Mystery of Providence Chapter 10a

Let us open in prayer The Heavenly Father we thank you for this time to come to learn more about your

Word and more about who you are and how we should be benefiting from and appreciating your providence help us to have a gainful and Productive time together as we pray for your blessings later to this night your son's name you pray

Amen So everyone has outlines hopefully there are still more if you don't have one

This is the first half of chapter 10 Chapter 10 is very long very good by those by those measures to so it is a first and foremost a bunch of motives for why motives for Actually going to God with our providences and motives for caring about the providences that he has already

Given us it goes into some somewhat abstract Explanations of reasons that we should care about it, but they're quite good as well

So let's just start with the first one by this means you maintain sweet and sensible communion with God from day to day this means being recognizing regarding the providences that he is giving you and has given you and He in this section quotes psalm 104 34 for his example may my meditation

Be pleasing to him for I rejoice in the Lord and so it is that you know

David or whoever's writing this psalm here is explaining that he Wishes that his meditation itself is pleasing to the

Lord and in so doing he's also rejoicing in the Lord It is something that affects both of them

This is something he points out John does in here which is that communion with God consists of two different things

God's manifestation of Himself to the soul of man and the soul's answer bowl returns to God that is our response back to him

He puts into three different subcategories as well Which is that this happens in our ordinances this happens in correcting and rebuking providences from the

Lord and this happens in Smiling and reviving providences from the Lord So this would be also the correcting rebuking we could think of as afflictions

The smiling and reviving is what we've been generally talking about as providences He mentioned ordinances, but didn't really go into them

But as just a little note here We can look at what he says about what it consists of and maybe think about our ordinances specifically

Communion is a really easy one to look at with this which is that if we believe in the real presence of Christ at Communion that is a way in which

God's manifestation of himself to us is present there And then our answer ball return is both our participation in our meditation upon what

Christ has done for us So that's a way in which we can express and thank

God for the providence that he's given us Which is even in giving his son to die for us when we're partaking of the ordinances

So each of our ordinances, they're not just there for order. They're there also for Recognizing what he's done.

Yes. Oh boy. So there's you know the

Terrible Catholic view of transubstantiation, which is that the bread and the wine physically become

Christ's Body and blood whenever you partake of communion, then there's those who would think of it just as a memorial

So we are just remembering Christ when this is happening but the real presence would be our view is almost a

Middle ground where Christ is in some sense spiritually present with us when we are taking communion

It is just bread and wine that we're taking but in that ceremony He does come in some kind of presence to us and the spirit is the one that helps us to enjoy

And actually recognize that so it still should be seen as a kind of spiritual thing

It's not a strictly physical ordinance that we're partaking in So you are actually physically eating

Jesus And he is strengthening you by oral conduction

So for the reform just by faith Not actually by eating

But it is still a spiritual strength It's not happening through just You can't replace it with some other kind of memorial and expect the same spiritual strength

Does that help? Cool All right Let's look at Rebuking and correcting

Providence's a bit. Let's look at Micah 6 9 for that That's what he refers to with this

The voice of the Lord cries to the city and it is sound wisdom to fear your name

Hear of the rod and of him who appointed it so again here we have

The voice of the Lord crying to the city. This is the way he's manifesting to the people. He's also manifesting even in the provision of the rod the provision of the affliction is giving the people and The answerable return would be those actually fearing the name so in response to this affliction the proper response to them is to fear

God for what he's been doing and I like the quote that he has in this chapter around this this discovery of God's anger

Kindly melts and thaws a gracious soul and produces a double -sweet effect upon it namely repentance for sins past and due caution against future sins

That due caution would come from our fear. It's actually a properly placed fear upon the only one who can destroy both body and soul and Then for smiling and reviving provenances he simply points to Revelation 15 3 and the song of Thanksgiving given by The elect and they sing the song of Moses or by the angels

I think they sing the song of Moses a servant of God and the song of the Lamb saying Great and amazing are your deeds.

Oh Lord God the Almighty Just and true are your ways. Oh king of the nations so the way we

Recognize the justice. We recognize the truth. We recognize the greatness of all that he's doing in our lives, right?

And so community is consisting of these things. We see these examples throughout scripture of it We see it in our ordinances, but then there's the benefits of community as well

Another quote from him. It is usually found in the experience of all the Saints that and what ordinance or duty

Soever they have any sensible communion with God and naturally produces in their spirits a deep abasement and humiliation from the sense of divine

Condescensions to such vile poor worms as we are

He's pointing out that the common experience of the Saints is then the recognition of how

God was Condescending in order to even to save us to interact with us to do any of these good things for us and all

Providences are in themselves condescensions of the Lord God has not only condescended in very specific grand events like in the incarnation, but he's also

Condescended to us in every single Providence and interaction. He has with us so Genesis 18 27 will especially look to Abraham answered and said behold

I have undertaken to speak to the Lord I Who am but dust and ashes or if you do a second

Samuel 7 18? Then King David went in and sat before the

Lord and said who am I O Lord God? And what is my house that you have brought me thus far?

And so all throughout scripture You can find frequently the patriarchs and these great men of faith Referring to themselves as lowly beings as creatures not worthy of what

God has given them Yeah, I think he's gonna even point out to us later the if we stack ourselves up against these

People of faith from the Bible like are we not even less? Worthy of the things that we give if we really want to stack rink it

But if we're comparing ourselves to an infinite eternal Lord There's a sense in which we are all infinitely lowly and infinitely undeserving of this communion that we're getting to begin with And so communion with God through his ordinances should melt our hearts into love with God Every man loves the mercies of God But a saint loves the

God of his mercies the mercies of God as they are the fuel of a wicked man's lust So they are to feel a fuel to maintain a good man's love to God I think it's a actually really incredible way.

He puts it very simple Every man loves the mercies of God, but a saint loves the God of his mercies

And the point that these things that the Lord does for us for there be sustaining our breath Giving us blessings.

These are in a sense actually heaping on discipline and heaping on judgment to those who receive it and then still reject him and At a continual blessing to those who do recognize where it's coming from and recognize the

Lord ways done it's not that the Reprobate man is doing a good thing and recognizing the good of the thing

God has done for him if he does not direct that towards the God who gave it to him It is a continual and ever -growing sin that he has participated in It points out to us for those who are in are in relationship with God that communion with God sets us against our sin

And we can see this in Exodus 32 19 to 20 And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing

Moses's anger burned hot and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain

He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and Made the people of Israel drink it

So in this case, it's not that God destroyed the tablets and blew them up in Moses's hands

But it's that Moses upon his desire for what is good and desire for the Lord and anger breaks the tablets

And so that's a way in which Moses was set against the sin of the people He was not partaking of the things that Israelites were partaking of and when he saw what they were doing he was not

You know drawn into it either. He was instead set very much against it That's how we should be responding to even when it's it's opportune with the sermon that we got this

Sunday about solid solitude rather than solidarity We should be setting ourselves against sin and that likely is going to put us into a kind of solitude

Especially just within culture, but even within what we presume to be Christian culture in the nation last in this section on the first motive communion with God readies us for obedience and service

Isaiah 6 8 it's one of the first verses for this I heard the voice of the

Lord saying whom shall I send and who will go for us? Then I said here

I am send me. It's only because he's listening to the Lord He's even hearing this commission from the

Lord. He's in Communication with the Lord that he's able to then even answer back answer back in obedience with service

And so we should be recognizing this in our own lives too. If we're not communicating with God We're not asking him about where we should be going how we should be getting led

We can't really expect to also respond to an answer Given by him onto the second motive a great part of the pleasure and delight of a

Christian life is made out of the observations of Providence with Psalm 111 to 2 as the example

Great are the works of the Lord studied by all who delight in them repeat

Studied by all who delight in them God's divine attributes are displayed through his providence if we pay attention to these things

We should expect to better understand Especially how Christ meets together with those divine attributes

He actually refers to Habakkuk more than once in this chapter, which is fascinating Habakkuk 2 1

I will take my stand at my watch post and Station myself on the tower and look out to see what he will say to me and what

I will answer concerning my complaint The idea being that if we're setting ourselves at this watch post

We're looking out upon what the Lord has done for us And it is upon doing that that we will be able to see the thing that he's been giving us, right?

And so John points us specifically to how this should give us a better understanding and delight for how

Christ intermixes with the Lord and is himself the Lord Our joy in eternity is the fulfillment of this benefit as well that we the fulfillment of that benefit being

That we will be in great delight With the Lord so he pointed to Revelation 14 1 through 3 and verse 8 as well

Then I looked and behold on Mount Zion stood the Lamb and with him 144 ,000 who had his name and his father's name written on their foreheads

I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder

The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps and they were singing a new song

Before the throne before the four living creatures and before the elders No one could learn that song except the 144 ,000 who had been redeemed from the earth

Another angel a second followed saying fallen fallen is

Babylon the great She who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality and so there is a

Contrast between those singing this new song one that the angels don't know one that no one has known to be able to sing ever and enjoying that special presence and understanding of the

Lord and those who have Been a part of Babylon those who were simply caught up in the things that they were doing there and in the passion of the immorality

So there's this this contrast we should be considering in regards to observing providence versus simply taking

God's mercies as they are We should be pleased to see our prayers and hopes given life in his fulfillment

This is again in Habakkuk verse 3 though of chapter 2 for still the vision awaits its appointed time

It hastens to the end. It will not lie if it seems slow wait for it.

It will surely come It will not delay and so we should be

Recognizing that there's no There's no credence really to lose hope for what the Lord has promised he will be providing us and we should be expecting so much more from him than we

And we generally do expect not that he's going to give us Lamborghinis But that he is going to give us the things that we need within his will that we should be

Asking for things within his will we should be craving what's in his will like we were seeing earlier We should put ourselves in the watchtower and understand his land we should understand as much as we can of who he is what his motives are and Align ourselves to that where we have the

Spirit of Christ. We should be able to understand and know these things He points to let's look at Job 6 11 for this

What is my strength that I should wait and what is my end? That I should be patient it's rhetorical but we should as we've just looked at Revelation We know what's coming for us.

We know the gift that's coming to us So when we answer this question, why should I be patient because the

Lord is in control? The Lord has promised me already these things and if he answers me in a way,

I don't expect That should in itself be expected that he knows more and he wants to express himself to us

We see blessings come from things that are meant for our misery, I think hopefully we all have experience with this that we can point to but Romans 8 28 is especially good for just Understanding this as a whole and we know that for those who love

God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose or Genesis 45 5 and Now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here for God sent me before you to preserve life

This is Joseph talking to his brothers. He's explaining not only, you know, there's a classic like oh what you meant for evil

The Lord intended for good. This is especially that what you intended for evil The Lord used to preserve not only your lives

But all the lives of the people who benefit from Egypt preparing for the famine that occurred. There's Much more that the

Lord is doing in our trials than we really recognize and all he asked for us is to be faithful and specific and looking for what he is trying to do in that thing and to continue to Run the race.

Well as we are there So so there's comfort that we gain by considering the value that the

Lord has seen in us Not that there's anything specific within us, but he does cherish and adore his people in Job 7 18

This is what he referenced for it. Let's try to parse it out Visit him every morning and test him every moment.

Let's look at the surrounding verses a bit though What is man that you make so much of him and that you set your heart on him you visit him every morning and test him

Every moment so it's at the Lord's visits up the visiting of us So whether that's in our prayer or in our worship and also testing us in every moment

This is me. This is when he's actually Working in our faith where he's burning away the parts of us that are not

Still meant to be there. He's trying to work on our flesh and sanctify us further all of that is again a condescension that the

Lord is giving to us that we do not deserve but that we should be Beyond thankful for and have some kind of joy and comfort in doing so And that relates to the last thing which is that greater joy and there is no greater joy and comfort

Than how all of these things work to our good third motive is a relatively short one

Being in community remembering God's providences thinking on them meditating on them it suppresses our natural atheism

Explain this as there's a Natural atheism at least in how we act not necessarily in how we believe because we still have

Romans 1 which is all man knows God is all man knows of God all man really in a sense has to be suppressing him in their unrighteousness that Suppression is that natural atheism.

It's a practical atheism. It's present in how we act and think it's present How we place ourselves as a

Lord over all? So ways in which he suppresses that actively though is when

God supplies for all of our needs Again, let's look to Job Job 36 7

He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous but with kings on the throne he sets them forever and they are exalted

We get to in a sense reign alongside Christ in eternity We are going to be glorified and exalted to a degree in heaven as well.

This is something that he's promising to us Beyond what we get here in this life

How he has saved each of us for innumerable dangers Psalm 41 11 by this

I know that you delight in me. My enemy will not shout and triumph over me We should remember especially the main major enemy of scripture that we have been against this whole time and that Christ is already

Set to be destroyed that there's a promise that All his enemies will be made a footstool to him.

He's saving us from those dangers now He's saving us from those dangers in the future how he's saving us from those dangers now as with the indwelling of the

Spirit It's with the hedges that we've discussed in previous passages So there's internal and external ways that the

Lord is doing this and they are all evidences to his providence They're all evidences to the work that he does in us

There's the hand of God present and the satisfaction of our prayers, especially as we pray tonight. You must remember this

He's providing for us constantly He's providing for us in ways that are the best for us

Includes making us wait for the things we've prayed for Includes denying us the things we do not actually need and especially even just includes

Coming to him with pleading There's a sense in which that pleading that we do with the Lord is itself a thing of growth is itself and act and strengthening of our reliance upon him

Which is proper And last in this mode of God's guidance and direction in bringing us to blessings

Look at Jeremiah 10 23. I Know O Lord that the way of man is not in himself

That is not in man who walks to direct his steps in the context of breaking up our natural

Atheism we should be looking at The complexity of the ways of man

We should be looking at how we act what we recognize as truths all these things.

We really take for granted It's asked where they coming from recognize them as blessings and guidance from the

Lord This is something that in some ways indirectly comes up all the time with street evangelism for us

Which is that pointing out to people how they have directions of morality any kind of guidance for morality in their lives?

This is coming from a presupposed set of rules somewhere Those rules are what we know things provided by God as a providence to them and as a way to leave them without excuse as well however, we

We recognize where they're coming from give proper credence where it is, right? fourth motive

Memory of God's providences will prepare us for future events of import not just for future trials

But also for future great things so that we recognize where they come from Let's look at first Samuel 17 37 and David said the

Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this

Philistine and Saul said to David go and the Lord be with you The Lord did not you know only protect

David from Goliath. He had already been working in his life There's a whole life an early life of David that we know very little about But that he knows much about as all of us know much about the earlier life that God has worked in us

And so we have our own Lions we have our own bears that the Lord has delivered us from and it's at our behest to be like David and to Recognize as we come up upon new trials that the

Lord has already preserved me in these times before Why not again? Why not in greater fashions?

A bit of almost plot armor as an elect, right? Within this we should be remembering prior events of Providence as to make us open arm to God's future

Providences It's passage from Matthew Let's look at it before we dive in a bit

Matthew 16 8 through 11 But Jesus aware of this said oh you of little faith

Why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive?

Do you not yet remember the five loaves for the 5 ,000 and how many baskets you gathered or the seven loaves for the 4 ,000?

And how many baskets you gathered? How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread?

Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees He's not our unbelief that Objects that God will relieve us and our trials

Well, it is our unbelief that objects that God will relieve us and it is also our unbelief that questions if God will continue to Be gracious and this happens to all people.

This does not just happen to you know, the bad Christian so to speak This is happening to Jesus's own

Apostles They have seen great miracles in front of them and yet they still don't understand what

Christ who Christ is what Christ is doing we are We have great pride if we think this won't happen to us either or that we would have done better We should recognize that we do this constantly.

And so it is still an innate unbelief a natural atheism That causes us to be this way and it's something we need to lay at the feet of the

Lord as well Prior events should be encouraging our faith and answering these objections of our unbelief

Our unworthiness should magnify for us how great his providences are this quote from here

Which I alluded to earlier it is true We find he did great things for Abraham Isaac Jacob Moses but these were men of eminent holiness men who obeyed

God and denied themselves for him and Lived more in a day to his glory than ever.

I did in all my days Thank you. We like to Argue about the sins of the patriarchs.

We're going through Kings right now. So it means we just finished Samuel and you see David's multiple wives you see

David's bad decisions But do we really recognize what all David had also done? David also writes the

Psalms David leads Israel David prepares Israel for Solomon's reign David does more in a day than we do in a lifetime

Abraham the same all these men the same and it's a thing that we should Use to maintain humbleness and also to look at their sin and recognize

This is what God has saved from and what can God save from still but me. So let's look at Romans 5 10

For while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of a son Much more now that we are reconciled

Shall we be saved by his life So if we forget the words that we get from Romans 5 here if we forget

God's works forget Christ works We may indeed become blinded by the height of the miseries that come our way

But again as Habakkuk books it puts it we should put ourselves into the tower

We should recognize his ways and not our shallow ways And the last motive we will cover today

Former Providence will indeed provide a continual reason for praise and thanks

It is God's goodness and mercy that are at the root of our praise. It is not the Providence Let's look at Psalm 63 3 let's look at both the

Psalms from here because your steadfast Love is better than life. My lips will praise you in Psalm 103 4

Who redeems your life from the pit who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy?

Do consider the pits are usually some kind of recognition of hell some kind of allusion to it

God Christ has actually redeemed you from hell redeemed you from the pit and is crowning and exalting us with the promise given to us

God's favors are free and they are undeserved and they oblige us to praise him 2nd

Samuel 7 18 Then King David went in and sat before the

Lord and said who am I O Lord God and what is my house that you have Brought me thus far. We've read this one earlier

But again, how undeserved are every single act that he does for us The great number of mercies given to us obliges us again to praise him

But I through the abundance of your steadfast love will enter your house I will bow down toward your holy temple and the fear of you

This great number of mercies thing hit me in a funny way today where um, you know

He's been telling us to track providences. He's been pointing out, you know more providences happen in every moment than you can really bother to recognize as a person

I Was working on the chicken run in my backyard today And I needed a very long piece of wood for the top of the roof a bit

And I'm just going through the scrap wood that I have and there is a very large long piece of wood the exact right length

I do not have to cut which saved me a lot of time and a lot of just pain in general And so is even these small things that yes,

I should recognize them as Providence like there are small little ways the Lord is asking me to praise him and thank him through my day and not just to take it as aha great luck and great chance, right

That was definitely what I would have been prone to do in the past or so even find a way to say like maybe

I Prepared that piece of wood that way but that would just be the natural atheism coming in again and putting myself in the

Lord's position And now for the last thing the tenderness of God's mercy again obliges us to be thankful in our praise

So it would be Psalm 103 13 as a father shows compassion to his children

So the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him and James 5 11

Behold, we consider those blessed who remain steadfast You have heard of the steadfastness of Job and you have seen the purpose of the

Lord how the Lord is compassionate and merciful We should not only think of the

Lord as one in control as one to fear But he is a loving father as well