Certainties Concerning God

In this part of the sermon: The first certainty about God is His sovereign rule over all events and circumstances in the coming year, distinguishing biblical theism from deism and illustrating God's control…

The deist view of God is illustrated as a clockmaker who winds up the clock (the world) and then takes his hands off, letting it run on its own inherent power and principles, contrasting with the biblical view of God's active involvement.

On the basis of human reason, he sees a world that has some indication of a creative power, and he reasons. God took all the raw materials, he put them together, he established the world, he worked into it certain laws, the principles by which ecology would operate, the principles by which our own bodies would operate, and then he took his hands off and says, now I've made it, and I've got it going, now let it do its own thing. To illustrate it, God made the clock, put a spring in it, all the wheels, all the cogs, all the arms, wound it up, took his hands off, and he lets it wind down accordin...

6:04 - 6:49 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The God of the Bible is the living God. He is the God who is described to us as having a heart and bowels of compassion. The God who knows and feels and cares.

B.B. Warfield's story of a Dutch boy playing near a dangerous windmill, who is caught not by the mill's indifferent blades but by his father's loving, disciplinary hand, illustrates the difference between cold, purposeless fate and the wise, affectionate predestination of God.

So I'm going to read this very simple. You children, latch on to this now because it speaks about a child, a little boy over in Holland. And some of our Dutch friends will appreciate this. There's the story of a little Dutch boy, says Mr. Warfield,

20:27 - 20:41 Read in full sermon

The point: Give up trying to figure out providence and fighting against it, as it is a losing business to yank at the hands of omnipotence.

Trying to understand God's providence by looking at individual events is compared to viewing a curtain just inches from one's face through a tube, where the limited perspective prevents understanding the whole design, emphasizing that only God sees the full picture.

And Christians give up trying to interpret providence. Give up trying to interpret it. You see, if I were to take the fabric that's there on the piano and I'm almost tempted to go pull it up and say, well, let's take the curtains. All right.

36:04 - 36:25 Read in full sermon