God s Providence. A Bible Study Course for Adults. by Mark J. Lenz. Leader s Guide

Transcription

1 God s Providence A Bible Study Course for Adults by Mark J. Lenz Leader s Guide Lesson One God Preserves His Creation... 5 Lesson Two God Preserves Us by Directing Our Steps...10 Lesson Three The Scope of God s Providence...14 Lesson Four God s Providence and Secondary Causes...21 Lesson Five Concurrence...27 Lesson Six Necessity and Contingency...34 Lesson Seven What about the End of Life?...43 All rights reserved. New edition, 2008 Northwestern Publishing House 1250 N. 113th St., Milwaukee, WI by Northwestern Publishing House. Published 1997 Printed in the United States of America ISBN

2 God s Providence Leader s Guide Page 2 To the Leader The leader has three resources for the preparation of each lesson: this leader s guide, a collection of resources or references on the computer disk included with this Bible study kit, and the book God s Providence. God s Providence is part of the 25-volume series People s Bible Teachings, published by Northwestern Publishing House. References to God s Providence appear at the beginning of each lesson. The leader will want to have a copy of this book. This study has been written for classes where class members are not expected to prepare in advance. It is not necessary for the class to have the book in order to benefit from the lessons. However, the leader will want to inform the class of the availability of the book God s Providence and may want to have copies of the book available for purchase. Class members will greatly benefit from reading the book as they work through the lessons. On the other hand, the leader may set up the course with the idea of working through the book God s Providence by using these lessons as a study guide. In that case, each class member will want to purchase his or her own book before the class begins. Each lesson begins and ends with a suggested prayer. The leader may want to write his own prayer or have an ex corde prayer. The prayers that are supplied have been written with the lesson for the day in mind. The opening prayer looks ahead to the lesson to be studied, and the closing prayer is directed toward application of the truths learned. Two or three goals are offered for each lesson. The goals state the truths to be learned, along with ways in which these truths can strengthen our faith and life. The leader should keep these goals in mind as the lesson is being taught and discussed in order to keep the proper focus for each lesson. Each lesson has been designed to fit into a 45- to 60-minute class session. The following articles will prove helpful in preparing to teach the subject of God s Providence: The Doctrine of Divine Providence by Roland Hoenecke in Our Great Heritage, Volume I, pages The Providence of God by Paul F. Bente in The Abiding Word, Volume II, pages The Doctrine of Divine Providence in Christian Dogmatics by John Theodore Mueller, pages A sign-up sheet for class members to order the book God s Providence is included in this kit. Class leaders can place an order after the first class period and distribute the books at the second. See the sheet for details. Mark J. Lenz

3 God s Providence Leader s Guide Page 3 Using the computer CD included in this Bible study kit Thank you for purchasing an NPH Bible study kit. The computer CD included with this Bible study offers resources to help you prepare to teach God s Word to his people. What will I find on the CD? Each CD contains two text files, GUIDES.TXT and RESOURCE.TXT, and two directories, GUIDES and RESOURCE. Read the short text files first. The GUIDES.TXT file tells you what is in the GUIDES directory. It lists the various formats for the student s guide copy masters. The RESOURCE.TXT file tells you what is in the RESOURCE directory. It contains a list of articles and resource material you may find helpful in preparing to teach the course. How do I open the text files? There are no programs on this CD. In other words, there is nothing you need to install on your computer and run. These are simple files, such as a letter or sermon you might save on your hard drive. To use these files, simply open them as you would any other file. Most word processors have a window in which you can navigate to various places to locate files. You will need to tell your word processor that you want to find a file on the drive in which you inserted the Bible study CD. This will usually be drive c: or d:. If you are using a Windows word processor, click on drive c: or d: in the Open File window. When you have selected the appropriate drive, it will list the files and directories that are on the Bible study CD. What if no files or directories appear? Some word processors are set to show only files created by or for that program. You need to indicate that you want to see all the files on the CD. A pull-down menu in the Open File window gives you the options for the types of files you want the program to list. Choose all files or the equivalent. All the files and directories on your CD should appear. At this point you should be able to open the two text files. By navigating to the GUIDES and RESOURCE directories, you will be able to view the file names and open their contents as well.

4 God s Providence Leader s Guide Page 4 How do I use the files in the GUIDES directory? The GUIDES directory contains the student s guide copy masters and leader s guide. The files in the GUIDES directory are provided in both RTF and PDF formats. We have made every effort to provide you with the capability of adapting this Bible study to your needs. However, some degree of reformatting may be necessary to use the RTF files on your computer. The files included on this disk can be used by both IBM and Macintosh systems Northwestern Publishing House. Reprinted by permission. If you have any questions about using the CD, please call NPH at (414) Microsoft is a registered trademark and Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

5 God s Providence Leader s Guide Page 5 Lesson One God Preserves His Creation I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. (Psalm 37:25,28) God s Providence, pp Goals 1. To trust that God provides for all our daily needs. 2. To trust that God protects us in every situation. Opening Prayer Heavenly Father, you have assured us that we are your own and that you love us with an everlasting love for the sake of Christ Jesus, our Savior. Help us remember that because you love us you will never forsake us but will provide for us and protect us throughout our lives. Strengthen us in this conviction as we study your Word. Hear us for your mercy s sake. Amen. Introduction Find a shorter word inside the word providence. How does that word help us understand what providence means? The word is provide. God s providence is simply the teaching that God provides for his entire creation. He provides for all our needs, protects us in all situations, and directs our steps. God s providence is the Scriptural teaching that God preserves his creation. In this lesson we will look at a number of the many Scripture passages which tell us that God preserves his creation by providing for it and protecting it. The leader should note that lessons one and two describe in general how God preserves mankind, leading up to the truth that because God cares for us, we need not worry. Lesson three will expand on these themes, show how they apply to the entire creation, and point out how the church is the main object of God s concern.

6 God s Providence Leader s Guide Page 6 God preserves us by providing for us Deuteronomy 2:7 The LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast desert. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything. Consider all the ways in which the Lord provided for the people of Israel in the wilderness. Compare these to your own life and how God has provided for you. As his people left Egypt, the Lord caused the waters of the Red Sea to separate so that they could cross on dry land. When his people had safely crossed, he drowned the armies of Pharaoh in the Red Sea. In the wilderness God provided water, manna, and quail for his people. He guided them by day with a cloud pillar and by night with a pillar of fire. He gave them victory in battle. The Lord was with his people every day for forty years, providing for them in every conceivable way. The Lord is always with us on our journey through this wilderness of sin as we travel to the promised land of heaven. At times we may complain and begin to feel sorry for ourselves (as did the people of Israel), but God comes to our rescue and provides for all our needs. Psalm 23:1-3,5 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.... You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. What does a shepherd do for his sheep? How is the Lord like a shepherd to us, his people? As a shepherd brings his sheep and lambs to green pastures so they may eat and leads them beside quiet waters so they may drink, the Lord regularly gives us the nourishment we need for our bodies. He provides for us even when danger threatens on every side. Sometimes he provides us with much more than we need to stay alive. He provides us with oil for our heads, that is, the luxuries of life, and gives us more food, drink, and earthly possessions than we need for our existence. Malachi 3:10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the LORD Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. How might the Lord provide for his people who, in this case, give generously to the work of his church? We don t bring our offerings to the Lord so that we might receive an abundance of blessings from him. We give because we are grateful for all his blessings to us chief of which is our salvation in Christ. Nevertheless, the Lord in his love sometimes showers us with superabundant blessings.