Sermons Vander Kam on HC Lord's Day 10
Q&A 27 & 28 Sermons Vander Kam on HC Lord's Day 10
Q&A 27 & 2827 Q. What do you mean by the providence of God?
A. The almighty and everywhere present power of God, whereby, as it were by His hand, He still upholds heaven, earth, and all creatures, and so governs them that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, food and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, all things, come not by chance but by His fatherly hand.
28 Q. What does it profit us to know that God has created, and by His providence still upholds, all things?
A. That we may be patient in adversity, thankful in prosperity, and with a view to the future may have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that no creature shall separate us from His love, since all creatures are so in His hand that without His will they cannot so much as move.
Beloved in the Lord, we are still dealing, of course, with the first article of the Apostolic Confession, I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. While this is not something that is to be looked upon as of this nature, that it is a God who has made all things, and then leaves it. But that there is far more, that He is also going to care for that which He has made because I believe in God the Father, and that is the One who does not lose sight of what He has made. When you believe in a "big bang" that has made all things then of course, the results of the "big bang" are left to themselves, there is nothing there to uphold them. These are the things that you and I should also readily understand that there is far more involved than what may at first blush look like it. That we will see that it is not only this, that they had the wrong conception of how things came into being, that is, the origin of all things; but that it is also the wrong start concerning all the things that developed throughout all the ages, throughout all history.
Now these are the things beloved, that have been looked upon in various ways throughout the history of the church and also throughout the history of the world. And there are so many also in our day who write the word providence with a capital letter, and that it is providence that is going to do this, and it is providence that is going to do that; that is not Scriptural. Scripture does not even use the word providence, but it would always use it if it did with a small letter. Because it is one of the attributes of God and it is not God Himself. And those are the things that we must clearly distinguish because of the fact that otherwise you are led to a false god. And I believe in God the Father Almighty Maker of heaven and earth, who is also the provider of the universe. And therefore I speak to you this morning on "God My Father, Provider -- My Provider."
My Father is the provider for this world, and then we notice in the first place, His ability; secondly, His manner; and finally, my comfort.
Now looking upon the ability that He has beloved, it is indeed without measure. It is indeed beyond all bounds; He has the power. He is the Almighty Maker of heaven and earth, and consequently He has the power to do whatsoever He pleases. As the Psalmist says, "This is the greatest thing that has ever happened that He simply spoke, and it was." Think of it, if you can; you can't -- but try to look into it somewhat, and try to conceive of this, that He spoke and brought it into being; that's what it means that He made all things 'ex nihilo'. He spoke, and the light was; He spoke, and the earth was; He spoke, and the planets were. And that is the way in which He has dealt with all things. So that there is not the matter of millions and billions of years that have taken place, but it is God who spoke and it was, and He uttered His voice and they came into being. That is the way in which He deals. That is the ability, the ability of the Maker of heaven and earth. Not one who is restricted. There is no restriction whatsoever, He is able to do whatever He pleases. And those are the things that are clearly revealed to us.
They are revealed to us in order that you and I may also realize that that is the way in which He provides. Because He has not made all things and then has forgotten about them or, that He is loose from the things that He has made. But all the things that He has made, He holds. He holds them and keeps them and governs them and guides them and directs them, because He had a purpose in mind from the beginning and is going to see to it that that purpose is attained. He is not merely making heaven and earth in order to make heaven and earth, but He has made heaven and earth for a purpose. And that is the purpose that He is going to realize. See, there is no thought, and there is no purpose, and there is no comfort, and there is no logic in anything else. All of the other ways that look upon the origin of all things run completely stuck. They simply do not have an answer, no answer to this, what is the purpose of all this that has been made? And now that is the reason why my Father is Provider. He is the One who has indeed made all things. That is the Almighty Creator who called things into being as though there were, and they were. He called them into being and they appeared; everything obeys His almighty word.
Now that is the way in which it is also going to go on throughout the history of man and throughout the history of the universe. It is going to go on in that way that what He says is going to come to pass. There is nothing that is going to withhold that, nothing that is going to stop it; everything that He speaks is going to happen. Now that is the way in which we come to our God from Sunday morning to Sunday morning because we bring worship and honor and praise to that God.
This Lord's Day beloved, is one of the most beautiful that has ever been written. And therefore every word ought to be exegeted, we don't have time for all of that. But nevertheless, that we will look at it very carefully because it has been so carefully crafted. And as it has been so carefully crafted because it is so immersed in the Scriptures. It draws out of the Scriptures what is there concerning these things. And that speaks of this, that my God, my Father is the Provider.
Now that brings the whole world and all the creation and all that He has made very close to us of course. That it is my Father who has done this; I referred to that a couple weeks ago somewhat. But those are the things that we must recognize, that He has the ability, has the ability to call them into being, and He has made them, and He hung them, He hangeth the earth on a nothing, says Job, and then they still criticize the Bible for having such an unrealistic and unscientific attitude. He hangeth the earth on a nothing; now that took Him centuries before they ever came to that conclusion, that the earth indeed hung on nothing. But the Bible had stated that; the Bible is not, repeat, not a textbook in science, but what it says on science, you better listen too, because it is correct.
My God has the ability, and that ability is endless, and therefore He also governs. He governs and directs, He upholds; all these things are included, says this Lord's Day. Because when He has made all the things that He has made; and I think I have referred to it before here also in this congregation; that then in the words of Luther, "there was no place to put it, so He held it." Yah... He held it, and He is still holding it. He is holding the whole world, He is holding the whole creation. He holds it because He is the only one who stands outside of it, who has the power, who has the ability to hold all things in being. See, this whole creation is a marvel, the way it works, a marvel. Science delves into these things and they scratch the surface. But it is a marvel from beginning to end, from the smallest microbe to the greatest planets. It is a marvel that we see before our eyes. And my Father made it, and my Father is holding it. And if He didn't hold it, the whole thing would explode into nothing. And He governs, says this Lord's Day; He governs all things. So that He directs, He leads, He guides, directs all things, to the end that He has in mind. Because there is purpose, there is direction.
Now this is the thing that we must learn to understand for example, in regard to our very practical life. Or let it be stated very clearly, that this is not a piece of doctrine, this is not a piece of dogmatics. Every dogmatics that has ever been written in Reformed circles also has a chapter on providence. But that's not the way the Catechism deals with it. No, this is the book of your only comfort. And consequently it is not dead, dry doctrine, but it is; what is that comfort, as we will see later this morning. It is this, that He upholds it all; He has it in His hand, and then He governs it, guides it, directs it. Which means this, that the history of this world is going to show all the time that there is direction. And if that doesn't impress you, young people, then remember this, that the history of the church despite the fact that it is not recognized in the world about it, that the history of the church is a whole lot more important than the history that is made in Washington, D.C., or in London, or in Berlin, or wherever.
Because that is the guidance that He gives for that end, that purpose, that He is going to establish His kingdom. And all of the rest is simply that which surrounds it in building, it is simply that which is going to be torn down. That is the history that He shows us. And He shows us that not only in certain places, but He shows us that everywhere. He shows us that in Psalm 107, and there would be so many passages that I could read to you this morning concerning this matter of His providence, of the way in which He leads, of the way in which He guides, directs; that He does it all with a purpose and the purpose is the coming of His kingdom, that His Christ may be Lord. "Christ shall have dominion," we sang this morning at the beginning; "over land and sea, earth's remotest regions shall His empire be." That's our mission. Yah, that's also the history of the world, that's the way it's going. Doesn't look like it at times. He takes such circuitous routes to get there, but He gets there, He gets there. He led His way with Israel, and Israel couldn't understand many times why it had to go this way and that way, but they got there.
We can't understand it in our own lives some time how in the world God is going to come to His purpose, but He gets there; He always gets His way. Nobody can contradict Him. Nobody can oppose Him, He always gets His way. He is the Almighty Maker of heaven and earth. And He upholds all things, and He governs all things; and that with a purpose. Nah, that purpose that He has in mind beloved, is very clear in His mind. Don't forget it. He may take a circuitous route, but He never loses sight of the end. And my Father is Provider. He is the one who does it, He is the Maker, and He is the one who provides, who upholds, and will also govern it to its last end. That is what this Lord's Day also says; the Almighty and everywhere present power of God, whereby as it were, by His hand He still upholds heaven and earth and all creatures and so governs it, so governs it. He guides, He directs; and that's what He does in your and my life. You look back, as many years as you are able, look back over your life, and you wonder what brought you to this moment, in this way. And each one is a miracle of grace.
What hath God wrought? And what is He working still today? Amazing, amazing; but His purpose is clearly in mind. The world doesn't know what it's doing, and there are all kinds of things that happen of course, that were not on the schedule. When you look at the government in Washington at the present time, and they have as their one schedule, and that is, that they are going to seek to take hold of the economy of this country and all of a sudden there comes this awful flood -- that wasn't in their plans. He is never surprised. There is nothing that surprises Him because everything was there. Be careful with that, because all the things that He governs and directs, He governs with a purpose and to an end, to a goal. And what does that do to us, to our prayer life. He is going to accomplish His purpose. I don't think there is anybody here that doubts that.
He is going to accomplish His purpose. And then I pray; I guess I don't know what that purpose is. And then I pray for what I think ought to be that purpose. His plan, under His direction, under His control, and that He will bring it to pass. The Psalmist has spoken of this time and time again, that He will bring it to pass, whatever happens. It is in God's hands, and therefore those who lived close to Him in former days in this country, for example, in that Puritan period; aw, there were things about them that were strange, I know. But nevertheless, they lived close to God and they didn't say it is raining. No... They said God is giving it. And now you see, for example, in the West, we came through it this week; it is much more horrible than has ever been seen in pictures that you have seen of it, much. Because it is indescribable. Now what has caused that. I'm afraid that it will also have to be said, as one of the prophets did, "And they repented not, and they repented not." Because they don't even think that God did it. It just happened! And that's the way God's people also speak many times; "it had to be that way." What!! That's pure fatalism, "it had to be that way." God directs, my Father is Provider. Don't forget it! My Father is in control, and it is not this, that it had to happen, it had to happen this way. No... It's under His guidance, under His direction.
Secondly, and notice also, His manner.
The manner of it beloved, is shown here in this Lord's Day ever so clearly, and that it is done in such a way so that it is also brought very close to us. In the first place, it is done in this way to speak of contrasts. Notice, He still upholds heaven and earth and all creatures and so governs them that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, food and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, all things, come not by chance, but by His Fatherly hand. In other words, you have all of the contrasts, riches and poverty, food and drink, and the lack of them. Now all of these things come not by chance, but by His Fatherly hand. These are the things where they're shown that it is also in the very minute things of life that His providence shows itself. See, we say so many times, this was providential; it was said to me again several times during this past week that it was providential that we were there for other reasons. Providential. Yes, that it is raining is also providential, that you met certain people is also providential, that my hands fall on this is also providential. There is nothing outside of it.
Jesus has brought that to the attention of the people of His day, that not a sparrow falls from the rooftop without the will of your heavenly Father. That the hairs of your head are all numbered. I don't care, I don't care. Those things are so small, so minute, ah, they're outside of our purview. Not His, not His. Everything is under His control, and then these things, the herbs and grass, and riches and poverty, and fruitful and barren years, etc, etc. All these contrasts; that's what makes up life; don't you see. That's whad our lives are made up of.
And these are the things that are given to us day by day, and in all these things, whether it is riches or poverty, whether it is food and drink, or the lack thereof, it is under His control. It is under His guidance, He is the one who directs that. Sickness and health is under His control, life and death; under His control. So that there is nothing that happens in this world apart from the will of my God. There is nothing that happens in the animal world apart from the will of God. There is nothing that happens, if you will, in nature apart from the will of my God. He is in such complete control that it, as people say today, boggles the mind. It is something that we cannot imagine, so great, and like I say, Jesus has laid His finger upon it. The hairs of your head are even numbered. Not a sparrow shall fall from the rooftop without the will of your heavenly Father. He has to will it in order for it to happen. These little things that certainly do not affect the history of the world, do they. Or do they?
Our life is made up of it, it is a matter of drought and overmuch watered. It is a matter of sickness and health; it is a matter of fruitful and barren years. And when we look upon our life; of course, that's it. It has covered it all here in this answer, it has covered it all.
Now these are the things that do not come by chance. Chance has no place in the Christian's vocabulary. There is no chance, everything is under His control. And there are ever so many that wish you "good luck", and it doesn't happen people, it doesn't happen. God's blessing, or the lack of His blessing, determines.
These are the things that are to be determined constantly in order that we may realize that He is indeed in control. God in control of the big things in life; you have been sick -- yah, that was it. But the days that you were well; well, of course, you had that coming. The days in which we were at scarcity, oh, most of us haven't even experienced that, and that was under His control, no doubt, but not every quart of milk and pound of potatoes that you get. See, that is the way in which we live, and that we do not live according to Lord's Day 10, nor do we live according to the Scriptural injunctions, but we are to realize that these are the things that come from our Father, from His hand, He so lives, He so controls, He so guides, that all these things are not by chance, but are under His Fatherly control. And that it is as by His hand. That is the beauty of this Lord's Day. That is really according to Ursinus and Olevianus, the heart of the providence of God, the hand of God. He upholds by His hand, he holds heaven and earth in His hand, He guides by His hand. His hand is in everything, and you and I will have to see that where it is. It's everywhere. His hand is in all the various things that happen in life. God's hand is in that.
So you see so often in Scripture, for example with the third plague, then the magicians say to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God, the finger, finger." His arm protects Him, His arm defends Him, says the Psalmist. And now His hand upholds, His hand guides, His hand leads. That's providence. That is the Scriptural providence, that is our confessional providence, that is the providence of God, by His hand, as by His hand. And that is a fatherly hand, see. So that it is always the hand of my Father that upholds me in this life. It isn't just a 'power', because that is what it began with, that the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who of nothing made heaven and earth and all that is in them, who likewise upholds and governs the same by His eternal council and providence; sounds like His power; but that it is by His hand, His fatherly hand.
And that fatherly hand leads and guides, and of course, you know where a father leads, and that is, for your best, for the best for you. He has your welfare in mind, your good, the direction is where you should be. That's your Father hand that leads there. And consequently that providence of God is something so beautiful, that we are held in the hand of God and that it is His hand over me from day to day and over my children, over my family, over all that I love, that are cherished. He holds it in His hand, and He guides it.
And then a child is rebellious sometime; no, I don't want to go that way. Yes, c'mon, c'mon; this is the way. So that even those things that seem to go against us are under His control. Remember that, believe it, this is Scripture, this is the Word of God, this is the word of comfort; this is my only comfort, that in life and death, for time and eternity, He holds me in His hand. What a beautiful thing. That's the manner in which He does it. Not by great powers; aw, by His power He claved the Red Sea, He sent manna from heaven, and the miracles that He has done. And people today say, well, these miracles -- that's an impossibility! That an axe head floats, that someone rises from the dead; c'mon now. My Father did it, and can do it, and there is nothing too much for Him. All things in His hand.
And finally, notice my comfort. I've been speaking concerning His ability and His manner; now, my comfort.
Those are the things that are spoken of especially in question and answer 28. What does it profit us? And this is always, let me say that again, always the method of the Heidelberg Catechism. What does it profit you. It isn't a matter that you will know all these things, and that you have a head full of knowledge; that doesn't do anybody any good in the final analysis; but, what does it profit you? What is now in the heart, what has now happened, what does it profit us to know that God has created by His providence, still upholds all things? That we may be patient in adversity, thankful in prosperity, and with a view to the future, may have good confidence in our faithful God and Father, that no creature shall separate us from His love; since all creatures are in His hand, and without His will they cannot so much as move. That's it. That is my comfort, that when He sends such things as adversity, I am patient.
Now to be patient in adversity is one of the things that is impossible, according to the psychology of this world. How can you be patient with these things, how can you be patient in sickness, how can you be patient when everything goes against you. Then you rebel, and that's even good for a person, to get that anger out of him. The Bible never speaks of that, you know. There is no anger that you have to get out that is good; never speaks of that. And that already gives the lie to ever so much of the psychology of the present day. It is this, that we are then to keep a stiff upper lip, that there is going to be a stoic acceptance; you can't do anything about it anyway. You may as well take it. Let's not be impatient. That's not what the Catechism has in mind, because that's not what the Scriptures have in mind. But what the Catechism has in mind is this, that His will, which He is carrying out in sending me adversity is good. His will is good. And I can't see that at that time.
But, aw, you have ever so many examples already given in the Scriptures, for example, David says, "It was good for me to have been afflicted." Man, not at the time, not at the time. Oh, that was so bad, and he cried out to God, "can't this be done, can't this be helped, can't this be taken away." But it was good for me to have been afflicted, for now keep I Thy statutes. And that is a whole lot better than if I did not keep Your statutes and was not afflicted. Jacob says, "all these things are against me." And they weren't, they weren't. All these things were in his favor, but he couldn't see it yet. So that in that adversity he is patient. That is, that he is going to wait upon his God, and that finally it comes to this, not that we bow before the inevitable, and that's not Scriptural, but that we bow before Him in this way, that His will becomes ours. And that we wouldn't want it any different either.
Someone said to me, some years ago, who was blind, and had labored with that difficulty, and we talked about that; he said, I would not give up that blindness for anything." I stood aghast.What an awful world that must be when a person is totally blind. But he wouldn't give that up, because that brought him to his Savior, much closer than ever before. Now, then you see that you can be patient in adversity. And that not only patient in adversity, but also thankful in prosperity.
Now those ought to be the very easiest things that can come to us, that we are going to be thankful in prosperity. But at the same time, you realize that we ought to be a tremendously thankful people, for we have been so prosperous, we are more prosperous than any nation on earth, than any people has ever been. We are living today like royalty could not live a generation or two ago. Because they didn't have these things. We are living in such abundance, in such opulence.
Thankful in prosperity; are you thankful. Jesus healed ten lepers; one came back to give thanks. That wasn't too bad; one out of ten. I think that's far better than what we have today; one in ten. If you had ten percent of people that were really thankful, it would be a different world. And then He already complains and says, "Where are the nine?" And that is something that we can understand because they certainly all ought to be there. When they had been cleansed of leprosy, and then nine don't even bother about going back to say thanks. That's the way we live. We accept these things, the roast is in the oven, isn't it, already this morning. You're going to sit down to a banquet this noon. Have an abundance. We have all things, we have much more than we can ever use.
Thankful -- and what is that thanks? That doesn't mean just to come back and to say 'thank you', but then let us also remember what the Catechism says later on as to what gratitude really is; that gratitude comes out of conversion, conversion. That we are converted to God, that we put on the new man, and lay aside the old man. That's gratitude. Not just of our lips, but of our whole being. And then follows the Law, upon gratitude. And then finally the prayer, which is the chief part of gratitude. Oh, gratitude isn't such a simple thing.
But that we are going to patient in adversity and thankful in prosperity. That our God deals with us in the way in which He has, as He has dealt with no other people, says the Psalmist. That we rejoice in that, and that we are truly thankful, and that it leads to converted hearts, and lives that are lived according to His Word, and that are bathed in the prayer that He has taught us.
And also this, that with a view to the future, notice that, with a view to the future, we may have good confidence in our faithful God and Father, that no creature shall separate us from His love, since all creatures are in His hand, so in His hand, that without His will they cannot so much as move. With a view to the future; what does the future hold? I don't know, you don't know, nobody knows. And yet those are the things that we would always like to know. What is the future going to bring? I don't know what it is going to be like tomorrow. I know what it is going to be in eternity, that's the main thing. What's going to happen in eternity I know; I will be with Him, but tomorrow, I don't know. But with a view to the future; after all, we always look ahead; so that there is always that view cast into the future, we have good confidence. That it is still that same God who has made heaven and earth who is my faithful Provider. That no one; He does not say; notice, and that's why I said a little while ago, every word ought to be exegeted in this Lord's Day; He does not say that He is going to avert all the evils that might come in this world, but nothing shall separate me from His love. That's it. It may be that diseases are discovered in me tomorrow; it may be that I suffer tomorrow. Nothing, however, shall separate me from His love. And then these are the things don't mean that much, because nobody is going to be able to touch me, for all things are in His hands so that without His will those enemies of mine cannot so much as move.
The future of the world looks dark, future of this country, when we look at all the various things that are happening in Washington today, does not look bright. The future of the church is very dark, very dark. When there is a falling away; but it's still in His hand. He is in control, and nothing shall separate me from His love. My Father is Provider. I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. And that contains something, I tell you. That contains so much that it cannot be spoken of in this short time. It is most glorious. May God grant you that blessing, to realize, everything, every little thing in your life, every little thing in this world is under the control of the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.....
We give thanks to Thee, heavenly Father, for the grace and mercy Thou hast sent. We thank Thee for Thy Word. We thank Thee for its glories. We thank Thee for its treasures. We thank Thee for its comfort. We thank Thee for its instruction. Grant Thy blessing upon it, that it may be applied unto every heart by Thy Holy Spirit. Bless us further, bring us together again in this evening into Thy house in order that we may again look upon those things which are given to us in Thy truth. Forgive our sins and hear us in Jesus name. Amen.....
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