STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN –PART 60

                             April 11, 2007

 

Chapter 11, verses 36-37-John provides brief comment by onlookers as Jesus wept.  One group is impressed with Jesus’ compassion and grief in a positive manner; the other group questions whether Jesus could have prevented

Lazarus’ death.  God’s work of prevention lies in the domain of His providence.

 

      Providence of God  (abbreviated notes from Studies in  Jonah 8/03)

Four kinds of providential action is ascribed to God with respect to evil acts by men:

1) Preventative- Gen.20:6 Abimelech & Sarai

   Psa.19:13- “keep ..thy servant from presumptuous sins..”

2) Permissive- He allows some sin to fully manifest itself  by withholding      

  impediments that would have prevented the sin.

  II Chron.32:31- “God left him, to try him…”  Psa.81:12 “So I gave them up…”

  Isa.53:10- “it pleased the Lord to bruise Him…”

3) Directive- God directs the acts of men to ends that are unforeseen and

  unintended by the agents themselves.

    Gen.50:20,  Rev.17:17, Psa 76:10

4) Determinative-  He determines the bounds reached by evil-

  Job 1:12,  2:6   II Thess.2:7- “only He who now restrains…”

  Such providence by God should not be construed to be fatalistic.  Fatalism

denies the real free moral agency of man.

 

Consider the ends to which God’s providence is directed:

a) He governs the world with a view to the happiness of the creature- see

  Acts 14:17 and that such “goodness” has a purpose- Rom.2:4

b) He governs the world with a view to mental and moral development.

  Humanitarian efforts trace themselves to His rule of the world.

c) He governs the world with a view to the salvation & preparation of a

  people for His possession- (Israel and the Church)

d) The primary end of Divine providence is Divine glory—His rulership is to

  manifest His rich qualities of holiness, power, wisdom, etc.- see Isa.48:11.

  His glory is shown by the infinite variety of actions, influences and restraints

  that He chooses to use to produce character and Christ-likeness-Eph.2:7.

e) While God acts in response to our prayers, it must be understood that

  prayer is combined with divine purpose and is part of the divine feature.

f) To assert that “God intervened” may be expressive of either genuine

  spiritual insight or merely the foolish remark of the superstitious.  Several

  items should be taken into account in order to declare God’s providential

  action:

 

 

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 1. Was the action consistent with a walk of trust in God?  II Cor.5:7,

   Psa. 119:138

 2.Was the action expressive of God’s justice, love and faithfulness to His

   purposes?  Deut.32:4, Prov.21;3,  Hosea 14:9

 3. Was the effect of the action to bring humility and fear of the Lord?

   Prov.16:6, Psa.147:11-12

 4. If the act was seemingly insignificant or accidental, was it seen in the

   larger sphere of God’s infinite love and unfailing purpose?  Psa.103:8,

   John 15:9, 17:23, Eph.2:4, I Peter 5:10

 5. In discerning what was thought to be “God’s providential intervention”

   was such discernment followed by greater obedience or merely a

   superficial observation that lacked the power to transform?  Gen.50:20,

   Lk.9:51, Matt. 11:20-24

 6. One may  have providential intervention by God and not discern it

   at the occasion of it occurring. see Matt.5:45.  At other times, events may

   occur that could thought to be providential and, in fact, are not. See

   I Kings 19:11-12 – dramatic events are no guarantee of divine action.

 7. Prayer and watchfulness are the keys to discerning the providential

    works of God- Eph.6:18, Col.4:2.  To behold the hand of God is to

    walk spiritually alert to His ways and to be deeply humbled in dependency

    on Him each day- John 15:7.