfort. To those who know the Lord. Only those who understand Providence. Have meaning in life. see mercy in operation and enjoy hope in God. Let me just say a couple of other things here about the use of means. God normally works through means and so let us use the means he's given and there's some passages in the scripture that bring this out in the gospel framework as far as the means unto salvation, the non-meritorious means is repentance and faith, just what we talked about this morning. Certainly the meritorious means is Christ, his blood and righteousness. But we should use the means we should repent and believe. He's given us prayer as a means of fellowship with him. Let's use that means. He says, without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. And so holiness is not what earns us salvation. No, no. But it is the pathway that leads to. Heaven. And so let us walk on the pathway, let let us use the means of holiness. Spreading the gospel is compared to. The rain that falls down from heaven in Isaiah 55. God's Word that goes forth like that rain that waters the earth. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Let us use that means. Now listen. When means are available. Use them. Don't tempt God by carelessness, negligence or refusing to use means. There are those who think that it is a great testimony of faith to have the means right at your fingertips and to refuse to use them and say, oh, I'm going to exercise faith, not use the means and just let God work it out. That person. will drown at sea if they don't put on a life preserver. This question comes up sometimes with financial matters. Should I buy insurance or not? If you are able to afford insurance, buy the insurance. If not, then don't. If that means is available to you, use it. If not, then trust God at that level. But even if you have the means, don't trust in the means. If you use the means, don't trust in the use of the means. Trust in the Lord who's provided the means. The God of Providence. One more illustration. Go buy yourself a gun. Jesus said to the disciples. Sell your shirt and buy a sword. If you've got a shirt to spare. Sell it. By some means of. Personal protection. Sam Waldron says it is presumption to expect a miracle to spare you the fruit of your irresponsibility. It is presumption to expect a miracle to spare you the fruit of your irresponsibility. So let us recognize God as the God of providence, and he providentially provides means that we are to use, not just in earthly things, of course, but much more in spiritual things. There is the means of prayer, means of faith. Let us use the means that he provides and trust him. For our souls for our salvation of our souls and for all things. As we use his means. Let's stand together and sing a closing hymn and be dismissed with prayer.