|
God's government is called "Providence." Here is a
tiny fraction of the Biblical data:
Hebrews 1:3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His
person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He
had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Psalm 103:19 The LORD has established His throne in heaven, And His
kingdom rules over all.
Matthew 10:29-31 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one
of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. {30} But the
very hairs of your head are all numbered. {31} Do not fear therefore; you are of
more value than many sparrows.
Genesis 45:7 "And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in
the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. [Click
here if you have forgotten this story]
Romans 11:36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be
glory forever. Amen.
Isaiah 63:14 As a beast goes down into the valley, And the Spirit of the
LORD causes him to rest, So You lead Your people, To make Yourself a
glorious name.
Question 18 of the Larger Catechism sums up these verses by
asking,
Q. 18. What are God’s works of providence?
A. God's works of providence are his most holy,[w]
wise,[x] and powerful preserving[y]
and governing[z] all his creatures; ordering them,
and all their actions,[a] to his own glory.[b]
[w]. Ps. 145:17 [x].
Ps. 104:24; Isa. 28:29 [y]. Heb.
1:3 [z]. Ps. 103:19 [a].
Matt. 10:29-31; Gen. 45:7 [b]. Rom.
11:36; Isa. 63:14
Here is some more relevant information:
Nehemiah 9:6 You alone are the LORD; You have made heaven, The heaven of heavens,
with all their host, The earth and everything on it, The seas and
all that is in them, And You preserve them all. The host
of heaven worships You.
Psalm 145:14-16 The LORD upholds all who fall, And raises up all who are bowed down.
{15} The eyes of all look expectantly to You, And You give them their food in due
season. {16} You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
Daniel 4:34-35 And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to
heaven, and my understanding 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 is from generation to generation. {35} All the inhabitants of the earth
are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army
of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or
say to Him, "What have You done?"
Psalm 135:6 Whatever the LORD pleases He does, In heaven and in earth, In
the seas and in all deep places.
Acts 17:25-28 "Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed
anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. {26}
"And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of
the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of
their dwellings, {27} "so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that
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 have our being, as also some of
your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.'
Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and
the good.
2 Chronicles 16:9 "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole
earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In
this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars."
Acts 15:18 "Known to God from eternity are all His works.
Isaiah 42:9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before
they spring forth I tell you of them."
Ephesians 1:11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined
according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His
will,
Psalms 33:10-11 The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the
plans of the peoples of no effect. {11} The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The
plans of His heart to all generations.
Ephesians 3:10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made
known by the church to the principalities and powers
in the heavenly places,
Romans 9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have
raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in
all the earth."
The Westminster Confession of Faith sums up the above as
follows:
CHAPTER V
Of Providence
1. God the great Creator of all things doth uphold,[a] direct, dispose, and govern
all creatures, actions, and things,[b] from the greatest even to the least,[c] by His
most wise and holy providence,[d] according to His infallible foreknowledge,[e] and
the free and immutable counsel of his own will,[f] to the praise of the glory of his
wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.[g]
[a]. Neh. 9:6; Ps. 145:14-16; Heb. 1:3
[b]. Dan. 4:34-35; Ps. 135:6; Acts 17:25-28; Job 38:1-41:34
[c]. Matt. 10:29-31, see Matt. 6:26-32
[d]. Prov. 15:3; II Chron. 16:9; Ps. 104:24; Ps. 145:17
[e]. Acts 15:18; Isa. 42:9; Ezek. 11:5
[f]. Eph. 1:11; Ps. 33:10-11
[g]. Isa. 63:14; Eph. 3:10; Rom. 9:17; Gen. 45:7; Ps. 145:7
|
|
The following links are most helpful.
- Robert Shaw on
Providence in the Westminster Confession
- An exposition of the passage above
-
- Calvin on
Providence (from Book I, chap 16 of his Institutes)
- Providence distinguished from and contrasted with fatalism
-
- Arthur Pink on the
Sovereignty of God (chapter 3)
- God's Providence in even the smallest and inanimate matter.
-
- B.B. Warfield
on Predestination
- Not "whether" we are controlled, but by Whom? --or by what?
-
- Loraine Boettner
- On the Providence of God
- America's Founding Fathers believed
in Providence.
- • They believed God overruled the desires of the British to give America
victory. They may have been wrong to believe that God was "on their side,"
but they were right to believe that God intervenes in human history to accomplish
His purposes.
- • Things don't happen "naturally." Everything that takes place in
history is a result of the direct intervention of God. God is personally and
intimately involved in the movement of every molecule in the Universe.
- • The denial of God's personal intervention in space-time is called Deism
or Baalism.
Please click either of these Baalism
pages; the information there is critical to our argument. Back in 1844, when
America was still a Christian nation, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that deism
was a "form of infidelity."
An "infidel" is one who is not faithful to the
Bible.
Discussion: The Doctrine of
Providence
The Doctrine in American History
The TOTAL PREDESTINATION website.
How God Governs
Not
like the Baal-worshippers believe. Not mechanistically. Not impersonally. Not
"naturally."
Supernaturally.
God is a personal and loving God. He sends his angels to accomplish His purposes.
Vine & Fig Tree's Romans
13 Home Page
The subject of God's Providence is deep and mysterious. But it is
everywhere taught in the Bible. Gordon Clark rightly observes:
The authors of the Westminster Confession compressed the doctrine of the Trinity
into one section of five lines; but when they came to God's control over all His
creatures and all their actions, they wrote two fairly lengthy chapters [chaps 3 and
5]. The devout scholars who made these chapters so long must have done so under the
belief -- a belief fully justified -- that the Bible has a great deal to say about
God's sovereignty and that it is all-important. [These] proportions [are] those of the
Bible.
You can't know God if you don't know how He operates. If we could we could kidnap you
and spend an entire year brainwashing you into believing our "Christian
Anarchist" position, we would spend about 3 months on the doctrine of
Providence alone. We would make you read our TOTAL
Predestination web site from beginning to end.
When you are convinced that God Governs all things by His heavenly host, then you are
ready to study Romans 13. |