Great Doctrines of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son/ Martyn Lloyd Jones

13. Providence 

There are three powerful arguments for the doctrine of providence: 

a). The fact of prophecy: “Prophecy is not merely foreknowledge, it is a guarantee—that the prophesied events are going to happen because God is in control” (143). 

b). Answers to prayer: “If you did not believe that God controlled everything, there would be no point in praying” (143). 

c). Argument from miracles: “if it were not the case that God has His hand upon everything, and is controlling everything, then miracles simply could not take place at all” (143). 

Providence: “that continued exercise of the divine energy whereby the Creator upholds all his creatures, is operative in all that transpires in the world, and directs all things to their appointed end” (143). 

• And there are three aspects of providence: 

a). Preservation: “that continuous work of God by which He maintains the things which He has created, together with the properties and powers with which He has endowed them” (143); in other words, “He keeps everything in being” (144). (See Psalm 104: 28-30; Acts 17:28; Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3). 

b). The governmental aspect of providence: “the continued activity of God whereby He rules all things to a definite end and object, and does so in order to secure the accomplishment of His own divine purpose” (144). (See Psalm 97:1; Psalm 103:19; Isaiah 40:15; Daniel 4:34-35). 

c). The aspect of concurrence: “the co-operation of God and His divine power with all the subordinate powers according to the pre-established laws of their operation, causing them to act and to act precisely as they do” (145); in other words, “God works through them. They have their own operations, but God is over all these operations” (145). (See Psalm 104:20-21; Psalm 104:30; Amos 3:6; Matthew 5:34). 

The easiest way to distinguish these three aspects is this: “the idea of preservation makes us think of the being of everything that is. The idea of government tells us that this being is guided, and the doctrine of concurrence tells us about how the activity is guided. Being, guidance, and activity” (146). 

• Scriptural principles: 

a). “the Bible tells us that God’s providence is exercised over the universe at large” (147). (See Psalm 103:19; Ephesians 1:11).

b). “God’s providence is exercised over the physical world” (147). (See Psalm 104; Matthew 5:45). 

c). “God’s controlling providence over the brute creation, over the animals” (147). (See Psalm 104; Matthew 6:26; Matthew 10:29). 

d). “we are told that His providence is exercised over the affairs of nations” (147). (Job 12:24; Acts 17:26). 

e). “we are told that God providentially governs a man’s birth and his lot in this world” (147). (See 1 Samuel 16:1; Galatians 1:15-16). 

f). “we find that God’s providence determines the outward successes and failures in human life” (147). (Psalm 75:5-7). 

g). “that God governs things which appear to be accidental, or apparently insignificant” (147). (Esther 6:1). 

h). “God’s providence protects the righteous” (148). (See Psalm 4:8). 

i). God supplies through providence the needs of His People (148). (Philippians 4:19). 

j). “every single answer to prayer which is in the Scriptures is just a statement that God providentially orders things in this way for His people” (148). 

There are ordinary providence and extraordinary providence: “in ordinary providence God works through second causes, in accordance with the laws which He has placed in nature. But in extraordinary providence, or miracles, God works immediately, directly, and without the secondary clauses. A miracle is God working, not contrary to nature, but in a supernatural manner” (148). 

• There are some difficulties with regard to the doctrine: 

a). “God is surely too great and too all-mighty to be troubled and worried by the details of our petty little problems” (150). (See Philippians 4:6). 

b). “the laws of nature make such an interference impossible” (150). 

c). “what is His relationship to sin?” (150). The answer is that, first, “sinful acts are under divine control, and occur only by God’s permission and according to His ultimate purpose” (150). (See Genesis 45:8; Act 2). Second, “God restrains and controls sin” (150). (See Psalm 76:10). Third, “God overrules sin for good” (150). (Genesis 50:20). Finally, “God never causes sin, nor approves of it; He only permits, directs, restrains, limits and overrules it” (150). (See James1). 

Lloyd Jones concludes this chapter by saying these: through Romans 8:28, we know that “the whole of providence is for the sake of God’s people” (151). And we must be careful in our application of any particular event (151).