O great God in heaven, we give you praise for the new day that you have afforded us. We thank you for the beginning of another week and the blessing of being in your house. Indeed, O Lord, better is one day here than a thousand, ten million elsewhere. Father, we thank you for your goodness in gathering the saints, giving us a desire and a heart to be here while so many do not have it. We thank you for meeting with your people. It is not in vain that we come into your house. You delight in the assembly of the saints. You delight to meet and inhabit the praises of your people and pour out your blessings. You delight to make your presence known among your people and to assure and remind us of pardon, of peace, of comfort, and of salvation. We thank you for this study that we've been on now for many weeks and months and what a blessing it has been to consider the doctrine of providence. We pray this morning as we take up these matters again that you would encourage our hearts and that you would assure us, Father, and cause us to rest in your hands knowing the wheels of providence are turned by you and you alone and for our good and so bless and help us and use this lesson not only to encourage us in this class but also father to ably and wonderfully prepare our hearts for the ministry of your word this day and we thank you and ask you for it in Jesus name amen okay lesson 19 should be in the back there if you haven't picked it up yet We're going to continue the unfolding of this second doctrine that is before us, the doctrine not only that there is a providence, but that this providence works for our good. And, of course, the key text for this is Romans 8, 28. All things work together for good, those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Essentially, that means all things in your life. And that really is where the comfort is. It's where the comfort begins. But as we said a couple of weeks ago, it's not just all things in your life. It's all things in this entire universe. And that's really what we've been driving at and what we'll look at further even this morning. that all things in the universe work for your good. You, by name, called by God's grace." If you'll turn over the page, you'll see this morning that we actually finish, with the Lord's help, we will finish the doctrine. And at the bottom of the page, you can see the next item of consideration, Lord willing, next week will be the uses. So you remember there were two doctrines in Sharnock's study, in his discourse, the doctrine that there is a providence, and then the doctrine that this providence is for the church on our behalf. So, we're finishing up this morning this second doctrine. We had uses following the first and then we'll have a number of uses following the second. So, maybe in another month or two months we'll be able to get through the uses and still considering what study to pick up next, but we'll be able to wrap this up. And I pray that it has been encouraging for you as it has for me because as we said in the first couple of lessons, the wonderful thing about studying God's providence is that this doctrine touches absolutely everything. Everything in your life, and as we've said, everything in all of the world. So we looked at the fact that according to the state of things and according to God's economy, it must be that providence works for the good of the church. And we took up the first of three reasons unfolding that. Number one, all the providences of God are for the glorifying of his grace in Christ. If every purpose of God centers on the exaltation of Christ, who has been seated above all things, Ephesians 1, 20 to 22. And if all things are centered upon Christ in whom and by whom and through whom all things will be brought together and united in heaven and on earth, Ephesians 1, 10. then it has to be, it cannot but be, that all things are for the good of the church, because what is the church? It is the body of Christ, right? Christ is the church, as we will see even in Paul's letter. And so, last week you looked at the second and third reason that God's given the power of His providential administration of things to Christ for this purpose. You think of 1 Corinthians 15, where it speaks of Christ being seated, being raised up as king, obviously, and being seated on the throne, and all things are made a footstool to His feet. And all things will be brought in subjection under him, at which time then he will render all things into the hands of the Father. So God has committed, if we will, the Father has committed the government of this entire economy called the world and history into Christ's hands for one purpose. That Christ might come to this earth, redeem his sheep, raise them up. All the things he talks about, John 6, John 10, John 17, et cetera. And then you looked at the third reason that God discovers the glory of His attributes in the church. God manifests Himself in the church in such wonderful and beautiful ways more than He manifests Himself anywhere else. Even as I prayed, what is it, Psalm 87 verse 2, the Lord loves the assembly of the righteous more than the tents of Zion. So God loves your public worship, our public worship, more than our private worship. Both are necessary, but God loves the gathering of his people, and that's why it's here that God has raised up for you the means of grace. The means of grace don't meet you in your living room, right? The means of grace meet you in the house of God. It's here that God does something wonderful. It would be the difference between ministering, going to a priest for counsel and for blessing, and then going to Jerusalem to the temple. Very, very different. And so it is when we come into God's house. So that was the second and third reason, which, thanks to Elder Harris for covering that with you last week. Although I understand he filtered it through the doctrine of evangelism somehow, which I'm not surprised. Our dear brothers studying evangelism right now, and has been, as you well know. So let's pick up the fourth reason. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 this morning. Fourthly then, there is a peculiar relation of God and Christ to the church, upon which account this doctrine must needs be true. So the doctrine that God's providence is for the church has to be true because of God's particular relationships to the church. Relationships that he does not bear to every person, that he does not bear to the wicked, to the reprobate, to the rest. Relationships particular to the elect. whom God separated from the mass of humanity unto himself, pictured in the word sanctified. God sanctified us by separating us unto himself, making us holy, Ephesians 1.4. He chose us in Christ, separating us from the fallen mass of Adam, that we might be his people. So there's a particular relationship, and in this relationship are many other subsets, that demands that God's work then in this world has to be for our good because of these relationships. And there's so many, Sharnock only mentions a few. The church has relationships to God that none in the world has and each of these relationships not only binds God to the church, but demands a particular and affectionate care for the church. Now God doesn't have to do anything, right? When we talk about God being bound, It's a tricky language. Theologians, of course, would call it anthropomorphism, ascribing to God human characteristics. It's somewhat like a metaphor, right? It's metaphorical language, but a particular kind of language, a particular kind of use, because we're ascribing human characteristics to God, who is untouched by human frailties and human finitude and, of course, human sin. So language falls short, but nevertheless, we think of God being bound. God cannot rightly be spoken to be bound by anything except by Himself. Now, is God bound to the church? Is God bound to do the church good? Must God do the church good? Does God have to do the church good? The answer is yes, all day long. But it's a self-binding, right? Takes us back, remember Genesis 15, who walked between the pieces. God, while Abraham sat on the sidelines and watched, right? God alone, taking to himself full responsibility for his side of the covenant and full responsibility for the human side of the covenant, which he would accomplish in the God-man Jesus Christ. So God says, I will do it. So God binds himself. So that word bind does apply to God, but only because he's bound himself. So, God has bound Himself in particular ways. He's a Father to provide for us. If God calls Himself a Father, even in Matthew 6, how does Christ teach us to pray? Pray like this, Our Father. We're particularly told by the Lord to address God as our Father. Not because that's a sweet and endearing way to address Him, but because it encapsulates and it picks up on something that God has made out to us, if you will. That God has bound Himself in particular ways, and God has bound Himself in a relationship, in a particular fashion to care for us. And if you look at the whole list of petitions in the Lord's Prayer, all of them can be expected, hands down, from Him who is our Father. If God is our Father, then it serves to reason that we could ask Him to protect us, to care for us, to provide for us, to forgive us, and on and on and on. So he is a father to provide for us, he's a mother to nurse us. It's always weird to ascribe female characteristics to God, but God describes himself in this way, right? God suckles his people, he nurses his people, right? Because it's from him that we receive sustenance, right? And it's from him that we draw all nourishment. We are to, you know, Peter says, 1 Peter 2, what is it, 2-1 I think, we are to long for the pure spiritual milk of the word as infants long for the mother's milk. So we're to long for this from God. God then as a mother feeds his people through the means of grace, of course. We can think of Christ himself, obviously the triune God. Christ is a husband to love and protect his people. Ephesians 5, this is the analogy drawn between Christ and his church and now a husband and his wife. So Christ is a husband to love and to protect us. This is a relationship to which Christ has given himself. And what do we long for but the marriage supper of the lamb where we will be gathered to Christ, seated around the table, clothed in those pure white linen garments of righteousness which he has authorized us to clothe ourselves, even his own righteousness. He's a brother to counsel us. When all these relations meet in one and the same person, the bond and care that results from it must be very strong. So how can God not Do all that He does for you when He bears these relationships to you. And not just bears them, but when He has actually taken them on Himself. It's not like God was stuck with this. God actually created you and elected you with this in mind. God elected you that he might be your father. He elected you that he might be your husband. He elected you that he might be your mother, that he might care for you, provide for you, that he might be the one who sustains you and meets your needs. This is a relationship in which the Lord delights and to which not having any obligation to bind himself to anything, not even having the obligation to create anything, God was happy without all of us. And he was happy without anything of substance called creation. The eternal spirit was thrilled with himself. And yet God is pleased to bind himself in these ways. So he obviously takes these relationships and his relationship with us very seriously. And whatever he's doing in this world, and we scratch our heads sometimes, but whatever he's doing in this world, it's for you. It's for your good. It's for the church, right? This is the one eternal institution. All other relationships will be done. As Jesus says, we do not marry in heaven. Right? These loving, wonderful relationships. They don't go to heaven. Instead, brother and sister and the body of Christ. That goes to heaven and that's it. And of course, furthermore, not just these relationships, but then there's other metaphorical relationships. The saints are His jewels. Right? We are the jewels of God. Surely He will keep us safe. Don't you keep your jewels safe? Things of value to you? Things precious to you? Things you prize? Don't you protect them? Don't you put them under lock and key? What do you have in a safety deposit box? I don't have anything safety deposit box. Most people do, right? Maybe somebody out there has a safety deposit box with something in there, maybe an heirloom, maybe something important, something valuable, something precious, under lock and key. Why? It's precious to you. Well, are you going to have such care and concern for something that you so highly prize and God's not going to have? The same concern, the better concern, the greater concern for what He prizes. And again, anytime we have an analogy between us and God, when we get to God, we've got to strip away everything finite, everything sinful, everything infirm, everything weak. And what we're left with is the essence, which applies only to God. And God truly will care for His jewels. We are His children. Right? We are His children. He will spare them. Right? Go into a burning house. Your burning house. There's a lot of precious things you might want to grab. You might want to grab your computer. You might want to grab your hard drive. You might want to grab your Bible. You might want to grab that heirloom. But if your children's upstairs, where are you going first? Everything else can burn. However precious it is, the children are what you're going to save. Even at the expense of your own life. you would save your children. Of course you would. Well, will God not do the same and more? Don't you love Jesus' words, how much more, right? That biblical phrase is so powerful and Christ uses it so often. How much more? If you, come on, you're limited, you're selfish, you're self-centered, you're proud, you're sinful. God is none of those things. In Him is the pure essence of any good in you. The church, of course, is Christ's flesh, as dear to him as our own flesh is to us. Paul speaks in another relationship, the husband to the wife, right? For the husband to love his wife is to love his own flesh because of the union God has made, the unity God has made between man and woman in marriage. For a man to care for his wife, he's caring for his own flesh. How dear is his wife to him? And Paul says, no one hated his own flesh. Who hated his own flesh? Who ever hated his own flesh? No one. Well, a madman maybe, but then, of course, that's not the standard, is it? His mind's not right. Anyone in his right mind loves his own flesh, spares his own body, cares for his own self, right? Nurses himself back to health. He'll be absolutely impatient with anybody else crying and whining about pain, but when he's in pain, Right? He'll cry and whine all day long because He cares for Himself. Right? And so there it goes. Christ, how much more when the Church is His own flesh? The Church, of course, is the apple of God's eye, Zechariah 2.8. We are the apple of the eye of God, right? I mean, your pupil, right? The most important part of your eye, the dearest part, right? How many of us protect our eyes, right? We wink our eyes, we close our eyes when we have something flying in our face, right? Our eyes are so important to us, so valuable. Who would want to lose his sight? No one would, right? We protect our eyes above all else. We would cover our eyes and let our head receive injury. We'd cover our eyes and let our hands receive injury. Whatever it would be, but not the eyes. Please, not the eyes. We're the apple of God's eye. Right? We're that most precious part of His eye. And of course His spouse. 2 Corinthians 11, we are the bride of Christ. Paul says, I have betrothed you to Christ as a pure virgin. 2 Corinthians 11 too. A pure virgin. In bringing you into the kingdom, in bringing you into the gospel, which you believe, you are betrothed to Jesus. You are His bride. And as we said, we await that marriage supper of the Lamb. But turn to 1 Corinthians 12. This is an interesting verse and it's so easy to read past it. I'm sorry for coughing, I'm still not 100% so, still struggling up here a little bit this morning. 1 Corinthians 12 verse 12, the church is so dear and near to Christ that Paul calls the church Christ. And maybe you've never seen this, it's so easy to read past it. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12, 12, Talking about our human bodies, having many members and yet being one body, so it is with Christ. What's he talking about? He's talking about the church, as he goes on right next to say, for in one spirit we all, we were all baptized into one body. So the synonym is between the one body into which we by one spirit were all baptized, and Christ. So in verse 12 he calls us Christ, he calls the church Christ, and then in verse 13 he calls the church the body. So near and dear are we to Christ. that Paul says, the church is Christ. This is the only passage I'm familiar with that Paul actually speaks in that fashion. But we're not surprised, because what does Paul say in, what is it, 2nd Corinthians 3, right? The Lord is the Spirit, right? And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. But the Lord is the Spirit, and the Spirit fills the church, and we are His body, one with Christ, united to Christ. That union, so powerful, so dear. Surely then, Christ cares above all else for His church. So all of God's dealings with the church in the world are but preparations of them to be Christ's bride on the last day. Right? Everything God is doing with you. All your troubles, all your ups, all your downs, all your losses and crosses. Everything God is doing with you. is with an eye, that you be seated around that table at the marriage supper of the Lamb, that you be there when he gathers his sheep on his right, when he gathers his bride around his table and drinks with us again." That's what God is doing. That's the long view, right? We're so short-sighted, right? All we see is right now. God takes the long view. He always has. He always will. God is always eyeing the consummation. We can hardly see tomorrow. We can hardly see the end of a given day. God's already way ahead of you. Way ahead of you. He's at the end. And He's leading you perfectly, carefully, lovingly, graciously, mercifully to that point of consummation that you might be seated at that table when Christ drinks in the Kingdom of Heaven with His Bride. Consider two things then. God has a peculiar love to this very relation and often mentions it with delight as if he loved to hear the sound of it in his own lips. Turn to Song of Solomon 8.12. Of course, Sharnock holding to the typical Puritan view. But Song of Solomon points, of course, ultimately to the relationship of Christ with his church. And nevertheless, if we hold a more material view, that is that it points to a relationship of a man to his wife, yet we've got to at some point wind up at Ephesians 5, don't we? That the point of marriage is the point beyond itself. So wherever we land with Song of Solomon, even if we say, well, it's really about a bride, a husband and his bride, so be it. But if you've got there, then you're also right on the brink of looking at Christ and his church, because that's what marriage is all about ultimately. So then here in verse 12, Christ would speak of his bride, look, my vineyard, my very own is before me. Notice that, my, my, me, right? And this is language, as you well know, that runs throughout scripture. God never calls the world his. in such a way as to reveal any tender pleasure he takes in it. When God says the world is mine, the cattle in a thousand hills are mine, right? When God speaks of the world, when God speaks of creation as mine, mine, mine, typically it's in the way of a rebuke. It's like, what are you worried about? All the world is mine. What are you worried about? The throne is mine, right? What are you worried about? The nations are mine, right? God speaks in this way in a way of rebuke for our little faith. But he never speaks of the world. He only speaks of the church in this way, my bride, my precious, my dear ones, my vineyard, my sanctuary, my people, my children, my jewels, my... God speaks with such tender tones about His people that He never uses for the world. He loves the world. The Bible says He loves all His creation and He loves every soul He made, but not in the way that He loves His church. And of the reprobate and the fallen, He never says, mine. Right? Not in this way. So this relationship that God has to us then, that can be described in many ways, but this relation is prevalent with God in the highest emergencies and distresses of His people. Let's work backwards some of these verses, turn to Exodus 32. You know the situation here, the turning away of the people with the instance of the golden calf. The Lord says to Moses, go down for your people. Notice how God speaks. Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. And on and on he goes. These are now turned to verses 11 and 12. Notice how Moses prays in return. But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people? whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand. Why should the Egyptians say with evil intent did he bring them out? to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth. Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people." And he's not done. Remember, he says, right? Remember Isaac and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self and said to them, and on and on the promise of the covenant goes. What happens? What's the result of such a prayer? What's the result of putting God in mind, which he loves, Verse 14, and the Lord relented from the disaster that He had spoken of bringing on, whose people? His people, right? Now, God approaches Moses the way that he does, as we well know. You have to reason backwards sometimes in scriptures and instances like this. God approaches Moses the way he does in order to stir Moses up to pray, right? He reaches down in Moses' heart for intercession. Moses, show me your love for this people. Show me your commitment to this stiff-necked, stubborn people. Because if you're still committed to this stiff-necked and stubborn people, then how much more am I, right? And Moses picks up on that, even as throughout scripture it works this way. Moses is set up as an example of Christ, the intercessor. And we see Moses plead for this people. And what does he do? He looks back. These are your people. You brought them out. Of course, Moses was the instrument, but God was the doer. God was the doer and it was God's deed above all else. Turn, keep rolling over to 33, verse 13. Now, therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways that I may know you. In order to find favor in your sight, consider, too, that this nation is your people." You know what Moses asked for here. He asked to see the glory of God. And God passes before him and proclaims his name, the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, the triune name of God. And he shows Moses his glory in such a remarkable way, a better way than Moses ever figured. But what is the plea? What is the ground upon which Moses would ask for such a bold, bold thing? Because to whom did God ever speak face to face? None. None but Moses, that is. And what's the ground upon which he makes such a high plea? Consider, Lord, that this nation is your people. And if I am your leader, if I am the instrument in your right hand for power, for leadership, then show yourself to me. Speak to me that I may speak to them. Be with me that I may be with them, that I may lead them. And on and on he goes. It's a beautiful thing. But this is the ground. These are your people. Deuteronomy chapter 9. I think this is powerful, so I just want to look at several of these. Deuteronomy 9, verses 26 to 29. Moses, obviously, in Deuteronomy, rehearsing the history of Israel. And I pray to the Lord, O God, do not destroy your people and your heritage whom you have redeemed through your greatness, whom you have brought out of the land, out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Referring again to the intercession at the instance of the golden calf. Moses goes on. Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do not regard the stubbornness of this people or their wickedness or their sin. Lest the land from which you brought us say, because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land that he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness. Verse 29, here's the ground. For they are your people and your heritage. The idea is inheritance, right? We are God's inheritance. whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm. Lord, you delivered this people. You knew what they were before you brought them out, and still you brought them out. You knew how much work they would be before you brought them out, and you still brought them out. You knew how much work they would be before you bring them into the land, and He still brings them into the land after Moses. Turn to 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel, David also pleads the covenant. What else can we plead? Again, the covenant is so important. The covenant of grace is so important because it's by that covenant that God has bound himself. Genesis 15, God bound himself to care for us. And he loves it when we plead his binding, right? As the Puritans would say, we're showing God his own handwriting. He loves to see his own signature. Lord, you wrote this, you said this. I've got your own word on it, right? Hebrews 6, he gave us not only the promise, but the oath. Swearing by no one greater than himself, but himself. And he swore by his own name that to the oath might be added, to the promise might be added an oath by two immutable and unchangeable things. We might have confidence. As a matter of fact, when you plead in prayer, what else can you do but show God His handwriting? You have no other ground upon which to expect anything from God because you're so unworthy of the least of His mercies. Genesis 32. So the only ground upon which you can intercede for anything is the ground of God's handwriting. So God loves for us to turn His words back at Him, right? We take His promises and we turn them into prayer. So 2 Samuel 7, 23, David says, And who is like your people, Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing them good, making them sorry, I just lost myself. Verse 23, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people whom you redeem for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods. Look at the pronoun, you, you, you, your, your, your. What else can we plead? David has no other ground to expect that God will fulfill his covenant, the promise of a son on the eternal throne, except for the fact that God has said so. That's the only ground. Write down 1 Kings 3 verse 8. Solomon prays for wisdom. On what ground? On what ground could Solomon ask for more wisdom than anyone has ever had in all the world? Because this is your heritage. And how can I govern this, your people, without such wisdom? 1 Kings 8. 50 to 52, but really all of chapter 8, as Solomon prays to the Lord, whenever this your people repents, wherever they be, whatever they've done, hear your people save your heritage, asking for God to forgive. Turn over to Isaiah 64, verse 9, last verse. Otherwise, we'll never make it through. Isaiah 64, verse 9. I love this verse. Be not so terribly angry, O Lord, the covenant name of God. Right. Given to Moses. Oh, Lord, that's where it all began. Be not so terribly angry, O Lord, and remember not iniquity forever. Behold, please look. We are all your people. And he goes on, your holy cities have become a wilderness. Jerusalem, the city of peace, a desolation. And on and on. Your people. Can God be bound to the church in such dear and hearty connections and not manage all his affairs on their behalf and for their good? How can God bear such relations to His people, have such a heart for His people, and not be about their good when He's about anything and everything? It's impossible. It cannot but be. This is why Sharnock says, it must needs be so. It can't be any other way. Why would God ever do anything in the world? Because what else does He have going on? What other program is God busy about? He has no other program but one, the program of redemption. Adopting a people for himself. Everything then funnels into this aim. Number five then, a fifth reason that it must be so. The whole interest of God in the world lies in his church and people. He sees little of himself in any part of the corrupted world, but the church bears his image and as we've seen already from several verses, it's upon the church that he's put his name. Jerusalem, Zion, I have caused my name to be there. And where God's name is, is His presence and His covenant blessings. This is what's so important about the Aaronic blessing or any benediction, right? The Lord, the Lord, the Lord, right? The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, be gracious to you. The Lord pour out His blessings upon you. The Lord, what did God say to Aaron? Put my name on my people because if my name is on my people, I'll do them good forever. This is what's so important about our baptism. God put His name, we are baptized into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. His name is upon us, we cannot but have good done to us and for us as His people. Because His name protects, it seals and signifies all His promises and good. So God's interest lies, Sharnock would say, in two things. in the persons of his people and in the services and actions of his church. So God's interest lies in us and in all that we render to him. His interest lies in us because he's put his name upon us because we bear his image. Now all men are created in the image of God. And though fallen, that image is marred, and that image is corrupt and polluted, and it's not what it once was. And yet, we're still creating the image of God so that to take a life, a life is to be taken, right? God would say to Noah after the flood even. So obviously, we all bear the image of God, but it's only in God's people, it's only in Christians that image is being renewed in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, Paul would tell us, right? And God loves to see that image, and he has an interest in that image. And we are, of course, as we've already read, We are God's heritage. We are his inheritance. We are his portion. Of all the world, we're it. Right? God would say in scripture, you alone of all the nations, you alone have I known, i.e. loved. So God's interest is in us. His interest is in our services, right? Shahnok says, God has a greater delight in the fruit he receives from the church than in it simply as his inheritance. For no inheritance is valued but for the fruit and revenue it yields. And therefore God, I love this, I love this, therefore God orders all his blackest providences in the world like dark clouds to be the watering pots of this his garden. That the fruit and flowers of it may be brought to maturity, which yield him so much pleasure and honor, right? Takes us to Hebrews 12. God loves us, therefore disciplines us. Why? That we might share his likeness, that we might partake of his holiness, that we might yield the perfect fruits of righteousness. And so what are all our afflictions? We've learned this, we picked up on this, not only in this study, but in Job, of course. All our afflictions, like dark clouds, they're watering pots. They're brought over the church. Do they hide the sun? Yes, they do. And do they bring a nasty storm? Yes, they do. But what is the purpose? That we might be watered. That we might be cultivated. That we might be fertilized, nurtured, nourished, sustained, and bring forth fruit to His glory. That we might be matured. Number six, it cannot be, but all the providences of God shall work to the good of His church if we consider the affections of God. Sharnock mentions only two. First of all, God's love and God's delight. If God loves us, then he cannot but do us good. Why do we do a spouse good? Because of the love we bear to him or her. Why do we do children good? Because the love we bear to them. Why do we do anyone anything good? Because of the love we bear, even to one another. We laid on our lives, John says, for one another. Why? Because we love one another, not only in word, but indeed and in truth. God loves us. The men of the world hate Him, and He sees nothing amiable in them. So upon whom will He diffuse the testimonies and fruits of His love, if not the church? He cannot love them, but He must also wish all good to them and do all good for them. It's impossible for God to love us, given what love means, what Scripture says it means, And not only wish us good, but actually do us good. And wish there would be taken not as I hope, I hope, I hope, but I will. When God wishes, He wills. So God not only wills us good, He does us good. And it's not a lazy love. Twisted with His love is His almighty power to work all things for our good. Romans 8, 28. Now it is certain, Sharnock goes on to say, it is certain God loves His church, for He carries them in His hand. He carries them in His hand. And Sharnock says, "...and that not in a loose manner to be cast out, but as engraved," Isaiah, "...as engraved upon the palms of His hand." He can't open His hand to bestow a blessing upon anyone without seeing the picture of His own church in His palm looking back at Him. What a beautiful image, right? Whenever God opens His hand to bestow blessings on this world, what does He see but the name of His church, right? Christ's hands are marked and scarred with the names of His people. He is imprinted with the costliness and the preciousness and the value of His people. And He cannot do anything in this world, scatter any blessing, pour out any good, without seeing that it is upon His people that it goes. Right? He can never forget us. He loves us. He carries us. What a comfort. What a wonderful, wonderful comfort. We said earlier, Psalm 87 verse 2, God loves the assemblies of the righteous. Take Christ in Matthew 18, wherever two or three are gathered. Why is Christ there? Because He loves the assembly of His people. He loves His people and He loves us gathering together and He loves to be with us. One saint, of course, is more valued by God than the whole world of the wicked. He saves a lot and burns a Sodom. He saves a Noah and destroys an entire world of living, breathing things. God loves His church. He provided one ark for one family, Noah and his family. He loves them so much that He overlooks their crabbed and perverse misconstructions of His providence. I really appreciate this point. What a mercy. God does something in our life and what do we do? We kick, we scream, we complain, we murmur, we moan, we groan, we say, oh no, not that. Anything but that. Why did you take that? Couldn't it be that instead of this? We misconstrue God's providence. We get, I love the word, we get so crabbed, right? We're crabbed in perverse misconstructions. Looking at God's providence and calling that evil which He has called good. and calling that a curse, which he brought as a blessing. How terrible we are. Our children do it to us as parents, don't they? Do the same thing, right? Why do you hate me? I don't hate you. I'm doing you good, right? This is for your good. Our children can't see. And they misconstrue the good we're doing them. And they accuse us of hating them instead of actually loving them, which is what we do and why we're doing what we do. But we love them through that mess, don't we? And we just put our arms around them and say, you'll understand, you'll see. And they do, by God's grace, understand and see. Well, how much more God? Though we provoke him with our peevishness and we often murmur at his very providences, yet he has mercy on them still and orders all things for their good. What a gracious, loving God. Think of Job 3, right? We're still wrestling with Job's speech in chapter 3, his lament, his curse, right? It's a tough thing to wrestle with, right? But as we mentioned in that sermon, God is not afraid of your questions. God's not afraid of your complaints. God doesn't have thin skin. God has thick skin and He can handle your yelling and screaming. He can handle it. He's not going to break. He can handle your fist and your rage. Doesn't excuse or justify it. But God can handle it. He's okay. He'll get you through it. You'll see. And God is gracious to Job. Though he says some very harsh things in that chapter. God is good. He's merciful. He's patient with us. He knows what it is to hurt. He took on flesh and He might know our pain, right? He knows. But not only His love, His delight. We have to appreciate Zephaniah 3.17. Isn't that the only verse in the Bible that says that God sings? And what does He sing about? The one thing God sings about. The only place He sings. And what is He singing about? He's singing over you with joy. He sings about His church. Isn't that wonderful? We're down here praising God. He's up there singing on our behalf, right, if you will. He sings over you. We sing over Him. There's no reason to sing about us because there's nothing good about us except it be Christ. And that's exactly what God sees. He sees His Son in you. And He sees that, right, that wick that's smoking. But where there's smoke, there's fire, right? If there's a smoke, there's a flame, however frail it may be. And God doesn't quench that smoking flax. He sees what nobody else sees. All we see is smoke and a mess. But God sees. And because He sees, what does He do? He still sings. And we're down here complaining at one another because we're so sinful. And God's singing. Because you're so holy. And so beautiful. Robed in the righteousness of His Son. He cannot but delight in you. Number seven. Actually, I gave you a quote here. I really appreciate it from Sharnock. He said, God has been at too much pains, think of what God's gone through, and Christ at too great a price to have only a small delight in the church. Will He then let wild beasts break down the hedges and tread down the fruit of it? Shall not all things be ordered to the good of that which is the object of His greatest delight in all the world? This is a wonderful quote, so I've given it to you. But I can't help but think of Isaiah chapter 5. What more shall I do for my vineyard? I've done everything that good grapes would come and all they've yielded to me is stinking rotten grapes. I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll take down her hedge. And we know Job 1 and 2. What did God do? Took down the hedge. God does take the hedges of his people down sometimes. And never does He remove the hedge because He hates you. He always and only removes the hedge because He loves you and sees that it must need to be done. Right? It must need to be done. And that's exactly what we see in the book of Job and that's exactly what we see throughout all the saints. It must needs be. If your hedge has come down, you can bet your bottom dollar there's a need for it. Number seven, the presence of God in his church will make all providences tend to the good of it. Indeed, it would be an idle, useless presence if it were not operative for their good. Remember Moses? When God told him to go forward, what did Moses say after God was angry? Moses said, Lord, don't send us forth if you're not going to go with us. Because what is it? I love Moses' argument. And again, all he's pleading is the covenant. All he's pleading is promises. His whole prayer is made up of just God's words turned backwards at him. He says, Lord, what will distinguish us among the nations? What is it that will make us different than the Egyptians from whom you delivered us and from all the other nations in the world, if not this? that you go with us. It's your presence that distinguishes us. Takes us back to what we said earlier. It's God's name upon his people that distinguishes them. There I cause my name to dwell. There is my place of gathering. There are my people. This is what makes the people of God so great. This is what makes church so wonderful. This is what makes Sunday so awesome. Because God's presence is here and not there. That's why we come here. And don't stay out there. And here it is in this regard as well. God's presence is not an idle presence. Right? We gather in God's house because His presence is here. Because He has not come here to waste our time. He's not commanded that we be here for our wasted time. And He's not come here to waste our time. But He's come here to do us good. And if we just get a hold of that, we'll be knocking down the door to get in. Because this is where God is going to do us good. God's presence in his church is the glory and defense of it. Zechariah 2.5, that's the image of Jerusalem being surrounded with what? A wall of fire. That's the presence of God described there. God's presence is like a wall of fire, right? Jerusalem is surrounded by the mountains for her protection, right? Pointing to what? God. God protects his people. And he is like a mountain range around his church. And of course, more importantly and critically, right, the bottom is this. It is a covenant presence. That's the difference. It's not just that God's presence is among us. Let's face it, he's omnipresent. God's presence is among us in a covenantal fashion. God is sovereign to all the earth, but he is a federal head to his people. And from that head flows all vitality, life, truth, knowledge, will, every faculty from the head to the body to every extremity. So God's presence is so wonderful because it's a covenant presence. And it cannot but bring all help, all strength, all support. Turn to these passages in Isaiah 41 and then 43. This is how God speaks. Verse 8, but you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend, you whom I took from the ends of the earth, I have chosen you and not cast you off. Verse 10, fear not. Why? For I am with you. Right? I am with you. It's not that you are with God. Right? Because you don't bring anything to God. You don't bring any support or help. Lord, aren't you glad? Here I am. Not at all. It's the fact that God is with us. I am with you. Therefore, fear not, be not dismayed, for I am your God, your Elohim, the one who does you good. And then he goes, what difference does his presence make? What difference does his Godhood make? His being our God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. No wonder you've got nothing to be afraid of. And of course, a great passage in Isaiah 43. But now says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel. Notice, where's the initiative? Where's all power, all influence? Everything's coming from the head, from God. He created you, he formed you. And here's the charge, fear not. God knows how prone we are to being afraid. Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, for you shall, I'll be with you. That's the difference. This is what Moses points to. That's the difference. Every man on this earth is traveling through the wilderness. Every man. But this is the difference. You're traveling with the Shekinah glory. You're traveling with the pillar of fire by night and cloud by day. You're traveling with the presence of almighty God. You're traveling with him who tabernacled among us. They're traveling alone. traveling in the barren wasteland with no help, with no resource, with no strength, with nothing, with no covenant that you have God. I will be with you through the rivers. You'll go through the rivers too, but they'll not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned and the flame shall not consume you. Why? For I am the Lord Yahweh. There it is. That's where it all began. I am the Lord. your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. What more do you want? What more do you need? What a wonderful God of providence. Thus, He is the God of Israel, God to Israel, God for Israel, a God in the midst of Israel. And every single one of these is a sufficient engagement, a binding to protect Israel, to provide for Israel and order all things for Israel's good. God is under oath and he has gone way out of his way to make sure we understand that. He is under oath. He has hidden everything in Christ that you might not lose it. And he sent his son that his son might be the head and nothing might fail. And he's sworn everything by his own name. He signed on every dotted line in his own name that everything might be guaranteed for the covenant is ordered in all things sure. He got nothing to worry about. And he has gone way out of his way to make sure you understand that. And then finally, the prayers of the church have a mighty force with God to this end. Sharnock says, though the prayers of the church may in some particulars fail, Yet in general they do not, because they submit all their desires and all their prayers to the will of God, which always works what is best for them. Indeed, when God has any mighty work in the world to do, He stirs up His people to pray for it. God loves the prayers of His people. And so our prayers, right, our prayers shake the gates of heaven. This is why Luther said, the prayers of God's people are omnipotent. Because our prayers, being nothing but promises turned backwards, our prayers lay hold of the arm of omnipotence. God loves when you lay hold of the arm of omnipotence. And this is why John says, we know that we have what we asked of him when we ask according to his will. That's the key then, isn't it? So how do you ask according to his will? Pray the promises. Take every verse and turn it backwards, right? When we look at all the written prayers of all our forefathers, what are they? Their promises turned backwards. Their scripture, having been received from heaven, given back to heaven. Look at Spurgeon's prayers. Look at the Puritan's prayers. Look at the Valley of Vision. If you have the Valley of Vision, what are all these great prayers that we read and go, wow, that's so great. I wish I could pray like that. Pray the scriptures. That's all it is. It's taking what God has said and asking Him to do what He said. It's showing God His signature. So the point then is that God not only has ordained all things for our good, but He stirs up our hearts so we might pray for His will to be done in our lives and in the life of His church. Prayer awakens providence. God commands that we pray. He's told us what to pray, even when we do not know how to pray, gives us a spirit that we might be able to pray as we should. Romans 8, 26, in order that everything God desires to do in this world is done by the people's prayers.