Doctrine: The Decrees of God

Order of Service

• Sunday School Lesson — Doctrine: The Decrees of God
• Closing Prayer

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Sermon Title: The Decrees of God — Providence and the Means of Divine Governance

Scripture: 1 Kings 22:24-37

I. Review: Definitions and Foundation

A. The Decree of God defined (Westminster Shorter Catechism): God's eternal purpose according to the counsel of his will, whereby for his own glory he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass B. Providence defined: God's powerful preserving and governing of all his creatures unto his intended goal — his own glory C. God is not a deist watchmaker; he is intimately involved in every working of creation D. God weaves laws, principles, and properties into creation and governs through them

II. Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 5, Paragraphs 2–3

A. Paragraph 2: God as the First Cause

1. All things come to pass immutably — unchanged from what God decreed
2. All things come to pass infallibly — they cannot be otherwise than God decreed
3. Louis Berkhof: God need not change his decree due to ignorance, inability, or unfaithfulness; he is the immutable, faithful, and true God B. God works through second (secondary) causes in three ways
4. Necessarily — e.g., the sun and moon as necessary secondary causes of light
5. Freely — secondary causes that operate through the free choices of human agents (see Deuteronomy 19:4-5)
6. Contingently — secondary causes that appear random but are under God's sovereign direction (see 1 Kings 22:34) C. Paragraph 3: God is free to work without, above, and against his ordinary means at his pleasure

III. Secondary Causes Working Contingently — 1 Kings 22:24-37

A. Context: King Ahab, one of Israel's most wicked kings, goes to war despite the prophet Micaiah's word of judgment B. Ahab disguises himself to avoid the death God has decreed for him

1. The Syrian king commands his captains to fight only the king of Israel
2. The captains briefly pursue Jehoshaphat, mistaking him for Ahab, then turn back
3. A certain man drew his bow at random and struck Ahab in the one gap in his armor
4. Ahab died, fulfilling Micaiah's word (1 Kings 22:28) C. The shot was "random" from man's perspective, but God orchestrated every secondary detail — the archer, the breath, the aim, the wind — to accomplish his decreed purpose D. Application: There are no accidents with God; what appears accidental to us is purposeful to him

IV. Secondary Causes Working Freely — Deuteronomy 19:4-5

A. The cities of refuge: established for those who kill accidentally, without prior hatred B. The manslayer is free to flee to the city of refuge or not; God's purposes are worked out through that free choice C. God's decree does not override human freedom; he works through it

V. God Free to Work Above and Against His Ordinary Means — 2 Kings 6:1-7

A. Elisha causes an iron axe head to float by throwing a stick into the water B. This is contrary to the normal working of natural law — God working above his means C. Further examples of God working above or against ordinary secondary causes:

1. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego protected in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3)
2. Daniel preserved among the lions (Daniel 6)
3. Resurrection itself — dead bodies do not naturally return to life; resurrection is the supreme display of God acting against ordinary means for his redemptive purposes D. Geerhardus Vos: "The freedom of God in his decree is utterly unlimited and stands under no other rule than that of his own glorious virtues that form his being itself"

VI. Practical and Doxological Implications

A. We must not treat secondary causes in a deistic way — food nourishes not because of something intrinsic to it, but because God upholds it by his word B. The seat belt principle: acknowledging God's sovereignty does not nullify the use of means; God upholds his laws and we are to act wisely within them C. Paul's thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12): God's purposes are worked out even through unanswered prayer and ongoing suffering; "My power is made perfect in weakness" D. Even the lives of the unconverted are under God's providential hand, and he uses all things — including sin and hardship — to bring glory to himself and good to his people

VII. Transition: Providence as Foundation for the Decree of Redemption

A. 2 Thessalonians 2:13: "God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth" B. Election and salvation build upon what we have seen in providence: God decrees the end and works it out through means — the Spirit, the gospel call, and belief C. Coming topics: the decree of election, the nature of man's will, and the nature of evil