Sermon Outline:
God neither gains nor loses wisdom
- God has made everything in the world perfect in His own time.
- Everything men have made use of from the law of aerodynamics to gravity for his own inventions was created by God from the beginning
- God in His perfect wisdom work in us perpetually and immediately (ie God does not work through a medium)
- God’s wisdom means our waiting on Him
- Periods of miracles were few and far between (Moses, Elijah,…, Jesus and for a brief period after, through the disciples)
- *For the rest of history, men rely on God’s providence. God’s will is accomplished in time.
- This means that most times, we WILL have to wait
- *Gods providence requires our waiting on Him (Ps 104:27)
- (Example: Church redevelopment) a miracle would be to blink thrice and the redevelopment is complete. However, we have to plan and work for it. A much less impressive feat, honestly.
- (Elaboration: Church redevelopment) the reason we feel this way is because we are no longer amazed at God’s providence. We view wonderful God’s providence as mundane. This is the reason we are not as thankful as we should be. The mana that falls from heaven is no longer as interesting as when it first fell (num 11:6)
- God’s providence requires waiting and waiting is often difficult. However, there is a reason behind your waiting – that He may give you your meat in due season.
Question: what are the aspects of Gods providence we take for granted? Things we no longer view as miraculous?
Question: what is your reaction when you have to wait on God for His providence?
Discipline falls under God’s providence.
Question: we use wisdom to choose the best goals and route to reach those goals. We use Godly wisdom to understand that the best goal for us is to bring God glory by conforming to His image. Do our actions and desires reflect Godly wisdom?
Everything that happens in our lives is such as to conform us to the image of God. Through wisdom, God knows exactly what we need and lack to conform to the image of His Son (Heb 12:10)
Question: how has your last milestone allowed the Spirit to conform/point you to God?
To benefit from God’s discipline we must be able to look past second causes; when a door is closed or an opportunity is denied we tend to blame the second cause. We must look past this and remember God is in control of the second causes.
(Eg Joseph. for the 12-13 years of slavery Joseph could not consider his situation retrospectively as we can. He had no idea what was going on. He trusted the Lord’s providence through it all. It was not the brothers who sent Joseph to Egypt but God – editor’s note: to trust God in trials is commendable on its own. But to work mightily as unto God (Col 3:23) even in the station of a literal servant is a faith I must admire.)
⁃ Joseph had the spiritual discernment not to write off these bad times as ‘it is what it is’ but as part of Gods providence
Question: when we are called to difficult, even humiliating stations what is our attitude during such tribulations?
God’s providence involves His renewing us for His own glory.
God was at work during the 13 years of Joseph’s slavery.
A person cannot die in faith if they do not live by faith. To live in faith is to look toward something you cannot see
Living by faith does not mean you close your eyes, cross your fingers, jump off a ledge, and hope to hit the water. Faith has a direction.
No suffering (or pleasure) is worth relinquishing the seeing of God’s glory
(Example: baking. No ingredient by themselves taste good but God the baker takes all these ingredients together to make bread) – God isn’t after the fancy bread that men seek but bread that looks like Jesus and these, breadren, are the best tasting kinds of bread.
Example: Asapth. The meaning of suffering: we know it’s for God’s glory and our conformity. However, we grow sour sometimes when we look to the proud and sinful and see them basking in the sunlight. God is our strength and portion forever and Asapth realises this when he enters into the house of the Lord. Upon leaving God’s house his situation doesn’t improve but he draws the conclusion that it is good for us to draw close to the Lord. All things work together for good to them that love God. (Editor’s note: the Psalm of Asapth is really a Psalm that strikes into the core of Christians experiencing tribulations. It’s beyond a good read and I recommend your meditation on it!)
To metamorphosize from a sinner to Holy isn’t a superficial change. The wires have to be changed on the inside and the process, sometimes, isn’t pleasant.
Do not look at circumstances or look only at the bad ones. Instead, look to it all as God’s providence confirming us to the Lord.