MYSTERIOUS ACTS OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE

MIKE CUNNINGHAM

FATHER’S DAY 2010

Before I begin I want to make one announcement. My Father’s Day sermon is a special one for the children who are with us today. In other words, it’s a full length children’s sermon. All the grown-ups are excused and can go into the Fellowship Room. But don’t snitch any of the goodies! Of course, they’re welcome to stay if you want to. A lot of the Bible verses I intend to quote will go over the head of you children. However, I want you each to know that the most important things I want to teach you will be very easy to understand. In fact, it will be a piece of cake!

In the beginning of my Mother’s Day sermon I remember saying: “Unless I´m greatly mistaken, one of the nicest things a Christian mom who has grown children can experience on Mother´s Day is to have them sitting next to her in church during the morning worship service. If it isn´t possible, she still feels blessed just knowing that the special person God planned to have her give birth to before speaking the world into existence would have accompanied her if he or she wasn´t sick, had to work, or because of some other understandable reason. Judging from the smiles on the faces of the mom’s who were here that day; I know they whole heartedly agreed with me.

Speaking as a father and grandpa and from the smile on my face, I’m sure you folks know I feel the same about Father’s Day. Just looking at two of my daughters and a couple of my sixteen grandchildren and their dad sitting in a pew during this Worship Service, and knowing that my son and his wife and their seven children would also be here if they weren’t living in Alaska means an awful lot to me. In fact, this morning’s service promises to be one of the highlights on my day. Actually, having some of my family here with us this Father’s Day will be one of the highlights of my year.

Parents and grandparents often have a great deal of pride for God having blessed them by bringing children into the world through them. And they don’t mind letting everyone know about it. For instance, allow me to share some things from several emails I recently received from parents and grandparents. The first one said:”Mikey was in the “YAM Scram” yesterday. He came in 13th place out of over 100 other runners. It was a two mile run.” Another wrote: “We are so very grateful that we have been able to spend the past eight and half years with Victoria. She has added so much to our family with her willingness to help, her big smile and funny jokes. Two of Victoria's favorite things are Hockey and Horses. What we found impressive this past year (3rd grade) was that she earned several "Home Work Passes" and used maybe one all year.” Another proud mom wrote again letting me know that,”Mikey made the All Stars!” “A proud father said the following: “We won both games tonight in the double-header. We will be playing in the championship games tomorrow,” followed by, “We lost tonight but Jake did very well. Tomorrow Jake has all-star try outs. We will keep you posted on how he does.” The next message said that, “Jake made the All Stars!” Another parent said this: “I am not bragging, just very proud. Last night Zac was presented with the "American Legion Award". This honor is given to one 8th grade girl and one 8th grade boy each year "in recognition of attainment acquired as winner of The American Legion School Award. In Further Recognition of the possession of those high qualities of Courage, Honor, Leadership, Patriotism, Scholarship and Service which are necessary to the preservation and protection of the fundamental institutions of our government and the advancement of society". Zac's proud parents and brother Mikey, his Grandma, Grandpa and Katie (one of Zac's cousins) were in attendance to see Zac receive his award.” The final email arrived late last night. “I am very proud of my daughter, Mary. Her dream and prayer for her life is to make the world a better place and in order to follow this path, Mary decided to go to Suffolk University where she majored in International Relations. Because money was so tight, Mary maintained high grades each semester in order to be eligible for the maximum amount of grant money offered by her school. She worked three jobs while attending classes full-time. A few weeks ago, Mary graduated, Cum Laude, from Suffolk University with a degree in International Relations and with the Delta Alpha Psi award from the Government Department. I am very proud of Mary for not waiting for her dream to come true, but for working so hard in preparation for this prayer to be answered.”

Judging from the comments in the emails, it’s obvious the parents and grandparents are very proud of those children. As pastor and grandpa I’m proud of them, too. Very proud! But what about those Bible verses I quoted in my Mother’s Day sermon about pride? Suppose the young children of the Christian parents and grandparents who are here this morning or those who may read this sermon later on my web page were to come across that sermon containing the following Bible verses.

Proverbs 6:16-17 (NIV)
¹⁶ There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: ¹⁷ haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,

Proverbs 16:5 (NIV)
⁵ The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.

Proverbs 16:5 (KJV)
⁵ Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

Psalm 138:6 (AMP)
⁶ For though the Lord is high, yet has He respect to the lowly [bringing them into fellowship with Him]; but the proud and haughty He knows and recognizes [only] at a distance.

Psalm 119:21 (AMP)
²¹ You rebuke the proud and arrogant, the accursed ones, who err and wander from Your commandments.

Isaiah 2:12 (AMP)
¹² For there shall be a day of the Lord of hosts against all who are proud and haughty and against all who are lifted up—and they shall be brought low—

I’m sure you children are confused by some of these Bible verses, especially as to how these truths apply to your proud parents and grandparents? Unless I’m mistaken, each of you have already been taught the following facts about the Bible.

Romans 15:4 (ESV)
⁴ “...whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV)
¹⁶ All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

In other words, the Bible is the Word of God, and you three children know it. Now let’s return to my question about those proud parents and grandparent who sent the emails to me. In one way or another, they each played a part in giving you children something for them to be very proud of. If anyone has trouble making sense of the following verses about God and proud people, you should ask your parents to help you. God has assigned that responsibility to them.

Deuteronomy 6:1-7 (ESV)
¹ “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the rules that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, ² that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. ³ Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. ⁴ “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶ And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Deuteronomy 6:17-24 (ESV)
¹⁷ You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. ¹⁸ And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers ¹⁹ by thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised. ²⁰ “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ ²¹ then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²² And the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. ²³ And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. ²⁴ And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day.

It’s very important for parents to remind their children that God hasn’t revealed everything about Himself in the Bible. That’s why a lot of things about God are a mystery. ²⁹ “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law, Deuteronomy 29:29 (ESV).God wants the parent to: ⁶ Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it, Proverbs 22:6 (ESV). Now look at what God says to Christian fathers: ⁴ “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord,” Ephesians 6:4 (ESV).

Suppose a father wriggles out of his God given responsibility. Perhaps he doesn’t know about it or think it’s all that important. That’s bad enough. But what if the father isn’t a Christian, what then? Suppose he even thinks all that Bible stuff is just a bunch of gobble-de-gook. Then what? Well, our loving Heavenly Father has made provision for that possibility. A wonderful case in point occurred in the life of a child God had predestined to serve in the Gospel Ministry when he grew older, and God did this before He even spoke the world into existence. Timothy’s father wasn’t a Christian (Acts 16:3), but God saw to it that he would have a Christian mom who taught him everything she knew about the Sacred Scriptures ever since he was a little boy. The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to Timothy and told him to “.... continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it ¹⁵ and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, 2 Timothy 3:14-15 (ESV)

I believe the most important biblical truths she could have taught her son were that: ¹⁶ “.... God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life, John 3:16 (ESV) and this verse, too.⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me, John 14:6 (ESV).

The only way into God’s heaven is by believing in Jesus. In so many words, my Mom taught me these truths when I was a boy and I believed them and I still do. But my father didn’t seem all that interested in those kinds of things. In fact, the only time I saw him go into one was when I was an eleven year old boy and watched him being carried in a casket in one for his funeral. Not only did I feel awful about him dying, but also from thinking about him ending up in Hell. My Mom never taught me about the following Bible verses because she probably didn’t know anything about them. I was raised as a Catholic and back in those days Catholics were discouraged from reading the Bible because they might misunderstand it. It they had a question about something spiritual, they were told to speak to the priest who was the only one qualified to understand and explain what was in the Bible. Now, try to imagine a boy or girl who is being taught about the Bible by his or her Christian mom or a grandparent. How do you think that child is apt to feel when the following truths Jesus taught to a crowd of Jews a long time ago are taught to him or her today ? Look at what those Jews heard:

John 6:35-40; 44; (ESV)
³⁵ “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. ³⁶ But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. ³⁷ All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” ⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.⁶⁵ He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him," John 6:65 (NIV)

Some children idolize their non-Christian fathers. Its dilemma’s such as these that are apt to really puzzle a child. So much so, that they might be tempted to pick and choose which Bible verses they are willing to believe and which they won’t. Of course, there’s always the possibility that a misunderstanding of the verses I quoted earlier about how God hates pride, and when they think about their proud parent or grandparent going to hell the child may chuck his or her Bible and stop believing in God and move on. How can a Christian parent or grandparent help the boy or girl understand the truth of the matter? I’m going to give it a try this morning because the three of you, Victoria and my grandson’s, Zac and Mikey are here today. Their grandma and I often pick the boys up after school in Fairfax and drive them to our home in Williston. As we cruse along Rt. 128 Zac is always looking out the window into the meadows looking for deer and turkeys, or a moose or bear. When he spots one he lets us know. Suppose one day he spotted a man crawling on all fours out in the meadow eating grass with the cows. I’m sure Zac would excitedly say Grandpa, “Grandpa, stop the car,”--and I would! A closer look and we would see that poor man was soaking wet. His hair had grown like the feathers of an eagle and his finger and toe nails were like the claws of a bird. Grandma would tell me get out of there quickly and let someone else get involved, and Mikey would probably say: “Grandpa, that man is mental,” and a psychiatrist would probably agree with him. But things aren’t always as they seem. Let’s return to the Bible for the truth of the matter, and pay special attention to the sentence’s I’ve underlined. Speaking about a certain proud king, the Prophet Daniel wrote:

Daniel 4:29-37 (ESV)
²⁹ At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, ³⁰ and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” ³¹ While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, ³² and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” ³³ Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his nails were like birds’ claws. ³⁴ At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; ³⁵ all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?” ³⁶ At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me, and I was established in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me. ³⁷ Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

Its pride such as that of the proud king that God hates, and not the kind of pride of the parents and grandparents I mentioned earlier. That account is just one of many examples in the Bible of what I describe as being “mysterious acts of divine providence,” (the way God rules His world.” But how about the child’s father who isn’t a Christian, a man who doesn’t want anything to do with Christ and His loving offer of forgiveness of his sins? And suppose the father uses those verses I mentioned earlier as a cop out; the verses about how only those people our heavenly Father gives and draws to His Son Jesus, and then enables the child’s dad to come to Him, is able to come. In spite of the boy or girls pleading with their dad, the man insists he isn’t able to. It seems impossible doesn’t it? And yet, nothing in the world can possibly stop the father from believing in Jesus and accepting forgiveness through what He accomplished on His cross. Nothing!

Do you remember what I mentioned earlier about Timothy’s father? Think about the following verse which will show us why we should never stop praying for those non-Christians we know. Speaking about young Timothy to the Christians, the Apostle Paul wrote in a letter: ²² “But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel, Philippians 2:22 (ESV. Timothy’s dad had finally become a Christian and served right alongside his son Timothy in spreading the Good News about Jesus.. Prayer is the most powerful weapon God has given His children, young ones like the three of you and old ones like me. You may be wondering how God managed to pull that one off. Did He cause the man to do something against his will, something he didn’t want to do? Allow me to try to explain what I believe God may have done by sharing the following little ditty about some mysterious acts of divine providence (God running the world He created). It goes like this:

When the Canaanites hardened their hearts against God,

And grieved Him because of their sin,

God sent along hornets to bring them to terms,

And to help His own people to win.

If a nest of live hornets were brought to this room,

And the creatures allowed to go free,

You would not need urging to make yourself scarce,

You'd want to get out, don't you see!

They would not lay hold and by force of their strength,

Throw you out of the window, oh, no!

They would not compel you to go against your will,

But they would just make you willing to go.

When Jonah was sent to the work of the Lord,

The outlook was not very bright.

He never had done such a hard thing before,

So he backed and ran off from the fight.

Now, the Lord sent a great fish to swallow him up

The story I am sure you all know.

God did not compel him to go against his will,

But He just made him willing to go.

CHORUS:

God does not compel us to go, oh, no!

He never compels us to go

God does not compel us to go against our will,

He just makes us willing to go.

I hope I’ve given you children lots of things to think about, and plenty of questions to ask to ask your parents or grandparents later. For instance, you may want to ask them if there were any hornets in their past which God sent to help them accept the forgiveness of their sins through Jesus.

Happy Father’s Day everyone!

Lord willing, in a couple of weeks . ...

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