Latest / Reformed Thinking / Providence over Human Kingship: Earthly Thrones and the Glory of the King of Kings

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Providence over Human Kingship: Earthly Thrones and the Glory of the King of Kings · Reformed Thinking

• 0:00
  You know, usually when we talk about a medical diagnosis, there
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  is this expectation of precision.
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  Right, like a client of discertainty.
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  Yeah, like engineering, you break your arm, the X-ray shows
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  that jagged white line, and the doctor just points and says
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  there it is. It is very straightforward.
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  But then you step into the world of human history and global
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  politics. And suddenly that X-ray machine
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  feels completely broken. It really does.
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  I mean, we are looking at a landscape of, of rising empires,
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  leaders making chaotic decisions and it all feels, you know,
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  completely unpredictable. Looks very murky on the surface.
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  O welcome to reformed thinking. Today, our mission is to look
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  past that murky surface. We want to examine the absolute
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  Providence of God over human authorities in kingship.
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  Yes, and we will draw from theological texts centered on
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  Daniel chapters 4:00 and 5:00. And also the broader redemptive
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  historical narrative of scripture.
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  The goal is to help you, the listener, understand that
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  earthly Thrones are temporary instruments.
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  Instruments designed for the glory of the King of Kings.
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  And before we get going, my colleague here brings a calm
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  analytical perspective. We will be viewing these
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  historical events through a reformed theological lens.
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  Yes, adhering to the Westminster Confessions understanding of
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  God's sovereign decrees. As a quick ground rule for our
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  deep dive today, we're going to allow each other to finish our
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  thoughts completely without cutting each other off.
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  Right, we want to create a respectful and thoughtful
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  dialogue for you, so let us jump straight into the 6th century
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  BC. Well, the historical crisis of
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  the 6th century BC really felt like the end of the world for
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  the Covenant people. Oh.
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  Absolutely. The Jewish exiles are in
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  Babylon, right? Forcibly removed from their
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  homeland. Yes, and the Temple in
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  Jerusalem, the very center of their worship and identity, is
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  destroyed. And to the naked eye, the Neo
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  Babylonian Empire just appears completely invincible.
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  It does. King Nebuchadnezzar, the second
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  ruling from six O 5 to 562 BC, stands at the absolute, absolute
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  peak of global dominance. Right, he has build wonders that
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  baffled the ancient world. Things like the Hanging Gardens
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  and the massive Ishtar Gate. Which was covered in brilliant
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  blue lapis lazuli. It was a staggering sight.
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  And he boasts about his own might, assuming his authority is
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  absolute and self derived. Yet the text we are
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  investigating present Daniel chapter 4 and chapter 5 as a
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  literary dip ditch. A dip ditch.
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  That is a fascinating term. Let me define that a dip ditch
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  is A2 paneled painting or carving where the two sides are
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  hinged together. Right, so you are meant to look
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  at both panels side by side to get the full picture.
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  Precisely Chapter 4 is this astonishing first person royal
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  confession when Nebuchadnezzar is humbled.
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  He is driven to madness, right? Living like a beast of the
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  field. Yes, stripped of his sanity in
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  his throne until he finally acknowledges the Most High God.
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  Then Chapter 5 ships forward in time to 539 BC.
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  Right with his descendant Belfazar, who desecrates the
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  sacred Jerusalem temple vessels in a display of drunken
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  arrogance. Resulting in sudden doom from
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  the invading Medes and Persians. Exactly.
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  Let us unpack that first panel of the Diptich Nebuchadnezzar's
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  madness, because the details are just staggering.
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  They really are. To picture what Nebuchadnezzar
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  was experiencing before his fall, imagine an actor on a
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  stage suddenly believing they wrote the script.
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  Right. And built the theater and hire
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  the audience. Yeah.
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  Completely forgetting the invisible director operating
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  behind the curtain. That is a great analogy.
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  Nebuchadnezzar walks out on the roof of his royal palace, looks
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  out over Babylon, and claims he built it by his own majestic
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  strength. He completely forgets the
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  director and the historical and psychological details of what
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  happens next are wild. Yes, he is struck with a
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  condition that clinicians today call bone anthropy.
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  Bone therapy. It is a very real psychological
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  delusion where a human being believes they are a bovine
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  animal like a cow or an ox. Right, the text describes his
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  hair growing long like eagle's feathers and his nails like
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  birds claws. For seven years, the most feared
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  dictator on the planet is outside eating grass.
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  But you know he is granted a chance to learn the truth and
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  his sanity is restored. Then we flip to the second panel
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  of the diptych. Belshazzar has access to his
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  predecessor's testimony. He knows the history.
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  He knows his grandfather was reduced to a grazing animal for
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  his arrogance. Yet Belshazzar throws this
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  massive feast, brings out the holy cup stolen from God's
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  temple, and toasts to false idols.
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  It is an incredible display of pride.
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  So how does Belshazzar's failure to learn from that clear,
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  documented humiliation highlight the human tendency toward
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  uncomprehending arrogance? Well, Belshazzar's failure
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  highlights a fatal flaw in the human condition, the assumption
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  of autonomy, right? Belshazzar possesses the
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  historical record of Nebuchadnezzar's madness and
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  restoration. He knows that the Most High
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  gives earthly dominion to whomever he chooses.
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  Yet Belshazzar willfully ignores this reality.
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  He brings out the silver and gold vessels dedicated to the
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  Creator and uses them to praise gods of wood and stone.
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  So this is not ignorance, it is high handed rebellion.
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  That is right. It demonstrates that
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  unregenerate human nature, when handed a degree of authority,
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  will instinctively attempt to dethrone God.
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  And place itself at the center of the universe, yes.
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  In a reformed understanding, this highlights total depravity.
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  Left to our own devices, even with clear historical evidence
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  of God's sovereignty, human beings will choose
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  uncomprehending arrogance. Bill Shazar operates under the
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  delusion that his fortress walls are impenetrable.
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  And historically, we know why he felt so secure.
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  The walls of Babylon were reportedly so thick that
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  Chariots could race on top of them.
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  It is hard to even imagine that scale today.
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  Yeah, and the Euphrates River ran directly through the city,
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  providing A limitless water supply.
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  He thought no army could touch him.
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  But Daniel's rebuke shatters that illusion.
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  Daniel tells him that he has not honored the God in whose hand is
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  his very breath. The sudden fall of Babylon that
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  very night proves that human kingship is entirely contingent.
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  The meet up Persians literally diverted the Euphrates River
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  upstream. Wait, really?
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  They just bypassed the thickest walls in the world by walking
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  through the plumbing. Yes, they marched their army
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  through the dried riverbed, under the impenetrable walls and
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  took the city while Belshazzar was drunk.
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  That historical trivia about diverting the Euphrates is mind
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  blowing. It shows that no ruler possesses
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  native authority, it is all borrowed.
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  But moving from the fall of Babylon to the theology behind
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  it, here is where it gets really interesting.
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  How so? Well, Nebuchadnezzar's
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  humiliation and Belshazzar's sudden downfall.
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  We're not just random supernatural events.
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  Right, they were specific demonstrations of how God
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  controls the minute details of human life.
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  We often think of history as this massive chaotic ocean, and
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  maybe God is just steering the big ships.
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  But the text you just referenced, Daniel 5.23, gets
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  incredibly microscopic. It really does.
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  It says God holds the very breath and ways of a king in his
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  hand. We are talking about God
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  governing every single movement of the diaphragm.
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  Every time a hostile king inhales, it is a concession from
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  the Almighty. Spot on.
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  The mechanics of Providence are meticulous.
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  God's rule is absolute, irresistible, and immediate.
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  We are not dealing with a distant deity who sets the
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  universe in motion and then watches passively.
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  Nor are we dealing with a reactive God who must constantly
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  adjust his plans based on unforeseen human choices.
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  Right. The Westminster Confession
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  articulates that God, the great Creator of all things, upholds,
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  directs, disposes and governs all creatures.
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  All actions and things, from the greatest even to the least.
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  So when Daniel tells Bill Shazar that God holds his breath, he is
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  defining immediate Providence. It means God governs the
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  cellular activity, the neurological impulses and the
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  respiratory functions of the most arrogant dictator on earth.
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  Furthermore, the text references Isaiah chapter 40, which states
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  that the nations are like a drop from a bucket.
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  And are accounted as dust on the scales, while the inhabitants of
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  the earth are like grasshoppers. Earthly authority cannot delay
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  or obstruct God's design. This meticulous governance
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  provides absolute stability for the believer.
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  Because God's sovereignty is not a general influence but a
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  specific decree driven reality. Yes, we know that no human
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  scheme can thwart His eternal counsel.
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  I want to push back on that idea for a moment, just to represent
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  the natural reaction someone might have when hearing this.
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  OK, what is the pushback? If humans are like grasshoppers
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  and if the nations are just a drop in a bucket.
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  And if God controls every single breath a person takes, does this
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  make human existence meaningless?
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  I see where you're going with this.
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  I mean, if the script is already written and the director is
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  moving every single actor down to their involuntary muscle
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  movements, it might feel to some like we are just insignificant
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  cogs in a terrifyingly massive machine.
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  It is a common philosophical hurdle.
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  I get the drop in a bucket imagery, but honestly that feels
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  quite dismissive of human suffering and human value.
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  How do we reconcile this massive scale of divine control with the
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  actual value of human life? I understand why that objection
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  arises. However, from a biblical
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  perspective, this vast scale actually makes grace
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  spectacular. The meaning of human existence
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  is not found in our autonomy, it is found in our relation to the
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  Creator. OK, the God who dwells in the
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  high and holy place, the one who measures the waters in the
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  hollow of his hand, actively Stoops down to help the
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  helpless. That is a staggering contrast.
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  It is if God were just appear, His attention would be expected,
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  but because He is the sovereign Lord who holds the breath of
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  kings, His attention to us is an act of unconstrained
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  condescension. It makes His Grace a massive
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  surprise rather than a presumed right.
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  Exactly. Our existence is not
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  meaningless. It is infused with supreme value
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  because the architect of history desires to show mercy to
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  creatures made of dust. So the meticulous nature of
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  Providence guarantees that God's promises of salvation will be
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  fulfilled without fail. Yes.
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  We are not cogs in a machine. We are the objects of a divine
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  affection that is backed by irresistible might.
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  That is a helpful way to frame it.
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  The fact that the God who orchestrates empires also cares
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  for the broken hearted gives a huge sense of security.
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  It brings immense comfort. And recognizing that God
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  controls individual breaths naturally raises the question of
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  how he orchestrates entire empires on the global state.
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  Which brings us to the wider biblical pattern of nations
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  acting as instruments. Throughout Scripture we see be
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  God using Pagan rulers as instruments for both discipline
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  and rescue. Assyria acts as the rod of his
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  anger. Babylon acts as an axe to judge
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  his covenant people. It is a striking concept because
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  these empires thought they were conquering for their own glory.
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  Yet they were functioning entirely within the parameters
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  set by heaven. Yes, the biblical text is
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  unapologetic about this dynamic. The prophets frequently used the
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  language of instrumentation. Isaiah chapter 10 refers to the
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  Assyrian king as the God of God's anger, the club in his
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  hand to punish a rebellious nation.
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  Later, God refers to Nebuchadnezzar as his servant.
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  These Pagan kings had no intention of honoring the God of
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  Israel. Their motives were imperial
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  expansion, greed, and conquest. Yet behind their military
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  campaigns was the invisible decree of God.
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  God whistled for the Chaldeans to come from the ends of the
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  earth. And he called Cyrus of Persia by
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  name in Isaiah 45, long before Cyrus was even born.
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  Yes, stirring him up to conquer Babylon and subsequently issue a
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  decree allowing the Jewish exiles to return and rebuild the
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  temple. The deepest explanation for a
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  Pagan king showing favor to Israel is not diplomacy or
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  political calculation. It is divine Providence.
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  Proverbs 21 states that the King's heart is a stream of
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  water in the hand of the Lord. He turns it wherever he will.
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  Therefore, kings are neither ultimate threats nor ultimate
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  saviors. They are agents carrying out a
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  preordained purpose, whether that purpose involves covenant
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  discipline through invasion or covenant restoration through a
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  decree of liberation. Think of it like using different
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  tools from a workbench. An axe representing Assyria or
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  Babylon might be used for tearing down a structure that
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  has rotted. Meanwhile, A trowel representing
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  a ruler like Cyrus is used for building up and laying new
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  bricks. Both tools look completely
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  different and perform opposite functions.
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  The axe destroys the trowel constructs.
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  But neither tool operates independently of the craftsman's
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  hands. Right.
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  The tools do not decide when to swing or when to spread mortar.
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  The Craftsman decides. That is a perfect picture.
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  So bringing this into our current reality, how should this
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  truth comfort the Exiles back then or believers facing hostile
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  secular authorities today? The comfort lies in knowing that
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  the hostility of secular authorities has boundaries.
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  Just as an axe cannot swing itself.
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  Exactly. A hostile government cannot
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  exercise tyranny one inch beyond what the Craftsman permits.
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  For the Exiles in Babylon, this meant their captivity had an
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  expiration date determined by God, not by the Babylonians.
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  They could trust that the same God who wielded Babylon is an
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  axe of judgement would eventually lay that axe aside
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  and take a patrol to restore them.
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  And for the believer today facing secular environments that
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  may be antagonistic to Christian convictions, the comfort is
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  identical. The political figures dominating
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  the news cycle are not autonomous forces.
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  They are contained within the sovereign will of God.
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  They can only accomplish what his hand and plan have
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  predestined. This eradicates panic.
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  It replaces political anxiety with a steadfast confidence in
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  the Lord's governance. We do not need to place our hope
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  in securing the perfect human leader.
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  Nor do we need to despair when a wicked leader arises because the
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  true king remains firmly seated on his throne.
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  And if earthly empires are just tools in the craftsman's hands,
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  we have to ask what the Craftsman is actually building.
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  Yes, like what is the grand architectural plan?
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  According to the texts we're studying, God was under no
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  obligation to create nations or set up kings.
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  He could have designed human society, you know, completely
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  differently. Yet the biblical record shows
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  that the Kingdom of men was designed from before or creation
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  for a specific reason. And that reason is to magnify
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  the royal glory of the Son of God.
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  Every throne, every crown, every political structure throughout
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  history was established to set the stage for Jesus Christ.
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  That is the core theological realization.
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  The institution of human kingship is thoroughly
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  Christological. When we trace the thousand year
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  history of Israel's kingship, we see a deliberate progression.
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  In Second Samuel Chapter 7, God makes the Davidic covenant.
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  Promising David that his house and his Kingdom shall be made
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  sure forever before him. Yes, his throne shall be
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  established forever. Now, looking at the historical
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  reality of Davidde descendants, we see a lineage plagued by
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  failure, idolatry and eventual defeat.
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  Think of kings like Ahaz or Manassa who practiced
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  unthinkable idolatry. Or Zedekiah, whose rebellion LED
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  directly to the destruction of Jerusalem.
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  The human kings of Judah were severely flawed.
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  Yet the prophetic witness kept pointing forward.
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  Isaiah Chapter 9 prophecies a child to be born, a son to be
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  given, whose name will be called Mighty God.
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  Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, sitting upon the throne
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  of David. Daniel Chapter 7 describes a
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  vision of a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven.
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  Receiving an everlasting dominion that shall not be
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  destroyed. The human lineage of Israel,
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  despite its frailty, was the chosen providential conduit for
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  the true king. God ordained the concept of
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  kingship so that when the Son of God entered history, the
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  categories of royalty, dominion, and subjects would already exist
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  in the human mind. Ready to be perfectly fulfilled
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  by him? Yes, that raises A fascinating
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  dilemma for the people living in that era.
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  Imagine being an Old Testament St. holding on to these
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  promises. Watching David's descendants
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  fail repeatedly. You see kings making disastrous
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  alliances, exploiting the poor, and eventually losing the
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  Kingdom to Babylon. And this has been incredibly
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  discouraging. How could a human lineage marked
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  by such obvious iniquity and mortality possibly sustain an
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  eternal throne? The math simply does not work.
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  A mortal human cannot sit on a throne forever.
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  But then you look at the brilliance of the incarnation
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  solving this puzzle. The only way a human throne can
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  last forever is if the human sitting on it is also eternal.
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  Humanity and divinity meeting in one person.
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  Jesus is born into the line of David, satisfying the human
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  requirement of the covenant. But he is the eternal Son of
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  God, satisfying the requirement that the throne lasts forever.
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  It is a perfect resolution to a centuries old tension.
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  The incarnation answers the dilemma that the Old Testament
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  narrative created. The Westminster Shorter
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  Catechism asks how Christ executes the office of a king
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  and the. Answer is in subduing us to
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  himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and
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  conquering all his and our enemies.
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  This eternal King, the God man, assumes the throne not to
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  perpetuate the flawed systems of earthly monarchs, but to
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  inaugurate a Kingdom of righteousness.
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  He succeeds where every son of David failed.
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  And this brings us to a crucial divergent in methodology.
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  Earthly kings secure their dominion through military
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  strength, political maneuvering, the.
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  Accumulation of wealth and the suppression of rivals.
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  Christ, however, does not claim his throne through any of these
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  conventional earthly mechanisms. His path to exaltation
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  completely upends human expectations of how authority is
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  gained and wielded. That brings us to the climax of
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  how Providence handles the greatest human injustice.
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  The highest expression of God's Providence over rulers is not
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  found in the overthrow of Babylon or the rise of Persia.
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  It is found in the cross of Jesus Christ.
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  Acts chapter 4, verses 27 and 20. 8 which states that Herod,
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  Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel did
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  whatever God's hand and plan predestined to take place.
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  They gathered together to execute the Son of God, and in
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  doing so, they followed the blueprint drawn in eternity
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  past. This text in Acts 4 is perhaps
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  the clearest articulation of divine concurrence in all of
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  Scripture. Let me break down that
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  theological term. Divine concurrence is the
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  teaching that two distinct wills, God's sovereign will and
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  man's creaturely will, are operating simultaneously on the
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  exact same event. Without cancelling each other
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  out. The Westminster Confession
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  teaches that God ordains whatsoever comes to pass.
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  Yet he does so in such a way that he is neither the author of
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  sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures.
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  God governs evil without becoming evil.
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  He ordains the event without sharing the guilt.
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  That is exactly right. Hold on, I want to make sure the
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  mechanics of that are crystal clear because it is a massive
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  concept. Let us work through it.
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  If I'm understanding this, it is like an author writing a book.
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  Let us say JRR Tepokein writes a scene where a villain like
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  Sauron does something incredibly wicked, right?
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  Polkein ordained that evil event to happen in the story.
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  He wrote it into the manuscript. He.
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  Planned the whole thing. But Tolkien is not guilty of the
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  crime because the character of Sauron is acting according to
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  his own evil desires within the story.
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  That is an excellent analogy. The author ordains it, but the
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  character commits it freely according to his own nature.
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  Pilot acted out of cowardly self preservation.
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  Herod acted out of mockery and political convenience.
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  The religious leaders acted out of envy.
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  They acted freely from their own corrupt motives.
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  God did not force them to sin against their will.
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  He permitted their wickedness, and sovereignly directed it to
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  accomplish the greatest act of justice and mercy in history.
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  The cross was not a backup recovery strategy after
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  political leaders derailed the mission.
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  It was the intended deliberate center of redemptive history.
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  The. Worst crime ever committed by
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  human authorities became the precise mechanism for human
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  salvation. The striking irony here is
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  something we cannot overlook. What is that?
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  Earthly rulers secure their Thrones by having others die for
• 20:04
  them. A king sends his army into
• 20:06
  battle, sacrificing thousands of subjects to protect his crown
• 20:09
  and his borders. But Christ secures his Kingdom
• 20:12
  by dying for others. He sacrifices himself to protect
• 20:15
  and save his subjects. It is a complete reversal of the
• 20:19
  worldly hierarchy. And if Pilate actually had free
• 20:23
  unordained will, the cross might not have happened.
• 20:27
  That means our entire salvation hinges on the fact that God
• 20:30
  completely governed the political system of 1st century
• 20:33
  Rome. Spot on.
• 20:35
  If God were not in absolute control over those wicked
• 20:38
  authorities, the cross would be nothing more than a tragic
• 20:41
  accident, a miscarriage of Roman justice.
• 20:44
  If the crucifixion were just the result of human political
• 20:47
  maneuvering outside of God's decree, it could not function as
• 20:50
  an effective atonement for sin. Atonement requires intention.
• 20:55
  It requires A flawless sacrifice offered to satisfy divine wrath.
• 20:59
  If Jesus were simply a victim of circumstances spinning out of
• 21:03
  control, his death would lack the substitutionary design
• 21:05
  necessary to save us. But because God's hand and plan
• 21:09
  predestined the event, we know that every drop of bloodshed was
• 21:12
  purposefully measured to purchase the elect.
• 21:15
  The father handed the son over to the authorities and the son
• 21:18
  willingly submitted to them. Knowing that their wicked
• 21:20
  actions were the very anvil upon which our redemption was being
• 21:23
  forged. The sovereignty over our wicked
• 21:26
  authorities guarantees that the Gospel is an unshakable reality,
• 21:29
  not a historical contingency. Yes.
• 21:32
  Understanding that the highest display of divine governance
• 21:35
  resulted in our salvation demands A practical response.
• 21:40
  It is not enough to just not at the theology, it has to change
• 21:44
  how we live. This doctrine demands humility
• 21:46
  from rulers, sobriety from nations, and steadfast
• 21:50
  confidence from the Church. We cannot just study Daniel and
• 21:53
  Acts and walk away unaffected. Indeed, theology must lead to
• 21:56
  doxology and obedience. There are three distinct
• 21:59
  applications we must draw from this.
• 22:01
  Let us walk through them first. On a personal level, we must
• 22:04
  repent of our inner Nebuchadnezzar.
• 22:06
  This refers to that arrogant voice inside all of us that
• 22:08
  surveys our lives and claims we built our own minor kingdoms by
• 22:12
  our own strength. We look at our homes, our bank
• 22:14
  accounts, our careers and our intellectual achievements, and
• 22:17
  we echo Nebuchadnezzar's boast. Is not this great Babylon which
• 22:22
  I have built by my mighty strength?
• 22:24
  We must crush that pride. We must recognize that our
• 22:27
  intelligence, our our opportunities and our very
• 22:30
  physical health are granted by the God who holds our breath.
• 22:33
  2nd Corporately, the Church must reject modern pragmatism and
• 22:38
  Armenian theology. Let me clarify what I mean by
• 22:41
  Armenian theology. It is a system of thought that
• 22:44
  places the final deciding factor of salvation on human free will
• 22:48
  rather than God's sovereign predestining decree.
• 22:51
  When a church adopts that mindset, it often leads to
• 22:54
  pragmatism. Much of contemporary church
• 22:56
  culture relies on worldly marketing, demographic
• 22:59
  targeting, and psychological manipulation to grow attendance.
• 23:03
  Functioning as a human ingenuity can accomplish what only God's
• 23:06
  sovereign decree can do. We must rest in the fact that
• 23:09
  God saves sinners and our duty is faithful proclamation, not
• 23:12
  pragmatic manipulation. 3rd This doctrine fuels global missions.
• 23:17
  We are commanded to pray for kings and those in high
• 23:19
  positions. Why?
• 23:20
  Because we know God can turn any rulers heart like a stream of
• 23:23
  water. We can send missionaries into
• 23:25
  hostile nations with confidence, knowing the local magistrates
• 23:28
  hostility is fully under the jurisdiction of Christ.
• 23:31
  Think about how you consume the news when you open an app or
• 23:35
  turn on the television. It often looks like a chaotic
• 23:38
  storm. Wars, political scandals,
• 23:40
  Economic shifts. But through the lens of
• 23:42
  Providence, you are not looking at a storm, you are looking at
• 23:46
  pieces moving on a board governed by a sovereign hand.
• 23:50
  The board might look complicated, but the player
• 23:53
  moving to pieces has already announced the final victory.
• 23:57
  This brings up an interesting theological perspective.
• 24:00
  How does holding a premillennial expectancy of Christ's literal
• 24:04
  return change how you participate in your local
• 24:06
  community today? Well, a premillennial expectancy
• 24:09
  is the theological belief that history is moving toward a
• 24:12
  decisive, literal climax. Where Jesus Christ will
• 24:15
  physically return to earth. Yes, to judge the living and the
• 24:18
  dead and establish A literal thousand year reign of
• 24:21
  righteousness. Which, you know, changes
• 24:23
  everything about a Tuesday morning.
• 24:24
  It really does. It means we do not place our
• 24:26
  highest hope in political reform, social programs or
• 24:30
  legislative victories. While we advocate for justice
• 24:32
  and seek the welfare of our cities, we know that human
• 24:35
  efforts cannot usher in a utopia.
• 24:37
  Only the returning king can eradicate sin and establish
• 24:41
  lasting peace. Therefore, we participate in our
• 24:44
  local communities as ambassadors of a coming Kingdom.
• 24:47
  We show mercy, we preach the gospel, and we live holy lives,
• 24:51
  all while pointing our neighbors to the reality that the current
• 24:53
  geopolitical structure is temporary.
• 24:56
  We are not trying to permanently fix Babylon.
• 24:58
  We are inviting people to become citizens of the New Jerusalem.
• 25:02
  Our daily work, our interactions with local officials, and our
• 25:05
  community service, we're all infused with the urgent, joyful
• 25:09
  anticipation that the King of Kings is at the gates.
• 25:13
  That brings us to our summary of this deep dive.
• 25:16
  Human autonomy is an illusion. From the ancient wonders of the
• 25:20
  Hanging Gardens of Babylon to the marble floors of the
• 25:23
  Judgement Seat of Pilate, every earthly authority operates under
• 25:26
  the strict governance of the Most High.
• 25:28
  The kings of the past, the presidents of the present, and
• 25:31
  the leaders of the future are all playing their parts on a
• 25:34
  stage designed to prepare for the eternal reign of Jesus
• 25:36
  Christ. The X-ray machine of human
• 25:38
  history might look broken to the natural eye, with its murky
• 25:41
  politics and chaotic events. But through the lens of
• 25:44
  Scripture, the lines are sharp and clear.
• 25:47
  God is entirely in control. And that absolute control is our
• 25:51
  greatest comfort. The Westminster Confession
• 25:54
  points out that God's Providence is most wonderfully seen in his
• 25:58
  care for his church. Directing all things to her
• 26:01
  Good. The chaotic events of history
• 26:03
  are being perfectly synthesized to secure the salvation of the
• 26:06
  elect and the magnification of Christ.
• 26:09
  Earthly Thrones will crumble into dust, but the throne of the
• 26:12
  Lamb will endure forever. It is a stunning reality.
• 26:15
  I want to leave you with a closing reflection, a thought to
• 26:18
  carry with you after this audio finishes.
• 26:20
  We have talked about God dictating the rise and fall of
• 26:23
  empires and the breathing of ancient kings.
• 26:26
  But if the God of the universe dictates the very breaths of the
• 26:29
  most formidable monarchs in history, then he also dictates
• 26:32
  your next breath. The breath you take right now,
• 26:35
  as this deep dive concludes, is a specific gift from him.
• 26:38
  Your current sphere of influence, no matter how small
• 26:41
  or hidden it might feel, is not an accident of geography or
• 26:44
  timing. It is a specific assignment from
• 26:47
  the King of Kings for His glory. Your family, your workplace,
• 26:51
  your neighborhood. These are your assigned outposts
• 26:53
  in His unfolding plan. So step out with confidence.
• 26:56
  Thank you for joining us on this deep dive on reformed thinking.
• 27:00
  Until next time, keep looking past the murky surface and trust
• 27:03
  the invisible hand of the Director.