All right, please turn in your confessions to page 213. We'll be looking at Catechism questions 14 and 15 this morning, which focus our attention on God's works of providence, and God's works of providence today. I want us to consider his works of providence once again in the light of his decrees. You might remember question 11, from last time asked the question, how does God execute his decrees? And the answer is God executes his decrees in the works of creation and providence. So first things first, as a review, let's remind ourselves of the past couple weeks. First, we began our study of God's decree with the simple question, what are God's decrees? And the answer is the decrees of God are his eternal purpose according to the counsel of his will whereby for his own glory he has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. Basically, God has a divine plan and a purpose and everything that happens in this world happens by his decree. God has foreordained whatever comes to pass And everything that comes to pass happens to fulfill His plans and purposes. They happen to fulfill His will and His desires. So God foreordains all things. And what is God's will? I quoted many times in the last few sermons from Ephesians 1 and verses 9 and 10. So let's just revisit that before we begin. It says, God made known to us the mystery of His will. according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times, and then here it is, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in him. So what are the decrees of God? Simply put, the decrees of God are how God orders his creation in order to accomplish his plans and purposes for it. God rules by decree. He declares his will and he orders the world in such a way that it accomplishes his will. I use the example of Joseph. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, was thrown in jail after being falsely accused of horrible crimes, and yet God used those circumstances for his purposes. We might say that it was according to God's decree that Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery. It was according to God's decree that Potiphar's wife lied about Joseph's inappropriate advances on her and got him thrown in jail. Evil people in the world can devise the most horrible schemes. They can hurt people and destroy entire civilizations. And we can rest assured that those things are recording to God's decree and they will ultimately accomplish his perfect plans and purposes to gather in one all things in Jesus Christ. Earthquakes destroy cities and we can be sure that even earthquakes are according to God's decree. Why? Because all things good and bad will be used to accomplish the will of God. And the entire creation revolves around one plan and one purpose alone, that Christ would be glorified in gathering his people to himself. Literally every evil thing and every good thing that happens in this life is being used by God, and everything that appears out of control is actually going perfectly according to his perfect and holy plans to bring many sons to glory. Think about Pharaoh. In the book of Exodus, his heart was hardened against God and God's people, and nothing would convince him to let them go, right? It took ten horrific plagues to finally convince him to let them go, and even then, he'd follow God's people all the way to the Red Sea. The evil of Pharaoh was according to God's decree. God wasn't a helpless God sitting back in Egypt wishing he could save his people from slavery. That slavery was according to his purpose. God decreed that they would be in Egypt for the exact number of days that they were in Egypt. God wasn't surprised when Pharaoh forgot about Joseph. He wasn't surprised when Pharaoh put them to work making bricks. And he wasn't surprised when Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew boys to be slaughtered at birth. That was part of God's decree. And God would use the evil of Pharaoh's hard heart to accomplish his will, to accomplish his plan and his purpose to gather his people from out of the world. Exodus 8 and verse 32 tells us, Pharaoh hardened his heart and he would not let the people go. We know that part pretty well. Listen to Exodus 9 in verse 34. It says, That's a different twist, isn't it? Pharaoh himself chose evil and hardened his own heart. And his own evil purposes were to destroy the people of God. And yet we see that at the exact same time, It's God who hardens Pharaoh's heart. And we can say with confidence that he did it to accomplish his plan and purpose, which was ultimately to gather his people to himself. I noted in the first message in our study of God's decrees that there is a beauty in the person of God that we see in his decrees. We see the beauty of his person in his desire to save sinners. We also see beauty in his mind and heart and his will to accomplish that desire. that God is wise and strong. He is also merciful and just. And he loves what is good. God alone is good, Jesus said. And yet he looks upon sinful mankind with a longing to pour out his love upon us. But he doesn't just want, like some weak king, to save people, does he? No, he has determined to save people. And as king of kings, he has decreed it. Everything that happens happens for one reason and one reason alone, to glorify himself as he saves sinners and brings them to himself. Why are there earthquakes? So that God might bring his people to himself. Why are there mass shootings? So that God might bring his people to himself. Why is there evil in the world? so that God might gather a people to himself. People will ask until the end of time, why does God allow suffering? We hear that all the time. How can a good God allow so much evil? That's another twist on the same question. The problem with that question, though, is that it fails to understand who God is and what his plan is and how he has determined to accomplish his plan. We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose, right? What are those things? Those things are all things. Mass shootings, earthquakes, the Holocaust, all things. And yet God is not evil. He is love and he is good. determined that even the curse of sin will bring his children to himself. Even natural evil, like hurricanes and disease, and moral evil, like murder and slavery, are all used to accomplish God's decrees. And they will be used to gather together all things in one in Jesus Christ. I realize that what I'm saying might be a little disturbing. How can a good God ordain evil? How can he decree evil even if its purpose is for good? That's a really important question and it's not unreasonable to ask. Consider with me paragraph one in the 1689's chapter three on God's decrees. It says, God has decreed in himself from all eternity by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will freely and unchangeably, all things whatsoever comes to pass. Meaning all things, good and evil. Now listen to this. Yet God is neither the author of sin, nor has fellowship with any therein, nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established. in which appears his wisdom in disposing all things, and power and faithfulness in accomplishing his decree." So there it is. God can decree evil without being a part of it. He is not the author of sin, nor does he have any fellowship with sin. He has no part whatsoever in sin, and yet he can decree that the sin devised and committed by the hard heart of Pharaoh will be used to accomplish his own perfect will. That's why the Confession says, in which appears his wisdom in disposing all things and power and faithfulness in accomplishing his decree. God will save sinners and he will even use the sins of Satan and Pharaoh and Joseph's brothers and even men like Hitler to accomplish that will. And in this we see his wisdom and power and faithfulness. This week marks one year since the sudden passing of my dad. It's been an awful year. We lost our patriarch. Our family has been torn apart by grief. We've even experienced attacks upon our church family. And recently we even lost our old dog this year. Death is something referred to as natural evil. Anything that is not good can be referred to as evil. Natural evil is death and hurricanes and famine and disease and all other natural things that cause damage to the world and people. It's evil as opposed to good. What Pharaoh did in Egypt was what we might call moral evil. It's something sinful that people do out of the evil of their own hearts. But God can use both kinds of evil. no matter what the cause or the intentions of others to accomplish his plans and purposes. And so even after all that we've experienced this past year, I feel closer to the Lord than I ever have. And I think Kendra would say the same thing. One hard day after another has weakened the grip of this world and God has been faithful to gather us to himself through these awful trials. It would be natural for us to wish these evils away. But over and over again this year, our brothers and sisters in the Lord have counseled us not to wish these trials away, but to find God in them. That's been the best counsel we could have asked for. That surely hasn't been my first thought, I have to admit. I wanted these trials over. I wanted my family back together. I wanted our church family back together. And I wanted our grief to pass quickly. I wanted it over. All of it. We all did. You all have grieved with my family and we've grieved together over all the trials that the Lord has placed upon us all this year. And at different points this year, we've all been a mess, haven't we? But think about the progress God has made in our lives. All of us here. Every family that's represented here today has had a horrible year, and yet I hear the prayers of each of us each week, and I hear grace and growth. I hear strength in the midst of weakness, and I see God gathering his people even while sin and evil want to pluck us from his loving hands. That's a beautiful God. That's the plan and purpose of God, and the decree of God, using evil to accomplish his perfect plans. What a wonderful and loving God. It is suffering that God uses to break us from this trance we're under, the trance that we're born under, that believes that this life is forever and that this is all there is. The natural man, the one under the trance, thinks of nothing more than eating and drinking and enjoying this life. That's not God's plan for us at all. Suffering teaches us that the promises of this life are lies. This world is a fraud. It promises health and we suffer illness. It promises long life and life is ripped away. It promises prosperity and it delivers poverty. But by God's decree, that suffering slowly weakens the grip of those promises, doesn't it? All those idols are revealed to be false promises and deception. And then one hard day after another, God gathers his people to himself. Our sin makes us hate sin, and we become holy. Death makes us seek eternal life. One by one, every child of God finds the great treasure, which is Christ. And one by one, every saint sells everything they have for that precious treasure. All things are ordained for God's purposes without exception. And that purpose is to gather his people to himself. Joseph's brothers caused suffering and God used it to accomplish his will. Judas caused Christ to be crucified on a cross like a common criminal. God used that evil to accomplish his will. Nothing, as I said a couple weeks ago, can thwart the will of God because God rules this creation by decree. Praise God. Praise God. Our summary this morning can be found in your bulletins. It says, God has a plan and a purpose that all might be gathered together in one in Christ. And he has determined to accomplish his will and his decrees Through the works of creation and providence, God will execute his decrees to gather all things to himself, first by creating all things and then by governing all things, so that all things might work out for good. All right, now with that introduction, before we begin, let us just go before the Lord again in prayer. Dear Father, we thank you again for this time and we thank you for one another. The church itself is a gift and help us to forever be grateful for it. Help us to see the wisdom as you pull people from all walks of life to walk together beside one another as we aim ourselves for the celestial city. Oh Lord, we thank you that we don't walk alone. We thank you for the counsel of one another. We thank you that iron sharpens iron. We thank you that our minds are transformed through the works that you do in others around us. It's such a beautiful picture, the local church is, and so we thank you for it. We also pray for the universal church that's gathered all around today. Lord, there truly is a multitude that is praising you in heaven and on earth today. You are praised and exalted, and I pray that that would be the case here today as well. So we thank you for who you are. We thank you for the ministry of your spirit, and we pray that he would be with us even now today as our teacher, and I pray these things in Christ's holy name. Amen. Okay, so God executes his decrees using the works of creation and the works of providence. Last time we saw that in order for God to gather all things in one in Christ, he first needed to create all things. That's exactly what he did. He created everything that he created with one purpose and one purpose alone to gather all things together in one in Christ. And he would be glorified in that creation. That's how God's decrees are executed by creation. He has decreed in himself to gather a people and so he creates a land and a heaven and a people, all of which is created so that they can spend eternity with him in the wonderful presence of his beauty and his glory. That was his creation in the light of his decrees. Today I want to consider his providence in the light of his decrees. Question 14 asks the question, what are God's works of providence? And this is of course still in the context of his decrees. So everything he creates and everything he takes care of is for the purpose of executing his decrees and his Decrees are ultimately for the purpose of gathering all things together in one in Christ. So that's where we start today. What are the works of providence and the light of his decrees? And the answer is God's works of providence are his most holy, wise, and powerful, preserving and governing all his creatures and all their actions. The children's catechism I used to use with Abby and Sam asked the question, why must I obey God? And the answer was, because God made me and takes care of me. That's a little kid's version of a similar question. Those are pretty good reasons to obey God. He is our God in terms of our creator, and he is our God in terms of our provider. God is creator and provider. Another way to think about it is he is our creator and our Redeemer. He made us and takes care of us. He carefully governs that which he creates. And so we see in question 14 that all his works of providence are his holy governing all his creatures. His governing is a holy work. His providence is a holy thing. All the works of God are holy So let's just think for a moment on the holiness of God's works. Psalm 145, in verse 17, says the Lord is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works. Literally everything the Lord does is holy. All his works are holy. They are set apart, they are sanctified, they are holy just as he is holy. And of course that includes his works of providence. God governs all things in a way that is pure and virtuous and sinless and good. So even as he uses providence to govern over evil, even as Joseph's brothers intend evil for Joseph, God intends to use that sin for something pure and virtuous and sinless and good. Even as Pharaoh, intended evil on Israel. God used that sin for something pure and virtuous and sinless and good. All things accomplish the holy will of God and all his works are holy. Pharaoh's evil was used for the holy work to preserve the seed of Abraham. That's a pretty holy thing. Even as his own heart thought of them as filthy animals to be used and abused. They're wonderful thoughts, really. Even as we find ourselves walking through the valley of the shadow of death, we can say with David in Psalm 23, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff. Here's that guidance. They comfort me. You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And listen to this, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. It's God's providence. Even in our darkest days, even in Joseph's darkest days in the dungeon, we can know for sure that God is using all things for good. And his goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our life, like David. God's works of providence are how he executes his decrees. He will gather a people to himself and he will do it in holiness because as we see he is holy in all his works. We see he's also wise in all his works. Isaiah 28 and verse 29 says the Lord of hosts is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance. Those are words describing his providence. He governs the world in wisdom. Psalm 104 in verse 24 says, O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your possessions. The decrees of God are certainly wonderful in counsel. But think about the ways He executes those decrees. He is excellent in guidance, it says. And we just think about that word guidance. Listen to the definition for this word in Strong's Concordance. Word means properly to twist, that is to causatively, notice that word, to cause, to causatively make large in various senses as in body, mind, a state or honor, also in pride. God doesn't sit back like a clockmaker and wind up the world and let it go, does he? No, he makes his decrees and then he actively causes this will to be done. Every moment of every day, God is active in his creation, providing for it, nurturing it, and causing it to become everything he planned it to be. He twists you and me to make us large in understanding and knowledge of him and his kingdom. That's what that word means. He causes us to become large in mercy. He causes us to become large in holiness and righteousness. God doesn't sit back and let the world become whatever it wants. He twists it. He governs it, just like he twists us and governs us, shaping us into the likeness of his Son. This word guidance, or to twist, can also mean to causatively advance, boast, bring up, or exceed. God causes whatever excellence we might have and he causes us to be sanctified by his own spirit. He is active in the work of providence and he does it in perfect wisdom. The earth is full of his possessions and he rules over his possessions as a potter rules over the clay, twisting it to fulfill the plans and purposes he has for his sons. This word can also mean to causatively make great, or grow up, or increase, or lift up, or magnify. It can also mean to causatively nourish. God is causing us to become holy. He is guiding us in all according to his wonderful wisdom and holiness. He governs all his creatures and all their actions, it says. God's works are holy and wise. Again, that includes Satan and Joseph's brothers and Pharaoh and even Judas. All his creatures and all their actions are governed by the Lord. Think about that. Hebrews 1 and verse 3 is our next proof text. It says, Christ being the brightness of God's glory and the express image of his person and upholding all things by the power of his word, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. He upholds all things, it says. All things. So clearly God isn't some kind of clockmaker who makes the world and then winds it up and lets go, right? No, he's a God who created all things and then he carefully upholds all things. He's intimately aware and involved in everything that happens in the world. Psalm 103 and verse 19 says, the Lord has prepared his throne in the heavens and his heavens, his kingdom rules over all. So again, he's not just a builder, he's a king, he's a governor, he rules over all. And that Hebrew word, which we see as over all, literally means over all, over everything. It's an all-encompassing word that expresses God's providence over all things, all people, and all circumstances, down to the smallest details. God governs all things. Matthew 10, verses 29 through 31 is an example of how God governs all things. Jesus says, are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your father's will. But the very hairs on your head are all numbered. Do not fear, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows. Compared to an image bearer of God, a sparrow is relatively worthless, right? But think about God's care over such a common creature. Not one falls to the ground apart from his will. Apart from his decrees, God governs all things. So question 14 shows us that God's decrees are executed not only through creation, but also through providence. Now let's consider another example of God's providence. Question 15 moves us into the realm of God's special providence in terms of gathering a kingdom of image bearers. It's easy to see God providing and governing the creation, generally speaking, but I think it's even more obvious as we read the Bible to see that the emphasis of his providence is on saving the elect. Just like Jesus pointed out, if God cares for the lowly sparrow, just think about his providence over the souls of you and me. We are the pinnacle of his creation. We were designed and formed for the purpose of glorifying God and enjoying him forever. That can't be said of the sparrow, can it? So let's read question 15 now, and again with God's decrees in mind, and particularly his mysterious will that we read in Ephesians 1 10. Remember, God's desires to gather all things together in one in Christ. That's the ultimate purpose of everything he's doing here. So question 15 asks, What special act of providence did God exercise towards man in the estate wherein he was created? So at the very beginning, God exercised a special act of providence over man in the garden. And what did that exactly look like? The answer says, when God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him upon condition of perfect obedience. forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil upon pain of death." Okay, this is special providence in the context of God's decrees. God creates and then God governs his creation and all for the purpose of what? To gather all things together in one in Christ. But we see that he does it by creating a law for them. Kind of strange, right? If you want to gather everything together, why would you make it hard? You'd think he would have no rules, and then everything would come to him. That's certainly the model for the modern church, right? Break things down to the lowest denominator so that we can include everyone, or at least as many as possible. But that's not God's purpose at all. We must remember that his glory and wisdom and holiness are on display here. Before he can gather all together in one, God needs to first set the standard for those who want to enjoy covenant relationship with himself. He has to, doesn't he? And he does that by creating a law of righteousness for his people. Covenant relationship with an infinite and holy God isn't just for anyone. It's for perfect people who are defined by a perfect law. which represents the holiness and righteousness of God himself. God established a standard for anyone who might want to enter into a covenant relationship with himself. He's determined to have a people and he's determined to have a people who are holy and righteous like him. You see the holiness of God here. The covenant in the garden is the wisdom of God establishing the standard for communion between him and his people. And if this doesn't seem like providence to you, at least notice that God is providing a way, even if he's making the way difficult. He's governing his creation with the purpose being to bring his elect to himself in Christ. That's the purpose of the law. It's not just a schoolmaster. It establishes the standard for communion with God so that he can dwell with us and us with him. And it requires perfect obedience to that law. So God established that life in the garden would be attained or earned by keeping the law. God in the earliest pages of scripture is providing a way for his decree to be executed. He will gather a people and the law in the garden teaches us that God will only gather the righteous. Galatians 3 in verse 12 is our first proof text for this question and it tells us that the law is not of faith but the man that does them shall live by them. So God made a law for his image bearers to establish a standard for communion with him, and then he commanded them to live by that law. What does that even mean, living by the law? Living by the law means that life itself is determined by how we keep the law. Perfect obedience is rewarded with life, and disobedience is rewarded with the opposite of life. which of course is death. Romans 5 and verse 15 makes this point really well when it says, by the one man's offense, that's Adam, many died. Romans 5 and verse 18 on the other hand tells us that by one man's righteous act, that's Jesus, the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. That was the deal in the garden. Obedience and disobedience to the law divides those who meet the standard for communion with God from those who don't. And God set that standard in the Garden of Eden. He's literally governing his creation and he's doing a work of providence over his creation when he establishes that standard. This is the foundation for his gathering all together in one in Christ because it tells us who will be gathered, the righteous. So as much as the law appears contrary to his will, he's actually just showing us that his will is to gather only the righteous. And that's what Galatians 3 and verse 12 is teaching too. Living by the law simply means that we meet the standard of communion with God. To be righteous according to the law is to have communion with the Lord. One depends on the other. Genesis 2 in verse 17, It says, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. Now tell me something. Did Adam and Eve die physically that day? They didn't, did they? But what did happen that day is that they lost their communion with the Lord, right? If you have a digital version of the Bible, It shows the Hebrew word beside the English. You'll notice that the word for die, in Genesis 2 and verse 17, is actually in there twice in the Hebrew. The English says, eating you shall surely die, but the Hebrew literally says, through eating, dying, dying. Through eating, dying, dying. So we might say, dying you will die. meaning when you eat, you don't physically die immediately, but the process of dying began and it would lead to their ultimate end, which of course is physical death. Dying began and dying would lead to the physical death that they deserved. But there's also the spiritual element of death that we can't ignore. And both of these have something to do with God's governing his creation. After they ate the fruit, it's spiritual death. that we see happening immediately. The Bible says we are dead in trespasses and sins. That happened the moment that Adam ate the forbidden fruit. And that death is obviously spiritual. Adam lost his communion and fellowship with the Lord when he broke that law. And even this is a part of God's work of providence. God first revealed the standard for communion with him, and then he reveals that no man is good enough. No one meets the perfect standard. No one deserves fellowship based on the law. Romans 5 again proves this. Verse 12 says, through one man sin entered the world and death through sin and thus death spread to all men because all sinned. Romans 3 and verse 23 says, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So the special act of God's providence To enter into a covenant of works with mankind almost seems contrary to his will to gather all together in one in Christ. And yet it really isn't. It reveals the basis for the gathering and the basis for the ultimate communion and fellowship that he'll gather us into. The covenant of life was never intended to actually accomplish his will. It was just intended to establish the basis for it. It establishes God as the only holy being and it establishes man as utterly dependent upon the Lord for righteousness. And what better way to do that than to give us a law and let us prove it. That's God's providence. So he doesn't gather us together in one based on the law. He gathers us together in one in Christ, through Christ. through the righteousness of Christ. Again, he governs all things to accomplish that mysterious will of his. Now back to God's providence in death, we see that physical death for the saint becomes a mercy of God, and again, a means of gathering. Think about your struggles with sin, and think about physical aches and pains. We can't survive eternally in this condition, can we? In death, for the saint, he's actually providing relief for us from our fallen and sinful bodies. And for most of us, our death is when he will finally gather us. When a saint dies, he or she is absent from the body and present with the Lord. That's him gathering. He's causing us to leave the body so that we can come to him. And so even death, it seems, caused by that first sin, is a means of gathering his elect, another part of his providence. So we leave off in question 15 this morning on the low note that God's covenant of life ended in death for all. And we'll spend the next, I think, seven questions considering what that means. And I don't want to end on a low note like that. And I don't want to wait seven questions to remind us of the good news either. And that good news, of course, is that God didn't leave Adam and Eve in the garden to die, did he? The providence we saw in the garden was just the foundation for what we would see in Christ. God evicted them from the garden to show them that the covenant of life was over and that no life would ever be gained by the law. That was an act of providence and mercy. And then he told them in Genesis 3, verses 15 and 21, that life would be attained by grace through faith in the seed of the woman. The seed of the woman would be our Savior, and he would accomplish everything the law could never do, and everything man could never do for himself. Turn with me, if you don't mind, to Genesis 3, as we close, and let's just see the providence of God in the Gospel, as it's clearly seen in those early pages of Scripture. God will govern his creation in order to gather all into one in Christ. He will twist the world and cause the world to accomplish all of his plans and purposes. And as a God who rules by decree, his will is certainly accomplished by his wise and holy works. Okay, Genesis 3. And let's keep the Lord's providence in mind here. Verse 14 begins with the curse after the fall. And it says, so the Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field. On your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And now notice that blame is being placed on Satan here. God decrees the fall, and yet the free will of Satan is never violated. And Satan is the author of the sin that leads to the fall of mankind. God has no fellowship with sin, and yet it is all part of his plan. And he will use it to accomplish his holy will. And now here's the gospel in verse 15. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. That's more of God's providence. He's ordained the law to set the standard for communion with himself. He ordained the fall so that man might know for certain that he was dependent upon God for righteousness. And now we see God ordains a savior who will gather his people back to himself. Because we need to remember that when Adam and Eve fell, they became willing slaves to Satan. So the promise that Satan would be her enemy again means there's a promise of restoration. Adam and Eve had gone from spiritual life to spiritual death, and from communion with God to communion with Satan. And now God is promising to gather them back to himself. He will gather all things together in one through the seed of the woman. That's what it means in Ephesians 1-9 when it says, and 10 when it says, in Christ, in the seed of the woman, we will be gathered. And God has ordained this entire chain of events without ever being the author of sin. Now, verse 21 in Genesis 3 is the second part of the gospel. It says, also for Adam and his wife, the Lord God made tunics of skin and clothed them. He welcomed them back into covenant relationship, back into communion and clothed them. Again, this is providence. He establishes that standard for communion was perfect righteousness, and now we see that that righteousness would come from another. Now listen to the bookend of this verse found in Revelation 7 and verse 14. Imagine this heavenly scene with John and the angel. They're watching in verses 9 and 10, a great multitude which no one could number of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice, saying, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb, clothed in white robes. Adam and Eve are in that multitude. So that's the scene. Then in verse 14, the angel tells John who these people are. He says, these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, that's this life by the way, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. Now go back and imagine what God was depicting in those tunics made of skins. Those sheep were the first animals to die in the entire world. And so we see the death of an innocent sacrifice, and then the innocence of that life placed over their own guilt and shame. That's the gospel. We are washed white as snow. We are made white, meaning holy and pure, in the blood of Christ, in the blood of the Lamb. And consider this heavenly image again in verse 15. It says, therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple and he who sits on the throne will dwell among them. Communion is restored to all who wear the robes of Christ. Those tunics of skin in Genesis 321 were a picture of Christ and it is God's works And it's God's works of providence that will bring us to that great day. And by the way, to go back to Revelation 7 and verse 14, like I mentioned, those who came out of the great tribulation, those in that heavenly scene, I believe, aren't just those from the final days. Those are every single saint who suffered as a Christian on this earth. Every soul who battled with Satan to be holy, and every saint who suffered persecution, or struggled with sin, or died from martyrdom, or lost their families for the sake of the truth. That wonderful picture of the multitudes is not just a small number who die in the last days on earth. That wonderful picture John shares with us includes every saint from all times gathered together in one in Christ Jesus. And every one of us will be wearing the heavenly robes of the Lamb of God. And every one of us will be covered in his righteousness and his holiness and washed in his blood. And we can see that the standard for communion established by the law in the garden hasn't been diminished or lessened. God still requires perfect holiness to stand in his presence. He still requires perfect people. And every single soul in that wonderful crowd in heaven will be a redeemed sinner, saved by grace, and given a new holy name, and glorified, meaning sinless. That's quite a thought, isn't it? And all because of God's works of providence in executing his decrees. There's one more thing God does before he finishes chapter three in Genesis. It says, then the Lord God said, behold, the man has become like one of us to no good and evil. And now lest he put out his hand and also take of the tree of life and eat and live forever. Therefore, the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So he drove out the man. And he placed cherubim at the east of the Garden of Eden and a flaming sword which turned every way to guard the way to the Tree of Life. This is no clockmaker who winds up the clock and walks away forever. This is a God who will govern his creation until his decrees are executed perfectly. The Garden was a place where communion was earned by perpetual obedience. That place is now off limits to us. The way to the tree of life is no longer by way of obedience. The way to the tree of life is now by faith. Faith that we can possess the holiness that God requires through Jesus Christ. God still requires perfection to have communion with him. But the law offers us no hope, does it? That covenant is broken. And so God has removed us from it. He guards the garden from us so that we can never earn life by our own righteousness. And he's replaced it with a better covenant, a covenant of grace. And in this covenant, our communion with God is found, just like Ephesians 1 and verse 10 says, in Christ. We say it all the time that today is the day of salvation, and it is. we were all called to repent and believe, turn from sins, and turn to the only source of righteousness and holiness, Jesus Christ. We need to stop trusting in our own abilities to keep the law, and we need to trust that Christ kept it for us. We need to believe that it's God's will that he gather us to that great multitude in John's vision, and he has ordained the means He will, in his providence, cause all things to bring about that wonderful will of his. What is the gospel? The gospel is the good news, that even though we all fall short of the glory of God, there is a perfect Savior who did not fall short. He accomplished everything Adam failed to accomplish, and he accomplished everything you and I have failed to accomplish. Let's just finish with this short passage from Romans 5 before we close. This is our hope. By one man's obedience, many will be made righteous. And so grace will reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let's end on that high note, shall we? We saw today that God's providence brought us into a covenant that sets the standard for communion with God. A covenant that leaves us dead in trespasses and sins. And by his providence he removed us from that covenant and guards the gates to it. And all of this to show us our need for him. Re-entry into communion with God is impossible apart from God's providence. And yet we see that by his providence there is a better way. A way in which the righteousness we trust in is the righteousness of God himself. That's secure. A righteousness and holiness so secure that we could never lose it. As weak as we are, we can never lose it. I pray that we all see a beauty in Jesus Christ as we ponder his decrees. There is holiness in his works and there is wisdom in his works. And there's a glory that will be the focus of our eternity. God will gather his people and his people will be eternally holy when he's done. No sin, no suffering, no falling, just everlasting peace and joy. That's God's will. And we see that his decrees will be executed in his works of providence. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time in your holy word. We thank you, Lord, that you have given us so much to ponder. We thank you that in your works, there is just so much more than you creating an earth for people to roam. and animals and plants and fish and all the rest. Oh Lord, we see your glory in that, but nothing like what we see in redemption. Nothing like what we see in the work of your son. Certainly nothing like what we see in the glory of your covenants. And Lord, we thank you that you have made a covenant with us. You have declared that you would have a people. You have called us to use your name. to call ourselves Christian. And you have promised to deliver us into glory, where we might be with that multitude, with John. And I just thank you, Lord, that you've given us even these images, these thoughts, these pictures in the Bible. And so we just thank you again for all that you are. And we thank you in Christ's holy name. Amen.