Rejoicing in God's Providence

July 3, 2024
Pastor Gordon Cook

Romans 8:28-30, “And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

That is sometimes called the golden chain of salvation, it stretches from eternity to eternity.
Romans chapter 8 has been described as the greatest chapter in all of Scripture. A Mount Everest of Mount Everest’s, it begins with a gospel negative, no condemnation, and it ends with a gospel negative, no separation. Some have argued that this is the greatest chapter in terms of reasons to rejoice. If you ever lose your voice of thanksgiving or your heart of rejoicing, Romans 8 would be a great place to go. There are at least 25 solid reasons to rejoice, I'll just mention four big ones. We get introduced to the Holy Spirit in this chapter. He's the one who indwells us, he doesn't just come alongside us, but we're told here several times he is in us, he dwells in us. There is also the great perspective of the future glory for the sons of God. And then we get introduced to the love of God in a great way and then I want to emphasize we get introduced to the sovereign God. Romans 8:28 is probably a text that most of us have memorized, the God who is working all things for our good.

Notice how he starts things off. It's the Greek word Ginosko, which means to know. It has the idea of certainty. If we're going to enjoy the peace of God, if we're going to enjoy our comforts or our experiences of joy even in the midst of trials, this is something that's imperative, of great importance to know.

One of the most comforting doctrines is the doctrine of divine providence, or more specialized, the doctrine of God's absolute sovereignty. Romans 8 certainly brings that out, the God who controls all things is working all things for our good. Spurgeon said, “There's no attribute of God more comforting to his children then the doctrine of divine sovereignty.” But then he added this, “There's no doctrine more hated by the world.” The world doesn't want a God who's in control. You can understand why, it means that they will never be able to escape him or ignore him and they know judgment day is coming, every sinner knows that. Romans 1, they all have a sense of God, they have a knowledge of God and they know there's a judgment day coming. So if you have a God who is in control of all things, you can certainly understand why they suppress that truth. They don't want to believe there's a day of reckoning. It's rather frightening when you think of the fact you don't know God and will be judged by him. But the child of God can find a great comfort in this doctrine of sovereignty or what we sometimes refer to as the doctrine of divine providence. It reaches to the greatest star and planets, to the smallest insect. One man put it this way, “To the spider building its web in the corner to Napoleon marching his army across Europe.” It extends to earthquakes, tsunamis, cancer cells, microscopic viruses.
 
Let me show you from the Bible just how extensive God's providence is with regard to the greatest of things but also the smallest of things. Here are some of the things that we must get hold of when you think of God's sovereignty and divine providence in terms of how it operates.

1. God governs all illnesses and death. Deuteronomy 32, “The Lord says, I kill and I make a life. I wound and I heal.
2. God governs random events or what appears to be random events. The casting of the lots, Proverb 16.
3. God governs all disabilities and diseases. Exodus 4, “When the Lord said to him, who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf or seeing or blind, is it not I the Lord?”
4. God governs every childbirth. Psalm 27, “Children are a heritage from the Lord and the fruit of the womb his reward.”
5. God governs every romance and every marriage. Proverbs 19, “A prudent wife is from the Lord.”
6. God governs every war and conflict. Proverbs 21, “The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but victory is of Jehovah.” Think of David when he went out against Goliath, God was in control of the outcome of that battle.
7. God governs every race and competition. Ecclesiastes 9, “And I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong. In other words, it is not always determined by the person who's the fastest or the strongest. God determines who will win.
8. God governs the appointment of every government official. Daniel 4, “The most high rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whosoever he wills.”
9. God governs every event in the inanimate universe; every weather pattern, every drop of rain. Matthew 5, “He makes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, he sends the rain on the just and the unjust.”
10. God governs the salvation or the damnation of every sinner. Romans 9, “He will have mercy on whom he has mercy and he will harden whom he hardens.”
11. God governs every plan, every decision human beings make, whether the wisest or the most foolish of choices. Proverbs 16, “Man plans his way, but God directs his steps.”
12. God determines and governs every word that comes off our tongues. Proverbs 16, “The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.”

There's a lot of scripture to testify that God's sovereignty or the scope of divine providence covers everything, there's no limitations, there's no exclusions, nothing happens outside his will. His divine providence covers everything, everyone, everywhere, at all times, the most insignificant as well as the most significant. He's in control of every cancer cell, every plane crash, every car accident. I like the way the Westminster Confession of Faith and the London Baptist Confession of Faith, or the 1689, deals with divine providence. They're very careful to include two words to describe divine providence. I think they're trying to make sure people don't point a finger at God and blame him. Here's how they describe divine providence, “It is a wise and holy providence.” No sin, no evil, no blame can stain God's wise and holy providence.

There's one more thing we can't forget when we think of God's providence. God's providence not only works for our good, “All things work for our good,” that's what Romans 8:28 says, but we can't forget God does everything for His glory. Romans 11:36, “For from him and through him and to him are all things, to him be glory forever.” When you think of the cross of Jesus Christ, was that good for us? Well, everybody would say, yes, Amen, a thousand Amens. I don't think there's a Christian who would argue against that, but was it for God's glory? That's when we have to say, “Yes, God's glorious attributes were displayed at the cross; his power, his wisdom, his mercy, his love, his justice, his wrath and his righteousness.
As we come to pray Brethren let's remember who we're praying to. We're praying to the God who made all things, who sustains all things and who is always at work in us, seeking to have us become more and more like his Son and he's determined to do everything for his glory. So even when we pray for people who are going through trials, let's not forget to pray that it would be good for them, that it would bring glory to God.