SERIES: Our Great and Awesome God
The Power and Providence of God
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
PLACE: Dallas Theological Seminary
DATE: October, 1996
I wish to share with you today an experience that changed my life. It happened three years ago on the 20th of September, 1993. I was returning home one night from a prayer meeting for the victims of the terrible flood St. Louis was experiencing. I was about two miles from my home when a horse that had been spooked jumped over a fence right into the windshield of my car. It was very dark and the horse was black, so I never saw him. The car that was following me said I never even put my brake lights on. But the horse peeled the roof of the car off, somehow caused it to go airborne, and it landed in a ditch by the side of the road. The horse was on top of me, and the car was upside down on top of both of us. Fortunately, the horse was killed instantly and I wasn’t.
The paramedics got there in less than five minutes and said they saw so much blood in the ditch, they expected the car was full of people and everyone was dead. When they got down to peer in the windows, they were amazed to see a horse. Fortunately, most of the blood belonged to him. It took them nearly an hour to get me out of the car, and I spent that night in the emergency room as they treated my broken hand, broken wrist, broken shoulder, broken ribs, fractured skull, and numerous lacerations and bruises. After just four days our insurance company said I was ready to go home, and the next month was spent recovering there. Five more months of part‑time work brought me to the point that I could return to full‑time ministry schedule.
I have not, however, returned to the schedule I kept before the accident, and I never will. You see, I was a driven person who enjoyed my work immensely but didn’t always have my priorities in order. I was the founding pastor of a rapidly growing church, I was on a number of denominational boards and committees, l was writing my doctoral dissertation, and I was traveling around speaking here and there (by the way, this is only the second speaking engagement I have taken since the accident, and I agreed to do this one six months before the accident happened). I know there are a few pastors who can be as busy as I was and still be good husbands and fathers, but not many. The result was that I had a very average marriage. We loved each other, but we were not in love with each other. My two boys didn’t seem to mind much when I was gone out of town.
All that has changed. The past two and a half years have been by far the greatest years of a 32‑year marriage. My wife would tell you today that she is happier than she has ever been in her life. My relationship with my boys has improved significantly, and even my congregation would tell you that my ministry now has a completely different quality about it. Why? Romans 5:3 says, “We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” The suffering I endured changed my character. God got my attention through that accident. By all rights I shouldn’t have survived, but God wasn’t through with me yet. “Pain,” C. S. Lewis wrote, “is God’s megaphone to get our attention.” And He got mine.
But what God taught me about myself wasn’t as important as what He taught me about Himself. He taught me about His power and His providence, and He did so by means of a little phrase that kept popping up in my head as I lay in the hospital and as I recovered at home. It was the phrase, “This Far and No Farther.” I was pretty sure it was a phrase from the Bible, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember where it came from. You see, my worst injury was a contusion to the temporal lobe of the brain, and my short‑term memory was a disaster (and still is). Furthermore, my glasses had been shattered in the accident, so I was unable to read my Bible. So day after day I kept mulling it over in my mind, “This Far and No Farther.”
Finally, a week later, with my glasses replaced, I found the phrase in my concordance. It was from Job 38. I was embarrassed to discover I had preached that text just two weeks before the accident. While I had completely forgotten the sermon, the phrase got stuck in my mind.
Let me set the context for you, and then we will read the passage. As the chapter opens we find God interrupting the interminable debate between Job and his four philosopher/theologian friends with an amazing speech contrasting His own power and wisdom with human weakness and ignorance.
Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm. He said:
“Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?
Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you, and you will answer me.
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone‑‑
while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?
Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt.'”
Obviously this was spoken in regard to the limits God places on the waves of the sea. In fact, as I reviewed the earlier sermon I discovered that I had commented as to how the great flood that hit our community that summer of 1993 was never really out of control—it was only out of ourcontrol.
But friends, if God places fixed limits on the damage the waves can do and tells them, “This far and no farther,” then it only stands to reason He must also place fixed limits on the damage any trial or tragedy can inflict on His people. The very fact that I was lying in a hospital room rather than in a morgue was a testimony that God still says, “This far and no farther.” And as I began to think through the Scriptures, I found a number of examples of familiar stories where God in His power and providence set clear limits to the suffering of His servants, and, in addition, brought significant good through it all. I want to share a half dozen or so of these great biblical illustrations with you today.
God said “no farther” to Satan’s attacks against Job. (Job 1,2)
You will perhaps recall that twice in the first two chapters of Job God set specific limits on Satan’s attacks against this man who was blameless and upright, who feared God and shunned evil. For reasons known only to Him, God allowed the attacks, but He said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything Job has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Later God adjusted the parameters—again for reasons known only to Him—but again He said to Satan, “Very well, then, he himself is in your hands, but you must spare his life.”
Job complained vociferously about the first part of the phrase, “this far and no farther.” He didn’t think God should have told Satan, “this far you may go.” But later he came to be even more thankful for the last part, the “no farther.”
This same truth is found from Genesis through the New Testament.
God said “no farther” to the evil intentions of Joseph’s brothers. (Genesis 37, 50:19:21)
You know the story of Joseph well, how his ten older brothers were very jealous of him, so they decided to kill him and deceive their father Jacob into thinking a wild animal had ripped him to shreds. Reuben objected to the killing and suggested they throw Joseph into a cistern instead. Judah then came up with the idea of selling him to a caravan of Ishmaelites going to Egypt, and that’s what they did—for 20 shekels of silver. The Ishmaelites, in turn, sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials.
Before long he ended up in prison when Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him of trying to seduce her, but in Genesis 39:23 we read that “The Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.…” We don’t have time to tell the whole story, but in 41:41 we find Joseph out of prison and in charge of the whole land of Egypt—all at the approximate age of 30!
Some years later there was a famine back in Palestine and Joseph’s ten older brothers were sent to Egypt to find food, which was available there because Joseph had been warned by God of the coming famine and had masterminded the storage of a great amount of grain in anticipation of the world‑wide hunger. The brothers were brought before Joseph, who recognized them but was not recognized by them. Slowly and deliberately Joseph set out to determine whether his brothers were repentant of the evil they had perpetrated upon him. When satisfied, he finally revealed his identify to them and was reunited with his father shortly before Jacob died.
After Jacob died the brothers were very fearful that Joseph would turn against them, so they begged for forgiveness and offered themselves as slaves to him. But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” There’s our theme again: “This far and no farther.” Yes, God allowed some tragic events in Joseph’s life, but strict limits were set and the ultimate result was good from the hand of God. Thirdly,
God said “no farther” to the attempted execution of Shadrach, Meshach, Obednego, and Daniel. (Daniel 3,6)
Again you are undoubtedly familiar with the fascinating accounts of these four young Hebrew men who as teenagers were sent into exile in Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judah and Jerusalem. In Daniel 3 we read about how Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold 90′ high and 9′ wide and commanded everyone to bow down and worship it. Shadrach, Meshach and Obednego refused to do so. Nebuchadnezzar gave them a second chance but warned in 3:15: “If you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”
Their answer is classic: “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know. O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
God allowed Nebuchadnezzar to go “this far.” Just the thought of being thrown into a furnace must have created mental anguish beyond anything most of us have ever known. But God also said, “no farther” and sent His angel to rescue them. They didn’t even have the tinge of smoke on their clothes.
Over in chapter 6 we find a similar story in which Daniel is thrown into a den of lions because he refused to stop praying in response to the king’s edict. Once again God allowed evil to go “this far but no farther.” Here is Daniel’s testimony when the king arrived at the lions’ den at the first light of dawn: “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight.”
God said “no farther” to the planned destruction of Jerusalem in Hezekiah’s day. (Isaiah 36-37)
Hezekiah and his people were helpless in the face of the Assyrian army which was laying siege to the city of Jerusalem. The field commander of the Assyrians spoke to the Jewish people in Hebrew, much to the dismay of Hezekiah’s emissaries, who begged the field commander to speak in Aramaic, which the common people could not understand. Instead he spoke loudly in Hebrew so that all could hear and understand: “Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?”
So Hezekiah went up to the temple, spread the threatening letter he had received from the king of Assyria before the Lord, and prayed one of the most moving prayers in the Bible. And what did God do? He sent his angel (37:36) who went out and in one night put to death 185,000 soldiers in the Assyrian camp. I love the next verse: “When the Jewish people got up the next morning‑‑there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.”
Now just in case you were thinking that “this far and no farther” is just an OT theme, let me quickly disabuse you of that notion.
God also said “no farther” to the persecution of Peter by Herod. (Acts 12:1‑19)
Turn with me to the 12th chapter of Acts, if you will. Let’s begin reading this account in verse 1:
“It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.
So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.
Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.
Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.”
Now go back to verse 2 for a moment, for there is a very important balance here to all I am saying this morning. Peter was delivered by God through the ministry of an angel, but James was put to death with the sword. The “this far” that God permits sometimes includes death. It didn’t for Job, it didn’t for Peter, it didn’t for me, but it did for James. Does that contradict the power and providence of God? I don’t think so.
In Phil. 1 Paul is in prison facing possible execution. He hopes to be delivered, but in verse 20 he states what is even more important to him: “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
If death meant the end of life, then yes, allowing tragedy to go that far would indeed contradict what the Bible tells us about the power and providence of God. But since to depart and be with Christ is far better, which Paul states a few verses later, the “no farther” means that even death cannot separate us from the love of God.
Just a month before my accident a fellow evangelical pastor in St. Louis fell off a cliff while mountain climbing in Colorado. He died, leaving a wife and five children. I cannot tell you why the life of Pastor David Winecoff was taken in a bizarre accident one month and mine was spared in a bizarre accident the next. I know it is not because I am more righteous or because our church is more godly. The reasons are known only to God, but the reasons are good and perfect. God said to the Enemy of our souls, “You can take Mike Andrus to the brink, but you can’t have his life.” He said of David Winecoff, “You can take his life, but you cannot have his soul.”
God said “no farther” when Paul faced a tragic shipwreck on his way to Rome. (Acts 27)
Our time is short, so I will speak very briefly of the tragic shipwreck described in Acts 27. Paul was under arrest and had appealed his case to Caesar in Rome. On the last leg of the journey from Crete to Italy the ship and its 276 passengers were caught in a wind of hurricane force called the “northeaster.” They threw the cargo overboard, then the ship’s tackle, and after many days finally gave up all hope of being saved. Paul, who had warned them in advance that the voyage was going to be disastrous and there would be great loss to ship and cargo, nevertheless spoke to everyone (verse 22):
“I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.'”
After 15 days the ship foundered but everyone reached land safely—a frightening experience in anyone’s book, a costly tragedy. Yet God said, “This far but no farther.”
Now the last vignette I want us to consider is this:
God said “no farther” to the diabolical scheme that sent Jesus to the Cross.
That Satan was on a mission to stop God’s plan of salvation by preventing His Messiah from redeeming mankind is as clear as anything in the Bible. In Gen. 3:14-15, in fact, God predicted that the serpent would bruise the heel of the seed of the woman, while the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head.
How can death on a cross—the cruelest punishment known to man—be referred to as simply a bruised heel? Only because it was not final. God raised Him up. He said to Satan, “This far but no farther. You may kill Him as a common criminal, but I will defeat death, raise Him up, and restore Him to His rightful place at my right hand.” And God’s angels rolled away the stone from the tomb—not to let Him out, for His resurrection body needed no door, but to let His disciples in to see that the tomb was empty except for graveclothes.
Conclusion: I don’t know if you have noticed it, but there are three factors common to virtually every one of these demonstrations of the power and providence of God: angels, prayer, and obedience.
Angels are specifically mentioned in the deliverance of Shadrach, Meshach, Obednego, Daniel, Hezekiah, Peter, Paul and Jesus. I believe in angels. I really do. Though I do not remember seeing one the night of my accident, I firmly believe God provided His angels to guard my life. The paramedics told me there was no way I should have lived through that accident, but God’s angels found room for me and cushioned the impact. Some may scoff at that and offer the fact that thorough‑going atheists have been known to survive similar accidents, and all I can say is “maybe so; perhaps a gracious God was giving them one more chance to repent and believe.” But you could no more change my mind about God’s angels that you could convince me that Dove Bars taste like Brussels sprouts.
I also believe in prayer. Joseph prayed, Shadrach and his companions prayed, Daniel prayed, Hezekiah prayed, the church prayed for Peter (not in great faith, but they prayed nevertheless), Paul prayed, Jesus prayed. And my wife was home praying for me at the time of my accident because she had in incredible premonition that something tragic had happened that evening (but that’s another story!). And the prayers of God’s people that night and in the days following are the reason I was able to return to ministry as soon as I did. Again some may scoff at that and present examples of people who survived tragedies without prayer. But I wouldn’t choose to live one day of my life without the power of prayer.
I also believe in obedience. From Job to Jesus there was an incredible degree of obedience in the lives of these servants‑‑Jesus’ obedience being absolutely perfect. Every one of the individuals we have examined today practiced obedience even when it hurt; they were committed to godly living, no matter what. I would never compare myself to them, but I do strive to be faithful to the calling God has given me.
While the paramedics were trying to extricate me from the car, they began to ask me questions, perhaps more to keep me conscious than anything else. They asked me my name, my social security number, my phone number, etc., and according to the police report I answered most of their questions accurately, though I remember nothing of it today. They also asked me where I had been and while at first I didn’t remember, I eventually told them I had been at a prayer meeting for flood victims. Then the paramedic asked, “Have you been drinking?” When he visited me in the hospital several days later he laughingly told me my answer was, “No, there’s not much to drink at a prayer meeting.”
But there’s a point here that is very meaningful to me. I thank God this accident happened on the way home from a prayer meeting and not on the way home from a bar. I thank God I was alone and not with someone else’s wife. Imagine the increased pain to my family and the damage to my church had there been other issues to explain. Well, there weren’t, and by God’s grace there never will be, because over the years I have learned that obedience to God is not only what pleases Him; it’s also what makes life worth living. It’s what enables me to look back without regret and say “Thank you, Lord. Thank you for the ‘this far’ and also for the ‘no farther.'”
Friends, the God we have been talking about this morning is the same today as He was in Job’s day or Daniel’s or Peter’s.
He is still worth trusting with every fiber of your being.
He still has his angels to watch over you.
He still responds to effectual, fervent prayer.
He still honors obedience on the part of His people.
He is still a God of power and providence.
Tags:
Divine power
Providence
Angels
Prayer
Obedience