The Providence of God
Steve W. Reeves
stevesermons.blogspot.com
INTRODUCTION:
A. In
1864 a prisoner of war camp named Camp Sumter was built near the town of Andersonville, Georgia. The camp was intended to house up to ten thousand union
soldiers who had been captured during the Civil War. Ultimately, there were four
times as many men housed in the camp which had sixteen foot high walls, a poor
water supply and extremely poor hygiene. It is estimated that as many as 13,000
soldiers died from starvation and dysentery. During the summer of 1864 the
prisoners were broiling under the hot southern sun. Many were dehydrated and
dying. A group of prisoners prayed for God’s intervention. Suddenly, in the midst of
the camp a spring of water erupted from the ground. The spring remains to this day
and is known as “Providence Spring.”
B. Such a story sounds too incredible for many people to believe. However, it brings to
light a question we need to ask. To what extent is God involved in the lives of people
today?
1. Does God answer prayers in such dramatic fashion as causing a spring to erupt in
a parched prisoner of war camp?
2. Does God intervene in history?
3. Does God play an active role in our day to day lives?
4. All of these questions concern the doctrine of Divine Providence. While many
Christians strongly defend (as well we should) the doctrine of creation, there is
an uncomfortable silence regarding the nature and scope of God’s present work in
the world and in our lives.
C. How do we define the word, “providence?”
1. Louis Burkhof, a Dutch-Reformed theologian, defined providence as, “the
continued exercise of Divine energy whereby the creator sustains creation and is
operative in all that comes to pass, and directs all things to their appointed end.”
2. To better understand the word look at its root. “Provide.” The word “providence”
comes from the Greek, “Pronoia” meaning, “to think before.”
3. God not only created all things but He continues to care for all things.
C. The apostle Paul spoke directly to these questions when he spoke to a group of
Epicurean and Stoic philosophers in Athens almost 2000 years ago.
1. During his second missionary journey Paul came to Athens, the center of cultural
and philosophical thought in western civilization. According to verse 15 as he
waited for the arrival of Silas and Timothy from Berea, his spirit was stirred as he
observed a city that was immersed in idolatry.
2. Paul did what he always did. He taught in the synagogue and reasoned with
people in the marketplace (agora). Eventually his teaching caught the attention of
the philosophers in the city. According to Acts 17:1-8, they responded to Paul by
saying, “What would this idle babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a
proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was preaching Jesus and the
resurrection.” They took Paul up to the Areopagus and began questioning him.
Paul’s responded, in verses 22-31.
a. He noted that they were religious people. They even had a monument to “The
Unknown God.”
b. He told them that the God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of
heaven and earth and does not dwell in temples made with hands (vs. 25).
c. He told them this is the God who gives life, breath and all things (vs. 25).
d. Verses 26-28 are critically important to the subject we are addressing. “He made
from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having
determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that
they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though
He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as
even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’”
1.) Paul defended the doctrine of creation.
2.) He also defended the doctrine of Divine Providence.
3.) When Paul said “in Him we live, and move and exist,” he was addressing
subjects that had been discussed by Greek poets and philosophers like
Aristotle for decades and centuries. What is the force that sustains life? What
directs the movement of the earth and the heavens? Why do we exist?
D. Let’s investigate God’s role in each of these three areas.
I. IN HIM WE LIVE
A. What benefit would there be in creating life if you were unwilling to sustain that
life?
1. Providence means that God not only created us as Paul notes in Acts 17:24
(“The God who made the world and all things in it”), It means that God is the
sustaining force by which the world and everything in it continues to operate.
2. Psalm 104 is a beautiful description of God’s creation. It speaks of creation not
as a past event but as something that is ongoing as a result of God’s work. In
verses 10-14 the Psalmist wrote, “He sends forth springs in the valleys;
They flow between the mountains; 11 They give drink to every beast of the field;
The wild donkeys quench their thirst.12 Beside them the birds of the heavens
dwell; They lift up their voices among the branches.13 He waters the mountains
from His upper chambers; The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works.
14 He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the labor of
man, So that he may bring forth food from the earth.”
3. In Colossians 1:15-17 Paul wrote, “He is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the
heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or
rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
4. Hebrews 1:3 says that “He upholds all things by the word of His power.”
B. The “deist” believes that God exists but has no role in the world today. The deist
says that God started the world like you might wind up a clock and set it aside.
1. Bette Midler sang a song entitled, “From a Distance,” which says that “God is
watching us “from a distance.”
2. This is not the message of the Bible. Jesus said, “Are not two sparrows sold for
a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So do not fear; you are
more valuable than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-31).
C. Notice what Paul said in Acts 17:27, “He is not far from each one of us.”
1. Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor
gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth
much more than they?”
2. In verse 30 he said, “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive
today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe
you? You of little faith.”
II. IN HIM WE MOVE
A. As the ancient poets and philosophers looked into the sky and observed
the movement of the sun, moon and stars they asked, “Why?” They understood
something about the laws of motion.
1. Everything about the world is in motion. We are not dormant.
2. Whether it be the celestial bodies, human life, the plant or animal kingdom, the
march of time through history, the rise and fall of nations or even the parts of an
atom there is movement. What is the source of that movement? It is God.
B. Consider the rise, fall and development of nations.
1. In the Old Testament book of Esther, God’s people were in captivity in Persia
(formerly Babylon). When a wicked prince, Haman, sought to kill all of the Jews
God intervened. God is never mentioned in the book. However, you can see His
providence at work when a young Jewish woman named Esther was chosen as
Queen. Though she was reluctant to speak to the King regarding the matter she
was told, “Who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time
as this” (Esther 4:13). Throughout the entire account the providential hand of
God can be seen.
2. God has used rulers, even wicked ones, to accomplish His plans. In the book of
Daniel we read of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, bringing judgment on
Judah because of their sin and idolatry. Did Nebuchadnezzar know this? Not at
first. Ultimately in Daniel 4:37 he proclaimed, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise,
exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just,
and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.”
C. Remember what Paul told the Athenians in Acts 17:26, “And He made from one
man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined
their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation.”
III. IN HIM WE HAVE OUR BEING
A. The most basic question of all is, “Why do we exist?” This, too, was a question the
ancients pondered.
1. People today are still asking this question. Stephen Hawking, regarded as one
of the greatest astro-physicists in history, commented after all of his theories and
speculation about the origin of the universe that there was one basic question
for which we had no answer, “Why does the universe bother to exist?”
2. Anthony Flew, a leading British atheist was a staunch opponent of belief in God.
He once debated Dr. Thomas B. Warren, a member of the church of Christ.
Near the end of his life, Flew changed his opinion. The more he studied the
universe and its intricacies he realized it could not happen by chance.
B. R.C. Sproul said that those who believe in the “Big Bang” theory that all matter and
energy existed eternally in a state of inertia until one day, without any outside
influence, exploding into the universe, are like the magician who tries to pull a
rabbit out of a hat without a hat and without a rabbit. To put it another way, “If
there was ever a time when there was nothing, there could never be a time when
there is something.”
C. Genesis 1:1 says it all. “In the beginning God created.” The Hebrew word for
created (Bara) carries the idea of continuing action. God continues to uphold and
sustain the world.
CONCLUSION:
A. We worship and serve an awesome, almighty God. He created us. He sustains us
and one day we will give Him an account for how we have lived our lives (2
Corinthians 5:10; Hebrews 9:27).
B. When that great appointment comes will you be ready? Will your sins be covered by
the blood of Jesus so you might stand in His righteousness? May we assist you today
in coming to Christ through your faith and obedience to the Gospel? If you have
wandered away please remember, “God has been faithful to you even if you have not
been faithful to Him.” He has providentially allowed you another day and another
opportunity to come to Him. We welcome you.
