Title Doctrine Sermon - The Provident God
Contents
God of Providence 1.
Hymns: 444.93. Text Bible: Psalm 145:13-21. Genesis 50:15-26
Today, I will testify of the Word under the title of the Providential God. God created the universe and everything in this world. And the God who created all things in this world is the providence of this world.
If you look at the history shown in the Bible, many people appear in that history. Starting with Adam and Eve, Abraham, the father of faith, Moses and Joshua, the spiritual leaders of the Exodus, King Saul, the first king of Israel, and David, a man after God’s own heart, who became king after him. It contains people's life stories. And through the lives of those who have lived like that, we learn how to live before God today.
However, if you meditate deeply on that life history, you can discover a truly precious truth, which is that God provides for the lives of all those people recorded in the Bible.
What, then, is Providence? Providence refers to God's rule over the entire universe and all things in this world. When it is said that God provides the whole world, God's will and plan are contained in that providence. In order to fulfill God's will and plan, God provides the providence of blessing to Christians, but also the providence of suffering at times. He gives blessings of health, but sometimes even diseases for the glory of God.
If we evaluate a Christian's life based on only the phenomenal situation that is visible to the eye without knowing God's providence, it is biased toward narrow faith and we think that the visible blessings are the blessings that Christians should enjoy, but the way of the cross and the way of suffering are getting farther and farther away. And in the end, he thinks like a pain pot that he wants to avoid, and he becomes a narrow-minded Christian who cannot grow spiritually and healthy. For such people, the Bible speaks of carnal Christians.
Where does this narrow understanding come from? It begins with a failure to properly understand God's providence. In other words, if we can understand God's providence correctly and if we can say Amen to God's providence in faith, then even a carnal Christian can mature and grow spiritually. Therefore, understanding God's providence is very important.
Now, in order to understand God's providence, let's find out what the meaning of the providence is in the Bible together. When God speaks of providence, the content of the providence is divided into three main categories in the Bible.
1) The first has the meaning of preservation. The God who created the heavens and the earth protects them. Nehemiah 9:6 testifies: “You are the Lord, who made the heavens and the heavens in the heavens, the sun and the moon, and the earth, and all that is on it, and the sea and all that is in them, and preserves them all. All the hosts of heaven worship you.”
To preserve means to sustain. In order to preserve the heavens and the heavens and all things in the heavens and on the earth, God is still holding the world with the arm of his power today.
If we want our lives to be truly blessed in God's providence, we must contemplate, meditate on, and engrave this truth in our hearts. And in every moment of my life, I have to hold onto that truth and live depending on God. When this is shown and revealed before God through our faith in God, God will bless our lives and make the trust of that faith worthwhile.
That's right. To have the eyes of faith looking at the God who preserves the heavens and the earth in the life I live today is a blessing in the midst of blessing and a grace in grace. Those who stand in the midst of this truth are truly blessed. Hopefully it will be so for me and all of you. So, I hope that you will become a blessed person who confesses and testifies by faith that all the experiences God gives in your life are positive, not negative, in God's providence, and can turn those who do not know God to the Lord.
Second, the providence of God means that God is in control of the history of all mankind in this world. Against this, Acts 17:26-27 testifies like this.
"He made of one blood all the peoples of mankind, and made them dwell in all the earth, and established their ages, and set the boundaries of their dwellings..."
And Job 12:23 testifies like this. “He made the nations great, and he brought them to an end; he made the nations vast, and he brought them back into captivity…”
Through these words, we realize that God controls all the history of this world. If you look at the history of Israel recorded in the Bible, you can see the providence of God in control of all history.
The history of Israel begins with God's call to Abraham. God called Abraham. And he makes a covenant with him. Genesis 12:1-2. I'll read it. “Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your land, your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great, and you will be a blessing. God Himself called Abraham and promised to bless him so that he would become a great nation. We see through the Bible that this promise is gradually fulfilled in history through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob and through his descendants. In order to fulfill this promise, God thoroughly controls all history.
I'll give you an example. In order to fulfill God's promise, God first had Joseph sold into slavery in Egypt. Joseph, who was sold into slavery in Egypt, became the butler of Potiphar's family and took charge of all household affairs. However, Joseph is not alone there and is put in prison because of Potiphar's wife. But it was also the providence of God. It was God's amazing providence to make him prime minister of Egypt, and thus to fulfill his promise to Abraham. Eventually, Joseph becomes the prime minister of Egypt, and the children of Israel settle and become strong in Egypt. That's right. God uses Egypt, a powerful country at that time. He uses not only Joseph but also Pharaoh and his kingdom to strengthen Israel. When they settle in Egypt and become strong, God uses Pharaoh, the king of Egypt again. He made Israel afraid and exploited Israel, but it was not Pharaoh's victory, but God's providence to accomplish God's will.
Now God calls Moses in the wilderness and Joshua to liberate oppressed Israel in God's time. And through them, God leads Israel to the promised land of Canaan. In the process, Israel encounters a wilderness that cannot be escaped by human strength and has no choice but to die. But even in that wilderness, God works. He controls and reigns over the wilderness in the will of God. In order to prevent the wilderness from harming the life God has chosen, He gives water at the right time, provides food to eat, and blocks it by using pillars of fire and clouds. So, even in the midst of the wilderness, God was in control of the history of Israel that God had chosen. Finally, Israel ends their journey in the wilderness and conquers the land of Canaan. And according to God's promise, we have formed a great nation.
That's right. God is the God who controls the history of the whole world. Just as God took charge of the past history in order to fulfill His plan and purpose, God is in control and governs the history of this age in which we are living today according to God's plan and purpose. And God's plan and purpose are surely the greatest blessing and grace to God's chosen people.
Therefore, Christians who believe and live this truth do not worry about tomorrow as it is today. This is because I believe that Heavenly Father, who rules the whole world, fills my present and tomorrow with the best and takes charge of the fulfillment of the highest purpose that God has planned. May God pour out this faith on you. And I hope that all the members of Dongwon Church who show that faith to God will become the people of the Lord who please God.
Thirdly, God's providence means that God protects. Psalm 57:1 testifies like this. “Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me; my soul will take refuge in you, under the shadow of your wings I will take refuge until this calamity passes.” Not only that, but in Psalm 145:14, which we read today, God says that he will sustain those who fall. "The Lord sustains all who fall and raises up the humble." When he leans on God and stands on God's side to live according to God's will, the evil world overthrows him. The evil world slanders him. So, they are sometimes in a bad mood.
But please remember. If you fall on God's side, if you stand on God's side and suffer slander and suffer, God will surely support and protect you. And in God's time, He will raise you up and exalt you in all the world. Conversely, the wicked who tried to shame, slander, and knock those on God's side will be put to shame and destroyed by God.
Conclusion. The God we believe in is the providence of this world. I realized that God's providence specifically means that God is in control and preserves, rules, and protects this world. The purpose of God's providence of the world in this way is to complete all that God has planned and to destroy evil.
Therefore, dear saints! Let's praise the God who provides all things in this world. Let us praise the providential God with thanksgiving for being our Father. Let's praise the God who was with us and worked together in the past history, and let's praise the God who is with us and works by being the ruler in our life today and in this age. He is our Creator and providential God.
Prayer topic:
I will pray for the Holy Spirit to work in me so that I can truly understand the providence of God.
So that I can accept with faith everything that happens to me in God's providence, and grow and mature spiritually through patience and obedience while looking at God in all circumstances, so that I can reveal the glory of God in my life. I will pray for you to have faith and to ask for grace.