A High View of God - Part 1

First of all to have a high view of God means that we understand and embrace the biblical truth that God alone is great in His person. God alone is great in His person. You probably heard me share this illustration before. I encountered it in college and it’s never really left me. It’s a powerful one. It was in the year 1715 that King Louis XIV died. He had reigned over France for 72 years. That’s still a record among European monarchs. Louis referred to himself as “Louis the Great.” So when he died he wanted his funeral to be spectacular. His body was placed in a golden coffin and was laid in state in Notre Dame Cathedral. He demanded that every single candle in the place be extinguished but a solitary lone candle was to be lit and placed on his coffin. That was to illustrate his incomparable greatness. Thousands attended the service and after 72 years of reigning as France’s monarch they sat there in stunned and hushed silence. Louis had chosen Massillon, his chaplain, to deliver the funeral sermon. And as Massillon entered the pulpit he first, slowly and deliberately, reached down and snuffed out that solitary candle on top of Louis’s casket. He walked into the pulpit and he began his sermon with these memorable words: “Only God is great.” Only God is great.

Today’s church, the contemporary church, has lost its sense of God’s greatness. A.W. Pink, writing last century and it’s more true than ever now, wrote these words. He says:

            The ‘god’ of this [twentieth] century no more resembles the [Supreme]                                                       Sovereign of Holy Scripture [Writ] than does the dim flickering of a candle 

            the glory of the midday sun. The ‘god’ who is now talked about in the 

            average pulpit … is a figment of human imagination, an invention, an invention                                             of maudlin sentimentality… In reality, they are atheists for there is no other 

            possible alternative between an absolutely supreme God and no God 

            at all. A ‘god’ whose will is resisted, whose designs are frustrated, whose 

            purpose is checkmated, possesses no title to Deity and so far from being a 

            fit object of worship, merits nothing [nought] but our contempt. 

He’s right.  But the church today no longer has that sense of the greatness, the exalted majesty of God’s person. Or to say it another way, the church is no longer captivated by the transcendence of God. Let me explain that word to you. It’s an important word, transcendence. Let’s start with its opposite. We find comfort as believers in the fact that God is imminent. That’s the opposite, meaning He’s approachable, He’s accessible, He is our Father, He is Abba. And that’s true. But He is also at the very same time, exalted above us. Our Father, who what, is in Heaven. God is transcendent. He is separate from and superior to everything in the universe. Now, when we say that God is transcendent we mean that He is unrivaled. He is unequaled. He is unparalleled. He is unsurpassed. Or we could say He is incomparable. There is nothing to which you can compare God. He is in a category all of His own. He is unique. He is transcendent above all of creation. 

When we speak of transcendence we’re really talking about the attribute we call God’s holiness. He is separate or distinct from us as creatures. And when we say God is holy, we mean two things about God. We mean that He is separate or distinct from us in His moral purity.1 John 1:5, “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” But we also mean, when we say He is holy, that He is personally majestic. He is great, He is grand, He is incomparable, He is separate from us as creatures and ought to be treated as such. Scripture often defines holiness as God’s personal majesty. For example, Exodus 15:11, “Who is like You among the gods oh, [LORD] Yahweh? Who is like You, majestic in holiness?” 1 Samuel 2:2, “There is no one holy like Yahweh [the LORD], indeed, there is no one besides You ….” You’re incomparable. Isaiah 8:13, “It is Yahweh of hosts [the Lord of armies] whom you are to regard as holy.” And what should be your response? “He shall be your fear and He shall be your dread.” Hosea 11:9, God Himself says, “I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst.” I’m not like you, God says. I’m God. I’m not a man. 

Now as disciples of Jesus Christ our greatest desire, in fact our first prayer, our first petition should be that God’s greatness be known and that He’d be loved and feared because He’s great. Think about what our Lord taught us. Matthew 6 verse 9. He says, pray like this, “Our Father, who is in heaven …” What’s the first petition? Hallowed by Your name. Hallowed is not a word we use very often. But it means to be set apart, to be treated as separate, as distinct, as great, as powerful, as majestic. That should be your first concern, your first prayer. That that would be true in your heart and in every other heart. And that is why we say that we have a high view of God. We want to treat God like He demands to be treated. Because of that, because we embrace the greatness, or the personal majesty of God we have three key commitments that we’ve made in this church in response to His greatness.

Number one, the chief focus of our services is worship. The chief focus of our services is worship. Now, don’t misunderstand. God intends us to benefit from corporate worship. First Corinthians 14:26, “When you assemble… let all things be done for edification…” That is, to build others up. So, we benefit from the corporate worship and we ought to pursue that. Hebrews 10:23 [and 24]. When we gather, when we assemble, “… let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds.” Let us encourage one another. So when we gather, one priority is to serve and minister to each other. We do that even in our singing by the way. Let me just encourage you, if you’re from churches where people don’t sing, that’s not this church. We invite you, God commands you to sing, if you’re His. And to do so not only to glorify and worship God but Ephesians 5 says to instruct one another in the truths of those songs. So, that’s why we do what we do. But when we gather not only are we focusing on one another but our first priority is God. What did Jesus say to the Samaritan woman in John 4? God seeks worshippers. That’s why you’re saved. That’s the chief reason that we gather. So, we intentionally design our services to be God-centered worship first, then to minister to people’s needs.

Number two, because we believe the greatness of God, the chief content of our sermons is God’s Word. If this great transcendent God has spoken then nothing is more important to us than what He has said. His Word has to be the focus of our sermons. Who cares what I or any other human teacher has to say? We want to know what this great God has said. And thirdly the chief attitude toward God among our leaders and members is respect and reverence. We don’t talk about God flippantly, we don’t casually take His name in vain, we don’t joke about Him and His holy things because He is great in His Person. 

So having a high view of God means first of all that you understand and embrace the truth that God alone is great in His Person. Secondly, a high view of God embraces the biblical truth that God alone is sovereign in all things. God alone is sovereign in all things. This is so contrary to the spirit of our culture. In fact, our culture offers four main flawed explanations for the things that happen in our world. 

We’re told that everything that happens, some say, is because of natural processes. This is naturalistic determinism. This is evolution. It says that nature, the laws of nature, determine what happens and that’s all that’s involved. Others say no, fate, an unbroken chain of prior actions, determines every event including even our thinking and actions.  A third view is random chance. Our lives are the result of random events strung together by mere mathematical probability. You hear people all the time talk about life being random. That’s what they mean. Fourthly, some argue for self-determinism. That is that our lives are solely the result of our own will and decisions. “I’m in control. I can be anything I want to be; to will it is to make it so. Just think positively about what you want. Imagine it. Create it in your mind and you can make it so.” Tragically those philosophies have profundity influenced even the thinking of God’s people. Oh, and by the way you can also add the mistaken idea among some charismatics that Satan and demons are functionally in control. But a “high view of God” means that we believe God is absolutely sovereign over everything that happens in this universe. That’s exactly what Scripture teaches. Scripture teaches that God is sovereign over all things.

Turn back with me to Psalm 103. Psalm 103, this is a psalm of David. It’s one of my favorites. In fact, I’ve just written a hymn about this psalm. Hopefully in a few months time we’ll sing it. But I want you to notice where he ends in verse 19. He ends with this concept of God’s sovereign rule. Verse 19, David says, “Yahweh [the LORD] has established His throne in the heavens.” In other words, He has fixed His sovereign rule over all things and nothing can reach it. No one can unseat God and His sovereignty rules over all. That is over all the universe. God has supreme, unfettered, freedom and power to act according to His holy will. Now, let me distinguish two words for you. “Sovereign” is what God is. By virtue of being God He is sovereign. He rules over all things. That’s the very nature of God. “Providence” is what God does. He carries out His rule, His sovereignty, by administrating every detail in His creation. Because He is sovereign over all things He works out His sovereignty through Providence. And that’s where I want to focus in the rest of our time together this morning. This Doctrine of Providence is absolutely foundational to our faith because if God isn’t in charge of all, then He isn’t God. It’s the nature of God. In addition, understanding God’s providence is such a huge help in responding to the circumstances of our lives. Understanding His Work. 

Now as we consider the Doctrine of Providence I want to ask and answer several key questions. If you take notes, get your pencils and pens ready because we’re going to go through a lot of material, ok? Several key questions. First of all what is “Providence?” What is Providence? The dictionary defines it as “a careful arrangement prepared beforehand for the accomplishment of predetermined ends.” A careful arrangement to accomplish predetermined ends. That’s Providence. Let me give you a couple of theological definitions. Here’s Thomas Watson, an English Puritan. He writes, “It is God's ordering all issues and events of everything after the counsel of His own will, to His own glory.” Louis Berkoff, in his Systematic Theology defines it like this. “Providence is that continued exercise of the divine power, whereby the Creator preserves all His creatures, is operative in all that comes to pass in the world, and directs all things to their appointed ends.” You see in creation God spoke all things into being. But in Providence, God shoulders two responsibilities. Let me give them to you. This is what Providence is. Number one, God preserves all that He created. He preserves all that He created. Psalm 36:6, God, “You preserve man and beast.” Or I love what the writer of Hebrews says about Jesus in Hebrews 1:3. He says, “He upholds all things by the word of His power.” Friend, the reason your heart’s beating right now is because Jesus wills it to be so. The reason you have life is because He’s willed it to be so. And your life will end the moment He wills that to happen. He upholds all things by the word of His power.  Acts 17:27 [and 28] says, “… in Him…” in God “…we live and move and exist…” So God preserves all that He created.

The second responsibility that God shoulders in Providence is that He governs all things to ensure the purposes for which He created them are accomplished. You see not only does He preserve everything but He governs it, He rules it, to make sure that it accomplishes exactly what He intends. Psalm 135:5-6, “I know that Yahweh [the Lord] is great and that our Lord is above all gods.” Now listen to this; this is verse 6, “Whatever Yahweh [the LORD] pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.” In other words there is no place, heaven or earth or the bottom of the seas, where God’s will isn’t done.  He reigns over all. 

Now there are two mistakes to avoid with Providence. When you hear God is sovereign don’t think that means that men don’t really act and don’t really make decisions. We’re not talking about fatalism. We don’t mean that you’re going to think exactly what God forces you to think and you’re going to decide exactly what God forces you to decide. That is not what the Scriptures teach. Ok? Nor does it mean, Providence doesn’t mean, secondly, that there aren’t secondary causes. By that I mean God is the ultimate cause but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t natural laws that God has put in place. Gravity works because God created gravity to work in the universe. It’s there and functioning because God made it so. So there are secondary causes. And the hydrological cycle. Think about that. You know, the sun evaporates water from our oceans, goes into the clouds, comes over land, drops fresh water to water the earth. That is the process, a natural law that God built into His universe. So natural laws exist that He created. And we make real decision. But what Scripture teaches is that God superintends those second causes. Your decisions, the natural laws that He’s created, He superintends those second causes to guarantee that they fulfill His plan. Theologians call this, “Concurrence.” In other words, God’s acting and at the same time other things, secondary causes, are acting. But He’s directing them to the ends He chooses. He governs them to make sure they end up where He wants them to end up. 

The best illustration of this is the cross. Think of what Peter said in Acts 2:23. He said, “This Man, [Jesus], was delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God.” God was acting in the cross and death of Jesus Christ. Then he adds, “You nailed Him to a cross by the hands of godless men and [you] put Him to death.” Both are true. Those men were making exactly the decision they wanted, they were manifesting their evil hearts. God didn’t make them crucify Jesus. That is what they wanted to do, that was their will, that was their choice and they are responsible for it and yet God was superintending all of that to accomplish His own sovereign purpose. That’s Concurrence. God takes all the natural laws and all the free decisions of people and angels and weaves them together to guarantee that they accomplish the purposes of His sovereign will. That’s Providence. 

Secondly, the second key question is why is Providence necessary? Why is it necessary? Providence is necessary because God has an eternal plan. Theologians call that eternal plan, God’s Eternal Decree. It’s that biblical? Absolutely. Turn to Ephesians chapter 3, Paul’s talked about his ministry that God’s given him about Christ and the gospel and then he makes this astounding statement. Chapter 3 verse 11. Jesus and His coming and the gospel “was in accordance with the eternal purpose.” Now if you have a New American Standard that has a marginal note there, you’ll see that literally in the Greek language it says this. “… In accordance with the purpose of the ages.” The purpose of the ages. God’s plan of the ages, which He says in verse 11, “He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God has an eternal plan. What is that eternal plan? Go back to Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1 verses 3 through 14 unfold that plan. If you weren’t here when I taught through Ephesians go back and listen; there’s so much here. But let me just remind you of the components of God’s eternal plan. 

Number one, He wanted to sovereignly redeem His elect. That is, He wanted them to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross to purchase their forgiveness and then call them to Himself through the gospel. Friend, if you’re here this morning you’re not a follower of Jesus Christ. God extends to you the gospel invitation. Repent and believe in His Son as your only hope of forgiveness and of being right with your Creator. This was God’s plan to sovereignly redeem His elect through the gospel. Number two, to ultimately bring everything under Christ, verse 10. To sum up all things in Him. And thirdly, to do so for the praise of His glory. Three times He says that in this passage.  Verse 6, verse 12, verse 14. That ends each stanza of this hymn. God the Father’s work in redemption, Jesus the Son’s work in redemption, and the Holy Spirit’s work in redemption. Each time it says to the praise of His glory. 

So that’s God’s eternal plan. Oh, and by the way, that’s the theme of the Bible: To redeem a people by His Son, for His Son, to His own glory. God’s providence ensures that eternal plan is accomplished. Look in the middle of the hymn that is verses 3 through 14. Look at verse 11. He says, all of this is accomplished. How? “According to [God’s] purpose.” And how does that purpose come about? He “works ALL things after the counsel of His will." So because of God’s eternal decree, His eternal plan, He preserves everything that He made and He directs it to ensure that it accomplishes His divine ends. 

So we’ve answered the questions, what is “Providence", why is it necessary? The next question that naturally arises is, what does God’s Providence control? What does God’s Providence control? We’ve already established that His sovereignty rules over all, it’s universal. But let’s drill down a little bit and let’s consider a few specific categories. 

First of all, God in His sovereign providence rules over the physical universe. The physical world. Turn with me to Psalm 104. Psalm 104, it’s a magnificent psalm. It follows the structure of the days of Creation from Genesis 1. It’s really an ode, Psalm 104 is, to God’s providence over the physical world. Let me just give you a couple of physical examples. Psalm 104:14, God “causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the labor of man, so that man [he] may bring forth food from the earth, and wine which makes man’s heart glad, so that man [he] may make his face glisten with oil, and food which sustains man’s heart.” God is behind all of these things. Earth’s crops its plants, its flowers, its trees are not merely the product of an impersonal law of nature, but rather they are the direct result of the care and supervision of God using those natural laws that He created. Look at verse 16. The trees of Yahweh [the LORD] drink their fill, the cedars of Lebanon which He planted…” Here the Lord is described as a great Gardener and the earth as His garden. 

So God supervises all of those things that unfold on this planet. Look down at verse 21. Here are the animals. “The young lions roar after their prey and seek their food from God.” Look at verse 27, all the creatures on this planet “wait for You [God] to give them their food in due season. You give to them, they gather it up.” In other words, just like we feed our dogs and cats and they depend on us for that, God provides for His creatures on this planet. 

The Psalms also underscore God’s sovereign providence over our weather. There are so many passages but look at Psalm 147. This is the last time you can complain about Texas summers. Psalm 147. Look at verse 7, “Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praises to our God on the lyre, Who covers the heavens with clouds, who provides rain for the earth.” Go down to verse 15: 

            He sends forth His command to the earth; His word runs very swiftly. He gives 

            snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes. He casts forth His ice as fragments; 

            Who can stand before His cold? He sends forth His word and melts them; He 

            causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow. 

God is sovereign in His providence controlling everything that happens in this physical world. And the New Testament by the way, makes exactly the same point. Matthew chapter 5 verse 45, Jesus says, your Father “causes His sun to rise … and sends rain.” Matthew 6:26, Jesus says, your Father feeds the birds. Matthew 10:29, Jesus says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” Not a single, solitary, tiny sparrow falls to the gourd apart from God’s sovereign purpose. Acts 17:25 says He himself gives to all people life and breath and all things. Your heart’s beating right now because of God’s choice. He’s given you life and all things. God uses secondary causes but He gives life and breath directing all things to fulfill His eternal plan. Christian, let me ask you, have you allowed your culture to rob you of this sense of the greatness of God? How often this week have you really seen God’s creation and have you really given Him glory? It’s not there simply to serve our needs. It’s there to be bring Him glory. 

Secondly, God’s providence not only controls the physical world but the affairs of nations. Let me give you a verse that’s not on the slide, Job 12:23. I love this. Job says this, “God makes the nations great then destroys them; He enlarges the nations, then [He] leads them away.” Psalm 22:28, “He rules over the nations.” And this idea is really brought home in Daniel’s book. The theme of Daniel is that God is sovereign over all of human history. I love the way that’s unfolded. Turn with me to Daniel chapter 4. Here is a chapter that was written, really, dictated by Nebuchadnezzar, one of the greatest kings in human history, and notice the conclusion he comes to. After seven years of God-granted insanity, because of his pride, notice what happens in verse 34. Nebuchadnezzar writes in Daniel 4:34:

             But at the end of that period, [the seven years] I, Nebuchadnezzar raised my 

            eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High 

            and praised and honored Him who lives forever, for His dominion is an everlasting                              dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the 

            inhabitants of the earth they are like [accounted as] nothing and [but] He does 

            according to His will in the host of heaven and among the habitants of earth. And 

            no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, “What have You done?” 

Listen, God is in charge of this world’s nations and their rulers. Acts 17:26 Paul in his sermon at Mars Hill says God made “… every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times….” Listen God has appointed when our nation began and He’s appointed when it will end.” And their borders. God is sovereign over every human ruler, every nation, every world empire, its rise and fall, every national and international event that makes your news feed. Providence includes the physical world and the affairs of nations.

Thirdly, it also includes things that seem accidental or insignificant. Esther chapter 6 verse 1. “During that night the king could not sleep. So he gave an order to bring the book of records, the chronicles, and they were read before the king.” Now, if you know Esther’s story you know what’s going on here. Apparently the book of records was like a royal ancient sleep aid. And as the record was read it recounted the story that Mordecai had uncovered a plot to kill the king and had not been properly rewarded. This was an extraordinary providence. Think about it. God gave a great king insomnia on just the right night to save the nation of Israel from destruction. Proverbs 16:33 says, “The lot is cast into the lap but its every decision is from the LORD.” Talk about insignificant. In modern parlance, the roll of the dice. In 1 Kings 22 Jehoshaphat and Ahab formed an alliance and they went to war against the Syrians. Some things never change. And through Micaiah the prophet God promised that they would be defeated and that King Ahab would die in battle. So hearing that what does Ahab do? He disguises himself so it doesn’t look like he’s the king so he’s not a target so he could escape the prophecy of his death. But listen to 1 Kings 22:34. Now picture in your mind one of those battle scenes in your favorite movie. You know, where huge numbers of people are battling one another and there’s pandemonium. 1 Kings 22:34 says this, “Now a certain man …” a nameless man “… drew his bow at random.” You can just picture this guy. You know he’s just like, you’re not even looking. “… and struck the king of Israel in a joint of his armor.” God directed the flight of a random arrow to a joint in Ahab’s armor and he died just as God had said that he would. Folks, there’s not a stray molecule in God’s universe. Nothing incidental or insignificant is out of His control. 

God is also sovereign and He providentially controls, and here we get to the personal, the lives of individuals. The lives of individuals, your life. Charles Hodge writes this:

            The circumstances of every man’s birth, life, and death are ordered by God. 

            Whether we’re born in a pagan or Christian land, whether weak or strong, with 

            many or few talents, whether we are prosperous or afflicted, whether we live a 

            longer or shorter time, are not matters determined by chance or by the unintelligent                            sequence of events but, by the will of God. 

Is he right? Absolutely he’s right. Let’s look at it. 

God’s providence determines first of all, our birth and life circumstances. Psalm 139 verse 16, “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance and in Your book were written the days that were ordained for me …” And I think by the days that were ordained he means not only the number of days but also the content of each day. “The days that were ordained for me when as yet there was not one of them.” 

Secondly, God providentially controls our outward successes and failures. Look at Genesis 39. This is the life of Joseph. And you remember his story. He ends up as head of Potiphar’s house and then for no fault of his own he ends up in prison. And how does all of that happen? Genesis 39:2, “Yahweh [the LORD] was with Joseph, so he became a successful man.” Did you notice that? Yahweh was with Joseph soooo, this is the result. He became a successful man. “And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. Now, his master saw that Yahweh [the LORD] was with him and Yahweh [how the LORD] caused all that he did to prosper in his hand.” Go down to verse 21:

             Yahweh [the LORD] was with Joseph …” this is in jail by the way, “…. and 

            extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. The 

            chief jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; 

            so that whatever was done there he was responsible for it. The chief jailer did not                                           supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because Yahweh [the LORD] was with 

            him and whatever he did, Yahweh [the LORD] made to prosper.

Yahweh was behind, our God was behind, both his success and his apparent failure when he finds himself in prison and he’s successful there. 

Thirdly, God is sovereign in His providence in our free actions, decisions, and choices. Exodus 12 verse 36, “… Yahweh gave [the LORD had given] the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.” Have you ever wondered, what happened there? I mean the Egyptians go, oh sure take whatever you want from all my possessions. It’s because God was directing their hearts to that end. Proverbs 21:1, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD.” The picture is closing and opening the gates of an irrigation canal to direct the water wherever you want. It says, “He turns it …” the king's heart “… wherever He wishes.” That’s the king’s heart. That’s your heart. 

Number four, when it comes to the lives of individuals God also in His providence controls our sinful acts. Now that may shock you, may surprise you, but let me give this to you biblically. It’s difficult to understand how God’s providence intersects with human sin. So before we try to do so, let’s just lay down and review some basic biblical propositions. Number one, God is not the source of evil. “He is holy, holy, holy…” Isaiah 6. God does not tempt man to do evil, James 1:13. God does not force man to do evil, James 1:14-15. You say, no, he’s drawn away and enticed by his own lust. But God does not exempt man from responsibility for his sins. Exodus 34,  "I will not leave the guilty unpunished.” So with that in mind, how does God’s providence intersect with the sinful actions of others and with our own? Let me give you four ways.

Number one, sometimes God prevents sin. Genesis 20:6. To Abimelech God says, “I kept you from sinning against Me.” You remember the story with Sarah and Abram’s lying about her being his wife. “I kept you from sinning against Me.” Luke 22:31, Jesus says to Peter, “… Satan has demanded [permission] to sift you like wheat…” to destroy your faith “… but I have prayed for you…” Christ limited Peter’s sin even though Satan wanted to destroy him. 

Number two, often God permits sin. In our world, God often allows people to manifest their evil disposition. Romans 1 three times says, God gave them over, God gave them over, God gave them over.  And that’s not uncommon for God to do. 

Number three, sometimes God limits sin. He determines the bounds reached, the extent of the effects. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 7 refers to the Holy Spirit as the one who restrains. The one who restrains. Listen, you don’t have any idea what our world would be like without the restraining power of the Holy Spirit. 

Number four, this is crucial ALWAYS God directs sin to ends unforeseen and unintended by the sinner. ALWAYS! I love what Joseph says in Genesis 50:20. Talking to his brothers he says, “As for you….”  when you sold me into slavery “…. you meant evil against me but God…” I love that. BUT GOD at the same time “… meant it for good in order to bring about this present result to preserve many people alive." Listen his brothers didn’t for a moment want that. They just wanted to carry out their vengeance on their brother, Joseph. But God was directing their sin to ends unforeseen and unintended by them. So even sinful acts are under God’s control and occur only by His permission and according to His ultimate purpose. 

A fifth way He intersects with individual lives is He sovereignly in His providence oversees the day and circumstances of our death. Acts 13:36. This is one of my favorites. “David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep…” It was only when God says you’ve served the purpose I had for you, that he died. God controls that. Revelation 1:18 Jesus says, “I have the keys of death and the grave.” Not only the timing of your death but the circumstances of your death just like in John 21 where Jesus says to Peter, you’re going to live a long time and here’s how you’re going to die. He’s sovereign over that in your life as well and mine. 

So you see, not a single circumstance in your life is out from under the sovereign providence of God. So our God works all things after the counsel of His own will. That’s providence. So how do you respond to that? Well first let me tell you how NOT to respond. Ok.

Don’t use providence as an excuse for your sin. Oh, well, God’s determined it so I’m just going to go ahead and do whatever I want. No. God’s going to hold you responsible for your sin. 

Secondly, don’t use it as an excuse to neglect your responsibilities.You might be tempted in light of what I’ve taught this morning to say, well if God’s sovereign and He’s going to manage everything that happens, I don’t need to pray. No, you need to pray because God commanded you to pray. And the God who decreed the ends also decrees the means by which those ends are accomplished. God may very well have chosen to bring about that end through answering your prayer. Don’t use God’s providence as an excuse to make unwise decisions. Oh, well, que sera, sera. You know I’m just going to do whatever I want. I’m not going to worry about making a careful thought-out wise decision. No, God has commanded you to make wise decisions. 

Number three, don’t use providence as a guide. Proverbs 16:1 says, Man makes his plans, then God directs his steps, not vice versa. The Puritans said, Providence is the Christian’s diary not his Bible. 

Number four, don’t use Providence as a spiritual diagnostic tool. Don’t try to interpret God’s Providence in your life or in the lives of others. That was the mistake Job’s friends made, right? Listen, trials don’t always signal God’s disapproval and earthly blessings don’t always mean His approval. So don’t try to use Providence as a spiritual diagnostic tool. So, how do you respond to Providence?

Very briefly, let me just give you these. You can go back to these verses and meditate on them. Number one, submit to God’s Providence. 1 Peter 5:6. “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God.” In context he’s talking about circumstances you find yourself in. Don’t misunderstand; it doesn’t mean you should do certain things. Maybe you need to work harder. Maybe you need to show initiative in pursuing a mate. Whatever. He’s talking about circumstances beyond your control. Submit to God’s Providence in your life.

Number two, acknowledge His Providence in your plans. James 4 says listen, don’t you say I’m going to do this and then I’m going to do this and next year I’m going to do this. You better acknowledge that that’s only according to God’s will. In other words, don’t assume your desires or your plans are His sovereign plan. 

Number three, that His Providence is for our good. Romans 8:28. He’s promised. He’s going to work all things together for our good. Believe that!

Numbers four, don’t fear the future. If God is in control of every detail and not a molecule is out of His control, then Psalm 91, you don’t have to be afraid. A thousand may fall at your left hand, ten thousand at your right hand but God is going to do in your life what He’s decided and determined. Don’t fear. 

And number five, be grateful for His daily Providence. I love what Jacob says in Genesis 48:15. He says, “God has been my shepherd all my life to this day.” If you’re a Christian that’s your story as well. Psalm 23 is true of you, He is your shepherd. He is supervising and carrying out the details of your life so be grateful to Him for His daily Providence. 

So folks, when you walk in the lobby and you see that phrase “A High View of God’ understand that that means we must all understand and embrace number one, that God alone is great in His being. Number two, God alone is sovereign over all things. And number three, God alone is sovereign in our salvation. And Lord willing, next time we’ll consider that together. Let’s pray. 

Father, thank You that You are great and You are sovereign. We find such comfort, such encouragement in that. Lord, help us to live in light of that. May we not be like the culture around us. May we have an appropriately high view of You in keeping with the truths we’ve studied together this morning. Lord, I pray for the person here who doesn’t have a high view of You because they’ve not responded to Your command to repent and believe in Your Son. Lord, may that be true even today. We ask it in His name. Amen.