2nd London Baptist Confession of Faith Exhortation, Chapter 5.

I hope you all have been blessed and encouraged by our time looking at this document. I know of a couple families who are reading threw this together, which I think is a wonderful idea.

This week we will be looking at chapter 5, which has to do with God's providence. Now this is a word that is used mostly within the church, and often is a bit unclear and raises some big questions.

For today, were going to look at one defintion, and two questions.

The definition is a defintion from John Piper, as he defines Divine Providence in his recent book, titled "Providence." In this book he defines providence as "God's purposeful sovereignty." Providence is God's purposeful control of all things to accomplish his perfect and good plan.

Now when we think of this doctrine, this reality, that God controls all things purposefully, there are two looming qeustions that often come in to our minds. The first question is more philosophical, the second qeustion is more personal.

The philosophical question is posed in some form of the following. "If God is on control, then why do bad things happen?" This has been called the problem of evil.  Now there are many different good ways to answer this question, and as Chrsitians we should have answers to this.

In fact, we are commanded to have these answers in 1 Peter 3:15, which often gets partially quoted as "always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you." But let us not forget that this verse starts with a different command to "honor Christ the Lord as holy."

We could say then that this verse commands us to think rightly about the Lord and communicate rightly about him to others. After all, if we do not have correct thoughts about God, then we cannot speak about him to others in a way that honors him. The aim of this confession that we are going through is to help us think rightly about the Lord, to honor Christ the Lord as holy which brings us to chapter 5 of the 2nd London Baptist Confession of faith.

Today we are going to jump right in to the 4th section. Which is not to say the first 3 sections are unimportant, in fact they are foundational points and clarifications which I would encourage you to read sometime this week. Section four however does help us to think rightly about God and does directly address the so called problem of evil and how to rightly think about God's providence and the reality of sin.

4. "The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God are so thoroughly demonstrated in his providence, that his sovereign plan includes even the first fall and every other sinful action both of angels and humans. God’s providence over sinful actions does not occur by simple permission but by a form of permission that God most wisely and powerfully limits and in other ways arranges and governs. Through a complex arrangement of methods, he channels sinful actions to accomplish his perfectly holy purposes. Yet he does this in such a way that the sinfulness of their acts arises only from the creatures and not from God. Because God is altogether holy and righteous, he can neither originate nor approve of sin."

Or, put more simply as Joseph said in Genesis 50:20 "You meant evil…but God meant it for good."

Now the second question this doctrine raises in our mind is a personal one. Not just why do bad things happen, but why do they happen to me. And again, as we think about this question, we need to honor God not just in how we speak about this, but how we think about it, which leads into sections 5 and 6 of this chapter. Notice that each of these sections is answering the same question, but for two different groups of people.

5. "The perfectly wise, righteous, and gracious God often allows his own children for a time to experience a variety of temptations and the sinfulness of their own hearts. He does this to chastise them for their former sins or to make them aware of the hidden strength of the corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts so that they may be humbled. He also does this to lead them to a closer and more constant dependence on him to sustain them, to make them more cautious about all future circumstances that may lead to sin, and for other just and holy purposes. So, whatever happens to any of his elect happens by his appointment, for his glory, and for their good."

6. "God, as the righteous judge, sometimes blinds and hardens wicked and ungodly people because of their sins. He withholds his grace from them, by which they could have been enlightened in their understanding and had their hearts renewed. Not only that, but sometimes he also takes away the gifts they already had and exposes them to situations that their corrupt natures turn into opportunities for sin. Moreover, he gives them over to their own lusts, the temptations of the world, and the power of Satan, so that they harden themselves in response to the same influences that God uses to soften others."

Let me explain a little of what is meant by this last phrase "the same influences that God uses to soften others" with a quote.  "The same sun that makes the garden of flowers more fragrant makes the dunghill more noisome; the same heat that softens wax hardens clay; and the same child was set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel. The way to prevent this mischief is to bow our souls to the commanding authority of the word and law of God, not striving against, but submitting to it."

This leaves us with one very important question. When we think of the reality of God's providence, does it create in us worship or contempt? Let me put it another way, God is in control of all things. Does that seem, does that feel, as in deep down in your bones, like a good thing or a problem?

I would encourage you to wrestle with that question. Knowing that in our fallen nature, we all see God's providence as a problem, and at times I can guarantee we all get upset God is in control. The reason we see God's providence, his control as a problem, is because it's His, not ours.

I want to end by reading the final section from this chapter, a section I hope comforts and encourages us. "The providence of God in a general way includes all creatures, but in a special way it takes care of his church and arranges all things to its good."