Let me begin in a prayer. Lord, we thank You this evening for the hope of the resurrection, the reality of Christ's resurrection from the grave, and, therefore, the hope that we have. We ask that we would live in that living hope; and that we would be a people for Your own possession and for Your purposes. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.
Tonight we are going to complete our study of the doctrine that is often called theology proper, and that has to do with the doctrine of who God is, the Trinity, and the attributes of God. Tonight I will address the theme of the providence of God because it runs throughout the pages of Scripture and has profound implications for the way we actually live. It is my conviction that Scripture gives us truths; and when we systematically look at what the Bible says, from Genesis to Revelation, we come up with a picture of theology. This theology is not just for our heads, but it is applicable to our daily lives; it is not theoretical; it is intensely practical, as I hope you will see tonight. It also has a bearing on how you can trust God; how you view evil; and are there really any 'chance' events that occur in our lives.
I want to begin by saying this is not deism, or that God is just not above whole thing as the One who just got it all started; it also not a situation where we have pantheism, where all things are God. Rather, it is a picture where God has authority over the world. He is not a part of the created order, but He interacts and works in the created order; and there is a connection between God and the world. The fact is that this is not by fate; nor is it by chance. It is not a random world, nor is a fatalistic world. In Scripture we see it is a world in which God is sovereign and yet we are still responsible, moral agents who really do make choices that are real and not just as puppets or robots. I am going to be arguing that the best way to deal with this is to sustain a tension between these two elements: how it will be possible for God to be in control of things; and yet at the same time for us to have genuine responsibility. I want you to think of God as being continually involved in all created things. He is involved in such a way that He keeps them existing; and He maintains the properties by which he creates them. This is what I mean by the idea of God's providence; when it comes to the idea of preservation. Now, having created the world, we also see that God preserves the world; and the way He preserves the world is that He sustains all created things and maintains them. In Hebrews 1:3 it tells us that Christ upholds the universe; and the Greek word used there, 'phero', means that He 'carries' it or 'bears' it. Therefore, there is a purposeful control over the created order. In Colossians 1:17 this is even stronger and it says that Christ "...is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." If He were to remove that preserving power, all of the created order would disband. He is One who sustains it and holds it together. In addition, 2nd Peter 3:7 says, "...the present heaven and earth are being...kept for the day of judgment." He holds them, preserves them, and sustains them. In Acts 17:28, we see: "In Him we live and move and exist." Apart from Him, then, we would not be sustained. In other words, not only did God speak the cosmos into reality, but He also holds it, sustains it, and preserves it in all places.
So, we see a rich and robust portrait in Scripture of God's sovereignty and control and authority over all things. He continues to sustain the universe in such a way that it acts in predictable ways. This doctrine of God creating, not a multi-verse, but a universe, a world that works together, yet God is still involved in sustaining it, means that it is something that provides a context for scientific experimentation; a reality that it is not something to be worshiped-the world-but there is order and purpose and intelligent design; and thus science helps us discern patterns in nature as well as predictable events. It is not just some clockwork universe because the Scriptures also confirm that God is not a deist vision, that having wound it all up ages ago, he did not go off on a holiday. Rather, He is intimately involved in the cosmos. This doctrine of preservation affirms that He maintains the properties. There is also another doctrine that is often called 'concurrence'. Now, what does concurrence mean? It means that He co-operates with created things and directs their distinctive properties. He causes things to act as they do. This has to do with the on-going process of holding things and causing them to act as they do. Ephesians 1:11 says He "...works all things according to the counsel of His will." And the word for 'works', or 'accomplishes' is the word from which we get our word 'energy'-'energeo'-and it really refers to His works. Let me give you an illustration of what I mean by concurrence. In the inanimate creation itself, we would see that in Scripture many times God is described as sustaining them-fire and hail and snow and frost for example. All these things obey His command and Job and others have shown us statements to the effect: "You have caused the grass to grow," for example. In Psalm 104 it describes how God sustains the created order and how if he hides His face they are dismayed. Jesus exhorted us to look at the birds in the air and how your heavenly Father feeds them when he speaks at the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter six. Even random or chance events are not random at all. In Proverbs 16:33 we see, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord." Things are nor random and chaotic; God works in all kinds of ways and in all kinds of details. He works in such a way that He is the primary cause of events. When we consider the events of the creation, including humans, He would be seen as the primary cause and our actions could be regarded as secondary causes. In a way, everything is caused by Him, but in another way, everything also works in a natural order. If we add the affairs of the nations the Scriptures affirm again and again that God makes nations great and He also destroys them. We see in Psalm 22 that the dominion belongs to the Lord and He rules over the nations. Acts 17:26 says, "He made from one every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation." So, He is involved behind the scenes in the natural order of the creation. In Daniel chapter four Nebuchadnezzar makes this affirmation: "His dominion is an everlasting dominion; and His kingdom is from generation to generation. He does according to His will for all the hosts of heaven and all the inhabitants of the earth." So, the Scriptures affirm that in the inanimate world, in animals, and in so-called random events of man, He works continuously in our lives. He plans our days, for example. In Psalm 139:16 we see: "...in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were none of them." That is a profound idea and thought. It is to say that before you were born God determined the length of your earthly sojourn. That has incredible implications. Furthermore, in Job 14:5 we see "Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You; and You have appointed his bounds so that he cannot pass."
Also, look at the life of Paul. It was said that God set him apart before he was born, in Galatians 1:15. In Jeremiah we see "before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I consecrated you." That has tremendous implications, as you might imagine, for the abortion controversy. The Scriptures also outline that He provides for our food everyday. It is hard to imagine that, and it is why Bart Simpson, in the TV show, makes this prayer where he says, "Dear God, we paid or all of this, so thanks for nothing." That's pretty much where humans are today. He just failed to realize that God provides everything; from the air you breathe, to the beat of your heart, and your abilities and energy. We fail to recognize how utterly dependent we are on God's providential care. We fail to realize that life is gift; and all that we are and have come from Him. He determines all these things, and we must have a heart of gratitude. We are, of course, involved as agents and instruments, but behind it all it is His good pleasure: all of our days, all of our provision, and all of our actions. In Acts chapter seventeen we see that "through Him we move and have our being." Jeremiah chapter ten also tells us that "I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself." God directs our steps. Proverbs 20:24 shows us that "Man's steps are ordained by the Lord; how then can man understand his way?" So, at the end of it all, He is the primary cause behind every secondary cause. Proverbs 16:1 says, "The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord." It would be prudent for us to realize that your plans must be made subject to God's care and authority; and 'if the Lord wills', we can do such and such. Frankly, your success and failure even come from God. Turn to Psalm 75:6-7 and you see: "For not from the east, nor from the west, nor from the desert comes exaltation; But God is the judge; He puts down one and exalts another." Even that, we discover, comes from God; and we see, as well, that our talents and abilities come from God. In 1st Corinthians 4:7, Paul asks this question: "For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast, as if you had not received it?" The point is that everything you have comes from His hands. All aspects of our lives then, according to Scripture, are affected. Primary cause is there, but it doesn't minimize the reality that we also cause events to take place; we do have choices; and we really do make a difference. Both are affirmed in Scripture. That is to say, although God is behind it all, Scriptures affirm again and again that He upholds our ability to make willing, responsible choices. Those choices that you and I make will have real and eternal consequences. Thus, we are held accountable. There are three things that I want you to see. Your choices are real; they will produce results; and you are accountable. Though God is the primary agent behind it all, still we see, in Scripture, that this does not eliminate the human responsibility side of the equation; and I will argue that there is a tension between the two that is quite mysterious. But, the Scriptures affirm that He can, in fact, use His power to have this primary causality and still give us real and genuine choices that produce results and for which we will be held accountable. A lot of times you can use and analogy of a Shakespearian play: in Macbeth you think of the fact that he killed King Duncan; but who killed King Duncan? Well, in one sense it was Macbeth, but in another way it was Shakespeare who killed him. Shakespeare was behind Macbeth, who did the action. You see how that connects together? Then the argument arises, well, they were only characters; we are human beings. Don't limit it to human analogy and to only what humans can do. It is a good bit more subtle than what we can pull off. Instead of characters, we are real people and we are involved and we make choices. When you make a choice it is not like you were coerced. In fact, when you think about it, you never get the feeling that you are a puppet or that you are continually coerced.
Now this also raises a tough question. What about evil? If all this is true; and God has this much authority, then what about evil? It is a fundamental difficulty. If He is involved in this providential care, then what do we make of God being directly involved? The Scriptures will emphasize over and over that He never directly does anything evil. Nor does the Bible ever blame God for evil or show that He ever takes pleasure in evil. Evil is contrary to His character and to His nature. Having said that, though, I will argue that His plan providentially incorporates these choices to be made that involve evil. Let me illustrate that from Scripture. Take the story of Joseph. You recall the brothers were clearly responsible for all that they did in selling their brother, Joseph, into slavery and they figured they got away with it. It is a wonderful story of reconciliation and one of the miracles of the story is that Joseph did not become so bitter that he was unable to forgive them. Part of the reason is that Joseph somehow maintained a view of the sovereignty of God and how people cannot, in spite of their evil intentions, thwart the loving purposes of God. That is why at the end of the story, in Genesis chapter fifty, we see that the brothers are terrified at the death of Jacob and they assume that Joseph will seek his revenge. But, he told his brothers that, while they intended it for evil, God intended it for good. What an incredible perspective that is. God caused a greater good to come out of it because had they stayed in Canaan they would have inter-married and lost their national identity. Through the pain of Joseph, God accomplishes a greater good. Another example is the hardening of the heart of Pharaoh, where it says "I will harden his heart." People say, 'well, he hardened his heart first'. Check again; it turns out that even before the process took place God had promised that; and through signs, and wonders, and power He would bring them out of that nation; and the consequence will be that you will actually plunder the Egyptians because by that time they will want to get rid of them. That was 400 years of slavery being paid back. The reality is that God hardened Pharaoh's heart, but he was responsible for the choices that he made. The Scriptures hold him accountable for the hardness of his heart. The two go hand in hand. Another example would be Romans 9:18, where we see "So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires."
Still another example can be found in Joshua: "It was the Lord's doing, that they should harden their hearts and that they should come against Israel in battle so that they would be destroyed." Or, another example is in 1st Samuel: "An evil spirit came from the Lord and tormented King Saul." How can that be? Or, how about when David sinned with Bathsheba? Nathan the prophet came and condemned him. In the end the child she had by David eventually fell sick and died. There is a multiplicity of layers involved. God worked through Satan to incite David to sin, but Scripture regards David for being responsible for the sin committed. How about the story of Job? Do you recall that all these acts that occurred were chosen by his enemies? Nevertheless, Job looked beyond these acts of his enemies and saw that it was God who took them away. Job wrestled with God, but he never blamed God for the evil sufferings he endured. In Amos 3:6 we also see: "If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people tremble? If a calamity occurs in a city has not the Lord done it?" Now, Isaiah 45:7 is one of the most famous texts in regard to this idea. God is the One "forming the light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity." That seems rather direct, does it not? I argue, however, that there is a difference between bringing about His plan by using evil and actually causing the evil as the original source. That is to say, God caused them to make a willing choice to do what they did. You see the balance here? God caused them to make a willing choice. It is difficult to put those together; and I will argue that it is a great mystery that He is capable of being in control, but with out turning us into robots and puppets in the process. Our choices are willing ones; we are accountable; and they produce results. Consequently, one does not eliminate the other. As we look at the texts, I conclude that God uses all things to fulfill His purpose and He even uses evil for His glory and our good. That is why the Scriptures say that "He has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble." The Psalmist says "the wrath of man will praise You." Nevertheless, God never does evil; nor is ever blamed for evil in the Bible. Let me give you an example of that, and it a remarkable text in the Gospel along these lines. In Luke 22:22 we see: "For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed." On the one hand, it is determined that the Jesus will be betrayed; but on the other-"woe to that man by whom He is betrayed." This was a prophetic event, and the Scriptures predict these things very clearly. But, Judas was still responsible for the decision that he made. Another example is in James chapter one: "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each person is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust." The idea here is that God is removed from actually doing evil, but His bringing it about by secondary cause doesn't impugn His holiness or render Him blameworthy. So, what, then, are the alternatives? One option, of course, is that God does do evil; but that is a big problem because suddenly He is not the good and righteous God the Scriptures emphasize over and over that He is. Another option is that if He doesn't use evil to fulfill His purposes, we would have to admit that there is evil in the universe that God did not intend there to be; and now He is out of control. I am suggesting, first of all, that while God uses all things-including evil-to fulfill His purposes, He is never blamed for evil; and He rightly blames and judges moral creatures for the evil they do. Turn to Isaiah 66:3 and you see: "...they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations. So I will choose their punishments and bring on them what they dread. Because I called, but no one answered; I spoke, but they did not listen. And they did evil in my sight and chose that in which I did not delight." Again we see that the blame for evil is always on the responsible creatures-humans or demonic beings-and each is worthy of punishment.
The Scriptures emphasize this broad concept; and Romans 9:19-20 illustrates this as well: "You will say to me then, 'Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will'? On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, 'Why did you make me like this', will it?" I want to stress that in every case where we do evil we know that we willingly chose to do it. We are not forced against our will; think it through and you will know what I am talking about is true. The Scriptures invite us to see this subtle interplay; and there is a tension and a mystery clearly involved. I argue, too, that evil is no illusion; it is quite real. We should never do evil because it will always harm us and others and the Scriptures emphasize this truth. So, I must stress as well that there are some things that are right for God to do, but are wrong for us to do. Let me give you some examples. One is to require others to worship us. Think about that for a minute. With God, because of His beauty and His perfection, it would be improper for Him not to be praised and honored; but for us, that is another matter. Furthermore, we are not the ones who can execute final judgment on another person; only God has that authority; and that is why it says, "...vengeance is mine, I will repay." That is a very different image; and the point is that we cannot draw a direct parallel between what is appropriate for humans and what is appropriate for God. Frankly, we still have to come to the point where we confess that we don't understand how God can do all this. I have tried to stress this all along, but I cannot over emphasize it; it a mystery. I want to stress here that theology is clearly not the same as mere logical human deduction. These are not things you would have come up with on your own; and frankly this tension in Scripture in very subtle but very real. My own argument is that it is what I would expect from a higher revelation. They are not contradictory concepts; they are merely things that we cannot fully get our arms around. One problem is to go off to the extreme and diminish human choice and say it is all fatalism or determinism and we don't really have any freedom whatsoever. The opposite extreme would be to so emphasize human choice that God Himself becomes out of control and not sovereign. You can either minimize sovereignty or minimize human responsibility. I maintain the Scriptures affirm both and so it is best to maintain the tension. To ask if we have free will is to ask what you mean by it. Nobody is absolutely free but God. There are a lot of restrictions to your freedom. For example, you cannot fly like a bird; and you cannot walk through walls. There are clearly boundaries to our freedom. And so, the idea of freedom is a relative term and we can make willing choices that have real effects, but there is a freedom that is limited there. We cannot do 'good' with out first being empowered by God. "Those in the flesh cannot please God," as we see in Romans chapter eight. We are limited; but our choices are real; they do have consequences; and we will be held accountable for those choices. Those, then, are the boundaries of our freedom. So, God is involved in preservation; in holding things together; and also involved in government. By government I mean the fact that He has a purpose for what He does in the world and He providentially governs or directs all things to accomplish these purposes. I won't focus on that except to say, in Psalm 109:13 we see: "His kingdom rules over all." And in Romans chapter eleven, "From Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things." Now, there are distinctions between God's moral will and His providential will; there are things He has revealed that He wishes to be true; but there is a secret will of God and we do not know what is going to happen from day to day. There are aspects of our lives that we cannot fully grasp and fully comprehend. It is possible for God to will events in the short run that in the long run will actually bring greater glory.
This is where the tension comes into play. God decrees all things and has an eternal plan; and even before the creation of the world He was involved. Look at Ephesians 1:4, for example, and we see that our salvation was determined long ago. God chose us, before the foundation of the world, that "we would be holy and blameless before Him..." In Ephesians 2:10, Paul says that our good works, as believers, were "prepared before hand so that we would walk in them." His plan is eternal; but He works in time; and there we see the 'both-and' connection. I want to focus, now, on human actions, and that we are always responsible for our actions. Remember that they do have real and eternal and significant results. Thus, we do not have the excuse of, 'God made me do it', or 'the devil made me do it'. That is never an excuse for selfish indulgence and laziness; we are still responsible for our actions. God has ordained that your actions will have genuine effects. Indeed, prayer is an example of action that has definite results and changes the course of events. Prayer is a means that God uses to accomplish His will. I will give you an example: in 2nd Samuel 10:12, we see Joab saying, "Be strong, let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God," and then he adds, "...and may the Lord do what is good in His sight." You see the balance there? There is the whole idea there that we will act, but we are going to look to God for the outcome. Now, if a person chooses not to participate, God will accomplish His purposes without that person. Each of us gets to decide whether we want in or not. If you are in, you have the opportunity to be involved in something that has eternal ripple effects and consequences. We want to combine a trust in God's providence with the realization that He uses us in ordinary ways. Let me give you three practical applications of what we have said so far. The first application is that you don't have to be afraid, and you can trust in God.
Look at the Sermon on the Mount again. What are the anxieties Jesus mentions? What should we eat? What should we wear? Those are anxieties, He says, that we should not be concerned about. You need to trust your Father for these things. We also see in Psalm 91: "He who dwells in the shelter most high," and this is the image that he keeps and protects His people. Furthermore, Peter says, in chapter five verse ten of 1st Peter: "After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will perfect, conform, strengthen, and establish you." You will go through trials, but you can trust God. All things will be well, not in isolation, but together. The more we are confident that God is involved in preservation, and that He keeps things moving together, the more we can trust God and the less anxious we need to be. Only then do we realize that God is in control and we are not. Another application would be thanksgiving. Can you think of five good things that have happened to you today? When you think through it this way you discover that 99% of the good things God brings into your life you never thank Him for. It is a critical Biblical teaching for us to develop a heart of gratitude; the realization that life really is a gift. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits." At the point your gratitude becomes redundant or superficial, you are in serious trouble because you have now developed a fool's attitude of autonomy and arrogant independence. The Scriptures invite us to be people who are grateful and dependent upon Him; and realize that everything you have and own comes from Him. The fact that we don't have to worry about our next meal is something that we can begin to take as our due rather than as His grace. Actually all things come from His hand and that is the perspective we want to maintain. I would encourage you tonight to review all the tender mercies and the good things that have happened in your life and realize that God is involved in providential care. The final application to consider is that, in the long run, there is no such thing as luck or chance. I often have a way of attributing intentionality to inanimate objects. The traffic lights are out to get me-that sort of thing. After a while you start grumbling and thinking everything is against you and you have nothing but rotten luck. What I am really doing in that situation is complaining against the sovereignty of God. When something goes wrong, instead of saying, 'why me', the wiser response might be, 'why not me'? Realize that everything is a gift; and He can give and He can take away. None of us live this way consistently, but I think it is a view that is more compatible with Scripture. I want to finally give you an alternative challenge to what we have been talking about so far. So far, we have discussed what is called the 'reformed' position or a Calvinist perspective. An alternative perspective is named after a fellow named Jacob Arminius, who lived from 1560 to 1609. It is called 'Arminianism'. This concept emphasizes that God is not in as much control as we see in the Calvinist perspective. For example, Methodists and Nazarenes are thoroughly Arminian. Here is the basic difference: instead of God being providentially involved in all things, He doesn't get involved in the details but merely responds to human choices. In other words, based upon what you do, that is what He does. In many instances, they will say that He cannot know the future. They will claim that the verses I just cited as representing God's providential control are only exceptions and not the way God ordinarily works. So, they will say that it makes God responsible for sin; or that these choices are caused by God. But, if they are caused by God, then they aren't real choices. They might also say that if you are a Calvinist you are encouraging an irresponsible way of living because it involves some kind of dangerous fatalism. I would respond by saying the Scriptures do not suggest, at all, that some things are outside of God's control. Scriptures tell us that "He accomplishes all things according to the counsel of His will." These are very all-encompassing kinds of declarations and they do not seem to be mere exceptions. I would argue that there is a lot of human experience and intuition involved here, rather than texts of Scripture. Here is the issue, and I have never seen a proper response to this: Where does it say in Scripture that a choice ordained by God is not a real choice? I know of no text that says that. It is an assumption based solely on experience and human intuition rather than Scriptural affirmation. I am arguing that God says our choices are real and, therefore, they are real-even though He is involved as the primary agent and we as the secondary. No Calvinist theologian that I know would say that God is not influenced by what we do. When you attempt to project human abilities upon God you will error every time. You are limiting God to what humans can do and there is no text in Scripture that will affirm that fact. An Arminian perspective leaves many unanswered questions: God's knowledge of the future; why does He allow evil when it is not His will; and, lastly, is He going to triumph in the end. God omniscience can be denied; His omnipotence can be denied; and His promises of the future become problematic. The questions raised by a Calvinist perspective raises your view of God; the questions raised by an Arminian view diminishes your view of God and elevates your view of evil and the greatness of man. Let me close in a prayer. Lord, we thank You for this time together and for each person here and that we might grow in our love for You and trust you more; and that we might realize that we are not in control of even one day. Who can determine what one day will bring? We realize that we are in the hands of the One who is in control of the future and we entrust ourselves to You and will not be anxious for anything, but in everything thanksgiving. Your peace, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard our minds and hearts in Christ Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen.